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One of the primary hurdles in microdevice fabrication lies in ascertaining the most impactful tactics for adapting metal surfaces. Through a one-pot tackle and distinct mechanochemical reactions evoked by 15 min aqueous wet sand-milling (SM-15), we successfully grafted Mo-based metal–organic frameworks (Mo-MOFs) onto graphene oxides (GOs). Following this, a convenient and readily scalable methodology of electrophoretic deposition was implemented to create controllable thickness of SM-15 GOs@Mo-MOFs lubricating films, achieving considerable enhancements of 143% and 91% in hardness and Young's modulus, respectively, when compared to those of SM-15 Mo-MOFs. The successful synthesis of SM-15 GOs@Mo-MOFs was corroborated using strategies such as x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Analyses using the micro-tribotester indicated that the new film exhibited a lowest friction coefficient of roughly 0.5 when imposed with a load of 5 N and sliding speed of 8 mm/s. In addition, the optical profiler nano-indentation in situ scanning probe microscope revealed that SM-15 GOs@Mo-MOFs films had smaller and shallower scratches and grooves compared to SM-15 Mo-MOFs ones. The calculated results of key descriptors (EHOMO, ELUMO, ΔE, etc.) in density functional theory quantitatively disclosed the interaction mechanisms between GOs@Mo-MOFs molecules and microdevices. We first scrutinized the innate properties of molecule adsorption energy and frictional mechanical behaviors using synergetic cross-scale simulations, such as Monte Carlo and finite element methods. The expectation was that this process would motivate a valuable technique for shielding in the thriving micromanufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-state nanopores offer a range of distinct advantages over biological nanopores, such as structural diversity and greater stability and durability; this makes them highly promising for high-resolution nanoparticle sensing. Biological nanopores can exhibit gating characteristics with stress-responsive switches and can demonstrate specificity toward particular molecules. Drawing inspiration from biological nanopores, this paper introduces a novel polymer nanopore with field-effect characteristics, leveraging a conductive polymer in its construction to showcase intriguing gating behavior. Notably, in this device, the polymer layer serves as the gate, enabling precise control over the source–drain current response inside and outside the pore by simply adjusting the gate voltage. This unique feature allows fine-tuning of the nanopore's sensitivity to nanoparticles of varying sizes and facilitates its operation in multiple modes. Experimental results reveal that the developed polymer nanopore field-effect transistor demonstrates remarkable selectivity in detecting nanoparticles of various sizes under different applied voltages. The proposed single device demonstrates the exceptional ability to detect multiple types of nanoparticle, showcasing its immense potential for a wide range of applications in biological-particle analysis and medical diagnostics. ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS: • Sub-100-nm nanopipettes were processed by glass-capillary pulling, electrodeposition, and electropolymerization. • The reduction in nanopore tip diameter due to polymer deposition improves the efficiency of the detection of nanoparticles with different sizes, materials, and electrical properties. • By modulating the bias applied to the polymer at the nanopore tip, flexible regulation of nanoparticle translocation events can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion-adsorption rare earth element (REE) ores are strategic mineral resources, particularly for heavy REEs. To reduce the amount of nitrogen in the form of ammonia in waste waters and to increase the low recovery efficiency of the current extraction process for REEs, we developed a novel environmentally friendly stepwise solvent extraction method for the separation and enrichment of REEs. Based on their different extraction abilities and a cation-exchange mechanism, two acidic phosphorus extractants (HEH(EHP) and HDEHP) were selected to sequentially separate and enrich REEs. Using this novel technique, ammonia nitrogen emissions were completely avoided and the recovery efficiency of REEs was significantly improved. From the McCabe–Thiele plots, it was found that a three-stage HEH(EHP) extraction at VA/VO = 10/1 and two-stage HCl stripping at VA/VO = 1/16 were required to enrich heavy REEs, whereas a three-stage HDEHP extraction at VA/VO = 25/1 and three-stage HCl stripping at VA/VO = 1/20 were required to enrich light REEs. The total recovery efficiency realized for REEs was ＞99% and the heavy and light REE chloride concentrations in solution were up to 240 and 200 g L−1, respectively. These results suggest an efficient way of recovering REEs from a leaching solution with low concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging cells experience a gradual degeneration of their chemical and physical characteristics, resulting in the declining body functions that are commonly observed in old age. In this paper, we propose a novel microsystem that utilizes acoustics and electricity to investigate the effects of mechanical cyclic loading on cellular aging. Our study is the first to examine how mechanical loading influences the physicochemical characteristics of lipid bilayer at the subcellular level. By providing a new method for understanding the mechanism of cellular aging and aging-related diseases, our microsystem has significant implications for the development of treatments and therapies.Clinical Relevance- This ultrasonic-electric-based microsystem, as an in vitro model with sensitive quantitative capabilities, could have significant clinical implications in terms of understanding cellular responses to mechanical forces, elucidating the pathogenesis of aging-related diseases, and developing therapeutic strategies.

The assessment of the petroleum product quality often involves multiple indicators, among which water content and acid value are two major parameters. The complexity of an oil sample and the narrow space in pipeline transport make it difficult to monitor the oil quality in real-time. Considering the practical requirements, a new type of flexible microstrip sensor is proposed in this work. The shape and line width of the microstrip sensor are studied and optimized by theory and experiments. The proposed square spiral-based microstrip sensor has good water content detection resolution at high frequencies with less acid interference, and it can determine the acid value in the low-frequency band. The sensor surface is further passivated, protecting it from direct contact with the oil sample to enhance the electrochemical robustness, and still achieves good detection linearity and high sensitivity. After encapsulation on a flexible substrate, the proposed microstrip sensor realized the non-contact determination of the water content and acid value of oil at the same time, which is only a few millimeters in size and can conform to various tubing wall shapes. Due to the fact that the manufacture of the sensor is CMOS-compatible, we expect it to be readily applied to many other miniaturized chemical-sensing applications.