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We propose a novel radio-frequency (RF) receiving architecture based on the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and optical coherent detection module. The architecture converts the received electrical signal into mechanical vibration through the piezoelectric effect and adopts an optical detection module to detect the mechanical vibration. We analyze the response function of the piezoelectric film to an RF signal, the noise-limited sensitivity of the optical detection module, and the system transfer function in the frequency domain. A simple on–off keying (OOK) modulation with carrier frequency 1 GHz is used to numerically evaluate the detection sensitivity. The result shows that considering the main noise sources in system, the signal detection sensitivity can reach around −116.6 dBm at bandwidth 5 MHz. Such sensitivity significantly outperforms that of the currently deployed long-term evolution (LTE) system. Finally, we conduct preliminary experiments based on an off-the-shelf aluminium nitride piezoelectric film, which shows that the vibration amplitude based on the theoretical prediction can be achieved.

Tetragonal structural (t-NdVO4) nanorod-arrays were fabricated by simple one-pot hydrothermal method. The phase, morphology and microstructure of NdVO4 were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) techniques. t-NdVO4 nanorods are single-crystalline with a length of 100 nm and a diameter of 25 nm, which grow orientally along the direction of (112) crystalline plane and self-assemble to form nanorod-arrays. The results show that Eu3+-doping interrupts the formation of NdVO4 nanorod-arrays, and then leads to the red-shift of the strongest luminescence emission of Nd3+ transition from 4D3/2 state to 4I11/2 and decreases its intensity of the fluorescence emission at 400 nm sharply. The research results have some reference values to optimize the photoluminescence performance of rare earth vanadates.

The novel ionic liquids skeleton typed magnetic core-shell molecularly imprinted polymers (Fe3O4–COOH@IL-MIP) were firstly constructed with 1-vinyl-3-aminoformylmethyl imidazolium chloride ionic liquid ([VAFMIM]Cl-IL) modified magnetic particles as the substrate materials, [VAFMIM]Cl-IL as functional monomer, 1,6-hexanediyl-3,3′-bis-1-vinylimidazolium dichloride ionic liquid as cross-linker and Lysozyme (Lys) as template protein via surface-imprinting technique. The structure of Fe3O4–COOH@IL-MIP were confirmed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, thermo-gravimetric analysis, fourier transform infrared spectrometry and X-ray diffraction. The adsorption mechanism was discussed from the perspective of amino acid residues of Lys. The maximum adsorption capacity of MIPs was 166.36 mg g−1 and imprinting factor was 2.67. The competitive adsorption experiments demonstrated the favorable recognition ability of MIPs toward Lys. Reusability studies indicated MIPs can be reused ten times without obvious loss of rebinding ability. The Lys conformation maintained intact after elution and the elution rate was as high as 74%. The adsorption experiment of egg white manifested that MIPs can effectively separate Lys in practical samples. Only ILs and Fe3O4 were utilized to fabricate MIPs, this strategy realized the goal of energy and cost saving while achieving simple synthesis of imprinted materials, and is expected to provide a new feasible idea to exploit synthetic methods for protein-MIPs.

Aqueous Biphasic Systems (ABSs) based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were determined and applied in the extraction of lysozyme from chicken egg white. Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) and benzyltributylammonium bromide were utilized as hydrogen-bond acceptors to synthesize six kinds of DESs with different carboxylic acids (such as glycolic acid, Gly). The phase-formation ability of these DESs was evaluated by combining several salts. The results revealed that the content of hydrophilic group and the alkyl side chain length of the carboxylic acids played a crucial role in phase separation process, and the introduce of the benzyl group for quaternary ammonium salt had an aptitude to promote two-phase splitting. Then the system comprising [TBAB][Gly] and Na2SO4 was used to appraise the effect of different experimental parameters on the extraction efficiency, including the amount of DES and salt, the temperature, the values of pH and the ionic strength. More than 98% of lysozyme was transferred into the DES-rich phase at the optimum condition. The activity of lysozyme after the process of extraction still retained 91.73% of initial activity, demonstrating high biocompatibility of the studied system. What's more, the proposed method was successfully utilized for the real sample analysis. Finally, UV-vis, FT-IR, circular dichroism spectra, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy were employed to investigate the extraction mechanism. All of these results verify the excellent feasibility of the proposed system in the analysis of biological samples.

A combined system of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) with copper (Cu) bimetallic particles (PVP-NZVI/Cu) was designed for ciprofloxacin (CIP) reduction under weak magnetic field (WMF) condition. The surface morphology and physicochemical properties of the novel catalytic materials were further characterized. In addition, the catalytic reactivity of PVP-NZVI/Cu was determined in the presence or absence of WMF. Experimental results demonstrated that the catalytic performance of PVP-NZVI/Cu system was enhanced by the introduction of WMF with maximum removal rate of CIP reaching 95.6% (120 min). Kinetic analysis exhibited that the degradation of CIP in compliance with pseudo-first-order kinetics. Eventually, the degradation products of CIP after reacting with the PVP-NZVI/Cu nanocomposites were determined by the mass spectrometry (MS). Quantitative analysis of PVP-NZVI/Cu adsorption and Fenton oxidation during the CIP removal process were also evaluated. The roles of PVP-NZVI/Cu adsorption/Fenton oxidation were dynamically changed and the Fenton oxidation was observed to be greatly strengthened as the removal process proceeded. The study provided a new insight into the removal of CIP by NZVI, which has prospect for the practical application of NZVI.

