Self-Assembled Viscoelastic Surfactant Micelles with pH-Responsive Behavior: A New Fracturing-Displacement Integrated Working Fluid for Unconventional Reservoirs.

The integrated fracturing and oil recovery strategy is a new paradigm for achieving sustainable and cost-effective development of unconventional reservoirs. However, a single type of working fluid cannot simultaneously meet the different needs of fracturing and oil displacement processes. Here, we develop a pH-responsive fracturing-displacement integrated working fluid based on the self-assembled micelles of N,N-dimethyl oleoamine propylamine (DOAPA) and succinic acid (SA). By adjusting the pH of the working fluid, the DOAPA and SA molecules can be switched repeatedly between highly viscoelastic wormlike micelles and aqueous low-viscosity spherical micelles. The zero-shear viscosity of the working fluid enriched the wormlike micelles can reach more than 93,100 mPa·s, showing excellent viscoelasticity and sand-carrying properties. The working fluid is easy to gel-break when it encounters oil, generating a low-viscosity liquid without residue. In addition, the system has strong interfacial activity, which can greatly reduce the oil-water interfacial tension to form emulsions and can achieve reversible demulsification and re-emulsification by adjusting pH. Through the designed and fabricated microfluidic chip, it can be visualized that under the synergistic effect of viscoelasticity and interfacial activity DOAPA/SA can effectively expand the swept volume of tight fractured formations, promote pore wetting reversal and crude oil emulsification, and improve the displacement efficiency. The DOAPA/SA meets the design requirements of the fracturing-displacement integrated working fluids and provides a novel method and idea for constructing the integrated working fluids suitable for fracturing and displacement in unconventional reservoirs.

Production of cost-competitive bioethanol and value-added co-products from distillers' grains: Techno-economic evaluation and environmental impact analysis.

Here, Baijiu distillers' grains (BDGs) were employed in biorefinery development to generate value-added co-products and bioethanol. Through ethyl acetate extraction at a 1:6 solid-liquid ratio for 10 h, significant results were achieved, including 100 % lactic acid and 92 % phenolics recovery. The remaining BDGs also achieved 99 % glucan recovery and 81 % glucan-to-glucose conversion. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of remaining BDGs at 30 % loading resulted in 78.5 g bioethanol/L with a yield of 94 %. The minimum selling price of bioethanol varies from $0.149-$0.836/kg, contingent on the co-product market prices. The biorefinery processing of one ton of BDGs caused a 60 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to that of the traditional production of 88 kg corn-lactic acid, 70 kg antioxidant phenolics, 234 kg soybean protein, and 225 kg corn-bioethanol, along with emissions from BDG landfilling. The biorefinery demonstrated a synergistic model of cost-effective bioethanol production and low-carbon emission BDGs treatment.

Qualitative and quantitative features of deep endometriosis in contrast-enhanced ultrasound: An initial experience and literature review.

PURPOSE: This research aims to present the findings of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in a series of patients with proven deep endometriosis (DE) and provide an updated literature review. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2018 and October 2022, seven patients with DE lesions had their imaging and medical records retrospectively reviewed. Clinical data, recorded images of a standardized conventional B-mode ultrasound, and Sonovue® CEUS were interpreted by two blinded, independent, experienced radiologists in consensus. The enhanced characteristics of the DE lesion on CEUS were also assessed using VueBox® software quantitatively. RESULTS: DE lesion appeared as irregular hypoechoic or heterogeneous on conventional ultrasound with dotted blood flow signal on color Doppler. Six of seven DE lesions showed heterogeneous hypo-enhancement in arterial phases. All the lesions showed a heterogeneous washout rapidly that began in the late arterial phase. In quantified analysis, the mean relative peak enhancement compared with adjacent tissue was 0.47±0.25. CONCLUSION: Our findings and literature review suggested that CEUS could be a feasible and promising non-invasive modality for diagnosing DE.

Generation of Bloch surface beams with arbitrarily designed phases.

