{"title":"Beneath the disorder: Unraveling the impacts of doping on organic electronics and thermoelectrics","authors":"Andrew Tolton, Zlatan Akšamija","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00628-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00628-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Organic materials have found widespread applications but require doping to overcome their intrinsically low carrier concentration. Doping injects free carriers into the polymer, moving the position of the Fermi level, and creates coulombic traps, changing the shape of the electronic density of states (DOS). We develop equations to explicitly map the DOS parameters to the Seebeck vs conductivity relationship. At low carrier concentrations, this relationship is a universal slope <span>(-{k}_{B}/q)</span>, while at higher carrier concentrations, the slope becomes dependent on the shape of the DOS. We conclude that, at high doping, a heavy-tailed DOS leads to higher thermoelectric power factors.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142202794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electrospun LaAlO3 nanofibers from different solvent systems","authors":"Refka Andoulsi-Fezei, Soumaya Sayeb, Mounir Ferhi, Karima Horchani-Naifer","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00627-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00627-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>LaAlO<sub>3</sub> nanofibers are prepared using reproducible and green electrospinning technique. Particularly, <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethylformamide (DMF) and acetic acid/water (A-A/W) were used as solvents. The structural and textural properties were compared. Results indicate that the diameter of as-spun nanofibers with (A-A/W) ranged from 50 to 400 nm. While it is between 100 and 600 nm for (DMF). After calcination, it decreased to an average of 80 nm for (A-A/W) and 200 nm for (DMF). Higher pore volume (0.69 cc g<sup>−1</sup>) and surface area (176.3 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup>) were achieved for (A-A/W) solvent. The textural properties confirm that LaAlO<sub>3</sub> exhibit high performances for advanced technologies mainly sensors.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142202805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Khagendra P. Bhandari, Dhurba R. Sapkota, Balaji Ramanujam
{"title":"Spectroscopic-ellipsometry study of the optical properties of ZnO nanoparticle thin films","authors":"Khagendra P. Bhandari, Dhurba R. Sapkota, Balaji Ramanujam","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00626-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00626-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We described optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis from <i>ex situ</i> spectroscopic ellipsometry (<i>ex situ</i> SE) measurements made on nanocrystalline thin films over a spectral range of 0.734 to 4.00 eV. We determined the complex refractive index function, <span>(widetilde{n}(omega )=n(omega )+ikappa (omega ))</span>, by fitting a layered parametric model to the ellipsometric measurements. We collected SE measurements at an incidence angle of 70°. We also determined absorption coefficient spectra using extinction coefficient, κ and wavelength, <i>λ</i>. The direct optical bandgap of the films was obtained as 3.2 eV using the ellipsometric method.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142202801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yijie Jiang, Alejandro X. Serrano, Wonbong Choi, Rigoberto C. Advincula, H. Felix Wu
{"title":"Advanced and functional composite materials via additive manufacturing: Trends and perspectives","authors":"Yijie Jiang, Alejandro X. Serrano, Wonbong Choi, Rigoberto C. Advincula, H. Felix Wu","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00625-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00625-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Additive manufacturing (AM) has many advantages over conventional subtractive manufacturing methods. The cost-effective AM allows for precise fabrication of complex structures with less material waste, making it a popular manufacturing process in many applications. The recent development of AM materials has advanced significantly. By precisely controlling material distribution and microstructural features, AM facilitates the creation of new composites with specific requirements. AM techniques have contributed considerably to integrating unique functionalities for various applications. This review emphasizes multiple categories of materials, including metal alloys, polymer-based composites, and sustainable composites, as well as applications of sensing materials and strategies and emerging artificial intelligence and machine learning.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141940892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A modified vacuum induction melting technique with argon backfilling to produce pristine Ni–Ti–Si ternary shape memory alloys","authors":"S. Santosh, S. K. Yogeshwaran, P. Shobhan Kumar","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00620-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00620-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This research investigates the effect of silicon (Si) addition on the phase transformation behaviour of the Ni–Ti alloy. The Ni–Ti–Si alloys were fabricated with varying proportions of Si through a modified vacuum induction melting technique with argon backfilling. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry were done to analyse the microstructure, elemental composition, and phase transformation temperatures, respectively, to validate the effectiveness of this modified melting technique. The results indicate an increase in the phase transformation temperature with an increase in the Si content in the alloy mixture and the alloys were prepared with a very minimal amount of detrimental impurities. This technique helps to produce high-temperature shape memory alloys with utmost purity which helps in retaining their functional properties. The transformation temperatures observed from differential scanning calorimetry revealed that the <i>A</i><sub>f</sub> temperature varies from 342.68 K to 379.95 K for 3 to 12% variation in Si content. This group of shape memory alloys have potential use as actuators in aircrafts and various other applications.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141882314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John Wertz, Chenoa Flournoy, Laura Homa, Tyler Tallman