A novel ionic liquid (IL) modified magnetic nanocomposite (mag-MoS2-RGO), which was composed of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO), was firstly synthesized and characterized (mag-MoS2-RGO-IL). Compared with mag-MoS2-RGO, the mag-MoS2-RGO-IL exhibited the higher adsorption capacity of 143.9 mg/g for methylene blue (MB) under optimum conditions. Experimental results were imitated by adsorption isotherms and kinetic models, revealing a monolayer adsorption on the homogeneous surface governed by chemisorption. The removal rate was maintained 78% after 5 cycles of regeneration, indicating its good reutilization. Methodological study suggested that the method possessed excellent repeatability, precision and stability. The recoveries from the real samples were in the range of 87.0–98.8% with relative standard deviation of ≤5.2%. Benefiting from composite structure and magnetic Fe3O4, the stable magnetic adsorbent can be quickly separated from aqueous solution. All of above proves that the prepared mag-MoS2-RGO-IL has great application potential in dye separation.

A novel aqueous micellar two-phase system (AMTPS) formed by two new types of PEG-based hydrophobic (acted as “cationic surfactant” or “nonionic surfactant”) and hydrophilic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) was first established. Three typical representative pigments, methylene blue (MB), Sudan III (Su), and sunset yellow FCF (SY) with diverse charge and hydrophobicity, were selected as the target to evaluate the possibility of the novel DES/DES-based AMTPS as a green extraction technology for partitioning various substances. The constitutions of AMTPS were systematically studied, including the effects of hydrophobic and hydrophilic DES types, molar ratio of choline chloride/glycerol, and molecular weights of PEG. After investigation, the DES/DES-based AMTPS was prepared with [N8881]Cl/PEG400 as hydrophobic DES and Ch/G (molar ratio 1:1) as hydrophilic DES. The concentration of pigments, ionic strength, pH value, and temperature were comprehensively evaluated in the influence factor experiments. Also, the res...

In this work, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared with vinyl-coated magnetic particles (Fe3O4@VTEO) as the support material, deep eutectic solvent (DES) based on vinyl as the functional monomer, respectively. N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAAm) was used as the crosslinker on account of its abundant carbon-carbon double bonds. The MIPs were prepared with the addition of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) acted as the template. The MIPs particles can be collected quickly by a magnetic field. The composition and morphology of the MIPs particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to illustrate the cubic inverse spinel structure of Fe3O4. Meanwhile, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was applied to characterize the magnetism of the MIPs. Adsorption experiments were performed to attain the optimum adsorption conditions. Under the optimized conditions, the obtained maximum adsorption capacity (Q, mg·g−1) of the MIPs particles is found to be 164.20 mg g−1, and the imprinting factor (IF) is 4.93. Four reference molecules were used to test the selectivity of the MIPs particles, which indicates that the recognition sites can adsorb template molecules with selectivity. Furthermore, the prepared magnetic MIPs particles were applied to capture BHb from the real samples (calf blood) effectively.

We present simultaneous three-dimensional measurements of deformable finite-sized bubbles and surrounding turbulent flows. The orientations of bubbles are linked to two key mechanisms that drive bubble deformation: the turbulent strain rate and slip velocity between the two phases. The strongest preferential alignment is between the bubbles and slip velocity, indicating the latter plays a dominant role. We also compared our experimental results with the deformation of ideal material elements with no slip velocity or surface tension. Without these, material elements show highly different orientations, further confirming the importance of the slip velocity in the bubble orientation. In addition to deformation, when bubbles begin to break, their relative orientations change significantly. Although the alignment of the severely deformed bubbles with the eigenvectors of the turbulent strain rate becomes much stronger, the bubble semi-major axis becomes aligned with (rather than perpendicular to) the slip velocity through an almost turn. This puzzling orientation change occurs because the slip velocity contains the contributions from both the bubble and the background flow. As the bubble experiences strong deformation, the rapid elongation of its semi-major axis leads to a large bubble velocity, which dominates the slip velocity and forces its alignment with the bubble's semi-major axis. The slip velocity thereby switches from a driving mechanism to a driven result as bubbles approach breakup. The results highlight the complex coupling between the bubble orientation and the surrounding flow, which should be included when modelling the bubble deformation and breakup in turbulence.

We present an experimental investigation of the acceleration statistics and the added mass tensor of deformable gas bubbles in turbulence. By simultaneously tracking both bubbles and their surrounding flow in three dimensions, we find two independent ways of estimating the bubble acceleration: either directly measured from three-dimensional bubble trajectories or indirectly calculated from the bubble's equation of motion. When such an equation is projected onto the bubble frame, the added-mass coefficient becomes a diagonal tensor with three elements being linked to the standard deviation of bubble acceleration along three bubble principal axes. This constraint aids in experimentally determining the added mass coefficient tensor. The obtained trend of seems to agree with Lamb's potential flow solutions for spheroids, suggesting that the added-mass force on deformable bubbles can be modelled using spheroids with the same geometry and orientation. In addition, the probability density function of the relative orientation between the semi-major axis of deformed bubbles and the slip acceleration in turbulence is shown. A surprising finding is that the bubble orientation, indicated by the bubble's major axis, is not random in turbulence but rather is preferentially aligned with the slip acceleration. The degree of this alignment increases as bubbles deform more. Because accelerating along the major axis of a more deformed bubble entails reduced added mass, the acceleration standard deviation of deformable bubbles increases as a function of the bubble aspect ratio.

We experimentally investigate the breakup mechanisms and probability of Hinze-scale bubbles in turbulence. The Hinze scale is defined as the critical bubble size based on the critical mean Weber number, across which the bubble breakup probability was believed to have an abrupt transition from being dominated by turbulence stresses to being suppressed completely by the surface tension. In this work, to quantify the breakup probability of bubbles with sizes close to the Hinze scale and to examine different breakup mechanisms, both bubbles and their surrounding tracer particles were simultaneously tracked. From the experimental results, two Weber numbers, one calculated from the slip velocity between the two phases and the other one acquired from local velocity gradients, are separated and fitted with models that can be linked back to turbulence characteristics. Moreover, we also provide an empirical model to link bubble deformation to the two Weber numbers by extending the relationship obtained from potential flow theory. The proposed relationship between bubble aspect ratio and the Weber numbers seems to work consistently well for a range of bubble sizes. Furthermore, the time traces of the bubble aspect ratio and the two Weber numbers are connected using the linear forced oscillator model. Finally, having access to the distributions of these two Weber numbers provides a unique way to extract the breakup probability of bubbles with sizes close to the Hinze scale.

