In this study, we showed for the first time that barium (Ba) codoping improves luminescent properties of terbium (Tb)-doped SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). particular, quantum yield (QY) SiO2-Ba,Tb NPs was found to be ∼10.7%, whereas QY bare SiO2-Tb only ∼4.3%. Several mechanisms luminescence enhancement have been proposed. We strongly believe methodology can used create alternative silica-based with...

We present an energetically autonomous robotic tadpole that uses a single membrane component for both electrical energy generation and propulsive actuation. The coupling of this small bio-inspired power source to a bio-inspired actuator demonstrates the first generation design for an energetically autonomous swimming robot comprised of a single membrane. An ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) ...

A novel SPES-NH(2)-GA-Nafion® composite membrane with higher proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability was fabricated by covalent crosslinking layer-by-layer self-assembly of an unbalanced charged polyampholyte (SPES-NH(2)) and glutaraldehyde (GA) with controllable free sulfonic acid content.

There is an ever increasing need for clean, portable energy devices, such as fuel cells and high energy batteries to replace or reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. The continued development of thin-film solid polymer electrolytes with improved mechanical and ion transport properties is critical for the further advancement of such electrochemical energy devices. For hydrogen and metha...

In this paper, Al-doped ZnO thin film transistors (AZO-TFT) were fabricated by the thermal evaporation growth of AZO channel layer on a silicon substrate at temperatures below 250°C. A SiO2 dielectric layer grown by the horizontal furnace was used as a gate. An active layer thickness of 10nm was measured by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and its surface had root mean square (rms) roughness 12.6...

In this article, a facile strategy is developed to synthesize a nanocomposite containing both a rare earth doped upconversion nanoparticle (RE-UCNP) and gold nanoparticles (GNPs). Such a nanocomposite can serve as a dual-modal imaging agent for upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging and photoacoustic tomography (PAT). High spatial resolution, 3-dimensional imaging of blood vessels could be ach...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of electron beam (EB) irradiation on the structure and physical properties of Nafion 117 membranes (in both acid and sodium forms) when they are irradiated in water and isopropanol as solvents. The mechanical properties of Nafion membranes in acid form irradiated in water were found to rapidly deteriorate as the irradiation dose was inc...