Volume 6 Issue 10, October 2014

By electroplating the unidirectionally <111>-oriented nanotwinned and fine-grained Cu on a Si wafer surface and followed by annealing at 400–500 °C up to an hour, we grow a number of extremely large <100>-oriented single crystals of Cu of sizes from 200 to 400 μm, as illustrated by the left figure. By patterning the nanotwinned Cu film (middle figure), we grow an array of <100>-oriented single crystals of Cu of sizes from 25 to 100 μm on Si after the annealing, as shown in the right figure.

By applying single-molecule imaging technique in free solution, we visually observed polymer chains break apart when they collide with each other just because of their Brownian motion. The oxidation scission reaction is catalyzed by the leverage effect, analogous to breaking a stiff wooden stick over the knee. Our surprising results suggest that new catalysts could be designed with the idea of stiff molecules working as ‘knives’ and ‘leverages’ breaking chemical bonds. We believe that our work opens up the possibility of monitoring chemical processes in solution at the single-molecule level.

Multifunctional phase-change hybrid materials containing paraffin waxes (PWs) within a microporous conjugated polymer (CP) film were developed for new sensor and actuator applications. The hybrid films were prepared simply by depositing various PWs onto CP films to show critical changes in FL intensity and color during the phase change of PWs. This fascinating FL response behavior to external heat facilitated various applications such as reversible writing/erasing, fingerprinting and thermometer sensors. An appropriate layer-supported hybrid film showed extremely fast and highly reproducible thermomechanical actuation.

Unlike crystalline electrodes wherein ion insertion is crucially dependent on the presence of energetically equivalent sites, nanostructured amorphous iron(III) phosphate hosts prepared by room temperature strategies and possessing porous properties facilitate the insertion of alkali ions with different sizes and also higher charge carriers including divalent cations (Mg²⁺−0.72Å, Zn²⁺-0.74 Å) or trivalent cations (Al³⁺−0.53 Å). This versatile cathode stores electrical energy by a reversible amorphous to crystalline reconstitutive reaction that occurs during electrochemical reaction with monovalent sodium, potassium and lithium. The study presents opportunities to develop amorphous electrodes with similar phase behavior for energy storage applications.

This work reports a simple and robust approach to integrate MnO_x nanoparticles onto flexible graphite paper using an ultrathin CNT/RGO supporting layer. Supercapacitor electrodes employing the MnO_x/CNT/RGO nanohybrids without any conductive additives or binders yielded a high specific capacitance. The cycling stability of the nanohybrid electrodes was further improved through functionalizing the CNT/RGO supporting layer with atmospheric-pressure plasmas, demonstrating the synergistic use of nanohybrids and plasma-related effects for enhanced device performance.

This review highlights the recent advances in droplet-based microfluidics for studying the properties of single cells, with a specific interest in quantitative studies into the heterogeneity of large populations of cells

As advancements are made in wearable technology, including the development of portable devices that can function when stretched or bent, so too must the ways by which these devices generate and store power.¹ For true portability of flexible smartphones, interactive bracelets and smart textiles for example, higher energy-density batteries need to be part of the ‘fabric’ of the device. Researchers from Fudan University in Shanghai demonstrated that a wire-shaped lithium-ion battery can be fabricated from a composite pairing of aligned yarns of active materials, sheathed in a heat-shrinkable tube.²