Nonlinear interactions between light waves can exchange energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum. The direction of energy flow between frequency components is usually determined by the conventional phase-matching condition related to the linear momentum. However, the transfer law of orbital angular momentum (OAM) during frequency conversion remains to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that OAM transfer depends strongly on the phase-matching condition defined by both linear and orbital angular momenta. Under different phase-matching configurations, the second-harmonic wave exhibits variable OAM spectral characteristics such as the presence of just a single value or of odd orders only. Our results pave the way toward unveiling the underlying mechanism of nonlinear conversion of OAM states.

We experimentally investigate the rise velocity of finite-sized bubbles in turbulence with a high energy dissipation rate of . In contrast to a 30–40 % reduction in rise velocity previously reported in weak turbulence (the Weber number ( ) is much smaller than the Eotvos number ( ); ), the bubble rise velocity in intense turbulence shows a surprising new behaviour: an abrupt transition from an order of magnitude slower to a factor of two faster than rising in an otherwise quiescent medium. This transition occurs when increases from below one to above one, underscoring the key role played by the turbulence-induced deformation. We also formulate a model based on bubble–eddy coupling, and the results show an excellent agreement with not only our data in intense turbulence but also other works on weak turbulence. The model also helps us to extract the lift and drag coefficients of bubbles in intense turbulence for a wide range of and Reynolds numbers in situ.

In this work, aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) formed by different deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were prepared and applied to extract proteins. The five kinds of DESs comprised amino acids and polyols ([amino acids][polyols]). They were combined with another DES resulting from tetrabutylammonium chloride and polypropylene glycol 400 ([TBAC][PPG400]) to form ABSs. The phase-forming abilities of [TBAC][PPG400]/[amino acids][polyols] were compared with those of [TBAC][PPG400]/amino acids and [TBAC][PPG400]/polyols. The results exhibited that the biphasic formation ability of [amino acids][polyols] lies between those of amino acids and polyols when [TBAC][PPG400] acts as the other phase in ABSs. The systems comprising [TBAC][PPG400] and [L-proline][xylitol] ([Pro][Xyl]) were further investigated to optimize the extraction performance. It was found that 97.30% chymotrypsin tended to distribute into the [Pro][Xyl]-rich phase under optimum conditions. The practical application of the system was demonstrated by the extraction of chymotrypsin from porcine pancreas. Besides, UV-Vis spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy proved that the conformation of proteins remained unchanged during the extraction process. The extraction mechanism of the formation of DES–protein aggregates was investigated via conductivity, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The overall results suggest that the DES/DES-based ABSs have outstanding potential in the green extraction of proteins.

In this study, nanoscale zerovalent Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites were synthesized by liquid-phase reduction of Fe(II)/Cu(II) and applied for decomposition of tridecane dicarboxylic acid (DC13). The removal performance of Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites for DC13 in terms of Fe/Cu ratios, addition amount, reaction time and initial pH were studied. The as-prepared nanoscale composites were characterized by a transmission electron micrographs (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP). Finally, the degradation mechanisms of DC13 utilizing the Fe0/Cu0 nanocomposites were investigated by using mass spectrumetry (MS). The results indicated that the Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites exerted a remarkable removal capacity for DC13 through the multiple reactions, e.g., coagulation, adsorption and •OH reduction in the Fe0/Cu0 system. XPS indicated that the Fe0/Cu0 reduction reaction of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) system played a significant role in degradation of DC13 and the LC-MS result suggested that DC13 was degraded into inorganic small molecules by •OH radicals generated from the corrosion of Fe0. The experimental results indicated that the nanoscale Fe0/Cu0 could be used as a potential material to remove DC13 because of its remarkable degradability.

Although the diamond/Al composite is a good heat sink material due to its high thermal conductivity and low cost, its surface cannot be wetted directly for microelectronic packaging. Using modified electroless plating procedures and recipes, a glossy, continuous, and uniform Ni–P film was successfully fabricated on the diamond/Al composite surface for the first time with a bonding strength of 15.1 MPa. This Ni–P coating layer is solderable for both lead-free SAC305 and Sn63Pb37 alloys on Cu dummy chips. A continuous intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was formed at the interface without any crack or void defects, and the shear strength of both solder joints was in the range of 39.9–41.2 MPa. During thermal storage tests, the growth of IMC was slow at 125 and 150 °C, but it elevated sharply at 175 °C. According to growth kinetics analyses, a Ni element can hinder IMC growth. The diffusion activation energy (Q) of (Cu,Ni)6Sn5 was calculated as 62.6 kJ/mol in SAC305 and 97.7 kJ/mol in Sn63Pb37 solder joints. Both microstructures and mechanical properties of the solder joint using the Ni–P coated diamond/Al composite can satisfy the requirement of microelectronic industrial applications.

A novel magnetic (Fe3O4) surface molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based on ionic liquid (IL) (Fe3O4@VTEO@IL-MIPs) was prepared for the selective extraction of lysozyme (Lys). As the functional monomer of the MIPs, an imidazolium-based IL with vinyl groups was prepared. It can provide multiple interactions with template molecules. The amount of IL was optimized (200 mg). Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used to characterize the MIP. The results indicate the successful formation of an imprinting polymer layer. The concentration of Lys in the supernatant was determined by UV-vis spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 280 nm. The maximum adsorption capability of the MIP is 213.7 mg g−1 and the imprinting factor (IF) is 2.02. It took 2.5 h for the MIP to attain adsorption equilibrium. The structure of the protein was evaluated using circular dichroism (CD) spectra and UV-visible spectra. The adsorption performance was further investigated in detail by selective adsorption experiments, competitive rebinding tests, and reusability and stability experiments. Furthermore, it was utilized to separate the template protein from a mixture of proteins and real samples successfully because of the high adsorption capacity for Lys.

