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We disclose a method for the wet chemical etching of silicon (001) surface with a conical texture. This method involves a single-step etching process without additional surface treatments. The conical texture is compared to the pyramidal texture resulted from conventional chemical processes. Scanning electron microscopy reveals smaller dimensions of the surface cones as compared to the pyramids. Reflectance measurements show a slight decrease in the reflectivity for the samples with the conical texture as compared to the pyramidal texture. X-ray diffraction was performed to investigate the state of strain in the textured samples. In regard to the solar cell fabrication, we discuss in the paper the advantages of the conical texture as compared to the pyramid texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a pure biopolymer with abundant sources. BC has been used in wound dressings, artificial blood vessels, bone tissue engineering, and other applications because of its microporosity, superior water retention, thermal stability, and biocompatibility. The tensile strength of pure BC in wet state is weak, and the water holding capacity is above 90%, which limits its application. However, the mechanical properties of dehydrated BC are excellent at the expense of toughness, which is not enough to meet the demand of high additional-value materials, such as high strength flexible electronic device substrate, wearable electronic devices, vibration film for microphone and earphone, and others. Therefore, it is of great importance to systematically investigate the strategies to improve the mechanical properties of BC. Herein, this paper demonstrates the intrinsic factors affecting the mechanical properties of BC, along with the strategies to enhance the mechanical properties. Compared with the well-known adhesion reinforcement and chemical modification, six strategies to enhance the mechanical properties were discussed thoroughly in this paper. In addition, layer-by-layer self-assembly and orderly arrangement of fibrils are proposed in this paper to improve the mechanical properties of BC, which have not been described in detail in previous literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of tissue engineering involves various methodologies employed to improve or replace biological tissues with extracellular matrices (ECMs). Significant progress has been made, particularly in the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds for replacing damaged tissues or organs. The current review broadly focuses on the various research works carried out involving the use of biomaterials (biopolymers, bio-ceramics and dopants) in this area. A detailed discussion on several scaffold-making modern technologies has also been provided, along with a demonstration of different characterization techniques. Though a number of review papers have been published on biomaterials and fabrication techniques, a very small number focuses on the clinical trials carried out and the commercialization of scaffolds in the biomedical field. Thus, a critical analysis and detailed discussion of some of the clinical trials, market growth, and future demands have been presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) require efficient water management. Microporous layers (MPLs) are crucial to solve this problem due to their positive effects on the two-phase mass transfer process. The performance of MPLs is mainly determined by the properties of the materials used for their construction as well as other basic transport properties, including morphology, porous structure, wettability, and electrical resistivity. In this study, graphite and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were used as the main components to fabricate MPLs for use in PEMFCs because they are highly conductive and thermally efficient. Single-layer MPLs are prepared by compressing MPL powders with different proportions of ingredients. In contrast, two-layer gas diffusion layers were fabricated by applying MPL pastes to a benchmark Toray carbon paper using a screen-printing process. FTIR and XRD analysis of main components and some samples are performed to investigated functional groups and the nature of MPLs' surface, respectively. An analysis of the effects of graphite, rGO, and hydrophobic agents' constituents on the physical properties (electrical resistivity, contact angle, roughness, porosity, and permeability) of the fabricated MPL or MPL-coated carbon papers by screen-printing method has been performed. Also, the effect of different coating methods (screen-printing and spraying) on different properties of graphite-based and rGO-based MPLs has been investigated. The results show that composites based on rGO have higher electrical resistivity than that of graphite-based MPLs, but lower roughness. However, MPLs based on rGO exhibit better contact angle, higher porosity, and improved gas permeability. Moreover, as expected, the contact angle and electrical resistivity increase, while the porosity and permeability decrease when the hydrophobic agents (polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyvinylidene difluoride) which are also used as binders, are increased. On the other hand, screen printed graphite-based MPL has lower electrical resistivity, while screen printed rGO-based MPL has higher porosity percentage, roughness, and permeability than the sprayed one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and cost-effective modified sol–gel synthesis is employed to synthesize flexible silica-cellulose hybrid aerogels (SCHA) using recycled cellulose fibers (RCF). The effect of cellulose fiber concentrations and ambient temperature conditions on the thermal, acoustic, and oil absorption characteristics was quantified comprehensively. The experiments were conducted by considering the range of weight fractions from 1–4 wt.% from waste tissue paper with a cross-linker and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursors. The SCHA aerogels were modified by a silylating agent with surface hydroxyl groups to achieve superhydrophobic behavior with a water contact angle (WCA) as high as 168°. The synthesized aerogels were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Test (BET) to identify the physical morphology. An excellent oil absorption capacity of 24.8 g.g−1 was also noticed with 4 wt.% of cellulose concentration in hybrid aerogel retained up to 5 cycles with an absorption capacity of 6.4 g.g−1. The average thermal conductivity of hybrid aerogels was estimated in the range of 0.038–0.032 W/m K. Slight enhancement in the thermal conductivity is noted with the increase in wt.% of cellulose to the silica aerogel. However, about 40–50 °C improvement in thermal degradability (as concluded from Thermogravimetric Analysis) with a minimum weight loss was observed in hybrid aerogel over cellulose aerogel. A comparatively high sound absorption coefficient of 0.453–0.628 at low frequency (1500 Hz) and 0.86–0.94 at high frequency (3600 Hz) was achieved with an average thickness of 8 mm compared to cellulose aerogel. The compressive Young's modulus of hybrid aerogels was also enhanced by 94.12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small punch (SP) test has been widely used in applications where conventional mechanical tests cannot be performed; this paper predicts the material strength from the SP test results by empirical correlations method. The yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) models serve to associate the load–displacement (LD) curves of SP tests with the stress–strain data of uniaxial tensile tests, and then, the feasibility of these models at different temperatures is investigated. Using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) method, the ideal strength equations are accessed from past studies for the cast superalloys, including ZG15Cr2Mo1, P91, 316H, and Hastelloy X, whereas the validation results of the additively manufactured (AM) GH4169 alloy are not satisfactory. As a result, considering the unique manufacturing process of AM GH4169, this paper develops a YS model with correlation coefficients higher than 90% between the calculated and actual values and proposes a UTS formula with estimation errors less than 3.5%. Furthermore, with the purpose of superior strength prediction results, the discussion of the SP test velocity reveals that 0.50 mm min−1 had wide adaptability to various strength models and operating temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phagraphene is a newly proposed two-dimensional allotrope of carbon. Its structure resembles that of a