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The electrochemical performance of solid oxide cells (SOCs) is investigated under both fuel cell and electrolyzer operations to understand their asymmetric behavior between the two operation modes. The current–voltage and electrochemical impedance characteristics of a hydrogen-electrode-supported cell are experimentally analyzed. Also, a numerical model is developed to reproduce the cell performance and to understand the internal resistances of the cell. Partial pressures of supplied gas and load current are varied to evaluate their effects on the cell performance. The gas partial pressures of hydrogen and steam supplied to the hydrogen electrode are kept equivalent so that the cell performance can be fairly compared between the two operation modes when the same current is applied. It is found that the origin of the asymmetry is mostly from the hydrogen electrode; both activation and concentration overpotentials show asymmetric behavior particularly at high current densities. A numerical experiment is also conducted by deliberately changing parameters in the model. Asymmetry in the activation overpotential is found to be originated from the non-identical charge-transfer coefficients in the Butler–Volmer equation and also from the non-uniform gas concentration formed in the hydrogen electrode under current-biased conditions. On the other hand, asymmetry in the concentration overpotential is associated with the non-equimolar counter diffusion of hydrogen and steam caused by the effect of Knudsen diffusion. Therefore, enhancing gas transport in the hydrogen electrode and reducing the contribution of Knudsen diffusion are effective approaches to reduce asymmetry not only in the concentration overpotential but also in the activation overpotential.

Monolithic catalysts have attracted attention as a substitute for particulate catalyst beds in gas-liquid-solid three-phase reactions. In this work, carbon gel monoliths with a microhoneycomb structure (carbon gel microhoneycombs, CMHs) were synthesized, and Pt particles with an average particle diameter of 3.0 nm were supported on them in a highly dispersed state through the incipient wetness method. In addition, it was confirmed that the supported Pt shows a high resistance to sintering. Hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol was carried out in order to evaluate the catalytic activity of Pt/CMHs in three-phase reactions. As a result, Pt/CMHs showed a high catalytic activity even at ambient temperature and normal pressure. Furthermore, the hydrogenation reaction significantly proceeded even when hydrogen was provided at the minimum flow rate required to complete the reaction. Since Pt/CMHs showed higher reaction activity than the same catalyst in the form of particles, it was concluded that the efficiency of three-phase reactions can be significantly improved by using monolithic catalysts with a microhoneycomb structure.

Strength and ductility synergy in an Mg-3mass%Al-Mn (AM30) alloy sheet was successfully improved via twin-roll casting and annealing at low-temperature. An AM30 alloy sheet produced by twin-roll casting, homogenization, hot-rolling, and subsequent annealing at 170 °C for 64 h exhibits a good 0.2% proof stress of 170 MPa and a large elongation to failure of 33.1% along the rolling direction. The sheet also shows in-plane isotropic tensile properties, and the 0.2% proof stress and elongation to failure along the transverse direction are 176 MPa and 35.5%, respectively. Though the sheet produced by direct-chill casting also shows moderate strengths if the annealing condition is same, the direct-chill casting leads to the deteriorated elongation to failure of 23.9% and 30.0% for the rolling and transverse directions, respectively. As well as such excellent tensile properties, a high room-temperature stretch formability with an Index Erichsen value of 8.3 mm could be obtained in the twin-roll cast sheet annealed at 170 °C for 64 h. The annealing at a higher temperature further improves the stretch formability; however, this results in the decrease of the tensile properties. Microstructure characterization reveals that the excellent combination of strengths, ductility, and stretch formability in the twin-roll cast sheet annealed at the low-temperature annealing is mainly attributed to the uniform recrystallized microstructure, fine grain size, and circular distribution of (0001) poles away from the normal direction of the sheet.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been widely studied for use in biomedical and industrial applications. The frequency dependence of the magnetization of magnetic nanoparticles is analyzed for different AC excitation fields. We employ a Fokker-Planck equation, which accurately describes AC magnetization dynamics and analyze the difference in AC susceptibility between Fokker-Planck equation and Debye model. Based on these results we proposed a simple, empirical AC susceptibility model. Simulation and experimental results showed that the proposed empirical model accurately describes AC susceptibility, and the AC susceptibility constructed with the proposed empirical equation based on Debye model agrees well with the measured results. Therefore, we can utilize the proposed empirical model in biomedical applications, such as the estimation of the hydrodynamic size and temperature, which is expected to apply to biologicals assays and hyperthermia.

