A new species of Otacilia Thorell, 1897 (Araneae, Phrurolithidae) from Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve, Chongqing, China.

Background: Phrurolithidae is a family of spiders with 395 species belonging to 26 genera distributed worldwide, of which 205 species belong to 17 genera was recorded in China. New information: A new species of the genus Otacilia Thorell, 1897 is described from Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve, Chongqing, China. Diagnosis, morphological description, photos of the habitus and genitalia of the new species are provided.

Ant-eating spiders from Xizang, China (Araneae, Zodariidae).

Six species of the ant-eating spider of the family Zodariidae are described from Xizang, China, including five new species: Asceuachayusp. nov. (♀), A.dawaisp. nov. (♂♀), Mallinellamigusp. nov. (♂), M.mеdogsp. nov. (♂♀), and M.yadongsp. nov. (♂♀). The female of Cydrelalinzhiensis (Hu, 2001) is described here for the first time. Descriptions and photographs of all the species are provided.

Three new species of Grandilithus Liu & Li, 2022 (Araneae, Phrurolithidae) from southern China.

Three new species of Grandilithus Liu & Li, 2022 are described from southern China on the basis of both sexes: G.chongzuosp. nov. from Guangxi, G.xiaohuangshansp. nov. from Guangdong and G.lanxisp. nov. from Jiangxi. A distribution map of these three species is provided.

Further additions to the guardstone spider fauna from China (Araneae: Phrurolithidae).

Twenty-three new phrurolithid species belonging to eight genera, including two new genera, are described from China: Beatitas gen. nov. and Punctus gen. nov., Abdosetae baoting sp. nov., Aculithus brevispina sp. nov., Alboculus yanling sp. nov., Beatitas octomaculatus sp. nov., Otacilia allomanubrium sp. nov., O. guposhan sp. nov., O. horizon sp. nov., O. impleta sp. nov., O. maliu sp. nov., O. shaoyao sp. nov., O. shennongjia sp. nov., O. spina sp. nov., O. striata sp. nov., O. subdentigera sp. nov., O. subforcipata sp. nov., O. wenbi sp. nov., O. yongjia sp. nov., Pennalithus liaoning sp. nov., P. micous sp. nov., Punctus maoxian sp. nov., P. taibai sp. nov., Xilithus pugious sp. nov., and X. wangi sp. nov.. The male of Otacilia ailan Liu et al., 2019 and the female of Grandilithus fengshan Liu & Li, 2022 are described for the first time. Two new combinations, Aculithus pseudofabiformis (Liang et al., 2021) comb. nov. and Corealithus nigerus (Yin, 2012) comb. nov., are established. Corealithus subnigerus (Fu, Chen & Zhang, 2016) syn. n. is also synonymized with C. nigerus comb. nov.. Three species, Otacilia dawushan Liu & Li, 2022 syn. n., O. xingguo Liu & Li, 2022 syn. n. and O. zhonglong Liu & Li, 2022 syn. n., are synonymized with O. wugongshanica Liu, 2020.

Description of eight new species of Otacilia Thorell, 1897 from southern China (Araneae: Phrurolithidae).

Eight new species of Otacilia Thorell, 1897 from China are described and illustrated, all with both sexes: O. furcata sp. nov., O. guoi sp. nov., O. jiajinshan sp. nov. and O. menghuo sp. nov. from Sichuan Province, O. triangula sp. nov. from Chongqing City; O. shunhuangshan sp. nov. from Hunan Province; and O. subkomurai sp. nov. from Hubei Province, O. xueshanensis sp. nov. from Guizhou Provice.

Lingulatus gen. nov., a new genus with description of three new species and one new combination (Araneae: Phrurolithidae).

A new genus of the family Phrurolithidae, Lingulatus gen. nov., is described, including three new species, L. brevis sp. nov. (), L. longulus sp. nov. () and L. pingbian sp. nov. () from China, and one new combination, L. christae (Jger Wunderlich, 2012) comb. n. from Laos.

First records of the genus Phrurotimpus Chamberlin amp; Ivie, 1935 from China, with two new species and one new combination (Araneae: Phrurolithidae).

