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Summary: Self‐incompatibility (SI) is a widespread prezygotic mechanism for flowering plants to avoid inbreeding depression and promote genetic diversity. Citrus has an S‐RNase‐based SI system, which was frequently lost during evolution. We previously identified a single nucleotide mutation in Sm‐RNase, which is responsible for the loss of SI in mandarin and its hybrids. However, little is known about other mechanisms responsible for conversion of SI to self‐compatibility (SC) and we identify a completely different mechanism widely utilized by citrus. Here, we found a 786‐bp miniature inverted‐repeat transposable element (MITE) insertion in the promoter region of the FhiS2‐RNase in Fortunella hindsii Swingle (a model plant for citrus gene function), which does not contain the Sm‐RNase allele but are still SC. We demonstrate that this MITE plays a pivotal role in the loss of SI in citrus, providing evidence that this MITE insertion prevents expression of the S‐RNase; moreover, transgenic experiments show that deletion of this 786‐bp MITE insertion recovers the expression of FhiS2‐RNase and restores SI. This study identifies the first evidence for a role for MITEs at the S‐locus affecting the SI phenotype. A family‐wide survey of the S‐locus revealed that MITE insertions occur frequently adjacent to S‐RNase alleles in different citrus genera, but only certain MITEs appear to be responsible for the loss of SI. Our study provides evidence that insertion of MITEs into a promoter region can alter a breeding strategy and suggests that this phenomenon may be broadly responsible for SC in species with the S‐RNase system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Ethylene‐responsive factors (ERFs) are plant‐specific transcription factors involved in cold stress response, and raffinose is known to accumulate in plants exposed to cold. However, it remains elusive whether ERFs function in cold tolerance by modulating raffinose synthesis. Here, we identified a cold‐responsive PtrERF108 from trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.), a cold‐tolerant plant closely related to citrus. PtrERF108 is localized in the nucleus and has transcriptional activation activity. Overexpression of PtrERF108 conferred enhanced cold tolerance of transgenic lemon, whereas virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS)‐mediated knockdown of PtrERF108 in trifoliate orange greatly elevated cold sensitivity. Transcriptome profiling showed that PtrERF108 overexpression caused extensive reprogramming of genes associated with signaling transduction, physiological processes and metabolic pathways. Among them, a raffinose synthase (RafS)‐encoding gene, PtrRafS, was confirmed as a direct target of PtrERF108. RafS activity and raffinose content were significantly increased in PtrERF108‐overexpressing transgenic plants, but prominently decreased in the VIGS plants under cold conditions. Meanwhile, exogenous replenishment of raffinose could recover the cold tolerance of PtrERF108‐silenced plants, whereas VIGS‐mediated knockdown of PtrRafS resulted in cold‐sensitive phenotype. Taken together, the current results demonstrate that PtrERF108 plays a positive role in cold tolerance by modulation of raffinose synthesis via regulating PtrRafS. Our findings reveal a new transcriptional module composed of ERF108‐RafS underlying cold‐induced raffinose accumulation in plants. Significance Statement: A transcriptional module composed of ERF108‐RafS in Poncirus trifoliata orchestrates upregulation of RafS gene expression and raffinose accumulation in response to cold stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general formalism describing a type of energy-conservative system is established. Some possible dynamic behaviors of such energy-conservative systems are analyzed from the perspective of geometric invariance. A specific 4D chaotic energy-conservative system with a line of equilibria is constructed and analyzed. Typically, an energy-conservative system is also conservative in preserving its phase volume. The constructed system however is conservative only in energy but is dissipative in phase volume. It produces energy-conservative attractors specifically exhibiting chaotic 2-torus and quasiperiodic behaviors including regular 2-torus and 3-torus. From the basin of attraction containing a line of equilibria, the hidden nature of chaotic attractors generated from the system is further discussed. The energy hypersurface on which the attractors lie is determined by the initial value, which generates complex dynamics and multistability, verified by energy-related bifurcation diagrams and Poincaré sections. A new type of coexistence of attractors on the equal-energy hypersurface is discovered by turning the system parameter values to their opposite. The basins of attraction under three sets of parameter values demonstrate that the Hamiltonian is the leading factor predominating the dynamic behaviors of the system with a closed energy hypersurface. Finally, an analog circuit is designed and implemented to demonstrate the consistent theoretical and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some notes are presented to this paper "Input–output finite-time stability of fractional-order positive switched systems" by Liang et al. (Circuit Syst Signal Process 38:1619–1638, 2019). A counterexample is taken to verify our analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A 4D Euler equation satisfying symplectic