Microstructures of monolithic high purity SiC and SiC with sintering additives after neutron irradiation to a fluence of 2.0–2.5 × 1024 n/m2 (E > 0.1 MeV) at 333–363 K and after post-irradiation annealing up to 1673 K were observed using a transmission electron microscopy. Results showed that no black spot defects or dislocation loops in SiC grains were found after the neutron irradiation for all of the specimens owing to the moderate fluence at low irradiation temperature. Thus, it is confirmed that these specimens were swelled mostly by the formation of point defects. Black spots and small dislocation loops were discovered only after the annealing process in PureBeta-SiC and CVD-SiC, where the swelling almost diminished. Anomalous-shaped YAG grains were found in SiC ceramics containing sintering additives. These grains contained dense black spots defects and might lose crystallinity after the neutron irradiation, while these defects may annihilate by recrystallization during annealing up to 1673 K. Amorphous grain boundary phase was also presented in this ceramic, and a large part of it was crystallized through post-irradiation annealing and could affect their recovery behavior.

For the development of electric propulsion aircrafts with light weight, low emission and high efficiency, MW-class fully superconducting synchronous machines operating at liquid nitrogen temperature were conceptually designed with REBa2Cu3O7- δ (REBCO) superconducting tapes in our previous studies. To verify the actualization of the structure and cooling method, a 1 kW-class prototype fully superconducting synchronous motor was designed and constructed in this study. The fixed armature was cooled with subcooled liquid nitrogen at 65 K. The rotor was cooled with helium gas. The pole number was two for the future high speed operation. The applicability of the complicated casing structure with three chambers into fully superconducting motor was also investigated from the viewpoint of thermal insulation. The operations as a motor up to 500 rpm and a generator demonstrated that the designed structure and cooling method were reasonable and effective for cooling the fixed armature and rotating field windings.

Programmable materials have artificially designed physical shapes responding to external stimuli, as well as high design capability and high flexibility. Here, we propose a microfiber-shaped programmable material with an axial pattern of stimuli-responsive (SR) and nonresponsive hydrogels. The SR pre-gel solution was mixed to sodium alginate pre-gel solution for instantaneous gelation with ionic crosslinking and solidified on a nonresponsive hydrogel microfiber with a valve-controlled microfluidic system. A design of microfiber-shaped programmable material (patterned position of SR regions) could be flexibly altered by changing a coded sequence program. We confirmed that the three-dimensional (3D) coil-like structures were self-folded at the patterned SR regions responding to the thermal stimulus and that the chirality of the self-folded 3D coil-like structures depends on the condition of the stimulus to the microfiber. Finally, interaction with objects using the programmable microfiber as a soft actuator was demonstrated. Our microfiber-shaped programmable materials expand possibilities of fiber-based materials in biomimetics and soft robotics fields.

In magnetic nanoparticle tomography (MNT), the reduction of artefacts and the calculation time can be used to estimate the position of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Non-negative least squares (NNLS) inverse problem analysis has been used in MNT systems for this task. However, owing to the presence of measurement noise and the high sensitivity of the NNLS method, it often estimates certain MNPs inaccurately, i.e., it generates artefacts. In addition, its calculation time is very high. In this study, we applied the minimum variance spatial filter (MV-SF) inverse problem analysis to MNT and estimated the position of an MNP sample containing 100 μ g of Fe. Using the MV-SF method, MNP samples placed at a depth of 25–40 mm were observed to have no artefacts. Moreover, the MV-SF method was also observed to be faster than the NNLS method by a factor of approximately 20. These results verify the feasibility of the MV-SF method for estimating the MNP positions in an MNT system.