A 3-D refractive-index matching Lagrangian particle tracking (3D-RIM-LPT) system was developed to study the filtration and the clogging process inside a homogeneous porous medium. A small subset of particles flowing through the porous medium was dyed and tracked. As this subset was randomly chosen, its dynamics is representative of all the rest. The statistics of particle locations, number, and velocity were obtained as functions of different volumetric concentrations. It is found that in our system the clogging time decays with the particle concentration following a power law relationship. As the concentration increases, there is a transition from depth filtration to cake filtration. At high concentration, more clogged pores lead to frequent flow redirections and more transverse migrations of particles. In addition, the velocity distribution in the transverse direction is symmetrical around zero, and it is slightly more intermittent than the random Gaussian curve due to particle-particle and particle-grain interactions. In contrast, as clogging develops, the longitudinal velocity of particles along the mean flow direction peaks near zero because of many trapped particles. But at the same time, the remaining open pores will experience larger pressure and, as a result, particles through those pores tend to have larger longitudinal velocities.

A cactus-shaped magnetic composite was prepared for solid-phase extraction of RNA. It is composed of the metal organic framework UiO-66-NH2 that was modified with Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The composite was then dispersed in a lactic acid-based deep eutectic solvent (DES, Fe3O4-COOH@UiO-66-NH2@DES). The structures of the sorbents were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, vibrating sample magnetometry and thermogravimetric analysis. The extraction performance of sorbents was optimized and the maximum extraction capacity reached 246 mg·g−1. Extraction is shown to mainly rely on chelation interaction, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction. The sorbent can selectively extract RNA over DNA, bovine hemoglobin and amino acids. Regeneration studies indicated that the sorbent can be re-used (after regenreation with DES) several times without obvious change of the extraction capacity. The successful extraction of RNA from yeast testified the practical application of the sorbent.

A composite was fabricated from deep eutectic solvent and MnO2 nanosheets (DES/MnO2) and is shown to be a viable oxidase mimic. The property, morphology and composition of DES/MnO2 was characterized. DES/MnO2 displays oxidase-like activity and can oxidize 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to form a blue product (oxTMB) with an absorption maximum at 652 nm. Due to the presence of the DES, the polyanionic and negatively charged DNA is easily adsorbed on the surface of the composite by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. This leads to the inhibition of the oxidase-mimicking activity of DES/MnO2. This finding was used to design a colorimetric method for the determination of DNA. The assay work in the 10–100 μg mL−1 DNA concentration range and has a detection limit of 0.37 μg mL−1. The inhibiting mechanism was further studied by zeta potential measurements, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The selectivity study shows the DES/MnO2-TMB system to be highly selective for DNA when compared with many proteins, carbohydrates, salts and amino acid. RNA, on the other hand, interferes. The real sample analysis result illustrates that the new method can be used for the detection of DNA in bovine whole blood.

A vertical water tunnel facility has been constructed to study the dynamics of turbulent multiphase flow. The new system features several unique designs that allow us to study bubble deformation and breakup in strong turbulence: (i) The mean flow can be adjusted to balance the rising velocity of buoyant bubbles/droplets so that they can stay in the view area for an extended period of time. (ii) Turbulence is generated and controlled using a 3D-printed jet array that can fire 88 random high-speed momentum jets with the individual jet velocity of up to 12 m/s. This component allows us to attain turbulence with a high energy dissipation rate (≥0.1 m2/s3), which is orders-of-magnitude higher than most of the existing turbulent multiphase flow facilities. (iii) Turbulence generated in the test section is nearly homogeneous and isotropic, and the turbulent fluctuations are also decoupled from the mean flow. The resulting turbulence intensity can be varied between 20% and 80% with the speed of the mean flow at around 0.2 m/s. (iv) This system has an octagonal test section that allows six cameras to image and reconstruct the 3D shape of deforming bubbles/droplets in turbulence. The same set of cameras was also used for tracking tracers in the surrounding turbulent flow. Both the reconstruction and particle tracking were completed using our in-house codes that were parallelized to run on high-performance computing clusters efficiently.

This article described the fabrication of novel magnetic carbon nanotube modified with polymeric deep eutectic solvent (M-CNT@PDES) and its application as extractant for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The physicochemical properties and morphology of M-CNT@PDES were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), zeta potentials, fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Afterwards, several parameters such as pH value, initial concentration of BSA, extraction time, ionic strength and extraction temperature were optimized. The results indicated that the modification of PDES significantly improved the extraction performance for BSA, and the maximum extraction capacity was 225.15 mg/g under the optimized conditions. In addition, 0.20 mol/L NaCl-PBS solution was chosen as the appropriate eluent, and favourable elution rate (81.22%) was obtained. Circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD) indicated that the secondary structure of BSA has not changed during extraction and elution. The regenerative experiment and application in real calf serum confirmed the outstanding durability and practical application ability of M-CNT@PDES. All of above verified that the proposed M-CNT@PDES coupled with MSPE method has great application potential for the pre-concentration of biomolecules.

In this study, nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) with copper (Cu) bimetallic particles, whichare applied for degradation of Ciprofloxacin (CIP) under weak magnetic field (WMF), were synthesized using green tea extracts (GT-nZVI/Cu). The surface morphology and physicochemical properties of the novel catalytic materials were characterized. It was found that GT-nZVI was more stable and performed better in oxidation resistance than the nZVI synthesized by traditional chemical methods. Besides, the catalytic reactivity of GT-nZVI/Cu was measured with and without WMF, it is obvious from the experimental results the performance of GT-nZVI/Cu system was enhanced significantly with WMF. Moreover, WMF still had a certain effect even after being removed, which is called remanence effect. The mass spectrometry (MS) was utilized to analyze the degradation products of CIP, and the contribution of adsorption and Fenton/Fenton-like oxidation of GT-nZVI/Cu during CIP removal process was further evaluated. It was found that as the removal process progressed, the contribution ratio of Fenton/Fenton-like oxidation rose rapidly and exceeded adsorption after 20 min. Eventually, attempts have been made to regenerate GT-nZVI/Cu, in which physical recovery (ultrasonic) was the main route, and the CIP removal rate decreased as the regeneration times increased. This research provides new insights into the green synthesis and regeneration of nZVI and is expected to realize the practical application of nZVI.