structure is proposed for the dynamics of 4D rigid body. • A Hamiltonian conservative chaotic system is modelled having strong pseudo-randomness in terms of various measures. • An analytic Casimir power form is given as the key factor identifying whether the system produces periodic or aperiodic orbits. • The mechanism routes from quasiperiodic orbits to chaos is studied using the Hamiltonian energy bifurcation and Poincaré map. • A circuit is implemented to physically verify the existence of the conservative chaos. In this paper, the important role of 3D Euler equation playing in forced-dissipative chaotic systems is reviewed. In mathematics, rigid-body dynamics, the structure of symplectic manifold, and fluid dynamics, building a four-dimensional (4D) Euler equation is essential. A 4D Euler equation is proposed by combining two generalized Euler equations of 3D rigid bodies with two common axes. In chaos-based secure communications, generating a Hamiltonian conservative chaotic system is significant for its advantage over the dissipative chaotic system in terms of ergodicity, distribution of probability, and fractional dimensions. Based on the proposed 4D Euler equation, a 4D Hamiltonian chaotic system is proposed. Through proof, only center and saddle equilibrium lines exist, hence it is not possible to produce asymptotical attractor generated from the proposed conservative system. An analytic form of Casimir power demonstrates that the breaking of Casimir energy conservation is the key factor that the system produces the aperiodic orbits: quasiperiodic orbit and chaos. The system has strong pseudo-randomness with a large positive Lyapunov exponent (more than 10 K), and a large state amplitude and energy. The bandwidth for the power spectral density of the system is 500 times that of both existing dissipative and conservative systems. The mechanism routes from quasiperiodic orbits to chaos is studied using the Hamiltonian energy bifurcation and Poincaré map. A circuit is implemented to verify the existence of the conservative chaos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disadvantage of a nondimensionalized model of a permanent-magnet synchronous Motor (PMSM) is identified. The original PMSM model is transformed into a Kolmogorov system to aid dynamic force analysis. The vector field of the PMSM is analogous to the force field including four types of torque - inertial, internal, dissipative, and generalized external. Using the feedback thought, the error torque between external torque and dissipative torque is identified. The pitchfork bifurcation of the PMSM is performed. Four forms of energy are identified for the system - kinetic, potential, dissipative, and supplied. The physical interpretations of the decomposition of force and energy exchange are given. Casimir energy is stored energy, and its rate of change is the error power between the dissipative energy and the energy supplied to the motor. Error torque and error power influence the different types of dynamic modes. The Hamiltonian energy and Casimir energy are compared to find the function of each in producing the dynamic modes. A supremum bound for the chaotic attractor is proposed using the error power and Lagrange multiplier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We have analyzed why Eq. (2.5) in [1] is incorrect. • A counterexample is taken to verify our analysis. • We draw a conclusion that an inequality holds, but the Laplace transformation of the inequality may not hold. In this paper, some comments are presented to the paper [J. Ren, Z. Sun, W. Dai, New Approximations for Solving the Caputo-Type Fractional Partial Differential Equations, Applied Mathematical Modelling (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.apm.2015.10.011]. A counterexample is taken to verify our analysis. As many papers have the similar mistake, it is very necessary to point out this error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, epidemiological studies have assessed the association between CYP1A2-164 A/C polymorphism and colorectal cancer susceptibility. However, the results of these studies remained controversial. We aimed to examine the associations by conducting a meta-analysis of case-control studies. A total of 11 studies including 5,093 cases and 5,941 controls evaluated the association between the CYP1A2-164 A/C polymorphism and colorectal cancer susceptibility. No significantly associations were found in all genetic models (CC vs. AA: OR = 1.14, 95 % CI = 0.93-1.40; AC vs. AA: OR = 1.05, 95 % CI = 0.91-1.20; dominant model: OR = 1.08, 95 % CI = 0.95-1.24; recessive model: OR = 1.10, 95 % CI = 0.95-1.28). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity or source of controls, there were still no significant associations detected in all genetic models. This meta-analysis suggested the CYP1A2-164 A/C polymorphism was not a risk factor for increasing colorectal cancer, further large and well-designed studies are needed to confirm these conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development prospects of conventional Li-ion batteries are limited by the paucity of Li resources. Mg–Li hybrid batteries (MLIBs) combine the advantages of Li-ion batteries and magnesium batteries. Li+ can migrate rapidly in the cathode materials, and the Mg anode has the advantage of being dendrite-free. In this study, a type of Li4Ti5O12 composite material doped with Sn4+ and a conductive carbon skeleton (Li4Ti4.9Sn0.1O12/C, Sn0.1-LTO/C) was prepared by a simple