We proposed a new manipulation method for Bloch surface waves that can almost arbitrarily modulate the lateral phase through in-plane wave-vector matching. The Bloch surface beam is generated by a laser beam from a glass substrate incident on a carefully designed nanoarray structure, which can provide the missing momentum between the two beams and set the required initial phase of the Bloch surface beam. An internal mode was used as a channel between the incident and surface beams to improve the excitation efficiency. Using this method, we successfully realized and demonstrated the properties of various Bloch surface beams, including subwavelength-focused, self-accelerating Airy, and diffraction-free collimated beams. This manipulation method, along with the generated Bloch surface beams, will facilitate the development of two-dimensional optical systems and benefit potential applications of lab-on-chip photonic integrations.

Convergent synthesis of triarylamines via Ni-catalyzed dual C(sp2)-H amination from benzamides with benzohydroxamic acids.

An unprecedented method of nickel-catalyzed dual C(sp2)-H amination of N-quinolylbenzamides with benzohydroxamic acids is developed to access triarylamines in one pot. For the first time, broad-spectrum hydroxylamine is employed as an amino source for C-H amination, featuring good chemo-selectivity and functional group tolerance. Furthermore, the catalytic system could be further extended to N-(pivaloyloxy)benzamide, dioxazolone, isocyanate and aniline for C-H amination.

Doublet Metalens with Simultaneous Chromatic and Monochromatic Correction in the Mid-Infrared.

Metalenses provide a powerful paradigm for mid-infrared (MIR) imaging and detection while keeping the optical system compact. However, the design of MIR metalenses simultaneously correcting chromatic aberration and off-axis monochromatic aberration remains challenging. Here, we propose an MIR doublet metalens composed of a silicon aperture metalens and a silicon focusing metalens separated by a fused silica substrate. By performing ray-tracing optimization and particle-swarm optimization, we optimized the required phase profiles as well as the sizes and spatial distributions of silicon nanopillars of the doublet metalens. Simulation results showed that the MIR doublet metalens simultaneously achieved chromatic and off-axis monochromatic aberration reduction, realizing a continuous 400 nm bandwidth and 20° field-of-view (FOV). Thanks to its planar configuration, this metalens is suitable for integration with CMOS image sensor to achieve MIR imaging and detection, which has potential application in troubleshooting and intelligent inspection of power grids. This work may facilitate the practical application of metalens-integrated micro/nanosensors in intelligent energy.

Bloch Surface Waves Mediated Micro-Spectroscopy.

Micro-spectroscopy is a critical instrument for spectrum analysis in various applications such as chemical and biological analysis, environment detection, and hyperspectral imaging. However, current micro-spectral technique requires bulky and costly spectrometer. In this report, a new type of Bloch surface wave (BSW) based micro-spectrometer is proposed. A single silicon nanoparticle sitting on a dielectric multilayer substrate is used to excite the BSW which acts as a nanoscale unknown source. Taking advantage of the dispersion relations of BSWs, an abundant spectrally related database is formed that is useful for spectrum retrieval applications. Back-focal plane images are used to monitor the change of angular spectrum corresponding to the dispersion relationship of Bloch surface waves. Combined with an iterative algorithm, experimental retrieval of visible-range monochromatic and broadband light spectrums can be obtained. The resolution of the spectrometers can reach 2 nm across a wavelength range of 130 nm. The method in this work is CMOS compatible, enabling spectra retrieval for nanoscale radiators and can also be used to measure and retrieve the microscopic spectrum signal rapidly and timely without conventional scanning monochromator spectrometer.

Directional imbalance of Bloch surface waves for ultrasensitive displacement metrology.

Precise position sensing and nanoscale optical rulers are important in many applications in nanometrology, gravitational wave detection and quantum technologies. Several implementations of such nanoscale displacement sensors have been recently developed based on interferometers, nanoantennas, optical field singularities and optical skyrmions. Here, we propose a method for ultrasensitive displacement measurements based on the directional imbalance of the excitation of Bloch surface waves by an asymmetric double slit, which have low propagation loss and provide high detected intensity. The directionality of excitation changes dramatically with a sub-nanometric displacement of the illuminating Gaussian beam across the slit and can be used for displacement and refractive index metrology. We demonstrate a theoretical intensity ratio of the BSW excitation in opposite directions exceeding 890, which provides a displacement sensitivity of up to 2.888 nm-1 with a resolution below 0.5 nm over a 100 nm linearity range. Experimentally, a directional intensity ratio more than 90 has been achieved, with a displacement sensitivity of 0.122 nm-1 over a 300 nm linearity range, resulting in a resolution below 8 nm for a 600 nm illumination wavelength. The proposed facile configuration may have potential applications in nanometrology and super-resolution microscopy.

