Size-Dependent Grain-Boundary Structure with Improved Conductive and Mechanical Stabilities in Sub-10-nm Gold Crystals.

Low-angle grain boundaries generally exist in the form of dislocation arrays, while high-angle grain boundaries (misorientation angle >15°) exist in the form of structural units in bulk metals. Here, through in situ atomic resolution aberration corrected electron microscopy observations, we report size-dependent grain-boundary structures improving both stabilities of electrical conductivity and mechanical properties in sub-10-nm-sized gold crystals. With the diameter of a nanocrystal decreasing below 10 nm, the high-angle grain boundary in the crystal exists as an array of dislocations. This size effect may be of importance to a new generation of interconnects applications.

Sealing-free fast-response paraffin/nanoporous gold hybrid actuator.

Paraffin-based actuators can deliver large actuation strokes and high actuation stress, but often suffer from a low response rate and leaking problems. Here, we report a new paraffin/metal hybrid actuator, which was fabricated by infiltrating nanoporous gold with paraffin. It exhibits a fast actuation rate owing to the high thermal conductivity of the inter-connected metal phase, and requires no external sealing because liquid paraffin can be well confined in nanoscale channels, due to the large capillarity. We found that in this hybrid actuator, the stress generated by actuation is negligibly small when the characteristic size of the nanoporous gold (L) is above ∼70 nm, and increases dramatically with a decreasing size when L < âˆ¼70 nm. The large actuation stress in samples with L < âˆ¼70 nm is ascribed to a 'smaller is stronger' effect in paraffin wax-the paraffin in smaller pores can sustain larger tensile stress, and thus the contraction of paraffin during cooling can be translated into larger compression stress and strain energy in a metal framework, leading to a larger actuation stress and energy. We also demonstrate that complex actuation motions can be achieved by incorporating hierarchical-structured nanoporous metal with paraffin.

Anomalous low strain induced by surface charge in nanoporous gold with low relative density.

The surface stress induced axial strain in a fiber-like solid is larger than its radical strain, and is also greater than the radical strain in similar-sized spherical solids. It is thus envisaged that the surface-induced macroscopic dimension change (i.e., actuation strain) in nanoporous gold (NPG) increases with decreasing relative density, or alternatively, with an increasing ratio between volumes of fiber-like ligaments and sphere-like nodes. In this study, electrochemical actuations of NPG with similar structure sizes, same (oxide-covered) surface state but different relative densities were characterized in situ in response to surface charging/discharging. We found that the actuation strain amplitude did not increase, but decreased dramatically with decreasing relative density of NPG, in contrast to the above prediction. The actuation strain decreased abruptly when the relative density of NPG was decreased to below 0.25, when the Au content in the AuAg precursor was below 20 at%. Further studies indicate that this anomalous behavior cannot be explained by potential- or size-dependences of the elasticity, the structure difference arising from different dealloying rates, or additional strain induced by the external load during dilatometry experiments. In NPG with low relative density, mutual movements of nano-ligaments may occur in the pore space and disconnected regions, which may compensate the local strain in ligaments and account for the anomalous low actuation strain in macroscopic NPG samples.

Responsive nanoporous metals: recoverable modulations on strength and shape by watering.

Many biological materials can readily modulate their mechanical properties and shape by interacting with water in the surrounding environment, which is essential to their high performance in application. In contrast, typical inorganic materials (such as the metals) cannot change their strength and shape without involving thermal/mechanical treatments. By introducing nano-scale porous structure and exploiting a simple physical concept-the water-capillarity in nanopores, here we report that a 'dead' metal can be transformed into a 'smart' material with water-responsive properties. We demonstrate that the apparent strength, volume and shape of nanoporous Au and Au(Pt) can be modulated in situ, dramatically and recoverably, in response to water-dipping and partial-drying. The amplitude of strength-modulation reaches 20 MPa, which is nearly 50% of the yield strength at initial state. This approach also leads to reversible length change up to 1.3% in nanoporous Au and a large reversible bending motion of a bi-layer strip with tip displacement of ∼20 mm, which may be used for actuation. This method is simple and effective, occurring in situ under ambient conditions and requiring no external power, analogous to biological materials. The findings may open up novel applications in many areas such as micro-robotics and bio-medical devices.

Creating a Ferromagnetic Ground State with Tc Above Room Temperature in a Paramagnetic Alloy through Non-Equilibrium Nanostructuring.

Materials with strong magnetostructural coupling have complex energy landscapes featuring multiple local ground states, thus making it possible to switch among distinct magnetic-electronic properties. However, these energy minima are rarely accessible by a mere application of an external stimuli to the system in equilibrium state. A ferromagnetic ground state, with Tc above room temperature, can be created in an initially paramagnetic alloy by nonequilibrium nanostructuring. By a dealloying process, bulk chemically disordered FeRh alloys are transformed into a nanoporous structure with the topology of a few nanometer-sized ligaments and nodes. Magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy reveal the coexistence of two magnetic ground states, a conventional low-temperature spin-glass and a hitherto-unknown robust ferromagnetic phase. The emergence of the ferromagnetic phase is validated by density functional theory calculations showing that local tetragonal distortion induced by surface stress favors ferromagnetic ordering. The study provides a means for reaching conventionally inaccessible magnetic states, resulting in a complete on/off ferromagnetic-paramagnetic switching over a broad temperature range.