Frequency dependence of the densification behavior of undoped Y2O3 sintered by the AC-flash sintering was systematically investigated at 500 V·cm−1 over a frequency range from 0.05 Hz to 1 kHz. The Y2O3 bodies sintered under an AC field showed a uniform microstructure, without an asymmetric grain size distribution between the electrodes. Almost fully-densified Y2O3 body was consolidated at 1 kHz exhibited a relative density greater than 99 % and an average grain size of 1.6 μm. The almost full densification probably resulted from the high input power at the relatively high onset temperature of 1300 °C at this frequency. The temperature dependence of the power dissipation during the AC-flash sintering experiments can be ascribed to the periodic fluctuations of the specimen temperature at low frequencies and to the phase shift between the applied field and the specimen current at high frequencies.

This study aimed to evaluate the pulpal responses of monkey's pulp after direct pulp capping (DPC) with the novel mineral trioxide aggregate containing phosphorylated pullulan-based material (MTAPPL). Seventy-two teeth were randomly divided into four groups: MTAPPL; Nex-Cem MTA (NX); TheraCal LC (TH); and Dycal (DY). Histopathological changes in the pulps were observed at days 3, 7 and 70. On day 3, mild inflammatory responses were observed in the MTAPPL, no to moderate inflammatory responses in the TH, whereas moderate inflammatory responses in the NX and DY. No mineralized tissue formation (MTF) was observed in all groups. On day 7, no or mild inflammatory responses were observed in all groups. Initial MTF was observed except for DY. No inflammation with complete MTF including presence of odontoblast-like cells was observed in the MTAPPL, NX and TH groups at day 70. These findings indicate that MTAPPL could be an efficient DPC material.

Copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) is known as a wide bandgap p-type semiconductor and recently demonstrated its high ability as a hole-transporting material in thin film devices such as dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells [1]. However, in fact little is known for its intrinsic physical properties such as bandgap, band positions, optical transparency, carrier density and mobility. We have established methods to electrodeposit well-crystallized CuSCN thin films in various forms. Although the electrochemistry is fairly simple as limited by diffusion of 1 : 1 complex between Cu2+ and SCN- ions ([Cu(SCN)]+), the [Cu2+] : [SCN-] ratio, its absolute concentration and solvent can significantly alter the morphology and crystal orientation of resulting CuSCN [2]. Hybridization with various cationic organic dyes has also been achieved to furnish nanostructures and even transition from rhombohedral β to orthorhombic α form [3]. These unique features of the electrodeposition technique let us anticipate possibilities to tailor-tune physical properties of CuSCN to match the demands for the device applications. Moreover, electrodeposited CuSCN doesn’t hinder its use in flexible electronics unlike many other inorganic materials, since the process is done at room temperature. In this study, we have carried out electrodeposition of CuSCN to vary its morphology and crystal orientation by tuning the bath composition and studied their band structure to explore the room for tuning its physical properties. Morphologies of CuSCN thin films electrodeposited from stoichiometric (REF), Cu-rich and SCN-rich baths are compared in Figs. 1 a-c. While the REF sample has an open structure made of relatively large bulky particles, the Cu-rich sample is dense, made of tiny grains. XRD patterns have found almost random crystal orientation for the former and a high degree of preference of the latter to orient the c-axis of β-CuSCN perpendicular to the substrate. On the other hand, the one from the SCN-rich bath is made of elongated platelets (Fig. 1 b) and strongly oriented to lay down the c-axis in parallel with the substrate. As expected from the morphology, the Cu-rich film is highly transparent, whereas the other two are opaque due to light scattering (Table 1). Tauc plot for indirect transition indicated a systematic increase of bandgap from 3.58 to 3.64 eV on increasing the Cu2+ content. More significant difference was found for their work function (WF) measured by photoelectron yield spectroscopy (PYS). The threshold energy moved downwards from 5.31 to 5.66 eV vs. VAC from Cu-rich to SCN-rich film. The result indicates a high level of p-type doping in the presence of excess SCN-, probably due to increased concentration of Cu2+ as stabilized by SCN- bound to it. Enhanced photoluminescence has also been found for the electrodeposited CuSCN thin film especially for the SCN-rich sample, as compared to commercial CuSCN powder. Thus, electrodeposition has turned out to allow fine-tuning of physical properties of CuSCN for device applications. [1] Vinod E. Madhavan et al., ACS Energy Lett. 2016, 1, 1112−1117. [2] Lina Sun et al., Physics Procedia, 2011, 14, 12-24. [3] Yuki Tsuda et al., Chem., 2017, 148, 845-854. Figure 1