Aggregations of animals display complex and dynamic behaviour, both at the individual level and on the level of the group as a whole. Often, this behaviour is collective, so that the group exhibits properties that are distinct from those of the individuals. In insect swarms, the motion of individuals is typically convoluted, and swarms display neither net polarization nor correlation. The swarms themselves, however, remain nearly stationary and maintain their cohesion even in noisy natural environments. This behaviour stands in contrast with other forms of collective animal behaviour, such as flocking, schooling, or herding, where the motion of individuals is more coordinated, and thus swarms provide a powerful way to study the underpinnings of collective behaviour as distinct from global order. Here, we provide a data set of three-dimensional, time-resolved trajectories, including positions, velocities, and accelerations, of individual insects in laboratory insect swarms. The data can be used to study the collective as a whole as well as the dynamics and behaviour of individuals within the swarm. Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

We recently reported that doxorubicin decreased the expression of calpain-1/2, while inhibition of calpain activity promoted doxorubicin-induced cardiac injury in mice. In this study, we investigated whether and how elevation of calpain-2 could affect doxorubicin-triggered cardiac injury. Transgenic mice with inducible cardiomyocyte-specific expression of calpain-2 were generated. An acute cardiotoxicity was induced in both transgenic mice and their relevant wild-type littermates by injection of a single dose of doxorubicin (20 mg/kg) and cardiac injury was analyzed 5 days after doxorubicin injection. Cardiomyocyte-specific up-regulation of calpain-2 did not induce any adverse cardiac phenotypes under physiological conditions by age 3 months, but significantly reduced myocardial injury and improved myocardial function in doxorubicin-treated mice. Cardiac protection of calpain-2 up-regulation was also observed in a mouse model of chronic doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. Up-regulation of calpain-2 increased the protein levels of mitogen activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) in cultured mouse cardiomyocytes and heart tissues. Over-expression of MKP-1 prevented, whereas knockdown of MKP-1 augmented doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in cultured cardiomyocytes. Moreover, knockdown of MKP-1 offset calpain-2-elicited protective effects against doxorubicin-induced injury in cultured cardiomyocytes. Mechanistically, up-regulation of calpain-2 reduced the protein levels of phosphatase and tensin homolog and consequently promoted Akt activation, leading to increased MKP-1 protein steady state levels by inhibiting its degradation. Collectively, this study reveals a new role of calpain-2 in promoting MKP-1 expression via phosphatase and tensin homolog/Akt signalling. This study also suggests that calpain-2/MKP-1 signaling may represent new therapeutic targets for doxorubicin-induced cardiac injury.

A series of new cobalt(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes [Co{CoL(CH3COO)}2] (1), [Ni{NiL(CH3COO)}2] (2), [Zn{ZnL(CH3COO)}2] (3), [Ni2ClL(μ2-1,5-dca)]n (4), [Zn2BrL(μ1,1-N3)]2 (5), [Zn2ClL(μ1,1-N3)]2 (6), where L is the doubly deprotonated form of N,N'-bis(4-fluorosalicylidene)-1,3-propanediamine (H2L), dca is dicyanoamide, were synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, infrared and electronic spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray determination. Complexes 1, 2 and 3 are isostructural acetato- and phenolato-bridged trinuclear compounds. Complex 4 is a μ2-1,5-dca and phenolato-bridged polymeric compound. Complexes 5 and 6 are isostructural end-on azido- and phenolato-bridged tetranuclear compounds. The compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas fluorescens) and antifungal (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) activities by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method.

Complex bubble breakup in turbulence has been studied and modeled extensively by employing the population balance equation. This equation hinges on two quantities, i.e. daughter bubble size distribution and breakup frequency. Since there is no first-principle equation that can be solved to calculate these two quantities, many phenomenological models based on different physical mechanisms have been proposed. A large number of possible mechanisms at play leads to models with drastically different, and even contradictory, predictions. In contrast, experimental measurements of these two quantities, including several previous works and our own results collected in a vertical water tunnel that features a large homogeneous and isotropic region, seem to be consistent with one another. To resolve the difference between models and experiments, rather than following another physical argument, we approach the problem from a different direction by asking how to constrain a model based on experimental results. The specific constraints extracted from eight experimental results include: (i) direct measurements of daughter bubble size distribution; (ii) Super-Hinze-scale bubble size spectrum for constraining breakup frequency; (iii) Sub-Hinze-scale bubble size spectrum for modeling daughter bubble size distribution; (iv) Convergence time to an equilibrium state. Finally, based on these experimental constraints, a new breakup model that incorporates a corrected formulation for breakup frequency as well as a simplified function for daughter bubble distribution is developed to meet all constraints. Although the new model is deliberately not connected to any specific physical arguments for simplification, it appears to be robust and consistent with all experimental constraints mentioned.

