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Manipulation of confined water dynamics by voltage keeps great importance for diverse applications. However, limitations on the membrane functions, voltage-control range, and unclear dynamics need to be addressed. Herein, we report an anomalous electrically controlled gating phenomenon on cation-intercalated multi-layer Ti3C2 membranes and reveal the confined water dynamics. The water permeation rate was improved rapidly following the application and rise of voltage and finally reached a maximum rate at 0.9 V. The permeation rate starts to decrease from 0.9 V. Below 0.9 V, the electric field affects the charge and polarity of water molecules and then leads to ordered and denser rearrangement in the two-dimensional (2D) channel to accelerate the permeation rate. Above 0.9 V, with the assistance of metal cations, the surge in current induced aggregation of water molecules into clusters, thereby limiting the water mobility. Based on these findings, a high-performance humidity sensor was developed by simultaneously optimizing the response and recovery speeds through electric manipulation. This work provides flexible strategies in intelligent membrane design and nanofluidic sensing. Nanoconfined water has unique properties, often leading to the discovery of unexpected phenomena, which play key roles in applications such as sensing, filtration, and catalysis. Here authors report electrically controlled gating in cation (K+/Li+) intercalated multilayer Ti3C2 and describe anomalous water dynamics in electrical angstrom-scale channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal nitrides and carbides (MXenes), represented by Ti3C2Tx, have broad applications in flexible electronics, electromechanical devices, and structural membranes due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Despite the Young's modulus of 2D Ti3C2Tx has been theoretically predicted to be 0.502 TPa, which has not been experimentally confirmed so far due to the measurement is extremely restricted. Here, by optimizing the sample preparation, cutting, and transfer protocols, we perform the direct in-situ tensile tests on monolayer Ti3C2Tx nanosheets using nanomechanical push-to-pull equipment under a scanning electron microscope. The effective Young's modulus is 0.484 ± 0.013 TPa, which is much closer to the theoretical value of 0.502 TPa than the previously reported 0.33 TPa by the disputed nanoindentation method, and the measured elastic stiffness is ~948 N/m. Moreover, during the process of tensile loading, the monolayer Ti3C2Tx shows an average elastic strain of ~3.2% and a tensile strength as large as ~15.4 GPa. This work corrects the previous reports by nanoindentation method and demonstrates that the Ti3C2Tx indeed keeps immense potential for broad range of applications. The Young's modulus of the MXene Ti3C2Tx, theoretically predicted to be 0.502 TPa, has not yet been experimentally confirmed. This work supplants previous reports using nanoindentation with the correctly measured Young's modulus of 0.484 ± 0.013 TPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the fracture life of steam turbine HP-IP rotors more accurately, an understanding of the creep damage effect on creep cracking performance of service-exposed rotor steel, and a proper creep crack growth (CCG) model considering the creep damage effect, is essential. In the present work comparative CCG tests were carried out on virgin and rotor steel that had been in service for 16 years, to examine the differences in creep crack microstructure and CCG rate between these two specimen types. Test results showed that the CCG rate of service-exposed steel is accelerated by creep damage due to metallurgical deterioration. Based on the CCG model derived by Webster, an improved CCG model is proposed by replacing the constant exponent with a creep-damage-related variable. To validate the improved model, a comparison of da/dt vs. C* between experiment data and the CCG models was conducted. The predictive result of the improved model is in better agreement with the experiment results than the classical CCG and Webster models for the service-exposed rotor steel. With decrement of C* value within the improved CCG model, the remaining life of HP-IP rotors may be predicted more accurately.

Developing in situ/operando spectroscopic techniques with high sensitivity and reproducibility is of great importance for mechanistic investigations of surface-mediated electrochemical reactions. Herein, we report the fabrication of highly ordered rhombic gold nanocube superlattices (GNSs) as substrates for surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) with significantly enhanced SEIRA effect, which can be controlled by manipulating the randomness of GNSs. Finite difference time domain simulations reveal that the electromagnetic effect accounts for the significantly improved spectroscopic vibrations on the GNSs. In situ SEIRAS results show that the vibrations of CO on the Cu2O surfaces have been enhanced by 2.4 ± 0.5 and 18.0 ± 1.3 times using GNSs as substrates compared to those on traditional chemically deposited gold films in acidic and neutral electrolytes, respectively. Combined with isotopic labeling experiments, the reaction mechanisms for C-C coupling of CO electroreduction on Cu-based catalysts are revealed using the GNSs substrates. Developing operando spectroscopic techniques with high sensitivity and reproducibility is of great importance for mechanistic investigations of surface-mediated electrochemical reactions. Here the authors study reaction mechanism of CO electroreduction using highly ordered gold superlattices as substrate for surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]