Two empirical equations in the original article are incorrect.

Humidity sensors by exploiting transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted enormous attention in various applications. Here, we demonstrate a high-sensitivity fiber-optic humidity sensor based on microfibers overlaid with niobium disulfide (NbS2). Our experimental results show that this type of humidity sensor has high sensitivity, and good repeatability and reversibility. In the RH range of 72–97%

A novel amphoteric membrane was designed by blending polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to fabricate a vanadium redox flow battery. Acid–base pairs were formed by sulfonic acid and heterocyclic nitrogen, and the dense network structures were interwoven by the hydrogen bonds between the acid–base pairs. Vanadium ions were blocked by these network structures such

Cubic-phase garnet-type Li7La3Z2O12 is a promising candidate for an electrolyte of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries; however, its poor sinterability due to Li sublimation during firing has impeded large scale development. This study demonstrates a solid-state reactive sintering (SSRS) process with added CuO as a sintering aid to enable enhanced materials processing at lower temperatures. Applying

A two-step strategy has been developed to introduce silica nanoparticles into highly porous poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibers. Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) were firstly synthesized and then modified to be hydrophobic. After PLLA/SiNPs composite fibrous membranes were electrospun and collected, they were re-crystallized by acetone at room temperature for a few minutes. With the re-arrangement of

Electric fields have been shown to induce orientation of CNTs in a polymer matrix along the direction of the applied field. When using a DC field, the CNTs also migrate between the two electrodes, resulting in a nonuniform CNT concentration across the composite sample and impacting the strengthening effect gained from the CNT alignment. In this study, we applied a DC electric field to a single-walled

Improving charge transfer is the key to the performance of non-noble metal semiconductor-based surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. In this work, the O-incorporated 1T-MoS2 nanosheets with rich sulfur defects (ID-MoS2) are obtained by simple calcination of 1T-MoS2 nanosheets in air atmosphere. Using rhodamine 6G (R6G) as typical probe molecules, ID-MoS2 nanosheets show ultrahigh Raman

Flexible supercapacitors using graphene have been intensively investigated due to their potential applications for wearable and smart devices. In order to avoid stacking between graphene layers, spacers such as carbon fibers and metal oxide particles are often introduced. Such composites enhance effectively the specific surface area of the electrodes and eventually supercapacitor performance. In present

A series of acceptor-doped ceramics based on the solid solution, (1-x)BaTiO3–xBi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3 (BT-BZT), where x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, were prepared via solid-state synthesis to investigate the effect of doping and BZT content on conduction properties. Impedance spectroscopy measurements showed an increase in conductivity through acceptor doping with Mg on the Ti-site (\({\text{Mg}}_{{{\text{Ti}}}

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new type of porous crystal materials that have been widely used in various fields. Owing to their adjustable porous structure, MOF photocatalysts with high catalytic activity have become a research hotspot. In this study, NH2-MIL-125/CoSx samples were investigated as a novel visible light-responsive catalyst for the removal of organic dye. The NH2-MIL-125/CoSx-20

Rare earth ferrite–DyFeO3 powders with variable particle sizes and surface areas were prepared by the sol–gel method with annealing at 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C to research the acetone sensing properties. The DyFeO3 powders annealed at 800 °C showed a good response to acetone and can be used as an acetone sensor due to its excellent microstructure. Moreover, the best response of 3.81 for the

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs)-based core–shell structured nanomaterials were synthesized. As supercapacitor electrode materials, they exhibit excellent performance due to the advanced intrinsic properties of ZIFs, such as high porosity, good stability and large surface area. The materials were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, XPS and BET. When synthesized core–shell structured nanomaterial

The precipitation kinetics of TiC and VC during high-temperature tempering of low-carbon martensitic steels was studied by means of hardness measurement and theoretical analysis. The precipitation–temperature–time diagram, which was determined through the hardness versus tempering time curves, shows that the precipitation rate of TiC is more rapid than that of VC at 600 °C or above, while they are

Combining the FFC-Cambridge process with field-assisted sintering technology (FAST) allows for the realisation of an alternative, entirely solid-state, production route for a wide range of metals and alloys. For titanium, this could provide a route to produce alloys at a lower cost compared to the conventional Kroll-based route. Use of synthetic rutile instead of high purity TiO2 offers further potential

Determination of mechanical properties with nanoindentation tests needs a knowledge of contact area, which is characterized with an area function. In the current methods, typically the Oliver–Pharr method, the area function is usually calibrated with the reference materials prior to practical tests. However, the accuracy and applicability of such a pre-calibrated area function have been questioned

Low energy density is the principle obstacle for widespread adoption of dielectric capacitors for large-scale energy storage, and in polymer–ceramic nanocomposite systems the root cause is dielectric breakdown at the nanoscale interface. Interfacial effects in composites cannot be observed directly, due to the long-range effects of the surrounding media and the internal nature of the defects, so we

