Miracle in "White":Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

The exploration of 2D materials has captured significant attention due to their unique performances, notably focusing on graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Characterized by closely resembling atomic structures arranged in a honeycomb lattice, both graphene and h-BN share comparable traits, including exceptional thermal conductivity, impressive carrier mobility, and robust pi-pi interactions with organic molecules. Notably, h-BN has been extensively examined for its exceptional electrical insulating properties, inert passivation capabilities, and provision of an ideal ultraflat surface devoid of dangling bonds. These distinct attributes, contrasting with those of h-BN, such as its conductive versus insulating behavior, active versus inert nature, and absence of dangling surface bonds versus absorbent tendencies, render it a compelling material with broad application potential. Moreover, the unity of such contradictions endows h-BN with intriguing possibilities for unique applications in specific contexts. This review aims to underscore these key attributes and elucidate the intriguing contradictions inherent in current investigations of h-BN, fostering significant insights into the understanding of material properties.

Portable Copper-Based Electrochemical SERS Sensor for Point-of-Care Testing of Paraquat and Diquat by On-Site Electrostatic Preconcentration.

With the advent of portable Raman spectrometers, the deployment of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in point-of-care testing (POCT) has been initiated. Within any analytical framework employing SERS, the acuity and selectivity inherent to the SERS substrate are of paramount importance. In this article, we utilize in situ electrochemical passivation technology to fabricate CuI passivation film, which serves as a flexible copper-based SERS substrate. Furthermore, portable electrochemical SERS (EC-SERS) sensors were prepared by combining this with laser direct writing technology. The detection signal was amplified using electrostatic preconcentration technology, showcasing impressive sensitivity, selectivity, and stability in pesticide detection. The detected concentrations of paraquat and diquat in tea reached as low as 3.36 and 2.43 µg/kg, respectively. Furthermore, the application of electrostatic preconcentration facilitated selective target molecule aggregation on the SERS sensor, markedly increasing Raman signal strength and enabling single-molecule detection. This research introduces an innovative POCT method for pesticides, promising to advance environmental monitoring's analytical capabilities.

Reconstruction of the Near-Field Electric Field by SNOM Measurement.

Scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) with nanoscale spatial resolution has been a powerful tool in studying the plasmonic properties of nano materials/structures. However, the quantification of the SNOM measurement remains a major challenge in the field due to the lack of reliable methodologies. We employed the point-dipole model to describe the tip-surface interaction upon laser illumination and theoretically derived the quantitative relationship between the measured results and the actual near-field electric field strength. Thus, we can experimentally reconstruct the near-field electric field through this theoretically calculated relationship. We also developed an experimental technique together with FEM simulation to get the above relationship experimentally and reconstruct the near-field electric field from the measurement by SNOM.

Highly Sensitive Detection of Formaldehyde by Laser-Induced Graphene-Coated Silver Nanoparticles Electrochemical Sensing Electrodes.

Formaldehyde (HCHO) poses a grave threat to human health because of its toxicity, but its accurate, sensitive, and rapid detection in aqueous solutions remains a major challenge. This study proposes a novel electrochemical sensor composed of a graphene-based electrode that is prepared via laser induction technology. The precursor material, polyimide, is modified via the metal ion exchange method, and the detective electrode is coated with graphene and silver nanoparticles. And the special structure of graphene-coated Ag was demonstrated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that graphene provides more sites for Ag NRs to be exposed and increases the surface area of contact between the solution and the detection object. In addition, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) analysis exhibits high linearity over the HCHO concentration range from 0.05 to 5 µg/mL, with a detection limit of 0.011 µg/mL (S/N = 3). The Ag NPs in the electrochemical reaction will adsorb the intermediate •CO and •OH, catalyze their combination, and finally convert to CO2 and H2O, respectively. A microdetection device, specially designed for use with commercial micro-workstations, is employed to fully demonstrate the practical application of the electrode, which paves a way for developing formaldehyde electrochemical sensors.

Incorporation of Th4+ and Sr2+ into Rhabdophane/Monazite by Wet Chemistry: Structure and Phase Stability.

