Mendezbanks6286

Phosphorene is a novel two-dimensional (2D) material with exceptional properties and is connecting the gaps between graphene and transition-metal chalcogenides but having environmental instability. In this study, we present effective liquid exfoliation of few-layer phosphorene (FLP) from bulk black phosphorous (BP) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a cationic surfactant that is highly stable. It successfully stabilizes FLP in deionized water, which is consistent with obtained characterization and gas-sensing studies. Our investigation shows that the dynamic sensing response of the CTAB-grafted phosphorene (P-CTAB) sensor increases by ∼1.5 times as the relative humidity (RH) varies from 33 to 75%, which is the first published result for CO2 gas detection. The sensitivity values of the P-CTAB and P-CTAB/polylactic acid (PLA) are found to be 0.0356 and 0.0329 ppm-1, respectively, toward CO2 gas. It is notable that when a polylactic acid (PLA) membrane is introduced as a barrier layer in our fabricated Arduino-based Bluetooth-enabled hand-held device, it obstructs the environmental effect with a trace-level detection capability and negligible change over time (up to 30 days). Herein, for the first time, we discover the gas-sensing characteristics of CTAB-grafted phosphorene and witness an ultrasensitive and selective response toward CO2 gas detection.For further efficiency improvement in kesterite-type Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells, it is essential to address the carrier recombination issue at the back electrode interface (BEI) caused by the undesirable built-in potential orientation toward an absorber as an n-MoSe2 interfacial layer formed. In this regard, back surface field (BSF) incorporation, i.e., field-effect passivation, shows promise for dealing with this issue due to its positive effect in decreasing recombination at the BEI. In this study, the BSF was realized with the p-type conduction transition in interfacial layer MoSe2 by incorporating Nb into the back electrode. The BSF width can be tuned via modulating the carrier concentration of the absorber, which has been demonstrated by capacitance-voltage characterization. A beyond 7% efficiency BSF-applied CZTSSe solar cell is prepared, and the effects of a tunable BSF and the mechanism underpinning device performance improvement have been investigated in detail. The wider BSF distribution in the absorber induces a decrease in reverse saturation current density (J0) due to the stronger BSF effect in suppressing BEI recombination. As a result, an accompanying increase in open-circuit voltage (VOC) and short-circuit current density (JSC) is achieved as compared to the BSF-free case. This study offers an alternative strategy to address the BEI recombination issue and also broadens the interface passivation research scope of potentially competitive kesterite solar cells.In this work, nanorods with high antibacterial properties were synthesized with silver acetate as the metal source and 2-aminoterephthalic acid as the organic linker and were then embedded into thin-film composite (TFC) membranes to amend their performance as well as to alleviate biofouling. Silver metal-organic framework (Ag-MOF) nanorods with a length smaller than 40 nm were incorporated within the polyamide thin selective layer of the membranes during interfacial polymerization. The interaction of the synthesized nanorods with the polyamide was favored because of the presence of amine-containing functional groups on the nanorod's surface. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy characterizations proved the presence of Ag-MOF nanorods in the selective layer of thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes. TFN membranes demonstrated improved water permeance, salt selectivity, and superior antibacterial properties. Specifically, the increased hydrophilicity and antibacterial potential of the TFN membranes led to a synergetic effect toward biofouling mitigation. The number of live bacteria attached to the surface of the neat TFC membrane decreased by more than 92% when a low amount of Ag-MOF nanorods (0.2 wt %) was applied. Following contact of the TFN membrane surface with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, full inactivation, and degradation of bacteria cells were observed with microscopy, colony-forming unit tests, and disc inhibition zone analyses. This result translated to a negligible amount of the biofilm formed on the active layer. Indeed, the incorporation of Ag-MOF nanorods decreased the metal-ion release rate and therefore provided prolonged antibacterial performance.Continuous information on the suspended sediment in the water system is critical in various areas of industry and hydrological studies. However, because of the high variation of suspended sediment flow, challenges still remain in developing new techniques implementing simple, reliable, and real-time sediment monitoring. Herein, we report a potential method to realize real-time sediment monitoring by introducing a particle-laden droplet-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (PLDD-TENG) combined with a deep learning method. The PLDD-TENG was operated under the single-electrode mode with a triboelectric layer of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film. The working mechanism of the PLDD-TENG was proved to be induced by liquid-PTFE contact electrification and sand particle-electrode electrostatic induction. Then, its performance was explored under various particle parameters, and the results indicated that the output signal of the PLDD-TENG was very sensitive to the sand particle size and mass fraction. A convolutional neural network-based deep learning method was finally adopted to identify the particle parameters based on the output signal. High identifying accuracies over 90% were achieved in most of the cases by the proposed method, which sheds light on the application of the PLDD-TENG in real-time sediment monitoring.In recent years, two-dimensional perovskites have received considerable attention for their potential applications for optoelectronics. Contrary to previous publications, we demonstrate that (CH3NH3)2CuCl4 hybrid organic-inorganic layered perovskite does not show any room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) under UV excitation. Selleckchem GSK-3008348 This statement can be extended to other perovskites with general formula AMX3 or A2MX4, based on M Cu2+ and X Cl- or Br-. These materials, the object of increasing interest because of their efficient light absorption in a wide UV-vis-NIR range ideal for solar cells and optoelectronics, lack PL at room temperature, in contrast to recent findings reporting PL properties in this and other similar Cu2+-related materials.