Novel polymeric deep eutectic solvents (PDES) based on 3-acrylamidopropyl trimethylammonium chloride/D-sorbitol functionalized amino-magnetic (Fe3O4 NH2) metal-organic framework (HKUST-1-MOF) composites (Fe3O4 NH2@HKUST-1@PDES) were synthesized and characterized by field emission transmission electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and zeta potentials. Then the composites were firstly utilized to selectively separate malachite green (MG) and crystal violet (CV) coupled with magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE). A response surface methodology (RSM) based on Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) was selected to analytically optimize the extraction parameters including initial concentration of dyes, extraction time, pH value and extraction temperature. The maximum extraction amount and optimal extraction conditions predicted by the RSM model matched well with the actual experimental results, and the extraction amount was 966.93 mg g−1 for MG and 788.90 mg g−1 for CV,respectively. The results indicated that the model possessed higher calculation accuracy through analyzing fewer sample points, thereby achieving theoretical prediction of extraction amount and conditions and being a prefect supplementary to actual experiments. The electrostatic interaction between the composites and cationic dyes played the main roll in the extraction process. The proposed extraction method exhibited lower limit of detection (98.19 ng mL−1 for MG and 23.97 ng mL−1 for CV) and preeminent precision (RSD ˂ 0.4%). Spiked recoveries of fish samples at three spiking levers ranged from 89.43% to 100.65% for MG and 95.29%–98.03% for CV. All results highlighted the excellent potential of Fe3O4 NH2@HKUST-1@PDES-MSPE strategy in selective separation of cationic dyes in complex medium.

The rapid developments in orbital-angular-momentum-carrying Laguerre-Gaussian (LG0 l) modes in recent years have facilitated progresses in optical communication, micromanipulation and quantum information. However, it is still challenging to efficiently generate bright, pure and selectable LG0 l laser modes in compact devices. Here, we demonstrate a low-threshold solid-state laser that can directly output selected high-purity LG0 l modes with high efficiency and controllability. Spin-orbital angular momentum conversion of light is used to reversibly convert the transverse modes inside cavity and determine the output mode index. The generated LG0 1 and LG0 2 laser modes have purities of ~97% and ~93% and slope efficiencies of ~11% and ~5.1%, respectively. Moreover, our cavity design can be easily extended to produce higher-order Laguerre-Gaussian modes and cylindrical vector beams. Such compact laser configuration features flexible control, low threshold, and robustness, making it a practical tool for applications in super-resolution imaging, high-precision interferometer and quantum correlations., 22 pages, 13 figures

In this work, aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) composed of ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were developed and utilized to efficiently extract DNA for the first time. Four kinds of ILs/DESs were mainly constituted by betaine/carboxylic acid and betaine/carbohydrates respectively. While another DES ([TBAB][PPG400]) was formed by polypropylene glycol 400 (PPG 400) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB). The phase-formation ability of the studied ABSs was evaluated by using [TBAB][PPG400]/(ILs/DESs) and [TBAB][PPG400]/inorganic salts. The results revealed that the phase forming ability of ABSs involved with the size of anion alky chain of ILs, the viscosity, the density and the hydrophilicity of DESs, ionic radius and ionic valence of inorganic salts. Then the system comprising [TBAB][PPG400]/IL was selected to ascertain the optimum extraction conditions for the extraction of DNA by the influence factor experiments. Meanwhile the maximum extraction efficiency could be attained 99.60%. Mixed sample experiments were implemented to separate DNA/cytochrome C (Cyt-c) and DNA/bovine hemoglobin (BHb), where the DNA mainly partitioned to IL-rich bottom phase. It turned out that the relationship between the isoelectric point of analytes and the pH of the system played an important role in the separation process. The result also showed that the studied system can be applied to selectively separate mixtures of nucleic acids and proteins in a single-step. Moreover, the developed system was successfully applied to the extraction of DNA from bovine whole blood with satisfactory result. Finally, the extraction mechanisms associated with the separation process were explored by FT-IR spectra, circular dichroism spectra (CD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Overall, the novel systems have been proven to be a remarkable performance in the separation of DNA, which is expected to be widely used and provide further possibilities in separation fields.

A novel ternary hydrosulphonyl-based deep eutectic solvent (THS-DES) comprised of choline chloride/itaconic acid/3-mercaptopropionic acid (molar ratio 2:1:1) was firstly synthesized. The composition, property and microscopic structure of the new magnetic adsorbent (THS-DES@M-GO) based on the THS-DES modified the magnetic graphene oxide (M-GO) was characterized by the system. Magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) based THS-DES@M-GO was firstly researched for the removal of mercury (Hg2+) from water. Various influencing factors such as the mass of adsorbent, solution pH, initial Hg2+ concentration, the removal time and temperature had been systematically tested. Under optimized conditions the removal efficiency (R%) could achieved 99.91%. The precision, repeatability and stability experiments were investigated in detail to evaluate the presented method. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of the removal efficiency were 0.053%, 1.49% and 1.55%, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) was 215.1 mg g−1 and the data of the experiment fitted well with Langmuir model. Elution experimental studies shown that 94.94% of Hg2+ could be eluted by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). After seven cycles of adsorption-desorption processes, the THS-DES@M-GO still retained a high removal efficiency of 90.23%. Compared with other adsorbents prepared in this work, THS-DES@M-GO displayed higher removal efficiency for Hg2+. Interference study proved the composites was tolerated and stabled under the complex matrix. What's more, the analysis of mercury contaminated water (from Guizhou, P.R., China) proved that the proposed method could be used to remove Hg2+ in practical application.

We apply a recently developed filtering approach, i.e. filter-space technique (FST), to study the scale-to-scale transport of kinetic energy, thermal energy, and enstrophy in two-dimensional (2D) Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) turbulence. Although the scaling laws of the energy cascades in 2D RT systems follow the Bolgiano–Obukhov (BO59) scenario due to buoyancy forces, the kinetic energy is still found to be, on average, dynamically transferred to large scales by an inverse cascade, while both the mean thermal energy and the mean enstrophy move towards small scales by forward cascades. In particular, there is a reasonably extended range over which the transfer rate of thermal energy is scale-independent and equals the corresponding thermal dissipation rate at different times. This range functions similarly to the inertial range for the kinetic energy in the homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. Our results further show that at small scales the fluctuations of the three instantaneous local fluxes are highly asymmetrically distributed and there is a strong correlation between any two fluxes. These small-scale features are signatures of the mixing and dissipation of fluids with steep temperature gradients at the fluid interfaces.