Rhabdophane is an important permeable reactive barrier to enrich radionuclides from groundwater and has been envisaged to host radionuclides in the backend of the nuclear fuel cycle. However, understanding of how An4+ and Sr2+ precipitate into rhabdophane by wet chemistry has not been resolved. In this work, Th4+ and Sr2+ incorporation in the rhabdophane/monazite structure as La1-2xSrxThxPO4·nH2O solid solutions is successfully achieved in the acid solution at 90 °C. Some specific issues such as lattice occupation of Th4+ and Sr2+, precipitation reaction kinetics, and crystal growth affected by starting stoichiometry are discussed in detail, along with investigating the chemical stability of La1-2xSrxThxPO4·nH2O precipitations and associated La1-2xSrxThxPO4 monazite. The results reveal that the excess of Sr2+ appears to be a prevailing factor with a suggested initial Sr: Th ≥ 2 to obtain the stability domain of La1-2xSrxThxPO4·nH2O (x = 0∼ 0.1). A rapid ion removal associated with a nucleation process has been observed within 8 h, and Th4+ can be removed more than 98% after 24 h in 0.01 mol/L solutions. From structural energetics based on density functional theory, the lattice occupation of Th4+ and Sr2+ is energetically favorable in nonhydrated lattice sites of [LaO8], although two-thirds of lattice sites are associated with [LaO8·H2O] hydrated sites. Intriguingly, the crystal transformation from rhabdophane to monazite associated with the transformation from [SrO8] to [SrO9] polyhedra can greatly improve the leaching stability of Sr2+.

Design of a versatile and selective electrochemical sensor based on dummy molecularly imprinted PEDOT/laser-induced graphene for nitroaromatic explosives detection.

Considering the formidable explosive power and human carcinogenicity of nitroaromatic explosives, the implementation of an accurate and sensitive detection technology is imperative for ensuring public safety and monitoring post-blast environmental contamination. In the present work, a versatile and selective electrochemical sensor based on dummy molecularly imprinted poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/laser-induced graphene (MIPEDOT/LIG) was successfully developed and the specific detection of multiple nitroaromatic explosives was realized in the single sensor. The accessible and nontoxic trimesic acid (TMA) and superior 3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) were selected as the dummy-template and the functional monomer, respectively. The interaction between the functional monomer and the template, and the morphology, electrochemical properties and detection performance of the sensor were comprehensively investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and differential pulse voltammetry. Benefiting from the alliance of TMA and EDOT, the MIPEDOT/LIG sensor manifested outstanding selectivity and sensitivity for 2,4,6-trinitrotolueen (TNT), 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB), 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), and 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB) (representative nitroaromatic explosives) with limits of determination of 1.95 ppb, 3.06 ppb, 2.49 ppb, 1.67 ppb, 1.94 ppb, and 4.56 ppb, respectively. The sensor also exhibited extraordinary reliability and convenience for environmental sample detection. Therefore, a perfect combination of versatility and selectivity in the MIPEDOT/LIG sensor was achieved. The findings of this work provide a new direction for the development of multi-target electrochemical sensors using a versatile dummy template for explosives detection.

Impact of heat on all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A multi-city study in Texas.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the health effects of heat are particularly limited in Texas, a U.S. state in the top 10 highest number of annual heat-related deaths per capita from 2018 to 2020. This study assessed the effects of heat on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 12 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across Texas from 1990 to 2011. METHODS: First, we determined the heat thresholds for each MSA above which the relation between temperature and mortality is linear. We then conducted a distributed lag non-linear model for each MSA, followed by a random effects meta-analysis to estimate the pooled effects for all MSAs. We repeated this process for each mortality cause and age group to achieve the effect estimates. RESULTS: We found a 1 °C temperature increase above the heat threshold is associated with an increase in the relative risk of all-cause mortality of 0.60% (95%CI [0.39%, 0.82%]) and 1.10% (95%CI [0.65%, 1.56%]) for adults older than 75. For each MSA, the relative risk of mortality for a 1 °C temperature increase above the heat threshold ranges from 0.10% (95%CI [0.09%, 0.10%]) to 1.29% (95%CI [1.26%, 1.32%]). Moreover, elevated temperatures showed a slight decrease in cardiovascular mortality (0.37%, 95%CI [-0.35%, 1.09%]) and respiratory disease (1.97%, 95%CI [-0.11%, 4.08%]), however this effect was not considered statistically significant.. CONCLUSION: Our study found that high temperatures can significantly impact all-cause mortality in Texas, and effect estimates differ by MSA, age group, and cause of death. Our findings generate critical information on the impact of heat on mortality in Texas, providing insights for policymakers on resource allocation and strategic intervention to reduce heat-related health effects.

