Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy provides an opportunity to map the nanoscale elemental composition in polymeric systems. Nevertheless, it presents its own set of unique challenges in its application to soft materials. Here, we outline an optimized protocol for elemental mapping in soft materials using sulfur mapping of polymer/fullerene mixtures as an example. Three factors are crucial: (1) focusing at zero-loss, (2) using an objective aperture, and (3) maximizing signal-to-noise and counts for the chosen imaging conditions. Analyzing the corresponding source images, bright field images, and thickness maps can ensure optimum conditions are achieved for elemental mapping of polymers.

Melt electrospinning is a facile fabrication technique that can be utilized in the creation of microfibers without the use of solvent and with good control over feature placement. The available thermal energy of the melt electrospinning technique is often only utilized in the formation of the polymer melt but can also be used to thermodynamically drive chemical reactions. In this study, hybrid perovskite microcrystallites are synthesized in the polymer melt and electrospun to form composite microfibers. Unique hybrid perovskite microstructures were studied, elucidating mechanisms of formation at work in the polymer melt.

Ni2P/ZnS and Ni2P/CdS core/shell composites were synthesized using a simple two-step route at a low temperature. We used X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and so on to characterize their composition, structure, and morphology. The characterized results show that Ni2P/ZnS and Ni2P/CdS core/shell composites consist of Ni2P microsphere core and ZnS (or CdS) nanostructure shell, and CdS nanorods and ZnS nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of Ni2P microspheres, respectively. Then choosing methylene blue (MB) as a typical organic dye, the photocatalytic degradation activities of Ni2P/ZnS and Ni2P/CdS are investigated, which exhibit a good photocatalytic activity. When the concentration of MB solution is 1 × 10−5 mol/L and the mass of the added photocatalyst is 0.05 g, it is found that two composites have enhanced photocatalytic degradation ratios (89 and 78%) compared to that of Ni2P microsphere (65%), which might be due to the effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.

We developed a facile hydrothermal method to synthesize gold nanoplates with the assistance of surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). Gold nanostructure shapes from triangular, truncated triangular to hexagonal morphology with different sizes can be obtained by accommodating the molar ratios of the surfactant to the gold precursor ([CTAC]/[HAuCl4]). The edge width of gold nanoplates could also be adjusted from tens to hundreds of nanometers, and even several microns. The growth mechanism analysis reveals that the surfactant CTAC directs and promotes the growth of the tabular {111} facets to form nanoplate structures with the size and shape variations. The structure-dependent localized surface plasmon resonance of different gold nanoplates was theoretically and experimentally explained by finite element method simulation and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement, respectively. Based on the Raman spectrum analysis of the marker molecule 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) labeled with different gold nanoplates, it demonstrates that the enhanced SERS performance relies on the different plasmonic properties of the gold nanoplates. Therefore, the gold nanoplates may have potential applications in SERS-based sensing and imaging field.

The changes in hydrodesulfurization activity, selectivity, dispersion, sulfidation, and extent of promotion of Co(Ni)Mo catalysts were investigated when the alumina support surface is modified by grafting 4 wt% silica. Adding SiO2 eliminates the most reactive hydroxyl groups on the alumina surface (IR band at 3775 cm−1) decreasing the possibility of generating tetrahedral Mo species difficult to sulfide in favor of octahedral ones capable of contributing to the sulfided active phase. The catalysts were evaluated in the hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene. Incorporating SiO2 to alumina increases the hydrogenation rate constant and therefore the global hydrodesulfurization rate of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene and enhances the promotion of Mo by Co (or Ni). The global sulfidation of Ni is not affected by the addition of silica but the sulfidation of cobalt is significantly improved. The extent of promotion of the NiMo/Al2O3 and NiMo/SiO2/Al2O3 catalysts was greater than the one achieved in their Co-promoted counterparts.

The hot deformation behavior and processing characteristics of Mg–3Zn–0.3Ca–0.4La (wt%) alloys were investigated by hot compression deformation. The results suggested that deformation parameters had significant effects on deformation behavior and dynamic recrystallization of the Mg–Zn–Ca–La alloy. The average activation energy of deformation was calculated to be 188.9 kJ/mol. The processing map was constructed and analyzed based on the dynamic material model, and the optimum hot working window of the alloy was determined to be the temperature of 350 °C and the strain rates between 0.001 and 0.01 s−1. Furthermore, the DRX kinetic model of the Mg–3Zn–0.3Ca–0.4La (wt%) alloy was established, which implied that incomplete dynamic recrystallization occurred for the Mg–Zn–Ca–La alloy in the present work. Microstructure analysis indicated that deformation parameters played a critical role on the microstructure optimization. The dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) region fraction and the DRXed grain size were increased with the increase of deformation temperature and decrease of deformation rates.

Lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with a structure of glass/FTO/TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3 with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) as the transparent top electrodes, followed by polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) over-coating were fabricated. The SWNT-based PSCs do not require expensive metal electrodes and hole-transporting materials yet produce a decent power conversion efficiency of 11.8%, owing to the densifying effect of SWNTs by PMMA. The resulting devices demonstrate reduced hysteresis, improved stability, and increased power conversion efficiency.

The multiplication of dislocations determines the trajectories of microstructure evolution during plastic deformation. It has been recognized that the dislocation storage and the deformation-driven subgrain formation are correlated—the principle of similitude, where the dislocation density (ρi) scales self-similarly with the subgrain size (δ): $\delta \sqrt {{\rho _{\rm{i}}}}$ ∼ constant. Here, the robustness of this concept in Cu is probed utilizing large strain machining across a swathe of severe shear deformation conditions—strains in the range 1–10 and strain-rates 10–103/s. Deformation strain, strain-rate, and temperature characterizations are juxtaposed with electron microscopy, and dislocation densities are measured by quantification of broadening of X-ray diffraction peaks of crystallographic planes. We parameterize the variation of dislocation density as a function of strain and a rate parameter R, a function of strain-rate, temperature, and material constants. We confirm the preservation of similitude between dislocation density and the subgrain structure across orders-of-magnitude of thermomechanical conditions.

Cobalt-doped ZnO (CZO) film nanocomposites have been deposited on Si(100) substrates by pulsed electron beam ablation from a single Co0.2Zn0.8O target. The films have been deposited at various electron beam repetition rates (1, 2, 4, and 8 Hz), under a background argon (Ar) pressure of ∼3 mtorr, an accelerating voltage of 16 kV, and a deposition temperature of 450 °C. The effect of beam frequency on the structural, chemical, and morphological properties of the films has been assessed. The findings reveal that film thickness, film roughness, and degree of crystallinity of the ZnO wurtzite structure increase with beam frequency, while globule size and density reach maximum and minimum values, respectively, as the beam frequency is increased. The pulse frequency does not appear to affect the average nanoparticulate size. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data support the co-existence of metallic cobalt (Co0), CoO, and Co2O3 in CZO films near the surface. Phase analysis by X-ray diffraction also confirms the presence of hexagonal close-packed metallic cobalt whose content in the films is practically unaffected by beam frequency.

Thermoelectric (TE) is a heat-to-electricity energy conversion method with increasing attention. In recent years, novel highly efficient TE materials, including GeTe and other IV–VI based alloys, were reported, mainly due to either electronic optimization of transport properties or nanostructuring for minimization of the lattice thermal conductivity. Yet, the mechanical properties of such materials (with brittle nature), which are significant for obtaining the required durability under the associated thermo-mechanical conditions of practical applications, were much less tackled. The challenge is combining the both, upon introducing alloying elements, positively contributing both the TE figure of merit and the mechanical durability. In the current research, the TE and mechanical (mainly compression and fracture toughness) effects of Ag- and Cu-doping of the GeTe-rich (GeTe)0.96(Bi2Te3)0.04 alloy were investigated, suggesting improvement on both aspects.

This study constitutes an attempt to characterize the microscopic strain distribution during bending in the AI6156-T61 aged alloy and in the same aluminum alloy with nickel coating. Bendability was detected in both groups by load-displacement curves, at four different strain rates (0.5, 2, 5, and 10 mm/min). In the case of the bare aluminum alloy, the terminal bending angle (without fracture occurring) was 83°. It can be suggested that hemming effect, delamination, spallation, and falling back of the coating was evident in both regions. The surface morphology of the alloys under examination was studied using a scanning electron microscope connected to an energy-dispersive spectroscope.

The goal of this study was to perform in situ electrochemical polymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) in peripheral nerves to create a soft, precisely located injectable conductive polymer electrode for bi-directional communication. Intraneural PEDOT polymerization was performed to target both outer and inner fascicles via custom fabricated 3D printed cuff electrodes and monomer injection strategies using a combination electrode-cannula system. Electrochemistry, histology, and laser light sheet microscopy revealed the presence of PEDOT at specified locations inside of peripheral nerve. This work demonstrates the potential for using in situ PEDOT electrodeposition as an injectable electrode for recording and stimulation of peripheral nerves.

We report an epitaxy growth and characterization of InAs photodetector (PD) on virtual Ge/Si and GaP/Si substrates. The effect of different types of the virtual substrate on the structure and performance of the InAs PD was studied. Although the lattice mismatch between InAs and Si is large (11.6%), close to 100% relaxation of InAs was achieved on both virtual substrates. A higher surface roughness was observed in the InAs layer grown GaP/Si as compared with that of Ge/Si. InAs PD with room temperature blackbody specific detectivity of ~5 × 108 cm·Hz1/2/W is achieved in photovoltaic mode on both types of virtual substrate.

