Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and molybdenum sulfide (MoS2), have attracted considerable interest from the academia and industry because of their extraordinary properties. With the remarkable development of transmission electron microscope (TEM), nanolabs can be established inside the TEM to simulate a real environment by introducing external fields, such as electron irradiation, thermal excitation, electrical field, and mechanical force, into the system. In consequence, besides static structural characterization, in situ TEM can also realize dynamic observation of the evolution in structures and properties of 2D materials. This extension promises an enormous potential for manipulating and engineering 2D materials at the atomic scale with desired structures and properties for future applications. In this study, we review the recent progress of in situ electron microscopy studies of 2D materials, including atomic resolution characterization, in situ growth, nanofabrication, and property characterization.

The character of optical excitations in nanoscale and atomic-scale materials is often strongly mixed, having contributions from both single-particle transitions and collective, plasmon-like response. This complicates the quantum description of these excitations, because there is no clear way to define their quantization. To move toward a quantum theory for these optical excitations, they must first be characterized so that single-particle-like and collective, plasmon-like excitations can be identified. We show that time-dependent density functional theory can be used to make that characterization if both the charge densities induced by the excitation and the transitions that make up the excitation are analyzed. Density functional theory predicts that single-particle-like and collective excitations can coexist. Exact calculations for small nanosystems predict that single-particle excitations evolve into collective excitations as the electron–electron interaction is turned on with no indication that they coexist. These different predictions present a challenge that must be resolved to develop an understanding for quantum excitations in nanoplasmonic materials.

Group III nitrides are promising materials for light emitting diodes (LEDs). The occurrence of structural defects strongly affects the efficiency of these LEDs. We investigate the optical properties of basal plane stacking faults (BFSs), and the assignment of specific spectral features to distinct defect types by direct correlation of localized emission bands measured by cathodoluminescence in a scanning electron microscope with defects found in high resolution (scanning) transmission electron microscopy and electron beam induced current at identical sample spots. Thus, we are able to model the electronic structure of BSFs addressing I1, I2, and E type BSFs in GaN and AlGaN with low Al content. We find hints that BSFs in semipolar AlGaN layers cause local changes of the Al content, which strongly affects the usability of AlGaN as an electron blocking layer in nitride based LEDs.

Nanoindentation is an effective approach for measuring mechanical properties of nanoscale films coated on substrates, yet results obtained through the classic Oliver–Pharr model require additional consideration due to the existence of a “substrate effect” when the film is much more compliant than the substrate. In this study, different models for removing this substrate effect are compared, with focus on the Gao model, the Saha–Nix model, and the Hay model and the use of a direct finite element (FE) approach is discussed. Validity of these models is examined using load–displacement data obtained from simulated indentation of an elastic–plastic film in FEs. It is found that the performance of the analytical models varies significantly with different testing parameters, including ratio between film modulus and substrate modulus (Ef/Es), indenting ratio (hmax/film thickness), and yield strain. Choices of using a nanoindentation model to process experimental data should be made according to estimated indentation depth and modulus difference between film and substrate. An example of applying substrate removal models to experimental data is also shown.

Nanoindentation is useful for evaluating the mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus, of multilayer thin film materials. A fundamental assumption in the derivation of the elastic modulus from nanoindentation is that the unloading process is purely elastic. In this work, the validity of elastic assumption as it applies to multilayer thin films is studied using the finite element method. The elastic modulus and hardness from the model system are compared to experimental results to show validity of the model. Plastic strain is shown to increase in the multilayer system during the unloading process. The indentation-derived modulus of a monolayer material shows no dependence on unloading plasticity while the modulus of the multilayer system is dependent on unloading-induced plasticity. Lastly, the cyclic behavior of the multilayer thin film is studied in relation to the influence of unloading-induced plasticity. It is found that several cycles are required to minimize unloading-induced plasticity.

Semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) and fully interpenetrating polymer network (full-IPN) hydrogels composed of sodium alginate (SA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) were prepared with Ca2+ and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) as the cross-linkers, respectively. The influence of the SA content and crosslinking degree of alginate on thermosensitive, swelling, mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties was investigated in detail. The hydrogels obtained exhibited obvious thermosensitivity and rapid swelling rate. The presence of Ca2+ contributed to the improvement of mechanical properties obviously, without altering the thermosensitivity and network porosity of the hydrogels significantly. The compressive strength of full-IPN hydrogel was improved considerably, while the tensile strength was increased by 308.5% than semi-IPN hydrogel. The Tg of full-IPN dried hydrogel ran up to 142.9 °C with respect to 97.3 °C of pure PNIPAAm, and the improvement indicated that hydrogel with more compact structure was prepared.

