Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Run Shi, Yong Chen, Xiangbin Cai, Qing Lian, Zhuoqiong Zhang, Nan Shen, Abbas Amini, Ning Wang, Chun Cheng
Summary: This study demonstrates the selective stabilization of all insulating phases in single-crystalline VO2 beams at room temperature through oxide inhibitor-assisted stoichiometry engineering. The precise spatial control of phase configurations introduces a new concept of phase transition route devices. By combining different phase transition routes, high-performance VO2 actuators with improved performance and functional diversity are achieved.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shuo Zhang, Kexin Guo, Hong Han, Haiyang Yu, Huanhuan Wei, Jiangdong Gong, Wentao Xu
Summary: This paper introduces a synaptic transistor that combines p-type and n-type semiconductor nanowires to emulate complex neural functions. By utilizing nanowires with different polarities, it is possible to simulate a variety of neural activities, providing important insights for the development of future neuromorphic electronics.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Qijin Huang, Yong Zhu
Summary: Metal nanowires, especially silver nanowires, have been recognized as promising candidate materials for flexible and stretchable electronics due to their high electrical conductivity and ability to maintain electrical conductivity under deformation. Precise patterning of metal nanowire networks is crucial for high-performance electronic devices and remains a critical challenge in the field.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Badriyah Alhalaili, Ahmad Al-Duweesh, Ileana Nicoleta Popescu, Ruxandra Vidu, Luige Vladareanu, M. Saif Islam
Summary: Interest in gallium oxide (Ga2O3) nanostructures for UV photodetectors has grown due to their wide bandgap semiconductor properties and potential for high power/temperature applications. This study investigated the electrical properties of Ga2O3 nanostructured films to define UV detection configurations, with factors such as metal contact distance, voltage, and transient photocurrents influencing detection performance significantly.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jiangyang Liu, Kazuki Nagashima, Yuki Nagamatsu, Takuro Hosomi, Hikaru Saito, Chen Wang, Wataru Mizukami, Guozhu Zhang, Benjarong Samransuksamer, Tsunaki Takahashi, Masaki Kanai, Takao Yasui, Yoshinobu Baba, Takeshi Yanagida
Summary: The surface cation composition of nanoscale metal oxides plays a critical role in determining the properties of various chemical processes, such as catalysts and molecular sensors. This study focused on the modulation of cation composition on the surface of ZnO/(Cu1-xZnx)O heterostructured nanowires and found that an increase in surface copper content suppresses the adsorption of nonanal and the aldol condensation reaction. Spectroscopic analysis and theoretical simulations revealed that surface Cu2+ sites were inactive, explaining the observed weak molecular adsorption behaviors and suppressed reactions. This tailored cation composition surface also showed improvements in electrical molecular sensing of nonanal.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yu-Hsiang Hsueh, Ashok Ranjan, Lian-Ming Lyu, Kai-Yuan Hsiao, Ming-Yen Lu
Summary: This study investigates the electromigration of metal electrodes and the impact of stacking faults on the electromigration in silver nanowires. The presence of both intrinsic and extrinsic stacking faults in the nanowires was revealed through in situ transmission electron microscopy. It was found that planar defects can increase device lifetime and cause intrinsic changes in material properties. Electromigration measurements included examining changes in electrical resistance and direct visual observation of shape using in situ TEM.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Albert Dautov, Kotstantin Kotlyar, Denis Butusov, Ivan Novikov, Aliya Khafizova, Artur Karimov
Summary: This work investigates the synthesis of AlF(3) and one-dimensional structures based on AlF(3) through the reaction of initial aluminum with aqueous hydrofluoric acid solution. The morphology and surface of the obtained samples are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Whiskers of one-dimensional structures are synthesized under the given conditions. Quantitative energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is used for analysis.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Elena Lopez-Aymerich, Guillem Domenech-Gil, Mauricio Moreno, Paolo Pellegrino, Albert Romano-Rodriguez
Summary: Active research in nanostructured materials is aimed at improving electronic device characteristics, particularly in the field of gas sensors. Mixing different metal oxides on the same nanowire can broaden the response of gas sensors, resulting in improved performance without compromising miniaturization. This study focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and gas sensing performance of (GaxIn1-x)(2)O-3 nanowires, demonstrating promising results for the development of portable devices.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Syed Abdul Ahad, Shayon Bhattacharya, Seamus Kilian, Michela Ottaviani, Kevin M. M. Ryan, Tadhg Kennedy, Damien Thompson, Hugh Geaney
Summary: Researchers have created a 3D framework of a carbon paper substrate decorated with lithiophilic nanowires to address the issues of uncontrolled dendrite formation and build-up of dead Li in Lithium (Li) metal batteries. The study shows that this design can effectively prevent dendrite formation and achieve stable cycling performance.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jason Potticary, Emily J. Luke, Ektor M. S. Christodoulou, Rowena Davies, Sorrel Haughton, Cheryl Feuillet-Palma, Eliana Recoba-Pawlowski, Brigitte Leridon, Sarah Griffin, Simon R. Hall