The impacts of digital finance development on household income, consumption, and financial asset holding: an extreme value analysis of China's microdata.

This paper examines the roles of digital finance development in household income, consumption, and financial asset holding from an extreme value theory perspective. Three types of extreme pairs (Min to Min, Max to Max, and Max to Min) are constructed, corresponding to the three aspects of the economic welfare of digital finance: fairness, efficiency, and their trade-off. Using panel data from the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China (PKU-DFIIC) and China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) over time span 2014-2018, this paper models the block maxima and minima of variables by fitting them with generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. The binary expansion testing (BET) is used to detect the nonlinear dependence between digital finance and household economic variables. The tail quotient correlation coefficient (TQCC) is used to quantify the tail dependencies. The results show that: (1) digital finance has significant fairness effects in reducing poverty, increasing consumption, and promoting financial asset holding; (2) digital finance shows effects of promoting incentives and efficiency in household income and financial asset holding, but this effect is relatively limited in household consumption; (3) digital finance generally increases efficiency without harming fairness in terms of all cases of household income and consumption, and most of the cases regarding household financial asset holding; (4) the positive spatial externality of digital finance exists for all household economic variables; and, for pairs regarding household income and consumption, the wider the scope, the greater the spatial spillover effect. The result of this paper implies many novel policy implications.

Directly and Simultaneously Expressing Absolute and Relative Treatment Effects in Medical Data Models and Applications.

Logistic regression is widely used in the analysis of medical data with binary outcomes to study treatment effects through (absolute) treatment effect parameters in the models. However, the indicative parameters of relative treatment effects are not introduced in logistic regression models, which can be a severe problem in efficiently modeling treatment effects and lead to the wrong conclusions with regard to treatment effects. This paper introduces a new enhanced logistic regression model that offers a new way of studying treatment effects by measuring the relative changes in the treatment effects and also incorporates the way in which logistic regression models the treatment effects. The new model, called the Absolute and Relative Treatment Effects (AbRelaTEs) model, is viewed as a generalization of logistic regression and an enhanced model with increased flexibility, interpretability, and applicability in real data applications than the logistic regression. The AbRelaTEs model is capable of modeling significant treatment effects via an absolute or relative or both ways. The new model can be easily implemented using statistical software, with the logistic regression model being treated as a special case. As a result, the classical logistic regression models can be replaced by the AbRelaTEs model to gain greater applicability and have a new benchmark model for more efficiently studying treatment effects in clinical trials, economic developments, and many applied areas. Moreover, the estimators of the coefficients are consistent and asymptotically normal under regularity conditions. In both simulation and real data applications, the model provides both significant and more meaningful results.

Ultrasensitive Field-Effect Biosensors Enabled by the Unique Electronic Properties of Graphene.

This review provides a critical overview of current developments on nanoelectronic biochemical sensors based on graphene. Composed of a single layer of conjugated carbon atoms, graphene has outstanding high carrier mobility and low intrinsic electrical noise, but a chemically inert surface. Surface functionalization is therefore crucial to unravel graphene sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of targeted analytes. To achieve optimal performance of graphene transistors for biochemical sensing, the tuning of the graphene surface properties via surface functionalization and passivation is highlighted, as well as the tuning of its electrical operation by utilizing multifrequency ambipolar configuration and a high frequency measurement scheme to overcome the Debye screening to achieve low noise and highly sensitive detection. Potential applications and prospectives of ultrasensitive graphene electronic biochemical sensors ranging from environmental monitoring and food safety, healthcare and medical diagnosis, to life science research, are presented as well.

The IR plasmonic properties of sub-wavelength ITO rod arrays predicted by anisotropic effective medium theory.

Simple three-layer Fresnel equations combined with Maxwell-Garnett approximation were applied to study the IR plasmonic properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanorods. By treating the anisotropic nanorod layer as a layer with an effective dielectric constant, and using anisotropic effective medium theory, we were able to accurately predict the surface plasmon resonance behavior of ITO nanorods with different nanorod length, spacing, and tilt angle. This model allows a fast and computationally inexpensive calculation to predict the plasmonic properties of arrayed nanorods.

Hydrophobic surface modified HfO2 antireflective coatings.