one-pot sol–gel method. The doped Sn4+ replaces part of Ti4+ in the crystal lattice, which makes Ti3+ require charge compensation, thus improving the ionic conductivity. The intervention of the conductive carbon skeleton further improves the conductivity of the Sn0.1-LTO/C composite material. The performance of Sn0.1-LTO/C as the cathode of MLIBs is explored. The initial discharge capacity was 159.1 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C, and it was maintained at 105 mA h g−1 even after 500 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to a small amount of Sn doping and the involvement of the conductive carbon skeleton, which indicated that the Sn0.1-LTO/C composite material provides great potential application in MLIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the neuron model and studying its electrical activities according to the real biophysical environment are significant in human cognitive brain activity and neural behavior. The complex transmembrane motion of ions on the neuronal cell membrane can establish time-varying electromagnetic fields and affect the transition firing patterns of neurons. In this paper, a threshold memristor is used to describe the electromagnetic induction and magnetic field effects of neuron cell membrane ion exchange to improve the neuron model, and a memristive Morris–Lecar (mM–L) neuron model is proposed. Numerical simulation confirms that different intensities of electromagnetic fields can produce distinct pattern transitions in electrical activities of the neuron, such as periodic bursting, periodic spiking, chaotic bursting. From the perspective of neuron's interspike interval (ISI), the ISIs bifurcation in the multiparameter planes, ISIs firing periods, the variance of ISIs and other methods are used to find the trend of the mM–L neuron firing pattern transition. Finally, based on the 4D nonlinear differential equation of the mM–L neuron model, the complete electronic implementation of the model is designed. The output of the designed circuit is consistent with the theoretical prediction, which is extremely useful for studying the dynamics of a single neuron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a four-dimensional conservative system of Euler equations producing the periodic orbit is constructed and studied. The reason that a conservative system often produces periodic orbit has rarely been studied. By analyzing the Hamiltonian and Casimir functions, three invariants of the conservative system are found. The complete integrability is proved to be the mechanism that the system generates the periodic orbits. The mechanism route from periodic orbit to conservative chaos is found by breaking the conservation of Casimir energy and the integrability through which a chaotic Hamiltonian system is built. The observed chaos is not excited by saddle or center equilibria, so the system has hidden dynamics. It is found that the upgrade in the Hamiltonian energy level violates the order of dynamical behavior and transitions from a low or regular state to a high or an irregular state. From the energy bifurcation associated with different energy levels, rich coexisting orbits are discovered, i.e., the coexistence of chaotic orbits, quasi-periodic orbits, and chaotic quasi-periodic orbits. The coincidence between the two-dimensional diagram of maximum Lyapunov exponents and the bifurcation diagram of Hamiltonian energy is observed. Finally, field programmable gate array implementation, a challenging task for the chaotic Hamiltonian conservative system, is designed to be a Hamiltonian pseudo-random number generator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for finding hidden chaotic attractors in the plasma system is presented. Using the Routh–Hurwitz criterion, the stability distribution associated with two parameters is identified to find the region around the equilibrium points of the stable nodes, stable focus-nodes, saddles and saddle-foci for the purpose of investigating hidden chaos. A physical interpretation is provided of the stability distribution for each type of equilibrium point. The basin of attraction and parameter region of hidden chaos are identified by excluding the self-excited chaotic attractors of all equilibrium points. Homotopy and numerical continuation are also employed to check whether the basin of chaotic attraction intersects with the neighborhood of a saddle equilibrium. Bifurcation analysis, phase portrait analysis, and basins of different dynamical attraction are used as tools to distinguish visually the self-excited chaotic attractor and hidden chaotic attractor. The Casimir power reflects the error power between the dissipative energy and the energy supplied by the whistler field. It explains physically, analytically, and numerically the conditions that generate the different dynamics, such as sinks, periodic orbits, and chaos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approach of dynamical system (DS) is promising for modeling robot motion, and provides a flexible means of realizing robot learning and control. Accuracy, stability, and learning speed are the three main factors to be considered when learning robot movements from human demonstrations with DS. Some approaches yield stable dynamical systems, but these may result in a poor reproduction performance, while some approaches yield good reproduction performance but are quite complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we address the accuracy-stability-speed issues simultaneously. We