Starting with the first published works on the electrochemical deposition of thermoelectric (TE) V–VI compounds in the early nineties, these past two decades have seen a steady increase in scientific interest and publications on this topic. This is hardly surprising, as TE devices offer unique opportunities for power generation in virtually any environment (“energy harvesting”) or demanding cooling applications through the Peltier effect. This review first provides an overview of the advances in the electrodeposition of n- and p-type thin films based on Bi2(Te, Se)3 and (Bi, Sb)2Te3, the currently best-known TE materials for room temperature applications. The overview includes information about the electrolyte and the deposition conditions as well as the achieved composition, thickness, morphology, and TE properties of the deposited films. Additionally, we present the state-of-the-art and recent developments in electroplating-based fabrication processes for microscale TE devices.

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles have been synthesized using a one-pot noninjection reaction procedure in solvent medium 1-octadecene. This approach used a cadmium salt and 1-dodecanethiol, an organic sulfur, as the cadmium and sulfur sources, respectively, along with a long-chain organic acid (myristic acid, lauric acid, or stearic acid). The acid has dual effects as a surface capping ligand and a solubility controlling agent as well. UV–Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometry techniques were used to characterize the optical properties, along with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to identify the structure and size. Our newly developed synthesis procedure allowed for investigation of both regular and “magic-sized” CdS QDs by systematically controlling reaction parameters such as reactant type, reactant concentration, and reaction temperature. The organic sulfur (1-dodecanethiol) proved to be a useful sulfur source for synthesizing magic-sized CdS QDs, previously unreported. Several distinctive size regimes of magic-sized quantum dots (MSQDs), including Families 378 and 407, were successfully produced by controlling a small number of factors. The understanding of controlled Cd release in a MSQD formation mechanism is developed.

Since the advent of the transmission electron microscope (TEM), continuing efforts have been made to image material under native and reaction environments that typically involve liquids, gases, and external stimuli. With the advances of aberration-corrected TEM for improving the imaging resolution, steady progress has been made on developing methodologies that allow imaging under dynamic operating conditions, or in situ TEM imaging. The success of in situ TEM imaging is closely associated with advances in microfabrication techniques that enable manipulation of nanoscale objects around the objective lens of the TEM. This study summarizes and highlights recent progress involving in situ TEM studies of energy storage materials, especially rechargeable batteries. The study is organized to cover both the in situ TEM techniques and the scientific discoveries made possible by in situ TEM imaging.

Nanocrystalline ceramics offer interesting and useful physical properties attributed to their inherent large volume fraction of grain boundaries. At the same time, these materials are highly unstable, being subjected to severe coarsening when exposed at moderate to high temperatures, limiting operating temperatures and disabling processing conditions. In this work, we designed highly stable nanocrystalline yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) by targeting a decrease of average grain boundary (GB) energy, affecting both driving force for growth and mobility of the boundaries. The design was based on fundamental equations governing thermodynamics of nanocrystals, and enabled the selection of lanthanum as an effective dopant which segregates to grain boundaries and lowers the average energy of YSZ boundaries to half. While this would be already responsible for significant coarsening reduction, we further experimentally demonstrate that the GB energy decreases continuously during grain growth caused by the enrichment of boundaries with dopant, enhancing further the stability of the boundaries. The designed composition showed impressive resistance to grain growth at 1100 °C as compared to the undoped YSZ and opens the perspective for similar design in other ceramics.

Developing high energy density supercapacitors is of great importance to the transportation, consumer electronics, and micro-grid energy storage sectors. Recently, the development of high voltage organic electrolyte based supercapacitor devices has been gaining much attention. Among them, there is an on-going intense interest in investigating high capacity lithium ion storage anode materials in hybrid supercapacitors. However, developing high capacity cathode materials for high voltage organic electrolyte supercapacitor devices is rarely investigated. The low electrical double layer capacitances of carbon cathode electrodes, which are widely used in current supercapacitor devices, are often the limiting bottleneck. In this contribution, we investigated the electrochemical energy storage behavior of a polyaniline (PANI)-single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composite material in an organic electrolyte as a supercapacitor cathode. The PANI-SWCNT composite exhibits a high specific capacitance of 503 F/g, of which 58.8% of the total capacitance is attributed to the pseudocapacitive and electrical double layer energy storage. The cycling stability of the PANI-SWCNT composite could be further improved by polydopamine (PDA) modification. The PDA with strong adhesion properties is able to prevent mechanical degradation. The PDA modified PANI-SWCNT shows excellent stability with only 5% degradation after 2000 cycles.