We report generation of tunable vortex beams in the blue spectral range, with a 3.3 nm spectral tuning range, by frequency tripling of the near-infrared (IR) wave at around 1.34 um in a LiTaO3 optical superlattice. The nonlinear crystal used in this work has a chirped dual-periodical structure which can provide two expanded reciprocal vectors for tunable performance of the cascaded third harmonic generation (THG). The maximum THG efficiency reaches about 1.4%.

We experimentally demonstrate multiple generations of high-order orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes through third-harmonic generation in a 2D nonlinear photonic crystal. Such third-harmonic generation process is achieved by cascading second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency generation using the non-collinear quasi-phase-matching technique. This technique allows multiple OAM modes with different colors to be simultaneously generated. Moreover, the OAM conservation law guarantees that the topological charge is tripled in the cascaded third-harmonic generation process. Our method is effective for obtaining multiple high-order OAM modes for optical imaging, manipulation, and communications.

In this study, a steady and comparatively smooth Ni-P coating on the surface of diamond/Al composite substrate was fabricated by electroless plating, which can outstandingly improve solderability of the composite. By controlling the deposition time, we obtained the growth curve of the Ni-P coating, and as a result we can adjust the thickness of the coating. The solderability was tested by soldering experiments with two typical solder materials, SAC305, representing lead-free solder, and Sn63Pb37, representing lead-content solder. Thermal storage test was conducted at different temperatures to analyze reliability of the coating. The formed IMCs during soldering and thermal storage were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and different IMCs in different solder were compared.

A microscopic particle image velocimetry ( $$\mu \text {PIV}$$ ) technique is developed based on light field microscopy and is applied to flow through a microchannel containing a backward-facing step. The only hardware difference from a conventional $$\mu$$ PIV setup is the placement of a microlens array at the intermediate image plane of the microscope. The method combines this optical hardware alteration with post-capture computation to enable 3D reconstruction of particle fields. From these particle fields, we measure three-component velocity fields, but find that accurate velocity measurements are limited to the two in-plane components at discrete depths through the volume (i.e., 2C-3D). Results are compared with a computational fluid dynamics simulation.

Bubbles and droplets in strong turbulence exhibit non-affine deformation, especially near a breakup event when the strong necking and interfacial instability begin to play roles. The virtual-camera (VC) method was designed and implemented to mitigate the limited-angle reconstruction problem for complex bubble/droplet geometries. The VC method incorporates the additional physical constraint of minimum surface curvature into reconstruction. This framework helps to reduce the reconstruction uncertainty for experiments studying multiphase flows that use a limited number of cameras, non-ideal camera positions, or the combination of both. The method was tested with three synthetic geometries– sphere, ellipsoid, and dumbbell–that represent the undeformed, gently-deformed, and severely-deformed bubbles. In addition, a DNS dataset of bubbles with a 2% void fraction in turbulent channel flow was also utilized to generate a synthetic dataset for tests, and the volume overestimation was found to decrease from over 20% to about 10% after implementing the VC method. Finally, the method was applied to the experimental dataset of bubble-turbulence interaction, and the result shows over 20% improvement in volume estimation. An indirect uncertainty quantification that relies on the bubble aspect ratio and orientation has also been developed to estimate the bubble reconstruction uncertainty in each frame. This allows a more selective postprocessing step to obtain the statistics of deformation and breakup based on the quality of reconstruction.

We demonstrate an efficiency-enhanced picosecond (ps) mid-infrared radiation via optical parametric downconversion. Based on a cascaded periodically poled MgO-doped stoichiometric lithium tantalate crystal (MgO:sPPLT), a tandem optical parametric oscillation-optical parametric amplification (OPO-OPA) process is achieved. Compared with a single OPO process, the conversion efficiency obtains an enhancement of 71%.

We report the cascaded conversion of orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) states through quasi-phase-matching (QPM) in 1D and 2D periodically poled LiTaO3 crystals. Multiple OAM modes with different colors are simultaneously generated by QPM second- and third-harmonic generations.

In experiments and numerical simulations we measured angles between the symmetry axes of small spheroids advected in turbulence ("passive directors"). Since turbulent strains tend to align nearby spheroids, one might think that their relative angles are quite small. We show that this intuition fails in general because angles between the symmetry axes of nearby particles are anomalously large. We identify two mechanisms that cause this phenomenon. First, the dynamics evolves to a fractal attractor despite the fact that the fluid velocity is spatially smooth at small scales. Second, this fractal forms steps akin to scar lines observed in the director patterns for random or chaotic two-dimensional maps., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, revised version

Collective animal groups are often described by the macroscopic patterns they form. Such global patterns, however, convey limited information about the nature of the aggregation as a whole. Here, we take a different approach, drawing on ideas from materials testing to probe the macroscopic mechanical properties of mating swarms of the non-biting midge Chironomus riparius. By manipulating ground-based visual features that tend to position the swarms in space, we apply an effective tensile load to the swarms, and show that we can quasi-statically pull single swarms apart into multiple daughter swarms. Our results suggest that swarms surprisingly have macroscopic mechanical properties similar to solids, including a finite Young's modulus and yield strength, and that they do not flow like viscous fluids.