Far-field optical imaging of surface plasmons with a subdiffraction limited separation.

When an ultrathin silver nanowire with a diameter less than 100 nm is placed on a photonic band gap structure, surface plasmons can be excited and propagate along two side-walls of the silver nanowire. Although the diameter of the silver nanowire is far below the diffraction limit, two bright lines can be clearly observed at the image plane by a standard wide-field optical microscope. Simulations suggest that the two bright lines in the far-field are caused by the unique phase distribution of plasmons on the two side-walls of the silver nanowire. Combining with the sensing ability of surface plasmons to its environment, the configuration reported in this work is capable of functioning as a sensing platform to monitor environmental changes in the near-field region of this ultrathin nanowire.

Design of a broadband Ge1-xSix electro-absorption modulator based on the Franz-Keldysh effect with thermal tuning.

We present the design of an adiabatic taper coupled Ge1-xSix electro-absorption modulator, which is based on Franz-Keldysh effect. The device has an active region of 0.8×50 µm2, an extinction ratio of more than 6 dB and an insertion loss less than 3 dB at the wavelength of 1550 nm. The operating bandwidth can be broadened to more than 90 nm by an AlN block assisted heater with only 6.2 mW energy consumption. Moreover, the operating wavelength shift caused by material composition deviation can be compensated to the expected wavelength by thermal tuning. This design may play an important role in next-generation, high-density optical integrations for datacom and high-performance computing.

Coupling of Fluorophores in Single Nanoapertures to Tamm Plasmon Structures.

Metal nanostructures (such as plasmonic antennas) have been widely demonstrated to be excellent devices for beaming and sorting the fluorescence emission. These effects rely on the constructive scattering or diffraction from different elements (such as metal corrugations or nanorings) of the nanostructures. However, subwavelength-size nanoholes, without nearby nanoscale features, results in an angularly dispersed emission from the distal surface. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the emission redirection capabilities of a single isolated nanoaperture milled in a thick silver film deposited on a dielectric multilayer. Specifically, we show that a dye dissolved in ethanol filling in the nanoaperture can couple to Tamm Plasmon Polariton (TPP) modes of the structure. Due to the small in-plane wavevectors of the TPPs, the fluorescence from Tamm-coupled dyes within the nanoaperture is emitted normally to the sample surface, with a minimum angular width of about 12.54°. This kind of fluorescence manipulation has proven to be effective with various nanoaperture shapes, such as circles, squares, and triangles. Our work is also the first experimental demonstration of lateral coupling of fluorophores with TPPs in nanoholes, with potential applications in bioanalysis and biosciences.

Construction of novel Z-scheme Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 system with enhanced electron transfer capacity for visible light photocatalytic degradation of sulfanilamide.

A novel Z-scheme system, Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 with enhanced electron transfer capacity was constructed for degrading sulfanilamide (SAM) using solar light. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 was investigated. The effects of the mass ratio (ZnFe2O4:BiTaO4), doped V dose, Ag wt.% content, and irradiation time on the catalytic performance were evaluated. The reasonable mechanism of Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 solar photocatalytic degradation was also presented. These results reveal Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 possesses enhanced photocatalytic performance. The loaded Ag as electron mediator increases the electron transfer rate. Particularly, the doped V and the Fe ions from ZnFe2O4 form a powerful electron driving force, which enhances the electron transfer capacity. Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 shows optimal photocatalytic performance at 2.0 wt.% Ag and 0.5% doped V dose (ZnFe2O4:BiTaO4 = 1.0:0.5). Also, Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 exhibits high stability and repeatability in photocatalytic degradation. Several active species (•OH, •O2-, and h+) are produced in the Z-scheme photodegradation of SAM. These results on the enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 are ascribed to synergistic photocatalytic effects of ZnFe2O4 and BiTa1-xVxO4 mediated through Ag and driven by doped V and Fe ions. Therefore, the Z-scheme Ag/ZnFe2O4/Ag/BiTa1-xVxO4 photocatalytic technology proves to be promising for the solar photocatalytic treatment of antibiotics under solar light.