The effect of the rolling temperature on the room-temperature stretch formability, tensile properties, microstructure, and texture of Mg-4.9Al-0.16Mn (mass%) alloy sheet has been investigated. Rolling at 220°C resulted in the formation of a weakly aligned isotropic texture feature, and the annealed sheet showed splitting of (0001) poles to the rolling direction and broadening of (0001) poles to the transverse direction, leading to an excellent Index Erichsen value of 8.2 mm. The alloy sheet also formed a fine-grained structure with average grain size of ~9 µm, achieving isotropic tensile properties with a moderate 0.2% proof stress of ~ 150 MPa. Quasi-in situ electron backscattered diffraction was employed to study the evolution of the texture, revealing that the suppression of dynamic recrystallization, shear-band-related static recrystallization, and grain growth behavior within the shear bands had a significant impact on the texture weakening.

Interfacial electron flow is crucial for an efficient two-step (Z-scheme) solar water-splitting reaction. Dye-sensitization of a wide-gap oxide semiconductor has attracted considerable attention for decades as a means of producing hydrogen from water; however, it suffers from back electron transfer reactions at solid-solid and solid-solution interfaces. Here, we demonstrate that a combination of two nano-architectures, Ru-dye double layering and Pt cocatalyst intercalation to layered niobate semiconductor, effectively suppresses the back electron transfers at interfaces, leading to the complete oxidation of the [Co(bpy)(3)]-type electron mediator (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) as a result of efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production. Our systematic study on the Ru-dye double layers revealed that the double layering of two different Ru dyes and surface modification with the Zr4+ cation not only suppress the back electron transfer from an electron-injected semiconductor to oxidized dye but also accelerate the electron injection from the mediator to the oxidized dye. In addition, the re-reduction of the oxidized Co(III) mediator at the Pt cocatalyst surface was effectively suppressed by intercalation of Pt to the layered niobate semiconductor. The present work clearly shows that double nano-architectures controlling the surfaces of the semiconductor and cocatalyst have great potential for photo-induced charge separation at the solid-solution interface and expands the possibilities of layered semiconductor materials toward Z-scheme water splitting.

We have developed a simple and straightforward way to realize controlled postdoping toward 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). The key idea is to use low-kinetic-energy dopant beams and a high-flux chalcogen beam simultaneously, leading to substitutional doping with controlled dopant densities. Atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy has revealed that dopant atoms injected toward TMDs are incorporated substitutionally into the hexagonal framework of TMDs. The electronic properties of doped TMDs (Nb-doped WSe2) have shown drastic change and p-type action with more than 2 orders of magnitude increase in current. Position-selective doping has also been demonstrated by the postdoping toward TMDs with a patterned mask on the surface. The postdoping method developed in this work can be a versatile tool for 2D-based next-generation electronics in the future.

We performed proteomic analysis of rat serum proteins adsorbed on hydroxyapatite (HAp) and α-alumina (α-Al2O3) in order to identify proteins that specifically adsorb onto HAp and control cellular responses. Proteins with either or both molecular weight of 22-32 kDa and computed isoelectric point of 5.0-5.5 were preferentially adsorbed on HAp. In total, 182 proteins were adsorbed on both HAp and α-Al2O3, of which 14 were highly enriched on HAp, whereas 68 were adsorbed only on HAp. Therefore, 82 (14+68) proteins were further evaluated by bioinformatics and literature-based analyses. We predicted that hepatocyte growth factor and angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) are candidate proteins responsible for the osteoconductivity of HAp. Although ANGPTL3 promoted the attachment and spreading of MC3T3-E1 cells, it did not promote their proliferation and differentiation. Our results suggest that specific adsorption of ANGPTL3 on HAp induced osteoconductivity by enhancing the attachment and spreading of osteoblasts.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application of fiberglass reinforcement method in thermoplastic mouthguard materials to improve flexural properties and adhesive strength. Commonly used two types of commercial mouth guard materials (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer-based and polyolefin-based) were reinforced with glass fiber clothes by two-step hot press. Flexural strength and adhesive strength with each base material were examine via three-point bending test and delamination test, respectively. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer-based fiberglass-reinforced material has significantly greater adhesive strength with base material and improvement of flexural properties compared with polyolefin-based material. These results suggest that flexural properties of both conventional commercial mouthguard materials were improved when the glass-fiber-reinforced method was applied to reinforce mouthguard materials, and more, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer was more desirable for the base material.

