Advanced lithography materials: From fundamentals to applications.

The semiconductor industry has long been driven by advances in a nanofabrication technology known as lithography, and the fabrication of nanostructures on chips relies on an important coating, the photoresist layer. Photoresists are typically spin-coated to form a film and have a photolysis solubility transition and etch resistance that allow for rapid fabrication of nanostructures. As a result, photoresists have attracted great interest in both fundamental research and industrial applications. Currently, the semiconductor industry has entered the era of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) and expects photoresists to be able to fabricate sub-10 nm structures. In order to realize sub-10 nm nanofabrication, the development of photoresists faces several challenges in terms of sensitivity, etch resistance, and molecular size. In this paper, three types of lithographic mechanisms are reviewed to provide strategies for designing photoresists that can enable high-resolution nanofabrication. The discussion of the current state of the art in optical lithography is presented in depth. Practical applications of photoresists and related recent advances are summarized. Finally, the current achievements and remaining issues of photoresists are discussed and future research directions are envisioned.

Microneedles with Two-Stage Glucose-Sensitive Controlled Release for Long-Term Insulin Delivery.

Diabetes patients cannot complete effective blood glucose regulation due to their impaired pancreatic function. At present, subcutaneous insulin injection is the only treatment for patients with type 1 and severe type 2 diabetes. However, long-term subcutaneous injection will cause patients with intense physical pain and lasting psychological burden. In addition, subcutaneous injection will lead to hypoglycemia risk to a large extent because of the uncontrollable release of insulin. In this work, we developed a glucose-sensitive microneedle patch based on phenylboronic acid (PBA)-modified chitosan (CS) particles and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) hydrogel for the efficient delivery of insulin. Meanwhile, through the double glucose-sensitive response process of CS-PBA particle and external hydrogel, the sudden release of insulin was well restrained, and a more persistent blood glucose control was achieved. Finally, the painless, minimally invasive, and efficient treatment effect of the glucose-sensitive microneedle patch indicated its great advantages as a new generation of injection therapy.

Preparation of Ferrocene-Terminated Dendrimers for the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate.

As a common oxidizer, ammonium perchlorate (AP) is an important component in composite solid propellants (CSPs). Ferrocene (Fc)-based compounds are often selected as burning rate catalysts (BRCs) to catalyze AP decomposition owing to their excellent catalytic behavior. However, one of the drawbacks of Fc-based BRCs is migration in CSPs. In this study, five Fc-terminated dendrimers are designed and synthesized to improve the anti-migration properties, and their chemical structures are confirmed systemically by the related spectra characterization techniques. Moreover, the redox performance, catalytic effect on AP decomposition, combustion performance, and mechanical properties in CSPs are also studied. The shapes of the prepared propellant samples are observed via scanning electron microscopy. The obtained Fc-based BRCs have good redox performance, a positive effect on promoting AP decomposition, excellent combustion catalytic performance, and good mechanical properties. Meanwhile, they have a higher anti-migration ability than catocene (Cat) and Fc. This study demonstrates that Fc-terminated dendrimers have great potential to be applied as anti-migration BRCs in CSPs.

Hyperbranched anion exchangers prepared from polyethylene polyamine modified polymeric substrates for ion chromatography.

High hydrophilic anion stationary phases play a crucial role in the separation behavior of ion chromatography. Herein, we report novel polymeric anion exchangers grafted with polyethylene polyamines, including ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine and tetraethylene pentaamine, via a facile epoxy-amine polymerization method. The anion exchangers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and elemental analysis. The chromatographic performance of the stationary phases was evaluated with the separation of common inorganic anions, organic weak acids and highly polarizable anions. Seven common anions (F-, Cl-, NO2-, Br-, NO3-, SO42- and HPO42-) can be separated within 18 min by using hydroxide eluent in isocratic mode. By adopting different polyethylene polyamines as hyperbranched units, the four types of new stationary phases displayed high efficiencies and good reproducibility. The columns exhibit large exchange capacities at 76.5-184.8 µmol•column-1 (4.6 × 150 mm, i.d.) with efficiency up to 20293 plate m-1 (Cl-). The RSDs of the retention time were less than 0.27% and the RSDs of the efficiency were less than 1.95% by consecutive injections after working for two months. The self-fabricated column was successfully applied to determine the chloride content in exhaled breath condensate.