Magnetoelectric Tuning of Pinning-Type Permanent Magnets through Atomic-Scale Engineering of Grain Boundaries.

Pinning-type magnets with high coercivity at high temperatures are at the core of thriving clean-energy technologies. Among these, Sm2 Co17 -based magnets are excellent candidates owing to their high-temperature stability. However, despite intensive efforts to optimize the intragranular microstructure, the coercivity currently only reaches 20-30% of the theoretical limits. Here, the roles of the grain-interior nanostructure and the grain boundaries in controlling coercivity are disentangled by an emerging magnetoelectric approach. Through hydrogen charging/discharging by applying voltages of only ≈1 V, the coercivity is reversibly tuned by an unprecedented value of ≈1.3 T. In situ magneto-structural characterization and atomic-scale tracking of hydrogen atoms reveal that the segregation of hydrogen atoms at the grain boundaries, rather than the change of the crystal structure, dominates the reversible and substantial change of coercivity. Hydrogen reduces the local magnetocrystalline anisotropy and facilitates the magnetization reversal starting from the grain boundaries. This study opens a way to achieve the giant magnetoelectric effect in permanent magnets by engineering grain boundaries with hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, it reveals the so far neglected critical role of grain boundaries in the conventional magnetization-switching paradigm of pinning-type magnets, suggesting a critical reconsideration of engineering strategies to overcome the coercivity limits.

Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensing Using Ni60Nb40 Nanoglass.

Despite being researched for nearly five decades, chemical application of metallic glass is scarcely explored. Here we show electrochemical nonenzymatic glucose-sensing ability of nickel-niobium (Ni60Nb40) amorphous alloys in alkaline medium. Three different Ni60Nb40 systems with the same elemental composition, but varying microstructures are created following different synthetic routes and tested for their glucose-sensing performance. Among melt-spun ribbon, nanoglass, and amorphous-crystalline nanocomposite materials, nanoglass showed the best performance in terms of high anodic current density, sensitivity (20 mA cm-2 mM-1), limit of detection (100 nM glucose), stability, reproducibility (above 5000 cycles), and sensing accuracy among nonenzymatic glucose sensors involving amorphous alloys. When annealed under vacuum, only the heat-treated nanoglass retained a similar electrochemical-sensing property, while the other materials failed to yield desired results. In nanoglass, a network of glassy interfaces, compared to melt-spun ribbon, is plausibly responsible for the enhanced sensitivity.

Giant voltage-induced modification of magnetism in micron-scale ferromagnetic metals by hydrogen charging.

Owing to electric-field screening, the modification of magnetic properties in ferromagnetic metals by applying small voltages is restricted to a few atomic layers at the surface of metals. Bulk metallic systems usually do not exhibit any magneto-electric effect. Here, we report that the magnetic properties of micron-scale ferromagnetic metals can be modulated substantially through electrochemically-controlled insertion and extraction of hydrogen atoms in metal structure. By applying voltages of only ~ 1 V, we show that the coercivity of micrometer-sized SmCo5, as a bulk model material, can be reversibly adjusted by ~ 1 T, two orders of magnitudes larger than previously reported. Moreover, voltage-assisted magnetization reversal is demonstrated at room temperature. Our study opens up a way to control the magnetic properties in ferromagnetic metals beyond the electric-field screening length, paving its way towards practical use in magneto-electric actuation and voltage-assisted magnetic storage.

Expression and significance of PTEN and Claudin-3 in prostate cancer.

Expression and significance of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) and Claudin-3 in the blood of patients with prostate cancer [prostate cancer (PCa)] were investigated. Retrospective analysis of 84 cases of PCa patients confirmed by pathological diagnosis were studied, as the experiment group. Moreover, the physical examination data of 84 healthy volunteers examined in the Affiliated Hospital of Beihua University were the control group. The expression levels of blood in the PTEN and Claudin-3 of both the experiment group and the control group were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. According to the blood expression in PTEN and Claudin-3 between both the experiment group and the control group, the test value of the ROC curve in PTEN and Claudin-3 were detected by both single detection and joint detection. The expression levels of PTEN in the experiment group were significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of Claudin-3 were higher in the experiment group than the control group (P<0.01). The expression levels of PTEN and Claudin-3 in the experiment group were significantly associated with the distant metastasis of cancer cells, preoperative prostate-specific antigen levels, tumor diameter and pathological stages (P<0.01). The expression levels of PTEN in the pathological stage of T1-T2 group was lower than that of the T3-T4 group (P<0.01). The expression levels of PTEN and Claudin-3 are closely related to the distant metastasis of cancer cells, preoperative prostate-specific antigen level, tumor diameter and pathological stage. Combined detection of both PTEN and Claudin-3 can improve the specificity levels of PCa for diagnosis and has an important diagnostic value for PCa. It can be used as a biological indicator for PCa diagnosis, disease severity analysis and efficacy evaluation.