defective graphene sheet. The unit cell structure of phagraphene consists of a 5–6–7 ring sequence due to which it possesses lower energy than most carbon allotropes. Phagraphene has properties, namely thermal conductivity of 218 ± 20 W/mK and 285 ± 29 W/mK, along armchair and zigzag directions, respectively, a tensile strength of 85 ± 2 GPa, the elastic modulus of 870 ± 15 GPa along armchair and 800 ± 14 GPa along zigzag direction, and fracture strain of the same order as that of pristine graphene. Density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations have proved the unique electronic properties of phagraphene, namely direction-dependent Dirac cones, tunable Fermi velocities, quasi-direct band gap, to be comparable with pristine graphene. Based on molecular dynamics and density functional theory investigations, phagraphene is capable of being used in Li-based batteries and thermoelectric devices as anode material due to its good adsorption properties and remarkably good doping characteristics. Such characteristics can lead to a future trend of analyzing such allotropes because phagraphene can provide potential applications in atmospheric pollutant-detecting and drug-carrying properties in ailments like cancer. This paper is a nascent one discussing all the previous works on molecular dynamics simulations of phagraphene and tries to serve as the leading one for researchers interested in this field. This paper summarizes the mechanical and thermal properties of phagraphene estimated using molecular dynamics simulations as studied in previous works. The study shows that molecular dynamics has a good application in studying such a novel carbon allotrope. The discussions made in this paper thematize phagraphene's properties as a next-generation material and can help the researchers in a qualitative overview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dielectric loss of Cu with high thermal conductivity is large at high frequency, which cannot meet the performance requirements in high-integrated circuits. There is an urgent need for materials to reduce its dielectric loss. In this paper, the thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of the AlN coating-Cu substrate system were controlled by changing the N2 pressure. The results showed that the crystallinity of hcp-AlN in AlN coating increased significantly when the proportion of N2 pressure was increased. With the increase of the N2 pressure, the particle size on the surface and the roughness of the coating improved. The AlN coating prepared at high N2 pressure had high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss at high frequency compared to those of the coatings prepared at low N2 pressure. At the same time, the AlN coating prepared under high N2 pressure on the Cu substrate did not decrease the thermal conductivity of Cu substrate. The AlN-Cu system prepared in this paper had high thermal conductivity and good dielectric properties, providing theoretical guidance for integrated circuit packaging and capacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum hydride (AlH3), as a potential new metal fuel, has attracted extensive attention in the field of hydrogen storage materials, propellants and energetic materials due to its excellent properties. In this paper, a new organic liquid phase reduction method was used to prepare AlH3, and the microstructure and composition of the prepared samples were characterized by SEM–EDS, XRD, FT-IR, XPS, etc. The main crystal phase of the prepared AlH3 was α-AlH3, with high quality and no other impurities. The thermal decomposition behavior and non-isothermal reaction kinetics of AlH3 were investigated by TG-DSC. The results show that there are three exothermic stages in the heating process of AlH3: dehydrogenation of AlH3, first oxidation of Al, and second oxidation of Al. The activation energy of the dehydrogenation of AlH3 is 77.8675 kJ/mol (Kissinger method) and 81.4862 kJ/mol (Ozawa method), respectively. The morphology evolution of AlH3 particles during the heating process (300–3000 K) was simulated using a reaction kinetics method based on the ReaxFF force field. The response behavior of AlH3 in the instantaneous high-temperature detonation environment was investigated using the high-energy laser-induced shock wave technique. Under the impact of a high-energy laser (1006 mJ), the AlH3 sample undergoes an ultra-fast reaction and generates a large amount of plasma. The expansion of the plasma pushes the surrounding air to form a supersonic shock wave and propagates forward. The shock wave propagation velocity of AlH3 is 690.99 m/s in the range of 2.1–12.35 μs, and the higher the laser energy, the faster the shock wave propagation velocity. This study provides the basis for the application of AlH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an efficient visible light responsive MIL-125(Ti)/ZnIn2S4 hybrid structure (MIL-1.2/ZIS) was synthesized through two-step method with improved photocatalytic H2-evolution performance. The MIL-1.2/ZIS nanocomposites could retained the characteristic features including the highly surface area of metal organic frameworks and the hierarchical sheet-like structure of ZnIn2S4. The optimal sample could exhibit the H2 generation rate of 873.4 μmol g−1·h−1, and the improved photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the well-matched band structure and the formation of hybrid interfaces, which could lead to the effective charge transfer and separation of photo-excited electron–hole pairs. We hope this paper could broad the potential utilization of MOF-based nanocomposites in photocatalytic energy conversion fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue engineering faces an intriguing challenge in creating biomaterials for cartilage repair. Within the category of biopolymeric scaffolds, hydrogels made from polysaccharides are particularly suitable for regenerating cartilage tissue. In this paper, a new formulation of biocompatible alginate-based hydrogel for joint cartilage regeneration was investigated. An alginate-dendrimer hydrogel obtained by covalently grafting alginate with polyamidoamine generation 5 dendrimer. 58S bioactive glass was synthesized through sol–gel procedures and was added to the hydrogel before cross-linking. The obtained hydrogel is an innovative system with sustained drug-releasing properties and improved mechanical behavior in comparison to the alginate matrix. For instance, the tensile and compressive modulus of the fabricated composite hydrogel increased from 0.035 to 0.072 MPa and 0.17 to 0.40 MPa respectively. Whereas the degradation ratio decreased from 0.26 to 0.09% by the addition of polyamidoamine and bioactive glass. The developed hydrogel also showed better properties in in-vitro studies such as swelling and degradation. MTT assay showed no toxicity and revealed the biocompatibility of prepared hydrogel. The MTT test, also performed better adhesion of cells by the addition of bioactive glass powder. The composite hydrogel loaded with tetracycline hydrochloride showed more sustained drug-release behavior and excellent antibacterial properties compared to bear alginate hydrogel. Therefore, the Alginate/polyamidoamine/bioactive glass hydrogel can couple the well-known bioactive properties of 58S bioactive glass with good biocompatibility of alginate-dendrimer hydrogels, opening new approaches in the field of tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D bioprinting of biomimetic tissue is critical for engineering artificial soft tissues and organs. However, the lack of simultaneously printed multiscale blood vessels within the scaffolds and the cell damage in the bioprinting nozzle decreased viability and limited the potential of printed tissues. This paper adopted 3D-printed sacrificial molds for the fabrication of hydrogel scaffolds with internal channels. The process fills slow-gelling sodium alginate into 3D-printed water-soluble PVA molds to create channels within the hydrogel. The results showed that hydrogel and crosslinker concentration have significant effects on gelation time, channel width, and scaffold compressive strength. Simulation results showed that both higher hydrogel and crosslinker concentrations contribute to higher residual stress within the scaffolds. This novel scaffold fabrication process has the potential for the vascularization of various organ and tissue models for tissue engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Materials Science has a strong focus on publishing papers related to metals. The journal's editors have extensive experience and expertise in the field of metals, with some of them having authored highly cited publications. One of the editors, Megumi Kawasaki, is a renowned researcher in the field of bulk nanostructured materials and holds positions at Oregon State University and Osaka Metropolitan University. Another editor, Philip Nash, is a Professor Emeritus at the Illinois Institute of Technology and has made significant contributions to the field of physical and process metallurgy. Sophie Primig, a professor at UNSW Sydney, specializes in structure-property relationships in structural metallic materials, particularly aerospace alloys. Zhao Shen, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, focuses on the design of corrosion-resistant alloys and coatings. Naiqin Zhao, a professor at Tianjin University, has expertise in the fabrication and characterization of alloys and composites. The Journal of Materials Science provides a platform for researchers in the field of metals to share their findings and contribute to the advancement of the field. [Extracted from the article]