Extending the Propagation Distance of a Silver Nanowire Plasmonic Waveguide with a Dielectric Multilayer Substrate.

Chemical-synthesized silver nanowires have been proven as an efficient architecture for plasmonic waveguides, but the high propagation loss prevents their widely applications. Here, we demonstrate that the propagation distance of the plasmons along a silver nanowire can be extended if this nanowire was placed on a dielectric multilayer substrate containing a photonic band gap but not placed on a commonly used glass substrate. The propagation distance at 630 nm wavelength can reach 16 µm, even when the silver nanowire is as thin as 90 nm in diameter. Experimental and simulation results further show that the polarization of this propagating plasmon mode was nearly parallel to the surface of the dielectric multilayer, so it can be excited by a transverse-electric polarized Bloch surface wave propagating along a polymer nanowire with diameter at only about 170 nm on the same dielectric multilayer. Numerical simulations were also carried out and are consistent with the experiment results. Our work provides a platform with which to extend the propagation distance of the plasmonic waveguide and also for the integration between photonic and plasmonic waveguides on the nanometer scale.

Two-Dimensional Photonic Devices based on Bloch Surface Waves with One-Dimensional Grooves.

Both experiments and simulations show that the polarization state and propagation path of the Bloch surface waves sustained on a dielectric multilayer, can be manipulated with the grooves inscribed on this multilayer. These grooves can be easily producible, accessible and controllable. Various nano-devices for the Bloch surface waves, such as the launcher, beam splitter, reflector, polarization rotator, and even the photonic single-pole double-throw switch, were all experimentally realized with the properly designed grooves, which are consistent with the numerical simulations. The proposed devices will be basic elements for the two-dimensional photonic system, and will find numerous applications, including integrated photonics, molecular sensing, imaging and micro-manipulation.

Manipulating Propagation Constants of Silver Nanowire Plasmonic Waveguide Modes Using a Dielectric Multilayer Substrate.

Experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that when a silver nanowire is placed on a dielectric multilayer, but not the commonly used bare glass slide, the effective refractive index of the propagating surface plasmons along the silver nanowire can be controlled. Furthermore, by increasing the thickness of the top dielectric layer, longer wavelength light can also propagate along a very thin silver nanowire. In the experiment, the diameter of the silver nanowire can be as thin as 70 nm, with the incident wavelength as long as 640 nm. The principle of this control is analysed from the existence of a photonic band gap and the Bloch surface wave with this dielectric multilayer substrate.

Conversion of isotropic fluorescence into a long-range non-diverging beam.

Fluorescent samples typically emit isotropically in all directions. Large lenses and other optical components are needed to capture a significant fraction of the emission, and complex confocal microscopes are required for high resolution focal-plane imaging. It is known that Bessel beams have remarkable properties of being able to travel over long distances, over 1000 times the wavelength, without diverging, and hence are called non-diffracting beams. In previous reports the Bessel beams were formed by an incident light source, typically with plane-wave illumination on a circular aperture. It was not known if Bessel beams could form from fluorescent light sources. We demonstrate transformation of the emission from fluorescent polystyrene spheres (FPS) into non-diverging beams which propagate up to 130 mm (13 cm) along the optical axis with a constant diameter. This is accomplished using a planar metal film, with no nanoscale features in the X-Y plane, using surface plasmon-coupled emission. Using samples which contain many FPS in the field-of-view, we demonstrate that an independent Bessel beam can be generated from any location on the metal film. The extremely long non-diffracted propagation distances, and self-healing properties of Bessel beams, offer new opportunities in fluorescence sensing and imaging.

Silver Nanowires for Reconfigurable Bloch Surface Waves.

