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In this paper, vanadium nitride (VN) thin films have been deposited on Al substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. Thermochromic VO2 films have been obtained by air oxidation of VN samples performed at three temperatures (450, 525 and 550 °C) at various durations (lower than 50 min). X-ray diffraction and Raman spectrometry of the VN oxidized films indicate that VO2 and V2O5 are the only phases produced during the oxidation process. Vanadium dioxide is the first oxide formed. It coexists with VN in a long period at 450 °C or suddenly disappears at 525 and 550 °C. Whatever the temperature, V2O5 is exclusively detected after the total oxidation of VN. This oxide is detrimental to the thermochromic performance of films. The emissivity-switching properties of the oxidized films were analyzed by infrared camera in the 7.5–13 μm range. The comparison among all the samples exhibiting a thermochromic behavior shows that the maximum emissivity switch is independent of the oxidation temperature and the surface morphology of the samples. These results could open a new strategy in the investigation of VN oxidation as a method to obtain VO2, along with an insight into the correlation between surface morphology and optical properties.

This paper demonstrates the possibility of producing a lamellar ceramic nanocomposite at the top-most surface of oxide coatings grown with the Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation process (PEO). PEO was conducted on aluminium in a silicate-rich electrolyte under the so-called “soft” regime. Nanoscale characterisation showed that the transition from the “arcs” to the “soft” regime was concomitant with the gradual formation of a 1:1 mullite/alumina lamellar nanocomposite (≈120 nm thick) that filled the cavity of the PEO “pancake” structure. Combined with plasma diagnostic techniques, a three-step growth mechanism was proposed: (i) local melting of alumina under the PEO micro-discharges (≈3200 K at high heating rate ≈3 × 108 K·s−1); (ii) progressive silicon enrichment of the melt coming from the electrolyte; and (iii) quenching of the melt at a cooling rate of ≈3.3 × 107 K·s−1 as the micro-discharge extinguishes. Under such severe cooling conditions, the solidification process was non-equilibrium as predicted by the metastable SiO2 – Al2O3 binary phase diagram. This resulted in phase separation where pure alumina lamellae alternate periodically with 1:1 mullite lamellae. Keywords: Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO), Micro-arcs oxidation (MAO), Aluminium, Mullite, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Optical emission spectroscopy (OES)

In this work, an innovative route to synthesize an anatase TiO 2 @C composite is presented. The synthesis was conducted using a soft chemistry microwave-assisted method using titanium(IV) butoxide as a titanium precursor. The residual (un)converted titanium precursor remaining after TiO 2 synthesis was used as a carbon precursor and thermally treated under H 2 to obtain nanoparticles of the TiO 2 @C composite. A superior reversible specific capacity was obtained with TiO 2 @C (120 mA h g -1 at a C/20 rate, 3 rd cycle) compared to that with pristine TiO 2 (66.5 mA h g -1 at a C/20 rate, 3 rd cycle), in agreement with the importance of carbon coating addition to TiO 2 nanoparticles as negative electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries.

Control of the optical properties of a nanoparticle (NP) through its structural changes underlies optical data processing, dynamic coloring, and smart sensing at the nanometer scale. Here, we report on the concept of controlling the light scattering by a NP through mixing of weakly miscible chemical elements (Fe and Au), supporting a thermal-induced phase transformation. The transformation corresponds to the transition from a homogeneous metastable solid solution phase of the (Fe,Au) NP towards an equilibrium biphasic Janus-type NP. We demonstrate that the phase transformation is thermally activated by laser heating up to a threshold of 800 °C (for NPs with a size of hundreds of nm), leading to the associated changes in the light scattering and color of the NP. The results thereby pave the way for the implementation of optical sensors triggered by a high temperature at the nanometer scale via NPs based on metal alloys.