ZrO2:Eu3+ hollow spheres were successfully fabricated with the resin microspheres as the template. The sample characterizations were carried out by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and photoluminescence spectra. XRD results revealed that Eu3+-doped samples were pure t-ZrO2 phase after being calcined at 873 K. SEM results exhibited that this Eu3+ doped ZrO2 was hollow spheres; the diameter and thickness of which were about 450 and 50 nm, respectively. Upon excitation at 394 nm, the orange-red emission bands at the wave length longer than 570 nm were from 5D0 → 7FJ (J = 1, 2) transitions. The asymmetry ratio of (5D0 → 7F2)/(5D0 → 7F1) intensity is about 1.61, 1.26, 1.42, 1.42, 1.40, and 1.38 for the Eu3+ concentration 0.4, 0.7, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mol%, respectively. These values suggest that the asymmetry ratio of Eu3+ ions is independent of the doping concentration. The optimal doping concentration of Eu3+ ions in ZrO2 is 1.5 mol%. According to Dexter's theory, the critical distance between Eu3+ ions for energy transfer was determined to be 16 Å.

The (1 − x)[0.94(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3–0.06LiNbO3]–x(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 (abbreviated as: KNLN6–xBKT, x = 0–0.05) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared using conventional solid sintering method. The effects of BKT on the phase structure, electrical properties, temperature stability, and fatigue behavior of KNLN6 ceramics were systematically studied. Results show that BKT substitution into KNLN6 induces a phase transition from coexistence of orthorhombic and tetragonal phases to a single tetragonal phase with a normal-relaxor ferroelectric transformation and correspondingly shifts the polymorphic phase transition below room temperature. Accordingly, the temperature stability of the properties is significantly improved, and a flat, temperature stable behavior over the temperature range of 25–150 °C is observed in BKT-modified ceramics. Temperature-dependent structural analysis suggests that the good properties insensitive to temperature of the modified samples can be ascribed to the stable tetragonal phase over a wide temperature range, evident by the almost unchanged tetragonality c/a ratio with temperature. Moreover, the BKT-modified ceramics not only exhibit temperature-independent characteristic but also possess fatigue-free behavior. All the electric parameters, including unipolar/bipolar strain S, remnant polarization Pr, permittivity εr, and large signal d33*, display no degradation up to 105 switching cycles. The exceptionally good fatigue resistance and temperature stable behavior make the modified KNN-based materials excellent candidates for lead-free actuators and transducers.

The synthesis and texturization processes of fluorinated surfaces by means of atmospheric plasma are investigated and presented through an integrated study of both the plasma phase and the resulting material surface. Three methods enhancing the surface hydrophobicity up to the production of super-hydrophobic surfaces are evaluated: (i) the modification of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surface, (ii) the plasma deposition of fluorinated coatings and (iii) the incorporation of nanoparticles into those fluorinated films. In all the approaches, the nature of the plasma gas appears to be a crucial parameter for the desired property. Although a higher etching of the PTFE surface can be obtained with a pure helium plasma, the texturization can only be created if O2 is added to the plasma, which simultaneously decreases the total etching. The deposition of CxFy films by a dielectric barrier discharge leads to hydrophobic coatings with water contact angles (WCAs) of 115°, but only the filamentary argon discharge induces higher WCAs. Finally, nanoparticles were deposited under the fluorinated layer to increase the surface roughness and therefore produce super-hydrophobic hybrid coatings characterized by the nonadherence of the water droplet at the surface.

The 〈001〉-textured 36Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3–30Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–34PbTiO3 (36PIN–30PMN–34PT) ceramics were successfully prepared by the templated grain growth method using BaTiO3 (BT) templates with an average edge length of 10 μm and a thickness of about 0.5 μm. The highest Lotgering factor of 95% has been achieved for the textured ceramics with 5 wt% BT templates sintered at 1240 °C. The Curie temperature (TC) and dielectric constant (εr) of the textured 36PIN–30PMN–34PT ceramics were 225 °C and 2850, respectively. The piezoelectric constant d33 of the textured samples was 780 pC/N and almost 2 times higher than that of random 36PIN–30PMN–34PT samples. The planar mode electromechanical coupling coefficient kp was 59% for the textured samples. Unipolar strain-field measurements for the textured ceramics exhibited 0.34% strain at 4 kV/mm.