{"title":"Validation of a multilayer perceptron for rapid, direct solution of the electrical impedance tomography inverse problem","authors":"John Wertz, Chenoa Flournoy, Laura Homa, Tyler Tallman","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00621-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00621-9","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Abstract</h3><p>Electrical impedance tomography is a method of mapping the conductivity distribution of a domain. For decades it has been considered a potential in situ nondestructive evaluation technique for characterization of conductivity changes in aerospace composites. Yet, several challenges must be addressed before this technique can be transitioned from the laboratory to meaningful practice; for example, the expense of the inverse problem that must be solved to estimate conductivity. An alternative is to characterize damage from the measured voltage-current relationship using deep learning. In this work, we develop and test a deep learning algorithm to characterize time-independent damage events in complex geometry.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"216 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141882440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Materials-driven strategies in bacterial engineering","authors":"Giuseppe Maria Paternò","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00623-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00623-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This perspective article focuses on the innovative field of materials-based bacterial engineering, highlighting interdisciplinary research that employs material science to study, augment, and exploit the attributes of living bacteria. By utilizing exogenous abiotic material interfaces, researchers can engineer bacteria to perform new functions, such as enhanced bioelectric capabilities and improved photosynthetic efficiency. Additionally, materials can modulate bacterial communities and transform bacteria into biohybrid microrobots, offering promising solutions for sustainable energy production, environmental remediation, and medical applications. Finally, the perspective discusses a general paradigm for engineering bacteria through the materials-driven modulation of their transmembrane potential. This parameter regulates their ion channel activity and ultimately their bioenergetics, suggesting that controlling it could allow scientists to hack the bioelectric language bacteria use for communication, task execution, and environmental response.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141868289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paul Smith, Ethan Bounds, Kaleb Jones, Anthony Griffin, Zoe Gunter, Zhe Qiang
{"title":"Enabling 3D printing of carbons by polyethylene precursors","authors":"Paul Smith, Ethan Bounds, Kaleb Jones, Anthony Griffin, Zoe Gunter, Zhe Qiang","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00619-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00619-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Development of low-cost and accessible techniques for creating intricate carbon structures is an important research area for advancing various applications. In this work, fused filament fabrication (FFF) of polyethylene (PE) is used to generate 3D-printed structures which are converted to carbon through sulfonation-induced crosslinking and subsequent pyrolysis. Carbons from PE precursors display more continuous morphologies than their polypropylene (PP) counterparts while achieving enhanced reaction kinetics at lower temperatures. This phenomenon enables robust mechanical properties under optimal carbonization conditions. This work provides an essential expansion of precursor selection and understanding of carbonization effects for 3D-printed carbon materials.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141868167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Palacios Saura, Joachim Breternitz, Armin Hoell, Susan Schorr
{"title":"The big bang of halide perovskites: The starting point of crystallization","authors":"Ana Palacios Saura, Joachim Breternitz, Armin Hoell, Susan Schorr","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00611-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00611-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Hybrid halide perovskites (HHPs) are very promising absorber materials for solar cells due to their high power conversion efficiency and the low-cost solution-based processing methods. We applied small angle X-ray scattering to MAPbI<sub>3</sub>, FAPbI<sub>3</sub> and MAPbBr<sub>3</sub> precursor solutions in different solvents (GBL, DMF, and mixtures) to gain a deeper understanding of the building blocks during the early stage of HHP formation. We present a core–shell model where the core is formed by [PbX<sub>6</sub>] octahedra surrounded by a shell of solvent molecules, which explains the arrangement of the precursors in solution and how the solvent and the halide influence such arrangement.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141783232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Urice Tohgha, Kyle Carothers, Douglas M. Krein, Michael C. Brennan, Gelu Costin, Chandra Sekhar Tiwary, Tod A. Grusenmeyer, Michael E. McConney, Peter R. Stevenson
{"title":"Liquid monomer phase exfoliation of non-van der Waals hematite and processing of poly(methyl methacrylate) hematene composite substrates","authors":"Urice Tohgha, Kyle Carothers, Douglas M. Krein, Michael C. Brennan, Gelu Costin, Chandra Sekhar Tiwary, Tod A. Grusenmeyer, Michael E. McConney, Peter R. Stevenson","doi":"10.1557/s43579-024-00613-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00613-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Liquid phase exfoliation of non-van der Waals materials has generated renewed interest in fundamental optical and electronic materials discovery and processing. However, such approaches can limit access to novel two-dimensional materials due to the chemistry of exfoliation and processing conditions employed (e.g., processing temperature, mechanical energy input, volatile organic compounds, and sensitive redox chemistries). Here, we demonstrate the exfoliation of bulk hematite (α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) powder using a mild bath sonication methodology in liquid monomer media to form stable colloidal dispersions with quasi-two-dimensional hematene nanoflakes. These colloidal dispersions were further processed to form hematene poly(methyl methacrylate) matrix composite substrates.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000","PeriodicalId":19016,"journal":{"name":"MRS Communications","volume":"355 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141783233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}