Mechanical properties of Pr (praseodymium)-doped ZnO thin films, deposited on a corning glass substrate and fused quartz at different deposition pressures using DC sputtering were investigated. Crystalline growth in Pr-doped ZnO thin films is more pronounced and improves at 10 mtorr deposition pressure. However, lower sputtering deposition pressure evoked deposition rates to the formation of polycrystalline films emerged in several crystal planes. Pr ions incorporated in the ZnO host lattice was examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), AFM, and FESEM. XPS spectroscopy revealed the presence of Pr3+ and Pr4+ at the ZnO surface layer and it was in tandem with EDS mapping. Nanoindentation prior to scratch testing is used for analyzing deformation characteristics. Pr-doped ZnO thin films exhibit better hardness (9.89 ± 0.14 GPa) and Young’s modulus (112.12 ± 3.45 GPa) on the glass substrate. The crack propagation resistance parameter of the films was evaluated using initial critical load, Lc1 ∼ 2250.5 µN for the crack initiation and upper critical load Lc2 ∼ 2754.5 µN for film failure. Better crack propagation resistance was observed for films deposited at 10 mtorr sputtering pressure on both substrates, attributed to better crystalline nature of the films.

A Cu–3%Ti (wt%) alloy was processed by multiaxial forging (MAF) at cryogenic temperature up to 3 cycles, imposing a total strain of 1.6. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the unprocessed and cryo-forged samples were analyzed. X-ray diffraction results showed deviation in peak broadening and peak intensity of the cryo-forged samples in comparison to that of unprocessed, which are due to texture modification caused by grain refinement during the MAF process. Microstructural analysis showed reduction in grain size from 80 µm in the as-received condition to 250 nm after 3 cycles. Electron backscatter diffraction results indicated the transformation of high angle grain boundaries to low angle grain boundaries in all 3 cycles when compared to the as-received condition. Reduction in ductility was observed after 1 cycle, but with an increase in the number of cycles, both strength and ductility increased. After 3 cycles, ultimate tensile strength and hardness reached 1126 MPa and 427 Hv as compared to 528 MPa and 224 Hv for the as-received condition. Fractography analysis showed decrement in dimple size after 1 cycle, in comparison to that of the as-received condition. However, it kept on increasing for higher number of cycles.

In this paper, mechanical characteristics of the aluminum layer coated with graphene are investigated by performing numerical tensile experiments through classical molecular dynamics simulations. Based on the results of the simulations, it is shown that coating with graphene enhances the Young’s modulus of aluminum by 88% while changing the tensile behavior of aluminum with hardening–softening mechanisms and significantly increased toughness. Furthermore, the effect of loading rate is examined and a transformation to an amorphous phase is observed in the coated aluminum structure as the loading rate is increased. Even though the dominant component of the coated hybrid structure is the aluminum core in the elastic region, the graphene layer shows its effects majorly in the plastic region by a 60% increase in the ultimate tensile strength. High loading rates at room temperature cause the structure transforms to an amorphous phase, as expected. Thus, effects of loading rate and temperature on amorphization are investigated by performing the same simulations at different strain rates and temperatures (i.e., 0, 300, and 600 K).

(1 − x)Ba(Mg1/3Ta2/3)O3–xBa(Co1/3Nb2/3)O3 (BMT–BCN, x = 0.0, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.40) ceramics were prepared using the traditional solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction patterns have shown that the intensities of (001) and (100) super-lattices decrease with the increase in the BCN content. Seven main Raman vibrational modes are observed, assigned, and illustrated, in particular. Raman shifts of Eg(O) modes and the FWHM values of F2g(O)/A1g(O) modes have close relationship with the dielectric properties. The calculated values by the four-parameter semiquantum model based on IR reflectivity match well with the measured data (@3.8 GHz), which means that most of dielectric contribution to the system may be ascribed to the absorption of structural phononic oscillations at the infrared region, and the contribution from the scattering of the defective phonons is small. The contributions of each vibrational mode on the dielectric responses were investigated in detail, indicating that the low-frequency modes (A2u(1) and Eu(1)) have a decisive role to the dielectric properties.

Water-based polyurethane/alumina hollow microsphere (WPU-hAl2O3) composite films were prepared via a facile spin coating method. The pristine WPU, as the matrix of the composite films, was tailor-made by hAl2O3 with the diameter of 2–5 μm to improve the mechanical and physical properties of the films. The hardness, surface morphology, infrared emissivity, wettability, and light transmittance of the WPU-hAl2O3 films with different hAl2O3 contents were investigated. The results indicate that the Vickers hardness, coefficient of friction, infrared emissivity at the wavelength of 2–22 μm, and wetting angle of the WPU-hAl2O3 films (30 wt%) increased by 53.6%, 51.7%, 21.1%, and 19.0%, respectively, compared with the pristine WPU films. Meanwhile, with the rising of hAl2O3 content, the light transmittance decreased by 75.3% at the wavelength of 400–800 nm. This work not only designs a kind of lightweight multifunctional composite film but also provides an effective route for extending further applications of hAl2O3 in the field of composite films.