Green and digital transitions will induce tremendous demand for metals and semiconductors. This raises concerns about the availability of materials in the rather near future. Addressing this challenge requires an unprecedented effort to discover new materials that are more sustainable and also to expand their functionalities beyond conventional material limits. From this point of view, complex systems combining semiconductor and magnetic properties in a single material lay the foundations for future nanoelectronics devices. Through a combination of out-of-stable equilibrium processes, we achieved fine control over the crystallisation of non-stoichiometric MnSi x ( x = 0.92). The Curie temperature shows non-monotonous evolution with crystallisation. At the earliest and final stages, the Curie temperature is comparable with stoichiometric MnSi ( T C = 30 K). At the intermediate stage, while the material is crystalline and remains non-stoichiometric, a remarkable fivefold increase in Curie temperature ( T C = 150 K) is observed. This finding highlights the potential for controlling the metastability of materials as a promising and relatively unexplored pathway to enhance material properties, without relying on critical materials such as rare earth elements.

Sexual breeding at the tetraploid level is a promising strategy for rootstock breeding in citrus. Due to the interspecific origin of most of the conventional diploid citrus rootstocks that produced the tetraploid germplasm, the optimization of this strategy requires better knowledge of the meiotic behavior of the tetraploid parents. This work used Genotyping By Sequencing (GBS) data from 103 tetraploid hybrids to study the meiotic behavior and generate a high-density recombination landscape for their tetraploid intergenic Swingle citrumelo and interspecific Volkamer lemon progenitors. A genetic association study was performed with root architecture traits. For citrumelo, high preferential chromosome pairing was revealed and led to an intermediate inheritance with a disomic tendency. Meiosis in Volkamer lemon was more complex than that of citrumelo, with mixed segregation patterns from disomy to tetrasomy. The preferential pairing resulted in low interspecific recombination levels and high interspecific heterozygosity transmission by the diploid gametes. This meiotic behavior affected the efficiency of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) detection. Nevertheless, it enabled a high transmission of disease and pest resistance candidate genes from P. trifoliata that are heterozygous in the citrumelo progenitor. The tetrazyg strategy, using doubled diploids of interspecific origin as parents, appears to be efficient in transferring the dominant traits selected at the parental level to the tetraploid progenies.

A joint experimental and theoretical study is presented to reveal the influence of nitrogen doping on the optical and electrical properties of NiO thin films. Nitrogen addition can significantly enhance the subgap absorption. The molecular state of nitrogen (N 2 ) has been identified in these doped thin films by electron energy loss spectroscopy., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Reduction of the wavelength in on-chip light circuitry is critically important not only for the sake of keeping up with Moore's law for photonics but also for reaching toward the spectral ranges of operation of emerging materials, such as atomically thin semiconductors, vacancy-based single-photon emitters, and quantum dots. This requires efficient and tunable light sources as well as compatible waveguide networks. For the first challenge, halide perovskites are prospective materials that enable cost-efficient fabrication of micro- and nanolasers. On the other hand, III-V semiconductor nanowires are optimal for guiding of visible light as they exhibit a high refractive index as well as excellent shape and crystalline quality beneficial for strong light confinement and long-range waveguiding. Here, we develop an integrated platform for visible light that comprises gallium phosphide (GaP) nanowires directly embedded into compact CsPbBr 3 -based light sources. In our devices, perovskite microcrystals support stable room-temperature lasing and broadband chemical tuning of the emission wavelength in the range of 530-680 nm, whereas GaP nanowaveguides support efficient outcoupling of light, its subwavelength (<200 nm) confinement, and long-range guiding over distances more than 20 μm. As a highlight of our approach, we demonstrate sequential transfer and conversion of light using an intermediate perovskite nanoparticle in a chain of GaP nanowaveguides.

Plasmonic nanosponges are a powerful platform for various nanophotonic applications owing to extremely high local field enhancement in metallic nanopores. The filling of the nanopores with high-refractive index semiconductors (e.g. Si, Ge, GaP, etc.) opens up opportunities for the enhancement of nonlinear effects in these materials. However, this task remains challenging due to the lack of knowledge on the integration process of metal and high-index semiconductor components in such nanoobjects. Here, we investigate metal-dielectric nanoparticles fabricated from bilayer Si/Au films by the laser printing technique via a combination of theoretical and experimental methods. We reveal that these hybrid nanoparticles represent the Au sponge-like nanostructure filled with Si nanocrystallites. We also demonstrate that the Au net provides strong near-field enhancement in the Si grains increasing the white light photoluminescence in the hybrid nanostructures compared to uniform Si nanoparticles. These results pave the way for engineering the internal structure of the sponge-like hybrid nanoparticles possessing white light luminescence and control of their optical properties on demand.