Lattice rotation mechanism plays an important role in the plastic deformation and the microstructure evolution of nanocrystalline metals. It assists the grain growth and the polycrystal texture formation. In this paper, the lattice rotation of quasi-3D Ni samples under uniaxial tension is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. For this purpose, the bi-crystal and polycrystal models are created and systematic molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to mimic the uniaxial tensile tests. Based on the Schmid shear slip theory, the relationship between the Schmid factor of different slip systems and the grain orientation angle is established. It is found that the starting slip system angle is a fixed angle with the initial orientation angle of grain. Moreover, the cumulative rotation of the grain slip system and the initial angle of the slip system are statistically analyzed. It is found that a larger deflection angle of the slip system leads to a larger lattice rotation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoelectric materials have advanced significantly in terms of machinery, manufacturing technique and technology over the last 10 years. However, conventional processing methods still necessitate a multitude of processing steps, thereby yielding material loss and imposing a substantial surge in manufacturing expenditures, which significantly obstructs the advancement of intricate and scalable thermoelectric devices. Additive manufacturing technology (AM) is an emerging and innovative technology offering rapid manufacturing cycles and efficient production of intricate geometries. While additive manufacturing has been utilized for fabricating thermoelectric materials, its application in the manufacturing of thermoelectric devices remains somewhat restricted. Although there have been some research reviews of AM thermoelectric materials in recent years, they are basically focused on the development and achievements of AM thermoelectric materials. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the research advancements of additive manufacturing technology in the fabrication of thermoelectric materials. It discusses the impacts of various processing parameters on the quality of the fabricated thermoelectric materials and their resulting thermoelectric properties. Simultaneously, each additive manufacturing technology for the fabrication of thermoelectric devices, as well as future research objectives and problems, is thoroughly examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remediation of water from organic pollutants, such as dyes and related compounds and the reuse of discarded glasses, represents fundamental challenges in highly industrialized countries. Porous glass microspheres have been proposed as efficient adsorbents in wastewater treatment, but their real application is problematic, especially from the perspective of their reuse and recycling. For the first time, the present paper describes the process of preparation and use of highly porous bodies with a specific surface area of nearly 20 m2/g fabricated from alkali activated glass microspheres and applicable for the removal of methylene blue as a model organic dye from wastewater. Alkali activation is applied both as an intermediate step (using 9 M KOH) for the conversion of waste glass into porous microspheres by flame spheroidization process, and as a final step (using 2.5 M NaOH), facilitating low temperature consolidation of the microspheres, and their transformation into porous structures. The experimental adsorption capacity of porous glass microspheres pellet was 122 mg/g. The high correlation coefficient indicates the applicability of Langmuir isotherm adsorption model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing method that generates much residual tensile stress during processing. Laser shock forging (LSF) is a surface treatment technology that can reduce residual stress on the metallic surface. At present, there are no reports on in situ LSF (ILSF) during the SLM process. The effect of ILSF on the residual stress field induced by SLM was systemically investigated using the finite element method (FEM), and the parameters were optimized. Optimized finite element simulation calculated the stress field after the ILSF impact. The results show that the SLM deposition layers have significant residual tensile stress, with a maximum range of 152 μm and extremely inhomogeneous distribution. LSF can convert SLM-induced tensile stress into compressive stress. The two most important ILSF parameters are peak pressure (Pmax) and initial temperature (Ti). The range and magnitude of the residual compressive stress field increases with Pmax and decreases with the initial temperature. The sufficiently large LSF Pmax is essential in the LSF process. When Pmax is large enough, the effect of the multiple shots on the magnitude and depth of compressive stress is insignificant. The high Ti will significantly reduce the effect of ILSF, even if residual compressive stress is not obtained. Ti influences the stress field through an inhomogeneous temperature gradient. The temperature gradient is strongly correlated with the residual stress variation, and the fitted equation shows that the stress field is a power function of the temperature gradient. This paper provides an essential guide to improving the residual stress field in additive manufacturing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the fabrication of fluorine-free hydrophobic particles via grafting fluidic polydimethylsiloxane onto silica particles through a facile wet lab technique at room temperature. A cotton fabric coated with the prepared hydrophobic particles shows potential as a membrane to separate oil and water due to hydrophobic behavior (equilibrium water contact angle ~ 145°) and superoleophilicity. The hydrophobic nature of the fabric is varied only slightly after immersing the fabric in 1 M of acidic and basic solution for seven days and thus ensured the chemical stability of the fabric, whereas the physical stability examined via abrasion test elucidates minimal change in wettability even after 50 cycles of abrasion tests. The oil–water separation efficiency of the membrane made from particle-coated cotton fabric is found to be greater than 95% even after 50 cycles of usage for various oils. Further, these particles are used to cover aqueous droplets to create liquid marbles. The stability of the liquid marble is investigated against solution with different surface tension, pH values, and viscosity. The particles demonstrate the potential to create stable liquid marbles even when the surface tension of liquid is as low as ~ 32 mN m−1. In addition, the liquid marbles are created from aqueous solutions having pH values ranging from 1 to 14 and with liquids having viscosity over a wide range. The substrate temperature-dependent evaporation studies of the liquid marbles unambiguously elucidate the porous nature of the surface and manifest a temperature-dependent liquid marble height decrease in evaporation time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the development of electronic semiconductors and optical systems, semiconductor wafers, ceramics, and optical glass increasingly need to have higher surface quality and processing accuracy, which is placing higher demands on chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In this paper, nano-sized ceria particles coated on the silica surface with different doping ratios of Nd3+ were designed as an abrasive and synthesized by the precipitation method. The structures and properties of binary