A multifunctional antireflective (AR) thin film is always a prerequisite for growing high-tech applications. Herein we proposed a surface modification technique to transform the hydrophilic behaviour of HfO2 AR nanofilms into hydrophobic without influencing the nanostructure, morphology, refractive index (η) or AR efficacy of HfO2 nanofilms. Our experimental results demonstrate that the fabricated HfO2 AR nanofilms retain its AR efficiency after surface modification to <1% in the visible wavelength range (450-700 nm) on FTO and sapphire. HfO2 AR nanofilms show hydrophilic behaviour before surface modification with a water contact angle (WCA) of 29° on FTO and 22° on sapphire. However, after surface treatment, they display hydrophobic nature θ w > Î¸ > 90° with a contact angle of (127°-130°). The experimental result demonstrates that the η of the thin layers fabricated at deposition angle 0°, 80°, and 88° before and after modification remains almost the same. HfO2 AR nanofilms exhibit long term AR permanency as AR efficiency measured within a year practically displays the equivalent reflectance curves similar to as deposit AR thin films, i.e. <1% in the wavelength range of 450-700 nm. We proposed a cost-effective procedure to make hydrophilic AR films to show non-wetting behaviour for its long-term exposure in a moist, damp environment without affecting the refractive index of AR thin film.

Slanted Ag-Al alloy nanorods arrays for highly active and stable surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates.

Aluminum has been established as an earth-abundant and low-cost alternative to gold and silver for plasmonic applications. Particularly, aluminum largely tends to combines with oxygen compared with silver. Here, a simple glancing angle deposition technique is presented to prepare Ag-Al alloy nanorods (NRs) with a small amount of aluminum. The effect of aluminum is to combine oxygen or corroded substances under certain conditions, such as in the air and in etchants. Beside this, owing to the large diffusion coefficient of aluminum in a Si wafer, the aluminum diffuses easily into a Si wafer, so the bonding force between the Ag-Al alloy NRs and Si wafer can be improved accordingly. In this work, 3.5 at% Al alloy NRs are optimal to exhibit high surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity, long-time stability as well as strong bonding force with a Si wafer. Ag-Al alloy NRs make a metal-metal alloy a promising material platform to develop pretty sensitive as well as stable SERS substrates.

Standing wave type localized surface plasmon resonance of multifold Ag nanorods.

Multifold Ag nanorods (AgNRs) have demonstrated great potentials in applications such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering technique due to their specially organized nanostructures. However, there is so far no systematic understanding of their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) behaviors. This work comprehensively studied the plasmonic behaviors of AgNRs with 1, 2 and 3 folded arms. LSPR modes with charge oscillations resembling standing waves were excited in all nanostructures. As arm length increases, there were linear relationships between resonance wavelength and arm length, which applied to all LSPR modes studied. In addition, directly proportional relationships between the slopes of the linear functions and arm number were found for same order LSPR modes of AgNRs. For different modes of a specific AgNR, inversely proportional relationships between the slope and the resonance order N were discovered. These findings evidenced AgNR's standing wave type LSPR characteristics.

Flexible and adhesive tape decorated with silver nanorods for in-situ analysis of pesticides residues and colorants.

A flexible adhesive tape decorated with SERS-active silver nanorods (AgNRs) in the form of an array nanostructure is described. The tape was constructed by transferring the AgNRs nanostructures from silicon to the transparent tape by a "paste & peel off" procedure. The transparent, sticky, and flexible properties of commercial tapes allow almost any SERS-inactive irregular surface to be detected in-situ by pasting the SERS tape onto the position to be analyzed. Three examples for an analytical application are presented, viz. determination of (a) tetramethylthiuram disulfide and thiabendazole (two pesticides), (b) colorants in the gel of a writing pen, and (c) the fluorophore Rhodamine B. The tetramethylthiuram disulfide on apple surface was rapidly detected with a LOD of 28.8 ng·cm-2. The AgNRs effectively quenched the fluorescence of the matrix and fluorophores, this enabling the colorants and Rhodamine B to be identified. The results demonstrated that the SERS tape can be used for versatile in-situ detection. Conceivably, it may find applications in food analysis, non-invasive identification, environmental monitoring, and in other areas of daily life. Graphic abstract A flexible and adhesive SERS active tape decorated with silver nanorods (AgNRs) arrays was constructed through a "paste & peel off" method. It can be used as a versatile in situ analysis platform for various applications.

Unexpected large nanoparticle size of single dimer hotspot systems for broadband SERS enhancement.