Surface ligands play a critical role in the synthesis of metal nanoclusters (NCs) tuning the sizes, compositions, structures, and properties at the atomic level. Chiral ligands often lead to the fo...

A series of tetravalent metal pyrophosphates (MP2O7; M = Si, Ti, and Zr) were studied as support materials for rhodium (Rh) catalysts to elucidate the effect of the M–O–P bond covalency on the inte...

In vacuum interrupters, an insulation ability is degraded immediately after high current interruption, because of thermal electrons, metal vapors, and residual plasma. Thermal electrons and metal vapors are produced from the electrode surface, which is heated by the arc between electrodes. Therefore electrode temperature is affect insulation ability. It is important to measure the transient of temperature distribution at anode surface after current zero, for explication of interruption phenomenon in vacuum. Hence, two color pyrometer method with a high-speed camera for temperature measurement of electrode in vacuum was developed, and temperature of Cu-Cr spiral test electrode was measured after current zero by its method and time change of temperature distribution at anode wad obtained. Also, relationship between interruption current and time change of anode temperature was investigated.

Water in the supercritical region of the phase diagram exhibits a markedly different structure and properties from that at ambient conditions, which is useful in controlling chemical reactions. Nonetheless, the experimental, as well as theoretical, characterization of the substance is not easy because the region is next to the critical point. This article reviews the experimental as well as theoretical studies on water in the supercritical region and its properties as a solvent for chemical reactions, as carried out by the authors and based on small-angle X-ray scattering and the statistical mechanics theory of molecular liquids, also known as reference interaction-site model (RISM) theory.

Factory machine diagnosis is important for preventive maintenance. Diagnosis equipment needs to be reliable and easy to handle, and the diagnostic results should be easily recognizable. An equipment that meets the above conditions is developed; it comprises a laser beam source, leaf spring with a mirror and a magnet as a position-adjustable mass, a copper plate, and a remote switch, if necessary. The principle is based on optical lever and mechanical vibration resonance. The laser spot vibration trajectory is irradiated onto the wall, ceiling, floor of a factory, or the housing of a machine as a screen. An equipment (29 mm $\times35$ mm $\times22$ mm) placed on the vibrating machine irradiates a laser beam and the magnified vibration is displayed on the screen. In this paper, the theoretical model and the equipment are presented, and the measured vibrations for a test vibrator and an actual machine are shown. A peak-to-peak vibration of 0.006 mm measured by a vibrometer is magnified to the 115 mm laser beam spot trajectory. The magnification is 38,333 times (91.6 dB), which is even larger on screens placed farther away. The calculation results by the theoretical model are in good agreement with the measurements.

We investigated the oxidation of oxygen vacancies at the surface of anatase TiO2(001) using a supersonic seeded molecular beam (SSMB) of oxygen. The oxygen vacancies at the top surface and subsurface could be eliminated by the supply of oxygen using an SSMB. Oxygen vacancies are present on the surface of anatase TiO2(001) when it is untreated before transfer to a vacuum chamber. These vacancies, which are stable in the as-grown condition, could also be effectively eliminated by using the oxygen SSMB.