particles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectroscopy, and Raman spectra. CMP using the abrasives on silicon wafers was investigated and the results demonstrated an increase in polishing efficiency due to doping. The material removal rate (MRR) improved by 105% from 67.34 ± 11.66 to 138.05 ± 5.83 nm/min at a doping ratio of Nd3+ up to 9.1% compared with undoped abrasives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New thermal interface materials (TIM) with liquid metal (LM) as the main component show many advantages in the field of thermal management. However, it is prone to leakage and causes electronic components to fail due to its fluidity, corrosiveness and difficulty in adsorption, thus limiting its applications. In this paper, based on the high thermal conductivity of LM, the composite material made of eutectic gallium indium alloy (EGaIn) and nickel-plated copper mesh (NPCM) was prepared, and the TIM with high thermal conductivity, stability and reliability was obtained. With surface plating, the plating on the copper surface achieves an area coverage of up to 97.7%, effectively preventing EGaIn corrosion. The complete wetting between materials can be achieved through surface modification of NPCM with an EGaIn oxide layer. The surface modification of NPCM with EGaIn oxide layer can achieve complete wetting between materials. The thermal conductivity of the composite is 26.4 W m−1 K−1. Compared to Nickel foams (NiF), NPCM/EGaIn composite exhibits a 22.4% increase in thermal conductivity. In addition, its thermal conductivity fluctuates in a range below 7 percent even after undergoing high-temperature aging and low-temperature cycling. The actual load test demonstrated that the use of EGaIn/NPCM resulted in an 18.0% reduction in CPU full load temperature and a 78.0% decrease in maximum throttling peak, as compared to conventional silicone grease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method for joining Si3N4 and 7A52 aluminum alloy using femtosecond laser surface modification of Si3N4 ceramics. This study investigated the impact of laser scanning speed on the morphology, chemical composition, and wettability of Si3N4 ceramic surfaces, as well as the mechanism behind the laser-assisted joining of Si3N4 and 7A52. After undergoing femtosecond laser processing, the ceramic material underwent modifications resulting in the creation of a periodic groove structure. This structure featured an ideal depth-to-width ratio that effectively increased the surface area for bonding with the solder. Furthermore, the surface of Si3N4 experienced thermal decomposition, which produced a recrystallized layer of 'Si.' This layer improved the solder's wetting effect on the ceramic surface, which led to a stronger diffusion of Al and Mg elements to the ceramic interface. The presence of the periodic groove structure also changed the fracture path of the joint, ultimately enhancing the strength of the brazed joint by approximately 52.4% when compared to the original joint. Notably, this significant improvement was achieved without the need for surface metallization. In summary, the femtosecond laser processing method significantly improved the strength of the ceramic–metal brazed joint through surface modifications, promoting a more reliable and robust bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silk fibroin is a widely used biocompatible medical material with tunable mechanical, degradability and environmental non-toxicity. This paper prepared the silk fibroin/chitosan hydrogel microneedle with pH sensitivity by blending silk fibroin with chitosan to induce graft cross-linking. The cross-linked silk fibroin/chitosan microneedles network is expanded by hydrogen ions and water molecules, forming a more significant swelling. In vitro, the transdermal drug release showed that insulin loaded in microneedles exhibited pH-sensitive drug release behavior and was released faster under acidic conditions than under neutral conditions. By changing the pH of the solution, microneedles can achieve a stimulating response to the environment, thereby intelligently regulating the transdermal release of insulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron oxide structure has an important impact on the surface quality of steel, and the experimental segmentation and identification of iron oxide structure can provide help for statistical and modeling studies of iron oxide. In this paper, the images of the oxide scale structure were used to establishing a dataset, and a segmentation model was established, which was based on U-net combined with VGG16 and SENet. The results of precision statistics show that the value of PA, commonly used in the evaluation of image segmentation with the optimized U-Net was 91.56%, which was much higher than the values recognized by Deeplab V3 + , FCN-8 s, and original U-Net under the same training conditions. Based on the optimized U-Net identification network, a variety of numerical information was extracted from oxide scale images, such as the thickness range of the iron oxide scale, phase ratio of oxides, and grain size of proeutectoid Fe3O4 formed in FeO. This network can be used to calculate the structural proportion of the deformed oxide scale, further define the relationship between the proportion and its unit size, which would provide sufficient convenience and support in using images of Fe oxide structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper studies the effect of reprocessing, on both dry and wet reprocessing conditions, on the rheological and mechanical properties of a biocomposite made of a bio-based, biodegradable polymer with 40 wt% wood flour. The results show that the viscosity of the matrix decreases as the number of extrusions increases, with the greatest reduction for samples processed under wet conditions. The same behavior was observed for the biocomposite, but since the viscosity of the biocomposite is much higher than that of the matrix, this causes a greater reduction of molecular weight. Mechanical results show that properties such as tensile strength and elongation decrease as the number of extrusions increases for the matrix. In terms of maximum variations, the tensile strength experiences a decrease of approximately 18%, while the elongation at break shows a more significant reduction of about 40%. Conversely, the biocomposite shows an increase in tensile strength (about 30%) and elongation at break (about 90%) after the first extrusion and then a slight decrease, but with values of tensile strength and elongation higher than those of the virgin biocomposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-chromium redox flow battery (ICRFB) is an energy storage battery with commercial application prospects. Compared to the most mature vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) at present, ICRFB is more low-cost and environmentally friendly, which makes it more suitable for large-scale energy storage. However, the traditional electrode material carbon felt (CF) has poor electrochemical activity and hydrogen evolution side reactions, which hinders the application of ICRFB. In this paper, the surface of graphite felt (GF) was modified with pomelo peel powder to prepare biomass-modified graphite felt (Bio-GF). The optimal mass of pomelo peel powder and concentration of sucrose solution and pyrolysis temperature were determined. The surface morphology, elemental composition, hydrophilicity and electrochemical performance of the optimal biomass-modified GF(Bio-GF-O) were characterized. In addition, high performance can be achieved by employing ICRFB assembled with the Bio-GF-O electrode. At a low current density of 40 mA cm−2, the Coulombic efficiency(CE) was 92.34%, the voltage efficiency (VE) was 91.81%, and the energy efficiency (EE) was 84.78%. At the high current density of 120 mA cm−2, the CE increased and up to 96.87%, the VE and EE still have excellent cycle stability. It can be concluded that the use of waste biomass materials to modify GF to improve its electrochemical performance is conducive to the application of ICRFB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen is necessary for plants to grow, but excess nitrogen fertilizer leads to pollution of soil and groundwater, so-called agricultural non-point source pollution. The development of a rapid and precise method for detecting soil nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) is urgently needed in order to provide guidance for fertilization. In this paper, an all-solid-state (ASS) nitrate ion-selective electrode (ISE) based on polyaniline (PANI) was fabricated. The PANI was synthesized using an all-solution