We have numerically demonstrated the feasibility and possibility to achieve broadband surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range using single nanoparticle (NP) dimer hotspot systems. Instead of the conventionally reported sub-100 nm, we find that the optimal NP size is as large as 200 nm in diameter for both Ag and Au. The key lies in the continuous arising of the bonding dipole plasmon mode and higher-order resonances at shorter wavelengths. Further, it is revealed that the near- and far-field optical responses of these hotspot systems correlate well with each other, despite the intrinsic enormous near- to far-field redshift for individual large NPs. The physical principles demonstrated here benefit significantly the fundamental understanding and engineering optimization of broadband SERS substrates.

Fabrication and simulation of V-shaped Ag nanorods as high-performance SERS substrates.

Bending straight Ag nanorods (AgNRs) into V-shaped structures can generate a higher surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance. Numerical simulations showed that V-shaped AgNRs with a total length between 300 nm and 800 nm were more sensitive than equal-length straight AgNRs under a 785 nm laser in most cases. It was found that at a laser wavelength between 500 nm and 1000 nm, the Raman enhancement factor (EF) of a V-shaped AgNR's 3rd plasmon mode was not only optimal among the other major plasmon modes, but also outperformed the plasmon modes of straight AgNRs. Besides, a linear relationship between the resonance wavelength of the V-shaped AgNR's 3rd mode and its length was observed both numerically and experimentally, which was beneficial for the optimization of SERS substrates. Under 785 nm laser excitation, V-shaped AgNR substrates with a single arm length between 330 nm and 340 nm possessed the highest SERS efficiency. This work took AgNR array substrates one step closer to practical applications.

The Effect of Annealing Treatment and Atom Layer Deposition to Au/Pt Nanoparticles-Decorated TiO2 Nanorods as Photocatalysts.

The wide band gap of TiO2 hinders the utilization of visible light in high-performance photocatalysis. Herein, vertically aligned Ti nanopillar arrays (NPAs) were grown by the glancing angle deposition method (GLAD) and then thermally oxidized into TiO2 NPAs. The metallic nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. And we covered ultrathin TiO2 layer on Au/Pt NPs decorated NPA using atomic layer deposition (ALD) method and did annealing process in the end. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance and dye degradation have been studied. We find the dye degradation efficiency of best combination reaches up to 1.5 times higher than that of original Au/Pt-TiO2 sample under visible light irradiation. The TiO2 ALD layer effectively protects the nanostructure from corrosion and helps the transmission of electrons to the electrolyte. By controlling the annealing temperature we could achieve a matched band gap due to change in noble metal particle size. Our work demonstrates that rational design of composite nanostructures enhances the usage of broader wavelength range light and optimizes photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in practical applications.

Design of Ag nanorods for sensitivity and thermal stability of surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

The technology of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has found many applications and may find more if it can possess both sensitivity and thermal stability. This paper reports a rational design of Ag nanorods to simultaneously achieve two competing goals: the sensitivity and the thermal stability of SERS substrates. The Ag nanorods are designed and synthesized using physical vapor deposition under the condition of glancing angle incidence. The working pressure of the vacuum chamber is controlled so the mean free path of depositing atoms is comparable to the dimension of the chamber, so as to grow Ag nanorods with small diameter, and small but clear separation for optimal SERS sensitivity. Such Ag nanorods are further capped with Al2O3 on their top surfaces to reduce the diffusion-induced coarsening at high temperatures, and thereby to improve the thermal stability for SERS detections. Meanwhile, since the side surfaces of Ag nanorods are not coated with oxides in this approach, the SERS sensitivity is largely preserved while good thermal stability is achieved.

Nanoparticle-on-mirror cavity modes for huge and/or tunable plasmonic field enhancement.

We present a careful numerical study of nanoparticle (NP) faceting, highlighting the great influence of small morphological changes of NP-mirror cavities on near-field enhancement in the nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPOM) system. Using a 3D finite element method (FEM) plasmon mapping method, the active transverse cavity modes can be confirmed. For the dominant mode, we have found that, by increasing the facet width, the resonance can be tuned linearly to the red with little decrease of the peak near-field intensity. It is further demonstrated that by increasing the NP size, the near-field intensity can be strongly enhanced. Understanding of such extreme optics benefits significantly both the optimized design of potential plasmonic devices and the fundamental understanding of nano-optics. Collaborative experimental considerations are expected with the rapid development of nanotechnology.