The genus Phrurotimpus Chamberlin Ivie, 1935, previously known only from the Nearctic, is found in Asia for the first time, with species recorded from the Yunnan Province of China. Two new species are described from both sexes, P. daliensis sp. n. and P. baoshanensis sp. n., and one new combination, P. lasiolepis (Fu, Chen Zhang, 2016) comb. n., are reported in this study.

First record of the genus Arabelia Bosselaers, 2009 from China, with description of one new species (Araneae, Liocranidae).

Background: The spider family Liocranidae Simon, 1897 contains 35 genera and 308 species, including six genera and 33 species reported in China, which are: Agroeca Westring, 1861 (13 species), Jacaena Thorell, 1897 (7 species), Mesiotelus Simon, 1897 (1 species), Oedignatha Thorell, 1881 (2 species), Paratus Simon, 1898 (4 species), Sesieutes Simon, 1897 (1 species) and Sphingius Thorell, 1890 (5 species). New information: The spider genus Arabelia Bosselaers, 2009 is described from China for the first time, with one new species Arabeliaxizang sp. nov.

First record of the genus Aetius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 from China, with description of a new species (Araneae, Corinnidae, Castianeirinae).

Background: The genus Aetius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 has been discovered in Sri lanka, India, Malaysia (Borneo), Thailand and Ivory Coast and comprises four species: A.bicuspidatus Yamasaki, 2020, A.decollatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897, A.nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 and A.tuberculatus (Haddad, 2013). New information: The genus Aetius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 is reported for the first time in China (Yunnan Province) and includes three species: one new species and two newly-recorded species. One new species is described, based on both sexes: A.maculatus sp. n. Additionally, A.bicuspidatus Yamasaki, 2020 and A.nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001, are newly recorded from China, with photographs of habitus and genitalia being provided.

Seven new Otacilia Thorell, 1897 species from China (Araneae: Phrurolithidae).

Seven new species of Otacilia Thorell, 1897 from China are described and illustrated, all from both sexes: O. ensifera sp. nov. and O. arcuata sp. nov. from Hunan Province; O. spiralis sp. nov. from Hunan Province and Chongqing City; O. lubrica sp. nov. and O. wuli sp. nov. from Chongqing City; O. dentigera sp. nov. from Sichuan Province; and O. shanxi sp. nov. from Shanxi Province. Based on Jin et al. (2016), the seven new species described here belong to two species groups: O. ensifera sp. nov., O. shanxi sp. nov., O. spiralis sp. nov. and O. lubrica sp. nov. belong to the armatissima-group, while O. wuli sp. nov., O. dentigera sp. nov. and O. arcuata sp. nov. belong to the longituba-group.

The genus Jacaena Thorell, 1897 from southern China (Araneae: Liocranidae).

Six species of the genus Jacaena Thorell, 1897 from China were studied, including two known species, J. jinxini Liu Xu, 2020 and J. zhui (Zhang Fu, 2011), and four new species: J. aspera sp. n. (♂, ♀) from Yunnan and Chongqing, J. bannaensis sp. n. (♂, ♀) from Yunnan and Hainan, J. luteolus sp. n. (♂) from Guangdong and J. menglaensis sp. n. (♂) from Yunnan. A distribution map of Jacaena species in China is provided.

A survey of Agroeca Westring, 1861 from China (Araneae: Liocranidae).

Spiders of the genus Agroeca Westring, 1861 occurring in China were surveyed. Five species were previously known from the country, and eight species are reported for the first time, of which five are described as new: A. batangensis sp. n. (♂) from Chongqing City, A. lata sp. n. (♂ ♀) from the Yunnan Province, A. mainlingensis sp. n. (♂ ♀) from the Xizang Autonomous Region, A. nigra sp. n. (♂) from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and A. tumida sp. n. (♂) from the Gansu Province. The three described species recorded from China for the first time are A. brunnea (Blackwall, 1833) and A. dentigera Kulczynski, 1913 from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and A. coreana Namkung, 1989 from the Shaanxi Province. Two species previously described from southern Xinjiang, A. flavens O. P.-Cambridge, 1885 and A. debilis O. P.-Cambridge, 1885, probably do not belong to Agroeca.

Description of two new species of Paratus Simon, 1898 from southern China (Araneae: Liocranidae).

In this paper, two new Paratus species are described from southern China from both sexes: Paratus hamatus sp. n. from Yunnan Province and P. kentingensis sp. n. from Taiwan Province.