method, which enables seamless integration with screen printing and ink-jet printing technologies for efficient large-scale production. The PANI-based sensor exhibited a linear response to NO3−-N ranging from 1 × 10−1–1 × 10–5 M, with a sensitivity of − 58.6 ± 5.2 mV/dec and a detection limit of 1.67 × 10– 6 M. The recovery rate for the detection of NO3−-N in real soil samples ranged from 96 to 104%. The PANI-based ASS-ISE also exhibits exceptional stability, reproducibility, selectivity, and remarkable pH tolerance within the range of 3.5– 10, making it well-suited for detecting various soil samples. Furthermore, the PANI-based sensors can be utilized for rapid detection of multiple elements in soil through substitution of diverse ion-selective membranes, thereby offering a more streamlined and efficient approach to environmental preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ultra-fast humidity sensor is a useful sensing node in medical monitoring and industrial processing units. In this paper, epoxy-carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanocomposites-based humidity sensors at various CNTs concentrations were fabricated by spin coating technique. The structural and morphological properties of the prepared samples were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to characterize the functional groups of the composites. Thin films of the synthesized nanocomposites were deposited onto the surface of interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) and humidity sensing properties were investigated at different working frequencies (0.1–1.5 kHz) in the humidity range 30–90% RH at room temperature. Additionally, response/recovery time and sensitivity of fabricated devices were also measured. The obtained experimental results revealed that CNTs concentration plays a key role in the sensing properties of the current sensors. The optimum CNTs concentration was found to be 1.0 wt % by virtue of its high sensitivity, quick capacitive response/recovery time (14 s/6 s) and resistive response/recovery time (10 s/5 s) as compared to the pristine epoxy and CNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D printing technology, as a flexible and efficient manufacturing method, provides new possibilities for preparing flexible tactile sensors. This paper reviews the preparation results of flexible tactile sensors based on 3D printing technology. Three types of 3D printing technology commonly used in preparing flexible tactile sensors are first described: photopolymerization, material extrusion, and electrohydrodynamic. Under the process corresponding to each type, suitable printing materials are discussed, and their applications in flexible tactile sensors preparation are explored. On this basis, the effects of these three types of processes and printing materials on the performance of flexible tactile sensors and the related application progress are analyzed. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of flexible tactile sensors based on 3D printing technology are summarized, and the future development trend is prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposite permanent magnets have a high theoretical magnetic energy product [(BH)max], but when manufacturing bulk magnets, there are currently no encouraging results, thus new theoretical models are still needed as guidance. In this paper, the anisotropic-shaped soft-magnetic-phase is introduced into the composite model through micromagnetic simulation. The Nd2Fe14B/Fe65Co35 nanocomposites with anisotropic-shaped soft-magnetic-phase can obtain a theoretical (BH)max of 93.9 MGOe, which is 22% higher than the model with cubic soft-magnetic-phase with similar soft-magnetic-phase content. An approximate vortex state coordinated distribution of the anisotropic-shaped soft-magnetic-phases in nanocomposites during the magnetization reversal can make the energy distribution of magnetic interaction more uniform. Thus, the anisotropic-shaped soft-magnetic-phases can delay nucleation during demagnetization, and improve the squareness of the demagnetization curve, and significantly increase the (BH)max. Our simulation results can provide an effective way for nanocomposites to improve their magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analytical models of Single Fiber Transverse Compression Tests (SFTCTs) are commonplace for the identification of a fiber's apparent transverse elastic modulus E T by inverse method. Compression platen misalignment however, has been shown to induce important identification errors due to the change in the platen-fiber contact surface compared to the parallel platen configuration. Nevertheless, methods to minimize this misalignment experimentally are sparse in the literature and no existing analytical models take it into consideration. In this paper the development of such a model is presented, which accounts for the angle around the fiber's pitch axis, named "tilt" angle. The predictions of this analytical model are shown to closely match the results of an equivalent Finite element model. Using force and displacement data resulting from this Finite element analysis, along with fiber's material and geometric properties and the value of the tilt angle, the proposed analytical model produces very low identification errors of E T , independently of the tilt angle. The proposed model can thus be used to reliably identify a fiber's transverse elastic modulus even for SFTCTs where a tilt angle is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing severity of global climate and energy problems has made renewable energy an inevitable choice for achieving a low-carbon society. Hydrogen is regarded as one of the most promising renewable energy due to its excellent characteristics, such as abundant and extensive resources, high calorific value, and non-pollution. How to achieve efficient hydrogen storage is one of the main hot spots of hydrogen energy research. For on-board hydrogen storage systems, which could be used for portable power sources and fuel cell vehicles, how to store hydrogen safely and effectively is one of the most urgent technological bottlenecks to overcome. The solid-state storage based on hydrogen storage materials has the advantages of low hydrogen storage pressure, high energy efficiency, safety and reliability, compared to conventional compressed hydrogen and cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage methods. It may be one of the most promising solutions to solve the above problems. Among the hydrogen storage materials, the lightweight composite hydrides Li–Mg–N–H system holds great promise for vehicular hydrogen storage applications owing to its moderate thermodynamic properties (∆Hdes ~ 44 kJ mol−1 H2 and ∆Sdes ~ 112 J mol−1 H2·K) and relatively high hydrogen capacity (~ 5.6 wt%). However, the Li–Mg–N–H material itself has poor cycling performance and a high energy barrier, resulting in a low dehydrogenation rate and high operating temperature. Apart from this, the multi-field coupling of mass and energy transfer also poses a challenge, hindering its on-board applications. In this paper, we present the modification methods and research status of the Li–Mg–N–H system's hydrogen storage materials. The effects of composition modification, nanocrystallization and catalyst addition on the thermal/kinetic properties of hydrogen storage materials in the Li–Mg–N–H system are expounded. The difficulties and directions for enhancing the hydrogen storage performance of Li–Mg–N–H system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the effect of titanium silicide active filler and the pyrolytic atmosphere (argon and nitrogen) on the ceramic conversion of polycarbosilane. Pyrolysis atmosphere and concentration of titanium silicide active filler was optimized to produce minimum shrinkage polycarbosilane derived ceramic. Detailed investigation on the phase evolution and surface morphology of the titanium silicide incorporated polycarbosilane derived ceramic under different pyrolysis atmospheres were carried out. From the results, it was concluded that 40 wt% titanium silicide loaded PCS system heat treated under nitrogen atmosphere was found to be the best precursor to obtain a minimum shrinkage ceramic phase with better properties. Therefore, this system offers the opportunity to expedite the rapid fabrication process of ceramic matrix composites, create flawless ceramic coatings, and produce bulk ceramic materials free from shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CuZr-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites have attracted great attention in recent years owing to their unique mechanical