Fabrication of flexible transparent conductive films from long double-walled carbon nanotubes.

The fabrication of flexible transparent conducting films (TCFs) is important for the development of the next-generation flexible devices. In this study, we used double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) as the starting material and described a fabrication method of flexible TCFs. We have determined in a quantitative way that the key factors are the length and the dispersion states of the DWCNTs as well as the weight-ratios of dispersant polymer/DWCNTs. By controlling such factors, we have readily fabricated a flexible highly transparent (94% transmittance) and conductive (surface resistivity = 320 Ω sq-1) DWCNT film without adding any chemical doping that is often used to reduce the surface resistivity. By applying a wet coating, we have succeeded in the fabrication of large-scale conducting transparent DWCNT films based on the role-to-role method.

Rapidly Progressing Anaplastic Carcinoma of the Pancreas with Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma: An Autopsy Case Report.

A 75-year-old man visited our hospital for the examination of a tumor in the pancreas. Computed tomography showed an 85×85-mm low-density tumor in the pancreas. The tumor was pathologically diagnosed as poorly differentiated carcinoma by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration. Although we started chemotherapy, the patient died 84 days after the diagnosis. An autopsy demonstrated a ruptured anaplastic carcinoma with mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the pancreas. Anaplastic carcinoma with mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a very rare histologic subtype of pancreatic carcinoma, so pathological findings are important for predicting the patient's prognosis. Physicians should be aware of this rare but fatal disease.

Hepatic Inflammatory Pseudotumor Protruding from the Liver Surface and Directly Penetrating the Colon.

A 69-year-old man was diagnosed with a liver abscess and received antibiotics at a local hospital. He was referred to our hospital due to a persistent fever. He had hepatic masses protruding from the liver surface toward the transverse colon. We reached a diagnosis of inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) by a percutaneous liver biopsy. Colonoscopy showed direct invasion of IPT to the colon. His condition improved by the intravenous administration of antibiotics. Hepatic IPT is often misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor. We should consider IPT when we encounter hepatic tumors, and a percutaneous liver biopsy is useful for avoiding unnecessary excessive treatments.

Morphology and melting behavior of ionic liquids inside single-walled carbon nanotubes.

We report the synthesis and characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) filled with a zinc-containing quaternary ammonium based ionic liquid (ChZnCl(3)) inside. The threshold SWNT diameter for efficient encapsulation was determined to be ca. 0.97 nm. Different morphologies of the encapsulated ChZnCl(3) such as single-chain, double-helix, zigzag tubes, and random tubes were observed. The melting of ChZnCl(3) ionic liquid into "nanofluid" inside SWNTs was investigated by in situ TEM electron beam irradiation and compared with a high-temperature heat treatment. The thermal-decomposition temperature of the ChZnCl(3) ionic liquid confined in the SWNTs was much higher than in the bulk system. Furthermore, the doping effect of the encapsulated ChZnCl(3) on the host SWNTs can be varied (from p-type to n-type) by gradually reducing the filling ratio. The versatility of ionic liquids and the unique phase transition observed inside the SWNTs provide a new opportunity for modulating the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes.

Fabrication of metal nanowires in carbon nanotubes via versatile nano-template reaction.

A nano-template reaction has been developed to fabricate metal nanowires using metallofullerene nanopeapods (i.e., carbon nanotubes (CNTs) encapsulating endohedral metallofullerenes) as starting materials. In this nanometer-scale reaction, the structure of resulting products should possess specific low-dimensional structures, because of their uniform starting orientation of metallofullerene molecules and the rigid restriction of reaction space by the presence of walls of CNTs. Using the nano-template reaction, we have fabricated various Gd nanowires, including a single Gd atomic chain, a one-dimensional alignment of Gd squares, and Gd nanowires that correspond to a one-dimensional segment of the bulk close-packed structure. The same reaction, in principle, can be applied to fabricate more than 20 different types of metal nanowires in the CNTs, which simply are dependent on the use of the corresponding different types of metallofullerenes as encapsulates in the CNTs. The present novel reaction will provide a wide variety of unusual low-dimensional nanowires and nanomaterials in the CNTs, which have not been synthesized via the fabrication techniques that have been reported so far.