Improvement of Heterojunction Nanomaterials Photoelectrochemical Properties by Sol-Gel Synthesis and Hydrothermal Reaction.

The ZnO nanorod arrays (NRs)/CuAlO2 laminar crystal thin films (LFs)/Ni heterojunctions with delafossite structure were prepared by sol-gel synthesis for LFs and hydrothermal for NRs. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates the typical delafossite structure CuAlO2 and pure ZnO of R¯3m space group. Compared with a traditional CuAlO2/Ni laminar films (LFs) nanostructure, the photocurrent of this heterojunction nanostructure is significantly increased. Note that a significant blue-shift of the absorption edge and a favorable forward current to reverse current ratio at applied voltages of -0.75 to +2 V were observed in this heterojunction with the increase of Zn2+ ion concentration in the hydrothermal reaction. Moreover, the photoelectrochemical characteristics recorded under AM 1.5 illumination with 100 mW/cm2 light intensity at 0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), while the highest photocurrent density arrive at 3.59 mA/cm2. This study demonstrates that heterojuction nanostructure, which is easily adapted to other chemical systems, is a promising technique for improving photoelectro-chemical properties of low-cost solar cells.

Embedded vertically aligned cadmium telluride nanorod arrays grown by one-step electrodeposition for enhanced energy conversion efficiency in three-dimensional nanostructured solar cells.

Vertically aligned CdTe nanorods (NRs) arrays are successfully grown by a simple one-step and template-free electrodeposition method, and then embedded in the CdS window layer to form a novel three-dimensional (3D) heterostructure on flexible substrates. The parameters of electrodeposition such as deposition potential and pH of the solution are varied to analyze their important role in the formation of high quality CdTe NRs arrays. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the solar cell based on the 3D heterojunction structure is studied in detail. In comparison with the standard planar heterojunction solar cell, the 3D heterojunction solar cell exhibits better photovoltaic performance, which can be attributed to its enhanced optical absorption ability, increased heterojunction area and improved charge carrier transport. The better photoelectric property of the 3D heterojunction solar cell suggests great application potential in thin film solar cells, and the simple electrodeposition process represents a promising technique for large-scale fabrication of other nanostructured solar energy conversion devices.

Synthesis of uniform cadmium sulphide thin film by the homogeneous precipitation method on cadmium telluride nanorods and its application in three-dimensional heterojunction flexible solar cells.

High-density CdTe nanorod arrays are successfully embedded in a uniform and compact CdS layer, forming a novel three-dimensional (3D) CdTe NRs/CdS heterojunction structure. The CdS layer is prepared by homogeneous precipitation (HP) method using decomposition of urea. The effects of temperature and concentration of reactants on the growth and composition of CdS film are investigated in detail. The results demonstrate that the temperature affects the thermal decomposition of urea significantly, and the concentration of CdCl2 and CS (NH2)2 plays an essential role in the compositional ratio of CdS film. Further investigations reveal that, in comparison with the traditional precipitation method, a better coverage of CdS on the surface of CdTe NRs can be obtained by HP method due to the slow and even hydrolysis of urea. Moreover, photovoltaic performance of the novel CdTe NRs/CdS 3D photovoltaic device is also investigated. This study demonstrates that the 3D heterostructure has potential application in thin film solar cells, and the successful deposition of CdS layer on the surface of CdTe NRs by HP method suggests a promising technique for large-scale fabrication of these solar cells.

Effect of sintering temperature on the luminescence properties of Ca0.8Ba0.2TiO3:Pr(3+) red-emitting phosphor.

Nanoparticles with the nominal composition Ca0.8Ba0.2Ti03:Pr(3+) were prepared using the sol-gel process. Barium nitrate, 4-hydrated calcium nitrate and praseodymium oxide were used as raw materials. The structural evolution and decomposition processes of the precursors were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. Crystalline Ca0.8Ba0.2Ti03:Pr(3+) could be obtained at 700°C. The photoluminescence properties of the samples were investigated using excitation and emission spectra. Ca0.8Ba0.2Ti03:Pr(3+) nanoparticles showed strong red emission, which could be assigned to the typical (1) D2 →(3) H4 transition of Pr(3+). Furthermore, the study found that sintering temperature and the introduction of Ba(2+) influence the decay time of persistent luminescence.