properties compared to bulk glassy samples. The vital effect of B2 CuZr phase on mechanical properties was previously confirmed in CuZr-based alloys with equiatomic concentrations of copper and zirconium. In this paper, the structures and mechanical properties of the Cu45Zr48Al7 alloy, which has hypereutectoid composition with respect to stoichiometric B2 CuZr phase, were studied. This alloy exhibits high glass-forming ability, but low tendency to form the B2 CuZr phase during solidification. However, we demonstrated that depending on the cooling rate during solidification, governed by sample diameter, either bulk metallic glass or bulk metallic glass matrix composite can be produced. In order to allow partial crystallization of the B2 phase during solidification with the volume fraction allowing to observe the strain hardening effect, the minimum cooling rate should be lower than 40 K/s. The composite consisting of a glassy outer layer and a crystalline core composed of the B2 phase exhibits fracture strength of the same level as the bulk glassy sample (above 1800 MPa) obvious work-hardening with a plastic deformation of about 6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studied the effects of basalt fibers (BF), polypropylene fibers (PF), end-hooked steel fibers (HSF), and wavy steel fibers (WSF) on the durability (impermeability and frost resistance) and mechanical properties (compressive, flexural, uniaxial tensile, and splitting tensile strength) of concrete based on the original mix proportion (water-binder ratio of 0.41). The results demonstrate that 0.5% of HSF has the best impact on enhancing concrete's compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strength, with improvements of 10.88%, 21.02%, and 16.76%, compared to the control group. Meanwhile, 0.2% of BF has the best impact on improving the uniaxial tensile strength of concrete, with an improvement value of 18.91%. For concrete impermeability and frost resistance, 0.1% and 0.2% BF were the optimal fiber and content. However, PF was not very effective in improving the durability and mechanical property of concrete. Considering the scope of the investigated fiber content, the mechanical properties of concrete declined as fiber content rose. Still, the uniaxial and splitting tensile strengths improved as BF content rose. As the content of fiber in concrete increased, its impermeability weakened, and its ability to frost resistance improved. The above conclusions are highly significant for selecting fiber concrete types in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional approach to achieve desired effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of porous thermal interface materials (TIM) is processing-microstructure-properties forward analysis, which contains various trial-and-error cycles and is hence inefficient for materials development. Establishing the linkage from ETC to microstructure is essential; however, the recently developed methods including microstructure characterization and reconstruction are suffering from limited accuracy and computational efficiency. To address these problem, in this paper, generative artificial intelligence (AI) model was first implemented to design microstructure of porous TIM with desired ETC. Here, we introduced a representative porous TIM, sintered silver, and a typical kind of generative AI model, conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN), as an example for illustration. The CGAN model can efficiently generate sharp and crisp microstructures of sintered Ag with excellent morphology realism. Besides visual inspection, the ETC values of generated microstructures were evaluated by convolution neural network (CNN) model. It was found that the CGAN model also exhibits satisfactory performance in physical meaning, since the determination coefficient R2 between target ETC and CNN predicted ETC values is 0.985. These results confirm the effectiveness of generative AI model capable of synthesizing microstructure of porous TIM with desired ETC, and not limited to porous TIM, the approaches present here can also be generalized and applicable to design microstructure of other porous media and composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-dimensional (2D) transition metal thiophosphates family CdPS3 and CdPSe3 are supposed to explore pressure-relevant structural and electronic behaviors as support to build 2D spintronic devices. The pressure-induced phase transition and electronic properties of CdPX3 are investigated up to 40 GPa using first-principles calculation. CdPS3 undergoes reversible phase transitions at around 1.5 GPa and 25 GPa from C2/m structure to structure and then to P 3 ¯ 1 m structure, while the reversible phase transitions of CdPSe3 are found at approximately 13 GPa from R 3 ¯ structure to P 3 ¯ 1 m structure, reflected in the lattice constant mutation and cell volume collapse. The computed metallization transition is found at about 25 GPa and 13 GPa owing to energy band closure for CdPS3 and CdPSe3, respectively. As anisotropy increases with pressure, the enhanced metallic property is accompanied by the inter- and intra-layer sliding atom pairs induced by phase transition. The paper is conducive to considering the phase transition and metallization of CdPX3-type family under extreme conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Materials Science has released a special issue dedicated to lightweight materials in China. This issue features 21 papers covering a range of topics, including the design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of lightweight materials. The papers explore various materials such as aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, titanium alloys, and composites. The quest for lightweight materials is driven by the need for energy efficiency, sustainability, and improved performance in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and construction. The journal hopes that this special issue will inspire and inform researchers and engineers in the field of lightweight materials. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, more attention to unique and complex structures, such as nature-inspired and porous structures for medical applications, has been strongly developed. Open-cell porous metal-based ones display more benefits than rigid ones since they facilitate the transformation of load between the bone and the implants and avoid the phenomenon of stress shielding and bone resorption. By being biodegradable and non-toxic, as well as having lower density and mechanical properties close to those of natural bone, Mg and its alloys are considered promising materials for porous scaffolds. However, a high corrosion rate is the main drawback of Mg alloys. The porosity of porous structures can also worsen it as it enhances the surface area exposed to the corrosive solution and negatively impacts the performance of porous structures, that these issues have not been addressed in detail so far. Since fabrication methods of Mg-based scaffolds can significantly affect the porosity-related properties (e.g., porosity percentage, type, size, and geometry) and, consequently, scaffolds' mechanical behavior and corrosion resistance, this paper reviews and compares the fabrication methods of porous structures and how they affect the resultant properties. However, among different methods, due to the expansion of additive manufacturing as a novel and exciting manufacturing technique, the paper's central focus is on using additive manufacturing in biomedical applications, discussing its advantages over other techniques. The effect of geometrical parameters on mechanical properties and corrosion rate, which strongly affects bio-application, are also given. Moreover, different strategies are briefly introduced for tailoring the high corrosion rate of Mg and its alloys, such as alloying elements and coatings. However, there is still less information regarding the additive manufacturing of porous Mg scaffolds and the optimum way of controlling the corrosion rate of Mg-based parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the plastic manufacture developed plastic from many years due to the extensive utilization of the plastics in various sectors. The constant interest of the use of plastic creates huge plastic wastes which need a proper solution to dispose the plastic wastes which indirectly or directly participate to the environment problems. Taking into the account sustainability and eco-friendly aspects, there has been an increase in the importance in the utilization of the plastic wastes in the construction industries. Many researchers