We present a holistic view on the role of polymeric binders in waterborne LiB anodes, including preparation and processing of wet slurries as well as microstructure, electrical conductivity and mechanical integrity of dry electrode layers. We focus on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), with respect to technical application the influence of soft, nano-particulate styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) as secondary

A new rock-salt type compound, namely Li3MgNbO5, was synthesized using traditional two-step sintering process for the first time. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal dilatometer and network analyzer. The Li3MgNbO5 ceramic sintered at 1260 °C adopted a cubic structure with Fm-3 m space group

The corresponding author was incorrectly designated in the original article

To improve the interfacial properties between carbon fibers (CFs) and polycarbonate (PC) resin, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were deposited onto desized CF surfaces using an ultrasonic-assisted electrophoretic deposition method, forming a multi-scaled hierarchical structure. The results showed that morphologies and geometrical structures of the as-prepared hierarchical structures could be

Interfacial solar-thermal water evaporation (STWE) shows considerable potential in terms of harvesting freshwater from the ocean; thereinto, the design of an efficient floatable material with low-cost and salt deposition resistance is always one of the most concerned issues. In this work, we prepared an economical Janus complex for STWE by assembling commercial carbon nanotubes and porous cotton fiber

Piezoresistivity is an electromechanical effect characterized by the reversible change in the electrical resistivity with strain. It is useful for electrical-resistance-based strain/stress sensing. The resistivity can be the volumetric, interfacial or surface resistivity, though the volumetric resistivity is most meaningful scientifically. Because the irreversible resistivity change (due to damage

The phase diagram of the Al–Cu–Si ternary system was investigated experimentally at the temperatures 600 °C and 800 °C. The current study was designed to contribute to a better understanding of the ternary phase diagram Al–Cu–Si at elevated temperatures, where some of the phase equilibria were only tentatively known. It was found that the ternary phase τ proposed earlier is actually an extended solid

Cold sintering of ZnO using crystalline zinc acetate dihydrate in the absence of added water is examined. Prior studies use an aqueous solvent, usually containing a weak acid, base, or organic salt, as the mass transport phase during cold sintering. This paper shows equivalent densification of ZnO using solid, powdered acetate as compared to previously mentioned aqueous-based transport phases. It also

Drug resistance is an important reason to the treatment failure of cancer chemotherapy. In this paper, an amphiphilic tumor-targeting chimeric peptide-based drug self-delivery system (DSDS) was designed to overcome drug resistance by synergistic chemo-photodynamic therapy. Doxorubicin (Dox) was encapsulated into the micelles formed by the self-assembly of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) derivated amphiphilic

It is not completely understood fatigue strength at this time due to its complex formation mechanism. Therefore, in order to address this issue, machine learning has been used to examine the important factors involved in predicting fatigue strength. In this study, a hybrid model was proposed based on the modified bagging method by combining XGBoost and LightGBM, in which the hyperparameters of the

The combination of van der Waals heterostructures by stacking different kinds of two-dimensional structures is an effective method to design optoelectronic devices. In this work, the electronic and optical properties of vertically stacked Si/InS heterostructures are investigated by using density functional theory. We check the dynamical stability of all possible bilayer configurations of Si/InS and

In this work, the preparation of foam-gelcasting was simplified with a copolymer of isobutylene and maleic anhydride (Isobam), avoiding the traditional gelling system including many additives such as monomer, cross-linking agent, initiator and catalyst. Highly porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics with 76.2–84.9% porosity were prepared via foam-gelcasting method using YSZ powder as the raw

Carbon dots (CDs) have become a potential material for biosensing, drug delivery, and bioimaging because of their strong fluorescence, for which they are referred to as fluorescent carbon dots. CDs have drawn significant attention as a new class of carbonaceous nanomaterials with accelerating applications in varying different technologies. This attention is mainly based on a multitude of appealing

Developing highly efficient and inexpensive bifunctional electrocatalysts is a grand challenge in water splitting process. In this article, NiFe electrocatalysts on nickel foam are prepared by electrodeposition method using high current density. The optimized NiFe electrocatalyst presented excellent electrocatalytic activities in 1.0 M KOH medium with low overpotentials of 100 mV for hydrogen evolution

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions has been considered as a promising approach for green ammonia synthesis; however, non-precious metal-based catalysts with excellent NRR electrocatalytic performance have been scarce. Herein, self-supported bimetallic electrocatalysts of Ni12P5/FeP4 nanoplates grown on carbon cloth were synthesized by a combined process of hydrothermal

It has been found that moderately reduced graphene oxide (RGO) membrane which was applicable to the field of nanofiltration had both good hydrophilicity and appropriate layer spacing. However, existing GO reduction technologies are usually toxic, complex and uncontrollable. Therefore, it is necessary to seek a green and controllable method to develop the partially RGO membrane (RGOM) which has outstanding