Increasing anhydrous chromium chloride concentration in AlCl3-EMIC ionic liquid: a step towards non-hydrogen-embrittlement chromium electroplating.

Non-hydrogen-embrittlement chromium electroplating has wide applications in industry. Using an ionic liquid (AlCl3-1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride, AlCl3-EMIC) as the electrolyte provides a viable way for metal electrodeposition. However, the low solubility of anhydrous chromium chloride salt in acidic AlCl3-EMIC IL makes the electrodeposition process essentially impractical. We propose a new method for dissolving CrCl3 or CrCl2, which effectively increases the concentration of anhydrous chromium salts in AlCl3-EMIC IL. Moreover, we demonstrate for the first time that the electroless deposition of BCC Cr can be realized on an Al substrate using this solution, which indicates that the reduction potential of chromium ions in AlCl3-EMIC IL is more positive than that of aluminum ions. This proves the thermodynamic possibility of electroplating metallic Cr. Therefore, our work paves the way for the engineering application of electroplating non-hydrogen-embrittlement chromium.

Hyperspectral Imaging for Evaluating Impact Damage to Mango According to Changes in Quality Attributes.

Evaluation of impact damage to mango (Mangifera indica Linn) as a result of dropping from three different heights, namely, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 m, was conducted by hyperspectral imaging (HSI). Reflectance spectra in the 900⁻1700 nm region were used to develop prediction models for pulp firmness (PF), total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and chroma (∆b*) by a partial least squares (PLS) regression algorithm. The results showed that the changes in the mangoes' quality attributes, which were also reflected in the spectra, had a strong relationship with dropping height. The best predictive performance measured by coefficient of determination (R²) and root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) values were: 0.84 and 31.6 g for PF, 0.9 and 0.49 oBrix for TSS, 0.65 and 0.1% for TA, 0.94 and 0.96 for chroma, respectively. Classification of the degree of impact damage to mango achieved an accuracy of more than 77.8% according to ripening index (RPI). The results show the potential of HSI to evaluate impact damage to mango by combining with changes in quality attributes.

Fabrication of Embedded Silver Nanowires on Arbitrary Substrates with Enhanced Stability via Chemisorbed Alkanethiolate.

We propose a versatile yet practical transferring technique to fabricate a high performance and extremely stable silver nanowire (AgNW) transparent electrode on arbitrary substrates. Hydroxylated poly(ethylene glycol) terephthalate (PET) or poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) deposited with AgNWs was selectively decorated to lower its polar surface energy, so that the AgNWs were easily and efficiently transferred into an epoxy resin (EPR) as a freestanding film (AgNWs-EPR) or onto various substrates. The AgNWs-EPR capped with alkanethiolate monolayers exhibits high conductivity, low roughness, ultraflexibility, and strong corrosion resistance. Using the transferring process, AgNWs-EPR was successfully constructed on rough, adhesive, flimsy, or complex curved substrates, including PET, thin optically clear adhesive, papers, a beaker, convex spherical PDMS, and leaves. A flexible touch panel enabling multitouch and a curved transparent heater on a beaker were first fabricated by using the composite film. These demonstrations suggest that the proposed technique for AgNWs is a promising strategy toward the next generation of flexible/portable/wearable electronics.