are focused on the use of polymer-modified bitumen since from decades. Earlier, mixing of virgin polymer was added in bitumen to enhance its properties for road construction in addition to a high temperature was considered but adding recycled polymer in bitumen almost possesses similar improved results for the performance of the pavement with respect to pure polymers. This paper is state of art about the application of polymers in bitumen pavement. In this review paper, a significant study on the benefits and history of utilizing pure and waste polymer in bitumen is conferred by survey of application of polymer in bitumen to enhance the characteristics of bitumen pavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D printing technology is gaining widespread attention due to its powerful flexibility in material components and structure to design. In this paper, graphene (GR) and Mn–Zn ferrite (MZF) were filled into polylactic acid (PLA) as reinforcement. The GR-MZF/PLA composite wires were prepared by ball-mill mixing and melt extrusion method. Finally, the GR-MZF/PLA composites were prepared by fused deposition molding using the composite wires. The effects of the graphene content on the mechanical properties and wave absorption properties of the composites were investigated. With the increase in graphene content, the microwave absorption properties of the composites first enhance and then decrease. When the GR content is 4 wt.%, GR-MZF/PLA composite exhibits excellent microwave absorption performance. At the material thickness of 2.5 mm, the maximum reflection loss is −24.3 dB and the absorption bandwidth is 5.12 GHz, and good mechanical property is achieved with a tensile strength of 34.4 MPa. The results show that the GR-MZF/PLA composites prepared by the method described in this paper have good microwave absorption properties and load-bearing capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique and intriguing colorimetric transition of polydiacetylene (PDA) from blue to red color when exposed to different external stimuli makes it a perfect candidate for various bio-sensing applications. In this study, in an effort to tune the PDA phase behavior, a PDA derivative 10, 12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) mixed with a cholesterol derivative Cholestane-3β,5α,6β-triol (Chol) have been investigated employing Langmuir–Blodgett technique. Pressure-Area isotherm, excess area analysis, Gibb's free energy as well as compressibility analysis indicate that incorporation of cholesterol largely influences the thermodynamic behavior of PCDA in the mixed film and hence, the PCDA phase transition. Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) and absorption spectroscopic studies also confirmed this. It has been observed that in most of the cases repulsive interaction occurred among the binary component in the PCDA-Chol mixed Langmuir film. Upon UV exposure, both blue and red phases co-exist in case of pure PCDA film. However, all PCDA converted into red phase at 45 ℃. On the other hand, in case of PCDA-Chol mixed film both blue and red phase co-existed upon UV exposure except 0.6 molar ratio of PCDA. Interestingly, here all PCDA molecule could be converted into red phase upon UV exposure. PCDA-Chol mixed system only at this mole fraction (0.6) is found to detect the presence of a pathogenic bacteria through blue to red color change visible under naked eye. Based on this, a paper-based low cost colorimetric bacteria sensor has been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipases are widely used in industry. Free lipases are difficult to recover and have poor stability under operational conditions. Herein, lipases are immobilized onto the methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS)-modified ceramic membranes (~ 5 nm) with reverse filtration method, and further cross-linking by glutaraldehyde (GA) is used to improve the lipase stability. FTIR and XPS analyses demonstrate the successful immobilization of lipase. The immobilized lipases are used to hydrolyze glycerol triacetate (GT) to fatty acids and glycerol. Under the optimal immobilization conditions (MTMS concentration 0.1 M, lipase immobilization time 80 min, lipase concentration 3 mg/mL, and GA concentration 2%), the loading of lipases reaches 0.24 mg/g. Under the optimal operational conditions (temperature 45 °C, pH 7, pressure 0.2 MPa, GT concentration 0.05 M), the immobilized lipases have the highest catalytic activity of 25 U/mg. Moreover, the thermal and pH stabilities of immobilized lipases are found to be higher than those of the free lipases. In the long-term runs, the immobilized lipases still have 64% of the initial activity after 7 cycles, indicating good reusability. This paper provides a simple process for immobilizing lipase on ceramic membranes. The immobilized lipases have better stability at high temperature and basic environments (pH 7–9), which would have broad applications in lipase-catalyzed reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) has been widely used in concrete products, tunnels, bridges and water conservancy projects due to its excellent characteristics. With the rapid development of the construction industry and the depletion of high-quality raw materials for concrete, sand and gravel containing clay have been used in concrete, which reduces the properties of PCEs. Recent studies have found that many PCEs structures without PEG/PPG or polyamine side chains have been developed due to the influence of montmorillonite (MMT) in clay on the fluidity of concrete. However, the influence mechanism of clay minerals in concrete on PCEs and the improvement methods are not summarized, and this paper has systematically overviewed this aspect. Firstly, HPEG-PCEs and APEG-PCEs in the PCEs market have superior cost effectiveness for concrete, while specific efficient PCEs such as zwitterion PCEs are suitable for calcination of clay cement mixtures to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Secondly, the chemical adsorption of clay to PCEs in concrete leads to a sharp decline in concrete fluidity, in which montmorillonite has the greatest effect, followed by illite and kaolin. Finally, methods such as modifying clay, increasing or reducing the steric resistance of PCEs, introducing special functional groups and adding sacrificial agents are discussed to improve the fluidity of concrete containing clay by changing the structure of clay layers and PCEs, thus saving the construction cost caused by the amount of raw materials and PCEs. In addition, the efficient application and future research of clay minerals and PCEs are also prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For supercapacitor electrodes, carbon is one of the most sought materials. Many synthetic strategies have been reported for carbon materials with a wide range of features in terms of surface area, porosity, the extent of the disorder, and the presence of various doping elements. Though there are many reports on the independent impact of these properties on supercapacitive outcomes of carbon materials, the collective effect of these features on the supercapacitive behavior is still not well understood. Therefore, it is imperative to explore new methods to predict the supercapacitive performance of carbon material without attempting experimentation. In this regard, this work reports on the comparative efficacy of five machine-learning (ML) techniques for estimating the capacitance of carbon-based supercapacitors, including Linear Regression, Lasso Regression, XGBoost, Random Forest Regressor, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). We gathered data from various research papers and articles to prepare the dataset, followed by Data Cleaning and Feature Selection to select the best parameters for training our Machine Learning model. Additionally, five factors were chosen to determine their effects on capacitance: voltage window, specific surface area (m2/g), pore size (nm), ID/IG ratio, and extent of N-doping. Out of five ML approaches, XGBoost, Random Forest Regressor, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) produced respectable prediction results when tested against actual data. More significantly, this project demonstrates the promise of Machine-Learning in selecting suitable materials for energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating carrier drug therapy with recent advances in liver tissue regeneration, this paper proposes a novel nanomedicine-based approach to drug delivery, with the aim of enhancing the regenerative capacity of hepatocytes and improving liver function after partial hepatectomy. The proposed