present a learning method named the fast and stable modeling for dynamical systems, which is based on the extreme learning machine to efficiently and accurately learn the parameters of the DS as well as to ensure the asymptotic stability at the target. We confirm the proposed approach by performing both 2-D tasks of learning handwriting motions and a set of robot experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epoxy based composite materials with a high ageing resistance property have attracted a wide attention in the field of high-electric-insulation electronic packaging. However, both of the highly retained electrical and mechanical performances are difficult to simultaneously achieve in composite materials once a longer heat-oxygen ageing at a high temperature is applied onto the materials. In order to realize the ageing-resistant high mechanical, electric breakdown and dielectric properties simultaneously in composite, in this work, an epoxy based composite filled with the high-insulation micron-sized glass fiber filler has been prepared, and its shock resistance strength, electric breakdown strength, dielectric constant, dielectric loss and conductivity after a severe heat-oxygen ageing have been investigated in detail, compared with that before the ageing. Although the ageing was operated at 150 °C for 25 days, the electric and mechanical properties of the composite were still finely retained, including 60% retention for shock resistance strength, 70% for breakdown strength, 80% for dielectric constant, dielectric loss below 0.1 and conductivity below 2 × 10−9 S cm−1. The epoxy matrix and glass fiber filler were responsible for the small decline and high retention for the properties in composite, respectively. This work might open the way for the large-scale preparation of the promising epoxy based composites with the highly retained ageing-resistant electric and mechanical properties based on incorporating the high-insulation fiber fillers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet (UV) curing adhesives have been extensively utilized in fields of health care and electronic components due to low energy consumption and solvent pollution. The most used system is modified acrylic ester system whose merits are low cost, high reliability and tensile strength. However, higher UV curing rate is still pursued especially in field of quick dry adhesives as well as influencing factors of curing rate are very complex. For clarifying affecting factors of curing rate as well as achieving higher curing rate, in this work, several UV curing adhesives with acrylic photosensitive resin prepolymers modified by epoxy and polyurethane were prepared. The impacts of class and content of radical photo-initiators, prepolymers and reactive diluents on UV curing rate were deeply researched. Moreover, the influence of oxygen polymerization inhibition on curing rate was discussed as well. The significantly elevated curing rates were obtained in as-prepared adhesives, in comparison with commercial ones. This work might offer a facile and effective strategy to obtain the promising high-performance modified acrylic ester prepolymer bearing UV curing adhesives with a significantly elevated high curing rate by well controlling these investigated affecting factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation of crop wild relatives is critical for plant breeding and food security. The lack of clarity on the genetic factors that lead to endangered status or extinction create difficulties when attempting to develop concrete recommendations for conserving a citrus wild relative: the wild relatives of crops. Here, we evaluate the conservation of wild kumquat (Fortunella hindsii) using genomic, geographical, environmental, and phenotypic data, and forward simulations. Genome resequencing data from 73 accessions from the Fortunella genus were combined to investigate population structure, demography, inbreeding, introgression, and genetic load. Population structure was correlated with reproductive type (i.e., sexual and apomictic) and with a significant differentiation within the sexually reproducing population. The effective population size for one of the sexually reproducing subpopulations has recently declined to ~1,000, resulting in high levels of inbreeding. In particular, we found that 58% of the ecological niche overlapped between wild and cultivated populations and that there was extensive introgression into wild samples from cultivated populations. Interestingly, the introgression pattern and accumulation of genetic load may be influenced by the type of reproduction. In wild apomictic samples, the introgressed regions were primarily heterozygous, and genome-wide deleterious variants were hidden in the heterozygous state. In contrast, wild sexually reproducing samples carried a higher recessive deleterious burden. Furthermore, we also found that sexually reproducing samples were self-incompatible, which prevented the reduction of genetic diversity by selfing. Our population genomic analyses provide specific recommendations for distinct reproductive types and monitoring during conservation. This study highlights the genomic landscape of a wild relative of citrus and provides recommendations for the conservation of crop wild relatives. Author summary: Conservation genomics offers a comprehensive approach to understand the underlying genetic and environmental factors affecting the conservation of species. Despite its importance, the conservation