Summary: As devices continue to shrink and become more efficient, the synthesis of high-performance materials with precise control has become a major focus. This study demonstrates a template-free, flux-mediated method for producing large quantities of phase-pure, high-temperature superconductor nanowires, including the important quinternary superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (B2212) for the first time. The findings of this research could potentially lead to further exploration of the physics and chemistry of highly anisotropic superconductor nanowires and their integration into nanoelectronics and energy generation systems.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Wuzhengzhi Zhang, Nannan Zhu, Lianchun Ding, Yan Hu, Zhengcui Wu
Summary: Researchers have developed Ag NPs/CuO MNSs heterostructure with optimized catalytic activity and selectivity for CO2ER to CO. The optimal catalyst Ag-1.01%/CuO exhibits high catalytic efficiency and stability at -0.7 V.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Haoxuan Liu, Xiaoyang Zheng, Yumeng Du, Marcela Chaki Borras, Kuan Wu, Konstantin Konstantinov, Wei Kong Pang, Shulei Chou, Huakun Liu, Shixue Dou, Chao Wu
Summary: This study proposes a new multifunctional separator for sodium metal batteries in carbonate-based electrolytes, which effectively addresses the challenges of uncontrolled dendrite growth and fragile solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The separator demonstrates excellent performance in terms of electrolyte wettability, Na+ ion flux redistribution, and SEI layer construction, enabling stable cycling and long cycle life for sodium metal batteries.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
James Malloy, Alberto Quintana, Christopher J. Jensen, Kai Liu
Summary: Efficient particulate filters have been developed using nanowire-based low-density metal foams, exhibiting outstanding filtration efficiency (>96.6%) in the PM0.3 regime. These metal foams are mechanically stable, lightweight, resistant to chemicals and radiation, easy to clean and reuse, and recyclable, making them promising filters for combating COVID-19 and other types of airborne particulates.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Freddy Mendoza-Villa, Noemi-Raquel Checca-Huaman, Juan A. Ramos-Guivar
Summary: The structural, vibrational, morphological, and colloidal properties of commercial 15.1 nm TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowires were studied to determine their ecotoxicological properties. Acute ecotoxicity experiments were conducted in Daphnia magna, and the results showed that the LC50 values for TiO2 nanowires and nanoparticles were 157 mg L-1 and 166 mg L-1, respectively. The reproduction rate of D. magna was delayed after exposure to TiO2 nanomorphologies, and the harmful effects of TiO2 nanowires were found to be more severe than those of TiO2 nanoparticles.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ghulam Farid, Yi Yang, Abdul Mateen, Chenliang Huo, Hui Wang, Kui-Qing Peng
Summary: This study reveals the relationship between the oxidative dissolution of silver in hot water and the crack formation in metal-assisted etched silicon nanowire arrays. A general strategy for rapidly generating cracked silicon nanowire array membranes is proposed. The rapid metal dissolution by wet metal etchants shortens the soaking process to 1 minute or less.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Manufacturing
Ottman A. Tertuliano, Philip J. DePond, David Doan, Manyalibo J. Matthews, X. Wendy Gu, Wei Cai, Adrian J. Lew
Summary: Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of pure copper for thermal and electrical applications is limited by low near-infrared absorptivity and high thermal diffusivity. This study investigates the effect of nanoparticle additives on absorptivity and melting behavior during LPBF. Using an in situ calorimetry system, decorated copper substrates with three nanoparticle systems (CuS, TiB2, multilayer graphene flakes) demonstrated enhanced absorptivity compared to pure copper. Graphene nanoflakes resulted in the highest improved absorption due to their stability at high laser scanning powers. The work also showed an improvement in relative density of the copper-graphene powder prints compared to as-purchased copper powder prints.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Rasool Ahmad, Wei Cai
Summary: This article proposes a Boltzmann generator framework based on the normalizing flow model to generate equilibrium atomic configurations and determine free energy. The loss function is constructed from a statistical mechanical perspective, and the training is carried out in an unsupervised manner. The results show that the normalizing flow method is in good agreement with traditional free energy methods.
MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shaswat Mohanty, Christopher B. Cooper, Hui Wang, Mengning Liang, Wei Cai
Summary: X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) and X-ray speckle visibility spectroscopy (XSVS) are two methods used to study dynamic processes in materials. Interpretation of the data is important to establish the connection between macroscopic responses and microstructural dynamics, and a computational framework is presented to model these experiments. The efficiency and accuracy of two computational methods are compared, and the computed X-ray speckle patterns capture density fluctuations and show agreement with experimental results.
MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiang Wang, Sixue Zheng, Chuang Deng, Christopher R. Weinberger, Guofeng Wang, Scott X. Mao
Summary: By using in situ nanomechanical testing combined with atomistic simulations, the formation mechanisms of a 5-fold twin in nanostructured metals, such as gold, have been elucidated. Sequential twinning slip in varying slip systems and decomposition of high-energy grain boundaries play important roles in the formation process. The complex stress state in the neck area can also cause the breakdown of Schmid's law and result in 5-fold twin formation.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Maurice de Koning, Wei Cai, Claudio Cazorla, Jordi Boronat
Summary: The mass transport properties along dislocation cores in hcp 4He are studied using a fully correlated quantum simulation approach and the PIGS method. The results show that the defective 4He systems have a negligible Bose-Einstein condensate fraction, indicating the absence of intrinsic superfluidity in dislocation cores. This challenges the interpretation of the mass-flux-experiment observations and calls for further experimental investigation.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Oleg A. Kuznetsov, Shaswat Mohanty, Elena Pigos, Gugang Chen, Wei Cai, Avetik R. Harutyunyan
Summary: This study develops self-standing composite electrodes for Li-ion batteries without electrochemically inactive metal current collectors, additives, and binders, increasing energy density and enabling online self-monitoring through the intrinsic piezoresistance of the single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) network. The proposed solution-free battery fabrication technology eliminates environmentally harmful components, enabling simple mechanical separation for recycling.
ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sh. Akhondzadeh, Minju Kang, Ryan B. Sills, K. T. Ramesh, Wei Cai
Summary: A long-standing challenge in computational materials science is to establish a quantitative connection between macroscopic properties of plastic deformation and microscopic mechanisms of dislocations in crystalline materials. This study provides direct comparisons between stress-strain curves obtained from miniaturized bar experiments and those from discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulations. The DDD simulations show good agreement with experimental results, but the required dislocation mobility values are significantly lower than expected. Cross-slip of screw dislocations is also found to be necessary to capture the experimental stress-strain behavior.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Rasool Ahmad, Mingliang Liu, Michael Ortiz, Tapan Mukerji, Wei Cai
Summary: This study focuses on calculating the homogenized elastic properties of rocks using 3D micro-CT scanned images. To solve the problem of large micro-CT images, a hierarchical homogenization method is proposed, where the image is divided into smaller subimages. The subimages are individually homogenized and then assembled to find the final homogenized elastic constant. The error in the homogenized constant follows a power law scaling with respect to the subimage size, and this scaling is used for better approximation of large heterogeneous microstructures.
JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS OF SOLIDS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Physical
Vasily Bulatov, Wei Cai
Summary: The in situ electron microscopy study provides important insights into the enhanced dislocation mobility in iron and contributes to the ongoing debate on hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Mingliang Liu, Rasool Ahmad, Wei Cai, Tapan Mukerji
Summary: Digital rock physics combines tomographic imaging techniques with numerical simulations to estimate effective rock properties. To address the computational challenge of large sample sizes, a hierarchical homogenization method with a data-driven surrogate model based on convolutional neural networks is proposed. The method reduces computational time and memory demand compared to conventional algorithms.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Brennan R. Watkins, Jessica J. Lopez, Xiao-Xiang Yu, Gregory B. Thompson, Christopher R. Weinberger
Summary: In this paper, the phase stability and mechanical properties of alloying the carbide and nitride of a group IVB transition metal are studied using density functional theory. The emphasis is on elastic and dislocation properties, with the HfC-HfN system as an example. The results show that alloying reduces slip resistance, stabilizes dislocations, and different strategies have different effects between metal and non-metal alloying.
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Anik H. M. Faisal, Christopher R. Weinberger
Summary: By using atomistic simulations, this study reveals that the thickness of deformation twin nuclei in BCC transition metals is two layers, contradicting the previously proposed three layers. The atomic structures of the twin nuclei also vary among different transition metals.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLASTICITY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yifan Wang, Wei Cai
Summary: This study reveals the microscopic mechanisms of cross-slip of screw dislocations in crystalline solids using molecular dynamics simulation and identifies the influence of anharmonic effects. This finding contributes to a better understanding of stress-driven thermally activated processes in solids.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Siying Peng, Yanming Wang, Michael Braun, Yikai Yin, Andrew C. Meng, Wanliang Tan, Balreen Saini, Kayla Severson, Ann F. Marshall, Katherine Sytwu, John D. Baniecki, Jennifer Dionne, Wei Cai, Paul C. McIntyre
Summary: Halide ion phase separation in CsPbIxBr3-x perovskite single crystals driven by light is investigated using in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence at cryogenic temperatures. The observations and phase field modeling reveal a spinodal decomposition mechanism with non-linear growth of composition fluctuation and characteristic length scale over time. These findings provide microscopic insights for further engineering mixed-halide perovskites, allowing for stability improvements and intentional programming of halide ion composition, leading to a wide range of applications.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jianan Chen, Chang Liu, Yifan Wang, Wangwang Ding, Qiying Tao, Gang Chen, Wei Cai, Mingli Qin, Xuanhui Qu
Summary: The study presents a method to overcome the strength-ductility trade-off by incorporating nanoscale deformable precipitates. An alloy with copiously and semi-coherently dispersed nanoscale zirconia precipitates was successfully designed and fabricated. The alloy exhibited exceptional tensile properties, achieving a record of strength and ductility combination for alloys fabricated by additive manufacturing.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFRACTORY METALS & HARD MATERIALS
(2024)