Porous carbon nanospheres (PCNSs), with a diameter of about 100 nm and porous structure, were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then, poly(3-hexylthiophene):PCNS (P3HT:PCNS) composite films were prepared by a spin-coating method using PCNS and P3HT mixtures in a chlorobenzene solution. The effects of mixture ratio, revolving speed, suspension concentration during spin coating, and annealing on the optical properties of P3HT:PCNS composite films were investigated. The results indicate that PCNSs exhibit an energy level matching with P3HT and the optical properties of the P3HT:PCNSs depend strongly on mixture ratio, revolving speed, and suspension concentration during spin coating. A 2:1 ratio of P3HT to PCNSs, suspension concentration of 20 mg/mL (P3HT), and spinning rate of 2000 rpm are appropriate for fabricating P3HT:PCNS composite films, and annealing increases the crystallinity of P3HT, resulting in enhanced visible light absorption and increased charge transport in composite films.

Carbon nanodots (CDs) have generated enormous excitement because of their superiority in water solubility, chemical inertness, low toxicity, ease of functionalization and resistance to photobleaching. Here we report a facile thermal pyrolysis route to prepare CDs with high quantum yield (QY) using citric acid as the carbon source and ethylene diamine derivatives (EDAs) including triethylenetetramine (TETA), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and polyene polyamine (PEPA) as the passivation agents. We find that the CDs prepared from EDAs, such as TETA, TEPA and PEPA, show relatively high photoluminescence (PL) QY (11.4, 10.6, and 9.8%, respectively) at λex of 465 nm. The cytotoxicity of the CDs has been investigated through in vitro and in vivo bio-imaging studies. The results indicate that these CDs possess low toxicity and good biocompatibility. The unique properties such as the high PL QY at large excitation wave length and the low toxicity of the resulting CDs make them promising fluorescent nanoprobes for applications in optical bio-imaging and biosensing.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of different degree of sulfonation (DS) on the performance of the poly (vinyl butyral)/sulfonated polyethersulfone (PVB/SPES) blend membranes. The compatibility of the PVB/SPES blending system was characterized by shear viscosity and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection, respectively. Results stated that all PVB/SPES blending systems were partially compatible. Contact angle, equilibrium water content, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements were carried out to investigate the hydrophilicity of the PVB/SPES blend membranes. With increasing DS, the blend membranes became more hydrophilic. The pure water flux of the blend membranes increased with DS, while the rejection decreased due to microstructures of the PVB/SPES membranes. The mechanical properties of the PVB/SPES blend membranes increased slightly with DS. Fouling resistances of blend membranes evaluated by bovine serum albumin solution filtration revealed the PVB/SPES blend membranes with DS = 27% exhibited the superior antifouling properties.

The flow behavior of forged commercial purity (CP) titanium powder compact was studied by developing a processing map. CP titanium powder was sintered to 94% relative density, then hot compressed in a Gleeble thermal–mechanical simulator at strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 10 s−1 and deformation temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 °C. The hot forging process improved the densification to 98–99.9% and reduced the grain size from 93 to 10 µm by the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. The fully dynamic recrystallization region is in the range of deformation temperature of 750–800 °C and strain rate of 0.001–0.01 s−1, with a power dissipation efficiency higher than 40%, determined by constructing a processing map and analyzing the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization. This research provides a guide for powder compact forging of power metallurgy titanium by providing the hot compression parameters, which can lead to an improved microstructure and densification.

Development of new materials for current and advanced reactor concepts is hampered by long lead times and high cost of reactor irradiations coupled with the paucity of test reactors. Ion irradiation offers many advantages for emulating the microstructures and properties of materials irradiated in reactors but also poses many challenges. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of evidence, primarily for light ion (proton) irradiation showing that many, if not all of the features of the irradiated microstructure and properties, can be successfully emulated by careful selection of irradiation parameters based on differences in the damage processes between ion and neutron irradiation. While much less has been done to benchmark heavy- or self-ion irradiation, recent work shows that under certain conditions, the complete suite of features of the irradiated microstructure can be emulated. This study summarizes the contributions of ion irradiation to our understanding of irradiation effects, the options for emulating radiation effects in reactors, and experience with both proton irradiation and heavy ion irradiation.