genomics of most crop wild relatives remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the population fragmentation, inbreeding, gene flow, and genetic load of a citrus wild relative, Fortunella hindsii, using a combination of genomic, geographical, environmental, and phenotypic data, as well as forward simulations. Fortunella hindsii, listed on the registry of National Key Protected Wild Plants in China, has two types of reproduction, sexual and apomictic. Conservation genomics provided insights into the genetic diversity and structure, which are critical for developing effective conservation strategies. Our analysis also helped to assess the risks of hybridization and introgression from cultivated to wild populations. We found that different patterns of introgression and genetic load may be influenced by reproductive type; for example, deleterious variants may hide in the heterozygous state in apomictic populations. Sexually reproducing samples with the self-incompatibility mechanism can prevent rapid loss of genetic diversity caused by selfing. This study serves as an example of conservation genomics and the importance of utilizing important wild relatives of crops to inform broader conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apomixis, or asexual seed formation, is prevalent in Citrinae via a mechanism termed nucellar or adventitious embryony. Here, multiple embryos of a maternal genotype form directly from nucellar cells in the ovule and can outcompete the developing zygotic embryo as they utilize the sexually derived endosperm for growth. Whilst nucellar embryony enables the propagation of clonal plants of maternal genetic constitution, it is also a barrier to effective breeding through hybridization. To address the genetics and evolution of apomixis in Citrinae , a chromosome-level genome of the Hongkong kumquat (Fortunella hindsii) was assembled following a genome-wide variation map including structural variants (SVs) based on 234 Citrinae accessions. This map revealed that hybrid citrus cultivars shelter genome-wide deleterious mutations and SVs into heterozygous states free from recessive selection, which may explain the capability of nucellar embryony in most cultivars during Citrinae diversification. Analyses revealed that parallel evolution may explain the repeated origin of apomixis in different genera of Citrinae. Within Fortunella , we found that apomixis of some varieties originated via introgression. In apomictic Fortunella , the locus associated with apomixis contains the FhRWP gene, encoding an RWP-RK domain-containing protein previously shown to be required for nucellar embryogenesis in Citrus. We found the heterozygous SV in the FhRWP and CitRWP promoters from apomictic Citrus and Fortunella , due to either two or three miniature inverted transposon element (MITE) insertions. A transcription factor, FhARID , encoding an AT-rich interaction domain-containing protein binds to the MITEs in the promoter of apomictic varieties, which facilitates induction of nucellar embryogenesis. This study provides evolutionary genomic and molecular insights into apomixis in Citrinae and has potential ramifications for citrus breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WRKY comprises a large family of transcription factors in plants, but most WRKY members are still poorly understood. In this study, we report functional characterization of a Group III WRKY gene ( FcWRKY 70) from F ortunella crassifolia. FcWRKY 70 was greatly induced by drought and abscisic acid, but slightly or negligibly by salt and cold. Overexpression of FcWRKY 70 in tobacco ( N icotiana nudicaulis) and lemon ( C itrus lemon) conferred enhanced tolerance to dehydration and drought stresses. Transgenic tobacco and lemon exhibited higher expression levels of ADC (arginine decarboxylase), and accumulated larger amount of putrescine in comparison with wild type ( WT). Treatment with D-arginine, an inhibitor of ADC, caused transgenic tobacco plants more sensitive to dehydration. Knock-down of FcWRKY 70 in kumquat down-regulated ADC abundance and decreased putrescine level, accompanied by compromised dehydration tolerance. The promoter region of FcADC contained two W-box elements, which were shown to be interacted with FcWRKY70. Taken together, our data demonstrated that FcWRKY 70 functions in drought tolerance by, at least partly, promoting production of putrescine via regulating ADC expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promising comprehensive properties, including high permittivity, low dielectric loss, high breakdown strength, low electrical conductivity, and high thermal conductivity, are very hard to simultaneously obtain in high-frequency applicable polymer nanocomposite dielectrics. Instead of traditional electric percolation, in this work, a novel route based on a synergy between electric percolation and induced polarization has been raised to prepare 0–3 type nanocomposites with an enhanced high permittivity (high-k) property and low loss at high frequency. This work aimed at optimizing that synergy to achieve the favorable properties mentioned above in composite dielectrics used at high frequencies such as 1 MHz and 1 GHz. Conductive beta-SiC nanoparticles with a particle size of ~30 nm were employed as filler and both insulating poly(vinyl alcohol) and polyvinyl chloride were employed as polymer matrices to construct two composite systems. Utilizing polyvinyl chloride rather than poly(vinyl alcohol) realizes higher comprehensive electrical