The recently discovered SrFeO2 prepared by a soft chemical route from a precursor SrFeO3 has the "infinite layer" (IL) structure with an unprecedented FeO4 square-planar coordination. We show that the IL structure has significant solubility to yield Sr1-xCaxFeO2 (0 <or= x <or= 1) and is thermally stable (at least as high as 1000 K for SrFeO2). These results demonstrate that the IL structure, on...

Nanocrystalline undoped and 5% Mn doped ZnO powders are synthesized by sol-gel route using constituent nitrate and citrate precursors. The physico-chemical characterizations of powders calcined at various temperatures (400-1100 ̊C), are performed using techniques (XRD and SQUID) to study structural, nano/microstructural, and magnetic properties. XRD patterns clearly revealed the evolution of ma...

Transport route planning is one of the most important and frequent activities in supply chain management. The design of information systems for route planning in real contexts faces two relevant challenges: the complexity of the planning and the lack of complete and precise information. The purpose of this paper is to nd methods for the development of transport route planning in uncertainty dec...

We demonstrate a fabrication breakthrough to produce large-area arrays of vertically aligned silicon nanowires (VA-SiNWs) with full tunability of the geometry of the single nanowires and of the whole array, paving the way toward advanced programmable designs of nanowire platforms. At the core of our fabrication route, termed "Soft Nanoparticle Templating", is the conversion of gradually compres...

Janus and patchy particles have designed heterogeneous surfaces that consist of two or several patches with different materials properties. These particles are emerging as building blocks for a new class of soft matter and functional materials. Here we introduce a route for forming heterogeneous capsules by producing highly ordered jammed colloidal shells of various shapes with domains of contr...

In this work, a novel soft-hard template method towards the direct fabrication of graphene films on silicon/silica substrate is developed via a tri-constituent self-assembly route. Using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template, silica (SiO2) from tetramethoxysilane as a hard template, and pyrene as a carbon source, the self-assembly process allows the formation of a sandwich-...

Abstract Soft Robotics has come to the fore in last decade as a new way of conceptualising, designing and fabricating robots. materials empower robots with locomotion, manipulation, adaptability capabilities beyond those possible conventional rigid can also be made from biological, biocompatible biodegradable materials. This offers tantalising possibility bridging gap between organisms. Here, w...

Magnetically driven soft actuators are unique because they fast, remote-controlled, conformal to rigid objects, and safe interact with humans. Despite these multiple functionalities, a broader utilization of such is hindered by the high cost equipment-intensive nature currently available manufacturing processes. Herein, simple fabrication route for magneto-responsive described using cost-effect...