The scope of this work was to investigate the quench sensitivity of a high-purity wrought aluminum alloy Al6Zn0.75 Mg (in this work called 7003pure). This is compared to a similar alloy with the additions of Fe, Si, and Zr at a sum less than 0.3 at.% (in this work called 7003Fe,Si,Zr). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for an in situ analysis of quench induced precipitation in a wide range of cooling rates varying between 0.0003 and 3 K/s. In 7003pure, three main precipitation reactions were observed during cooling, a medium temperature reaction with a distinct double peak between 325 and 175 °C and a very low temperature reaction starting at about 100 °C. An additional high temperature reaction related to the precipitation of Mg2Si starting at 425 °C has been observed for 7003Fe,Si,Zr. In terms of hardness after natural as well as artificial aging, alloy 7003pure shows a very low quench sensitivity. Hardness values on the saturation level of about 120 HV1 are seen down to cooling rates of 0.003 K/s. The as-quenched hardness (5 min of natural aging) shows a maximum at a cooling rate of 0.003 K/s, while slower and faster cooling results in a lower hardness. In terms of hardness after aging, 0.003 K/s could be defined as the technological critical cooling rate, which is much higher for 7003Fe,Si,Zr (0.3–1 K/s). The physical critical cooling rates for the suppression of any precipitation during cooling were found to be about 10 K/s for both variants.

Strain measurement is critical for wood quality evaluation. Using conventional strain gauges constantly is high cost, also challenging to measure precious wood materials due to the use of strong adhesive. This study demonstrates the correlation between the light scattering degrees inside the wood during tension testing and their macroscopic strain values. A multifiber-based visible-near-infrared (Vis–NIR) spatially resolved spectroscopy (SRS) system was designed to rapidly and conveniently acquire such light scattering changes. For the preliminary experiment, samples with different thicknesses, from 2 to 5 mm, were measured to evaluate the influence of sample thickness. The differences in Vis–NIR SRS spectral data diminished with an increase in sample thickness, suggesting that the SRS method can successfully measure the wood samples' whole strain (i.e., surface and inside). Then, for the primary experiment, 18 wood samples were each prepared with approximately the same sample thickness of 2 mm and 5 mm to construct strain calibration models, respectively. The prediction accuracy of the 2-mm samples was characterized by a determination coefficient (R^2) of 0.81 with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 343.54 με for leave-one-out cross-validation; for test validation, the validation accuracy was characterized by an R^2 of 0.76 and an RMSE of 395.35 με. For the validation accuracy of the 5-mm samples, R2val was 0.69 with 440.78 με RMSEval. Overall, the presented calibration results of the SRS approach were confirmed to be superior to the standard diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.

Half-Heusler alloys, which possess the advantages of high thermal stability, a large power factor, and good mechanical property, have been attracting increasing interest in mid-temperature thermoelectric applications. In this work, extra Zr-doped TiZrxNiSn samples were successfully prepared by a modified solid-state reaction followed by spark plasma sintering. It demonstrates that extra Zr doping could not only improve the power factor on account of an increase in the Seebeck coefficient but also suppress the lattice thermal conductivity originated from the strengthened phonon scattering by the superlattice nanodomains and the secondary nanoparticles. As a consequence, an increased power factor of 3.29 mW m-1 K-2 and a decreased lattice thermal conductivity of 1.74 W m-1 K-1 are achieved in TiZr0.015NiSn, leading to a peak ZT as high as 0.88 at 773 K and an average ZT value up to 0.62 in the temperature range of 373-773 K. This work gives guidance for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of TiNiSn-based alloys by modulating the microstructures on the secondary nanophases and superlattice nanodomains.

Background/aims High-intensity static stretching is assumed to increase the range of motion and/or decrease muscle stiffness; however, the effects of high-intensity static stretching on the quadriceps muscle have been debated. Hot pack application before high-intensity static stretching was assumed to decrease stretching pain, which is the main problem in high-intensity static stretching, and decrease quadriceps muscle stiffness. This study aimed to examine hot pack application before high-intensity static stretching on stretching pain, knee flexion range of motion, and quadriceps muscle stiffness. Methods In total, 21 healthy sedentary male participants randomly performed two interventions: high-intensity static stretching and hot pack application before stretching. Static stretching was performed at three 60-second stretching interventions with a 30-second interval. Then, a 20-minute hot pack was applied before high-intensity static stretching. The knee flexion range of motion and shear elastic modulus of the quadriceps muscle were measured by ultrasonic shear-wave elastography before and after the static stretching intervention. Results Stretching pain after hot pack application before stretching was lower than high-intensity static stretching alone. Significant increases were also found in knee flexion range of motion after both stretching interventions, but no significant difference was noted in the increase in the knee flexion range of motion with or without hot pack application. No significant change was found in quadriceps muscle stiffness in either intervention. Conclusions The results suggest that hot pack application before high-intensity static stretching could decrease stretching pain, but no significant difference in knee flexion range of motion increase was found.