properties in composites, ascribed to optimization of that synergy. The optimization was achieved based on a combination of mild induced polarization and polarization-assisted electric percolation. Therefore, this work might open the way for large-scale production of high-frequency applicable composite dielectrics with competitive comprehensive electrical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract Hypothesis Bionic superhydrophobicity including high contact angle, low sliding angle and nonstick property, combined with both strong pH and ultraviolet (UV) resistance, is difficult to simultaneously achieve for large-scale preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces by blending polymer with a nonreactive inorganic nanofiller. Experiments A series of high pH and UV-irradiation-resistant superhydrophobic nanocomposite films were prepared through UV-light-assisted chemical cross-linking among ternary components under nitrogen protection. Ethoxylated bisphenol A diacrylate, 2-(perfluorooctyl) ethyl acrylate, reactive thiol-coupled graphene nanosheets and photoinitiator were evenly mixed, followed by UV-irradiation curing. Findings Abundant 3D networks could be formed. A robust self-wrinkling surface morphology was formed due to a UV-curing-induced inner tension in the composites, 2D morphology-induced flexibility for graphene nanosheets and fluorine-bearing component-induced phase separation at the wetted surfaces. High roughness and use of the fluorine element endows the surfaces with superhydrophobicity and oleophobicity. A favorable nonstick performance was obtained. Superhydrophobicity could be maintained despite changing the film-forming substrate, pH of soaking solutions from 1 to 12, or use of a prolonged UV-irradiation time reaching 120 h. Therefore, both superhydrophobicity/oleophobicity and strong pH/UV resistance are finely balanced. This work might open up the way for large-scale fabrication of promising superhydrophobic surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High discharged energy density and charge–discharge efficiency, in combination with high electric breakdown strength, maximum electric displacement and low residual displacement, are very difficult to simultaneously achieve in single-component polymer dielectrics. Plenty of researches have reported polymer based composite dielectrics filled with inorganic fillers, through complex surface modification of inorganic fillers to improve interface compatibility. In this work, a novel strategy of introducing environmentally-friendly biological polyester into fluoropolymer matrix has been presented to prepare all-organic polymer composites with desirable high energy storage properties by solution cast process (followed by annealing or stretching post-treatment), in order to simplify the preparation steps and lower the cost. Fluoropolymer with substantial ferroelectric domains (contributing to high dielectric response) as matrix and poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) with excellent linear polarization property (resulting in high breakdown strength) as filler were employed. By high-temperature annealing, the size of ferroelectric domains could be improved and interfacial air defects could be removed, leading to elevated high energy storage density and efficiency in composite. By mono-directional stretching, the ferroelectric domains and polyester could be regularly oriented along stretching direction, resulting in desired high energy storage performances as well. Besides, linear dielectric components could contribute to high efficiency from their strong rigidity restrain effect on ferroelectric component. This work might open up the way for a facile fabrication of promising all-organic composite dielectric films with high energy storage properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High overall performance, including high dielectric constant, low loss, high breakdown strength, fine flexibility, and strong tensile properties, is difficult to achieve simultaneously in polymer nanocomposites. In our prior work, we modified the surfaces of alpha-SiC nanoparticles and chemically cross-linked the polymeric matrix to simultaneously promote the dielectric and mechanical properties of composites. In this work, a novel strategy of high-temperature plastification towards a polymeric matrix has been proposed to fabricate ternary nanocomposites with balanced dielectric and mechanical characteristics by the solution cast method in order to reduce costs and simplify steps during large-scale preparation. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-chlorotrifluoroethylene) with inner double bonds as matrix, unfunctionalized alpha-SiC nanoparticles (NPs) as filler, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as plasticizer were employed. By introducing DBP and high-temperature treatment, the dispersion of NPs and the degree of compactness of the interface regions were both improved due to the reduced cohesion of the fluoropolymer, resulting in an increase in the dielectric constant (by 30%) and breakdown strength (by 57%) as well as the lowering of loss (by 30%) and conductivity (by 16%) in nanocomposites. Moreover, high-temperature plastification contributed to the promotion of flexible and tensile properties. This work might open the door to large-scale fabrication of nanocomposite dielectrics with high overall properties through the cooperation of the plasticizer and high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]