In this work, we report the self-assembled growth of vertically aligned columnar Cu 2 O + Cu 4 O 3 nanocomposite thin films on glass and silicon substrates by reactive sputtering at room temperature. Microstructure analyses show that each phase in nanocomposite films has the columnar growth along the whole thickness, while each column exhibits the single phase characteristics. The local epitaxial growth behavior of Cu 2 O is thought to be responsible for such an unusual microstructure. The intermediate oxygen flow rate between those required to synthesize single phase Cu 2 O and Cu 4 O 3 films produces some Cu 2 O nuclei, and then the local epitaxial growth provides a strong driving force to promote Cu 2 O nuclei to grow sequentially, giving rise to Cu 2 O columns along the whole thickness. Lower resistivity has been observed in such kind of nanocomposite thin films than that in single phase thin films, which may be due to the interface coupling between Cu 2 O and Cu 4 O 3 columns.

Background: It is now universally acknowledged that climate change constitutes a major threat to human health. At the same time, some of the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so-called climate change mitigation measures, have significant health co-benefits (e.g., walking or cycling more; eating less meat). The goal of limiting global warming to 1,5° Celsius set by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015 can only be reached if all stakeholders, including households, take actions to mitigate climate change. Results on whether framing mitigation measures in terms of their health co-benefits increases the likelihood of their implementation are inconsistent. The present study protocol describes the transdisciplinary project HOPE (HOuseholds' Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in four European high-income countries) that investigates the role of health co-benefits in households' decision making on climate change mitigation measures in urban households in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden., Methods: HOPE employs a mixed-methods approach combining status-quo carbon footprint assessments, simulations of the reduction of households' carbon footprints, and qualitative in-depth interviews with a subgroup of households. Furthermore, a policy analysis of current household oriented climate policies is conducted. In the simulation of the reduction of households' carbon footprints, half of the households are provided with information on health co-benefits of climate change mitigation measures, the other half is not. Households' willingness to implement the measures is assessed and compared in between-group analyses of variance., Discussion: This is one of the first comprehensive mixed-methods approaches to investigate which mitigation measures households are most willing to implement in order to reach the 1,5° target set by the Paris Agreement, and whether health co-benefits can serve as a motivator for households to implement these measures. The comparison of the empirical data with current climate policies will provide knowledge for tailoring effective climate change mitigation and health policies.

Platinum is the most versatile element in catalysis, but it is rare and its high price limits large-scale applications, for example in fuel-cell technology. Still, conventional catalysts use only a small fraction of the Pt content, that is, those atoms located at the catalyst's surface. To maximize the noble-metal efficiency, the precious metal should be atomically dispersed and exclusively located within the outermost surface layer of the material. Such atomically dispersed Pt surface species can indeed be prepared with exceptionally high stability. Using DFT calculations we identify a specific structural element, a ceria "nanopocket", which binds Pt(2+) so strongly that it withstands sintering and bulk diffusion. On model catalysts we experimentally confirm the theoretically predicted stability, and on real Pt-CeO2 nanocomposites showing high Pt efficiency in fuel-cell catalysis we also identify these anchoring sites., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

By comparing the evolution of chrysotile and amosite fibres in rat lungs, more rapid clearance was found in the case of chrysotile. The rate of chrysotile clearance is strongly influenced by the size factor. The two varieties of asbestos also differ in their chemical behaviour in the lung. The evolution of chrysotile fibers in vivo is characterized by progressive decrease in magnesium content, while silicium retained in the fibre skeleton is practically not eliminated. Transport of fibers from the lungs to the lymph-nodes, the parietal pleura and the diaphragm also differs with the two asbestos varieties. From fibre counts with the electron microscope, chrysotile was more rapidly eliminated from the lungs than amosite. The concentration is higher with amosite in the lymph-nodes, and with chrysotile in the diaphragm. This last result confirms observations made on human lungs.

The toxic effect of two forms of sand on the lung was investigated by tracheal injection in Rats. After a latent period with low toxicity, more and more extensive pulmonary lesions, comparable to typical silicotic lesions, appear progressively. On the basis of some observations, the hypothesis is put forward that the impurities present in the dust have a retardative effect.