形態: カラー図版あり, Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations, Accepted: 2021-02-22, 資料番号: PA2120007000

We demonstrate an electrically-driven metal-dielectric photonic crystal emitter by fabricating a series of organic light emitting diode microcavities in a vertical stack. The states of the individual microcavities are shown to split into bands of hybridized photonic energy states through interaction with adjacent cavities. The propagating photonic modes within the crystal depend sensitively on the unit cell geometry and the optical properties of the component materials. By systematically varying the metallic layer thicknesses, we show control over the density of states and band center. The emergence of a tunable photonic band gap due to an asymmetry-introduced Peierls distortion is demonstrated and correlated to the unit cell configuration. This work develops a class of one dimensional, planar, photonic crystal emitter architectures enabling either narrow linewidth, multi-mode, or broadband emission with a high degree of tunability., Understanding and manipulating the photonic band structure formed in stacked Fabry-Pérot microcavity organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is key to optimizing their performance. Here, through intelligent device design, the authors tune the photonic band gap in vertically-stacked OLED microcavities.

Layer stacking of two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, is critical for controlling their physical and transport properties. By exploiting a specific stacking order, the electronic band structures of such 2D materials can be tuned, from which unusual and exotic properties may emerge. Graphene oxide (GO) undergoes layer stacking along with its photo- and thermal-induced reduction process; however, the underlying mechanism and dynamics during its layer stacking have not been revealed. In this study, we demonstrate time-resolved electron diffraction for monitoring the structural dynamics during the layer stacking of GO induced by ultraviolet photoexcitation. The experimental results accompanied by the density functional theory calculations reveal that AB stacking of graphitic domains of GO layers coincides within ∼40 ps with photoinduced removal of the epoxy-oxygen from the basal plane of GO via the strong interactions between the GO layers.

An unusually large thermopower (S) enhancement is induced by heterostructuring thin films of the strongly correlated electron oxide LaNiO3. The phonon-drag effect, which is not observed in bulk LaNiO3, enhances S for thin films compressively strained by LaAlO3 substrates. By a reduction in the layer thickness down to three unit cells and subsequent LaAlO3 surface termination, a 10 times S enhancement over the bulk value is observed due to large phonon drag S (Sg), and the Sg contribution to the total S occurs over a much wider temperature range up to 220 K. The Sg enhancement originates from the coupling of lattice vibration to the d electrons with large effective mass in the compressively strained ultrathin LaNiO3, and the electron-phonon interaction is largely enhanced by the phonon leakage from the LaAlO3 substrate and the capping layer. The transition-metal oxide heterostructures emerge as a new playground to manipulate electronic and phononic properties in the quest for high-performance thermoelectrics.

Cooperative behavior displayed by five steel disks falling in a low-density particle bed involves the formation of upward and downward convex configurations, which resembles the flying pattern of a flock of birds. In this study, we focused on overtaking behavior in two falling disks, which causes the cooperative behavior, and we investigated the effects of differences in the disk release time and the initial disk separation distance on the falling behavior of the disks experimentally. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles (diameter 5.08 mm, mass 1.45 mg) were used as the bed particles and steel disks (diameter 25.4 mm, thickness 5.22 mm, mass 20.2 g) were used as the falling disks. We released one to five disks with various disk release time differences (0–0.154 s) and initial separation distances (0–100 mm). We recorded the disk falling behavior in the particle bed with a high-speed video camera (500 fps) and analyzed the behavior with image analysis software. Five-disk cooperative behavior similar to that reported in the literature occurred in our experimental setup. In the two-disk experiments, we observed overtaking behavior for an initial separation distance of 10 mm and release time difference of ≤ 0.076 s, and for an initial separation distance of ≤ 60 mm and release time difference of 0.02–0.03 s. The overtaking behavior arose from the decrease in the falling velocity of the first disk released. The EPS particle packing fraction in the area above the disk one disk diameter wide and a quarter of the disk diameter high determined the disk falling velocity. This mechanism was explained by the displacement behavior of EPS particles around the disks as the disks fell.