decellularized liver matrix provides excellent biocompatibility and similarity to natural liver components, while the molecules encapsulated in the carrier (tannic acid) promote liver regeneration. In in vitro cultures, the 0.001 mg/mL TA-mPEG-DLM group consistently outperformed the blank group in terms of albumin synthesis: Day 1 (11.1 ± 2.4 vs. 8.2 ± 0.7), Day 3 (5.8 ± 1.3 vs. 4.2 ± 0.4), and Day 5 (1.6 ± 0.3 vs. 1.2 ± 0.2) (μg/100% proliferation rate/well/day). In a liver-injured in vivo model, the 0.5 mg/mL TA-mPEG-DLM group outperformed the blank group in terms of relative liver weight: Day 3 (3.50 ± 0.09% vs. 3.22 ± 0.03%) and Day 7 (4.13 ± 0.21% vs. 3.72 ± 0.06%). Furthermore, the TA-mPEG-DLM group outperformed the blank group in terms of Ki-67 expression in hepatocytes on Day 7 (192.7 ± 34.1% vs. 150.4 ± 11.6%). Taken together, these findings indicate that the proposed drug delivery strategy is a promising approach to liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy with potential for clinical translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progress of materials has never stopped, and the joining process of dissimilar materials is still a serious challenge. Vacuum brazing technology is a joining process developed in the 1940s and still meets the challenges of advanced dissimilar material joining. The choice of filler metal directly determines the performance of the brazing joint. Titanium-based filler metal is widely used because of its excellent properties. Titanium-based fillers of different compositions and contents are used to address various joining challenges and facilitate material advancements. In recent decades, dozens of types of titanium-based fillers have been developed, mainly focusing on the continuous optimization of the element types and composition content in the fillers. This paper reviews the development of titanium-based filler metal in recent years. The unique roles of common Ti, Zr, Co, Be, Mo, V, Nb, RE, and other elements in the components of titanium-based filler metal are summarized. The melting point of the filler metal with different element combinations and different content combinations and the mechanical strength of the experimental joints were compared. In addition, the characteristics, classification, and production methods of titanium-based filler metal are introduced, and the main application fields and brazing materials of titanium-based filler metal are discussed. Finally, the future development and challenges of titanium-based filler metal are proposed, and the prospect is made in order to provide reference for the future research on dissimilar material connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnéli phases TinO2n − 1 are a series of sub-stoichiometric titanium oxides with a unique crystal structure, and Ti4O7 possesses the highest electronic conductivity while being able to maintain excellent chemical inertness in various corrosive environments, which is a required property for electrode materials in electrochemical systems. Therefore, Ti4O7 has become one of the major substitutes for carbon materials such as graphite and shows superior catalytic activity for electrode reactions and electrochemical stability in diverse batteries and electrochemical degradation systems, following the trend of carbon-free electrodes and costing less than the advanced electrodes such as boron-doped diamond. It has been demonstrated that Ti4O7 has great potential in the electrochemistry fields, especially as an electrode carrier. In this paper, we review the research progress of Ti4O7 as an electrode material in fuel cells, lithium-oxygen batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-ion batteries, wastewater treatment, etc., including advanced fabrication technology, theoretical research, and application performance. Meanwhile, the current problems and future research directions of Ti4O7 are also pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement of water molecules at the atomic scale within the calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) gel pores serves a dual role: it creates an environment for harmful chemical reactions within the pores and functions as a carrier for the transport of detrimental ions, thereby affects the mechanical properties and durability of cementitious materials. However, direct experimental observation poses substantial challenges. This study offers new insights into how temperature (253 K, 273 K, 293 K, and 313 K) affects the capillary transport of water molecules in epoxy-modified C–S–H. The findings demonstrate that the pore size undergoes continuous changes during immersion due to epoxy clustering or detachment, resulting in three scenarios: narrowing of epoxy/C–S–H channels (253 K, 273 K), channel blockage (293 K), and complete detachment (313 K). Moreover, the interactions between water molecules and epoxy lead to epoxy detachment or cluster formation on the C–S–H surface. As the temperature increases, the interaction between C–S–H and cross-linked epoxy resin weakens. The coordination between C–S–H and epoxy resin decreases, while the coordination with water increases. This paper provides valuable insights into the transport behavior of liquids within the epoxy-modified C–S–H pores of cement-based materials. It contributes to a better understanding of how liquids move and interact within the modified pore structure, which is beneficial for enhancing the performance and properties of cement-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a typical electrochromic process of tungsten trioxide (WO3), the mismatch in conductive properties between electrons and ions tends to decrease the coloration efficiency and the cyclic stability. Recent studies lay emphasize on improving ionic kinetics, but few reports have focused on the control of electron injection to achieve charge balance for the electrochromic process. Therefore, a novel strategy is proposed in this paper, which is to insert polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as an interlayer between WO3 and FTO substrate for interface modification. Through the modulation of its structure and morphology, WO3 grown on PVDF is found to have better capacity of ionic diffusion. Furthermore, electrical measurements indicate that the electron current can be effectively controlled by adjusting the PVDF film thickness. The adoption of PVDF interlayer can jointly achieve the improvement in ion dynamics and the control of electron injection. Compared with the pure WO3 film, the WO3/PVDF hybrid structure boosts the coloration efficiency from 34.9 to 75.7 cm2C−1, and the degradation in optical modulation after 1000 cycles is only 2.3%. This strategy based on a facile interface modification enriches the methodology of promoting electrochromic performance of WO3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of the materials are determined by the size and morphology of fine microscopic features. Quantitative microstructural analysis is a key factor to establish the correlation between the mechanical properties and the thermomechanical treatment under which material condition has been achieved. As such, microstructural analysis is a very important and complex task within the manufacturing sector. Published standards are used for metallographic analysis but typically involve extensive manual interpretation of grain boundaries, resulting in measurements that are slow to produce, difficult to repeat and highly subjective. Computer vision and the evolution of artificial intelligence in the past decade can offer solutions to such problems. Deep learning and digital image processing techniques allow digital microstructural analysis to be automated using a fast and repeatable method. This paper proposes a novel boundary class semantic segmentation approach (BCSS) to identify each phase of the microstructure and additionally estimate the location of the grain boundaries. The BCSS is then combined with more traditional segmentation techniques based on the Watershed Transform to improve the identification and measurement of each feature within the microstructure using a new, hybrid automated digital microstructure analysis approach. The new method is validated on a published dataset of two-phase titanium alloy microstructure pictures captured using a scanning electron microscope. Measurements match the level of accuracy of accepted manual standards, and the method is demonstrated to be more reliable than other automated approaches. The influence of the subjective nature of manual labelling, required to train the proposed network, is also evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]