The collective motion of groups of animals emerges from the net effect of the interactions between individual members of the group. In many cases, such as birds, fish, or ungulates, these interactions are mediated by sensory stimuli that predominantly arise from nearby neighbors. But not all stimuli in animal groups are short range. Here, we consider mating swarms of midges, which interact primarily via long-range acoustic stimuli. We exploit the similarity in form between the decay of acoustic and gravitational sources to build a model for swarm behavior. By accounting for the adaptive nature of the midges' acoustic sensing, we show that our "adaptive gravity" model makes mean-field predictions that agree well with experimental observations of laboratory swarms. Our results highlight the role of sensory mechanisms and interaction range in collective animal behavior. The adaptive interactions that we present here open a new class of equations of motion, which may appear in other biological contexts., Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures

Experimental methods are presented for measuring the rotational and translational motion of anisotropic particles in turbulent fluid flows. 3D printing technology is used to fabricate particles with slender arms connected at a common center. Shapes explored are crosses (two perpendicular rods), jacks (three perpendicular rods), triads (three rods in triangular planar symmetry), and tetrads (four arms in tetrahedral symmetry). Methods for producing on the order of 10,000 fluorescently dyed particles are described. Time-resolved measurements of their orientation and solid-body rotation rate are obtained from four synchronized videos of their motion in a turbulent flow between oscillating grids with Rλ = 91. In this relatively low-Reynolds number flow, the advected particles are small enough that they approximate ellipsoidal tracer particles. We present results of time-resolved 3D trajectories of position and orientation of the particles as well as measurements of their rotation rates.

We experimentally demonstrate the orbital angular momentum (OAM) conversion by the coupled nonlinear optical processes in a quasi-periodically poled LiTaO3 crystal. In such a crystal, third-harmonic generation (THG) is realized by the coupled second-harmonic generation (SHG) and sum-frequency generation (SFG) processes, i.e., SHG is dependent on SFG and vice versa. The OAMs of the interacting waves are proved to be conserved in such coupled nonlinear optical processes. As we increase the input OAM in the experiment, the conversion efficiency decreases because of the reduced fundamental power density. Our results provide better understanding for the OAM conversions, which can be used to efficiently produce an optical OAM state at a short wavelength.

We present experimental evidence that a minute amount of polymer additives can significantly enhance heat transport in the bulk region of turbulent thermal convection. The effects of polymer additives are found to be the \textit{suppression} of turbulent background fluctuations that give rise to incoherent heat fluxes that make no net contribution to heat transport, and at the same time to \textit{increase} the coherency of temperature and velocity fields. The suppression of small-scale turbulent fluctuations leads to more coherent thermal plumes that result in the heat transport enhancement. The fact that polymer additives can increase the coherency of thermal plumes is supported by the measurements of a number of local quantities, such as the extracted plume amplitude and width, the velocity autocorrelation functions and the velocity-temperature cross-correlation coefficient. The results from local measurements also suggest the existence of a threshold value for the polymer concentration, only above which can significant modification of the plume coherent properties and enhancement of the local heat flux be observed. Estimation of the plume emission rate suggests that the second effect of polymer additives is to stabilize the thermal boundary layers., 8 figures, 11 pages

We report nonlinear Cherenkov radiations (NCRs) in a Ti in-diffused LiNbO3 planar waveguide. The radiations were modulated exploiting different polarizations and orders of the guided modes, the fundamental wavelengths and the working temperatures. Some characteristics related to NCRs, such as radiation angles and relative intensities were investigated in detail. The experimental results matched well with theoretical calculations.

Nonlinear frequency conversion is promising for manipulating photons with orbital angular momentum (OAM). In this letter, we investigate the second harmonic generation (SHG) of light beams carrying fractional OAM. By measuring the OAM components of the generated second harmonic (SH) waves, we find that the integer components of the fundamental beam will interact with each other during the nonlinear optical process; thus, we figure out the law for topological charge transfer in frequency doubling of the fractional OAM state. Theoretical predictions by solving the nonlinear coupled wave equations are consistent with the experimental results.

In this letter, we demonstrate the realization of nonlinear Cherenkov difference-frequency generation (CDFG) exploiting the birefringence property of KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal. The pump and signal waves were set to be along different polarizations, thus the phase-matching requirement of CDFG, which is, the refractive index of the pump wave should be smaller than that of the signal wave, was fulfilled. The radiation angles and the intensity dependence of the CDFG on the pump wave were measured, which agreed well with the theoretical ones.

We introduce a new method to measure Lagrangian vorticity and the rotational dynamics of anisotropic particles in a turbulent fluid flow. We use 3D printing technology to fabricate crosses (two perpendicular rods) and jacks (three mutually perpendicular rods). Time-resolved measurements of their orientation and solid-body rotation rate are obtained from stereoscopic video images of their motion in a turbulent flow between oscillating grids with $R_\lambda$=$91$. The advected particles have a largest dimension of 6 times the Kolmogorov length, making them a good approximation to anisotropic tracer particles. Crosses rotate like disks and jacks rotate like spheres, so these measurements, combined with previous measurements of tracer rods, allow experimental study of ellipsoids across the full range of aspect ratios. The measured mean square tumbling rate, $\langle \dot{p}_i \dot{p}_i \rangle$, confirms previous direct numerical simulations that indicate that disks tumble much more rapidly than rods. Measurements of the alignment of crosses with the direction of the solid-body rotation rate vector provide the first direct observation of the alignment of anisotropic particles by the velocity gradients of the flow., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

In this paper, the shear rate and temperature dependencies of viscosity of alumina nanofluids have been investigated experimentally. The alumina nanofluids are suspensions of alumina nanospheres or nanorods in polyalphaolefins (PAO) lubricant. The base fluid PAO has a Newtonian behavior. To the first approximation, nanofluids of volume fractions phi = 1% and 3% nanospheres as well as nanofluid of phi = 1% nanorods can be considered as Newtonian fluids because their viscosity shows very weak shear rate dependence. However, our measurement clearly indicates that these nanofluids demonstrate certain non-Newtonian feature due to the addition of nanoparticles. Moreover, the relative viscosity (the ratio of viscosity of nanofluid to that of PAO) of these nanofluids has been measured to be independent of temperature. Nanofluid of a higher volume fraction phi = 3% nanorods has an apparent non-Newtonian shear thinning viscosity and a strong temperature dependence of its relative viscosity. By reviewing the previous studies, the approximation that the viscosity is Newtonian and the relative viscosity is independent of temperature seem to hold for most nanofluids of low volume fraction phi and low aspect ratio nanoparticles. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3309478]