The use of a single silver nanowire as a flexible coupler to transform a free space beam into a Bloch surface wave propagating on a dielectric multilayer is proposed. Based on Huygens' Principle, when a Gaussian beam is focused onto a straight silver nanowire, a Bloch surface wave is generated and propagates perpendicular to the nanowire. By curving the silver nanowire, the surface wave can be focused. Furthermore, the spatial phase of the incident laser beam can be actively controlled with the aid of a spatial light modulator, resulting in the reconfigurable or dynamically controlled Bloch surface waves. The low cost of the chemically synthesized silver nanowires and the high flexibility with regard to tuning the spatial phase of the incident light make this approach very promising for various applications including optical micromanipulation, fluorescence imaging, and sensing.

Diffraction-Free Bloch Surface Waves.

Here, we demonstrate a diffraction-free Bloch surface wave sustained on all-dielectric multilayers that does not diffract after being passed through three obstacles or across a single mode fiber. It can propagate in a straight line for distances longer than 110 µm at a wavelength of 633 nm and could be applied as an in-plane optical virtual probe both in air and in an aqueous environment. Its ability to be used in water, its long diffraction-free distance, and its tolerance to multiple obstacles make this wave ideal for certain applications in areas such as the biological sciences, where many measurements are made on glass surfaces or for which an aqueous environment is required, and for high-speed interconnections between chips, where low loss is necessary.

Radiative decay engineering 8: Coupled emission microscopy for lens-free high-throughput fluorescence detection.

Fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging are now used throughout the biosciences. Fluorescence microscopes, spectrofluorometers, microwell plate readers and microarray imagers all use multiple optical components to collect, redirect and focus the emission onto single point or array imaging detectors. For almost all biological samples, except those with regular nanoscale features, emission occurs in all directions. With the exception of complex microscope objectives with large collection angles (NA ≤ 0.5), all these instruments collect only a small fraction of the total emission. Because of the increasing knowledge base on fluorophores within near-field (<200 nm) distances from plasmonic and photonic structures we can anticipate the development of compact devices in which the sample to be detected is located directly on solid state detectors such as CCDs or CMOS cameras. Near-field interactions of fluorophores with metallic or dielectric multi-layer structures (MLSs) can capture a large fraction of the total emission. Depending on the composition and dimensions of the MLSs, the spatial distribution of the sample emission results in distinct optical patterns on the detector surface. With either plain glass slides or MLSs the most commonly used front focal plane (FFP) images reveal the x-y spatial distribution of emission from the sample. Another approach, which is often used with two or three-dimensional nanostructures, is back focal plane (BFP) imaging. The BFP images reveal the angular distribution of the emission. The FFP and BFP images occur at certain distances from the sample which is determined by the details of the optical components. Obtaining these images requires multiple optical components and distances which are too large for the compact devices. For devices described in this paper, the images will be detected at a fixed distance between the sample and some arbitrary distance below the MLS which is determined by the geometry and thicknesses of the components. We refer to measurements at these locations as out-of-focal plane (OFP) imaging. Herein we describe a method to measure the optical fields at micron and multi-micron distances below the MLS, which will represent the images seen by an optically coupled array detector. The possibility of sub-surface optical images is illustrated using five different multi-layer structures. This is accomplished using an optical configuration which allows measurement at a front focal plane (FFP), back focal plane (BFP) or any OFP locations. Our OFP imaging method provides a link between the FFP images which reveals the surface distribution of fluorophores with the BFP images that reveal the angular distribution of emission. This linkage can be useful when examining structures which have nanoscale features due to fluorescence or leakage radiation from nanostructures.

Bloch surface waves confined in one dimension with a single polymeric nanofibre.

Polymeric fibres with small radii (such as ≤125 nm) are delicate to handle and should be laid down on a solid substrate to obtain practical devices. However, placing these nanofibres on commonly used glass substrates prevents them from guiding light. In this study, we numerically and experimentally demonstrate that when the nanofibre is placed on a suitable dielectric multilayer, it supports a guided mode, a Bloch surface wave (BSW) confined in one dimension. The physical origin of this new mode is discussed in comparison with the typical two-dimensional BSW mode. Polymeric nanofibres are easily fabricated to contain fluorophores, which make the dielectric nanofibre and multilayer configuration suitable for developing a large range of new nanometric scale devices, such as processor-memory interconnections, devices with sensitivity to target analytes, incident polarization and multi-colour BSW modes.