Outstanding Humidity Chemiresistors Based on Imine-Linked Covalent Organic Framework Films for Human Respiration Monitoring

Human metabolite moisture detection is important in health monitoring and non-invasive diagnosis.However,ultra-sensitive quantitative extraction of respiration information in real-time remains a great challenge.Herein,chemiresistors based on imine-linked covalent organic framework(COF)films with dual-active sites are fabricated to address this issue,which demonstrates an amplified humidity-sensing signal performance.By regulation of monomers and functional groups,these COF films can be pre-engineered to achieve high response,wide detection range,fast response,and recovery time.Under the condition of relative humidity ranging from 13 to 98%,the COFTAPB-DHTA film-based humidity sensor exhibits outstanding humidity sensing perfor-mance with an expanded response value of 390 times.Furthermore,the response values of the COF film-based sensor are highly linear to the relative humidity in the range below 60%,reflecting a quantitative sensing mechanism at the molecular level.Based on the dual-site adsorption of the(-C=N-)and(C-N)stretching vibrations,the revers-ible tautomerism induced by hydrogen bonding with water molecules is demonstrated to be the main intrinsic mechanism for this effective humidity detection.In addition,the synthesized COF films can be further exploited to effectively detect human nasal and oral breathing as well as fabric permeability,which will inspire novel designs for effective humidity-detection devices.

Pulling out a peptide chain from β-sheet crystallite: Propagation of instability of H-bonds under shear force

Anti-parallel β-sheet crystallite as the main component of silk fibroin has attracted much attention due to its superior mechanical properties. In this study, we examine the processes of pulling a peptide chain from β-sheet crystallite using steered molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the rupture behavior of the crystallite. We show that the failure of β-sheet crystallite was accompanied by a propagation of instability of hydrogen-bonds （H-bonds） in the crystallite. In addition, we find that there is an optimum size of the crystallite at which the H-bonds can work cooperatively to achieve the highest shear strength. In addition, we find that the stiffness of loading device and the loading rates have significant effects on the rupture behavior of β-sheet crystallite. The stiff loading device facilitates the rebinding of the Hbond network in the stick-slip motion between the chains, while the soft one suppresses it. Moreover, the rupture force of β-sheet crystallites decreases with loading rate. Particularly, when the loading rate decreases to a critical value, the rupture force of the β-sheet crystallite becomes independent of the loading rates. This study provides atomistic details of rupture behaviors of β-sheet crystallite, and, therefore, sheds valuable light on the underlying mechanism of the superior mechanical properties of silk fibroin.

An elastic model for bioinspired design of carbon nanotube bundles

Collagen fibers provide a good example of making strong micro-or mesoscale fibers from nanoscale tropocollagen molecules through a staggered and crosslinked organization in a bottom-up manner.Mimicking the architectural features of collagen fibers has been shown to be a promising approach to develop carbon nanotube（CNT）fibers of high performance.In the present work,an elastic model is developed to describe the load transfer and failure propagation within the bioinspired CNT bundles,and to establish the relations of the mechanical properties of the bundles with a number of geometrical and physical parameters such as the CNT aspect ratio and longitudinal gap,interface cross-link density,and the functionalizationinduced degradation in CNTs,etc.With the model,the stress distributions along the CNT-CNT interface as well as in every individual CNT are well captured,and the failure propagation along the interface and its effects on the mechanical properties of the CNT bundles are predicted.The work may provide useful guidelines for the design of novel CNT fibers in practice.

A Novel Wireless PassiveTemperature-Pressure SAW-based Sensor

A novel wireless and passive surface acoustic wave(SAW)sensor is developed for measuring temperature and pressure.The sensor has two single-port resonators on a substrate.One resonator,acting as the temperature sensor,is located at the fixed end without pressure deformation,and the other one,acting as the pressure sensor,is located at the free end to detect pressure changes due to substrate deformation.Pressure at the free end bends the cantilever,causing a relative change in the acoustic propagation characteristics of the SAW traveling along the surface of the substrate and a relative change in the resonant frequency of the resulting signal.The temperature acts on the entire substrate,affecting the propagation speed of the SAW on the substrate and directly affecting the resonant frequency characteristic parameters.The temperature and pressure performance of this new antenna-connected sensor is tested by using a network analyzer,a constant temperature heating station,and a force gauge.A temperature sensitivity of 1.5015 kHz/℃and a pressure sensitivity of 10.6 kHz/gf at the ambient temperature have been observed by wireless measurements.This work should result in practical engineering applications for high-temperature devices.

DeST 3.0:A new-generation building performance simulation platform

Buildings contribute to almost 30%of total energy consumption worldwide.Developing building energy modeling programs is of great significance for lifecycle building performance assessment and optimization.Advances in novel building technologies,the requirements of high-performance computation,and the demands for multi-objective models have brought new challenges for building energy modeling software and platforms.To meet the increasing simulation demands,DeST 3.0,a new-generation building performance simulation platform,was developed and released.The structure of DeST 3.0 incorporates four simulation engines,including building analysis and simulation(BAS)engine,HVAC system engine,combined plant simulation(CPS)engine,and energy system(ES)engine,connected by air loop and water loop balancing iterations.DeST 3.0 offers numerous new simulation features,such as advanced simulation modules for building envelopes,occupant behavior and energy systems,cross-platform and compatible simulation kernel,FMI/FMU-based co-simulation functionalities,and high-performance parallel simulation architecture.DeST 3.0 has been thoroughly evaluated and validated using code verification,inter-program comparison,and case-study calibration.DeST 3.0 has been applied in various aspects throughout the building lifecycle,supporting building design,operation,retrofit analysis,code appliance,technology adaptability evaluation as well as research and education.The new generation building simulation platform DeST 3.0 provides an efficient tool and comprehensive simulation platform for lifecycle building performance analysis and optimization.

Genomic and transcriptomic analysis unveils population evolution and development of pesticide resistance in fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda

The fall armyworm(FAW),Spodoptera frugiperda,is a destructive pest native to America and has recently become an invasive insect pest in China.Because of its rapid spread and great risks in China,understanding of FAW genetic background and pesticide resistance is urgent and essential to develop effective management strategies.Here,we assembled a chromosome-level genome of a male FAW(SFynMstLFR)and compared re-sequencing results of the populations from America,Africa,and China.Strain identification of 163 individuals collected from America,Africa and China showed that both C and R strains were found in the American pop-ulations,while only C strain was found in the Chinese and African populations.Moreover,population geno-mics analysis showed that populations from Africa and China have close relationship with significantly genetic differentiation from American populations.Taken toge-ther,FAWs invaded into China were most likely origi-nated from Africa.Comparative genomics analysis displayed that the cytochrome p450 gene family is extremely expanded to 425 members in FAW,of which 283 genes are specific to FAW.Treatments of Chinese populations with twenty-three pesticides showed the variant patterns of transcriptome profiles,and several detoxification genes such as AOX,UGT and GST spe-cially responded to the pesticides.These findings will be useful in developing effective strategies for manage-ment of FAW in China and other invaded areas.

Remarkable enhancement in failure stress and strain of penta-graphene via chemical functionalization

Penta-graphene （PG）,a newly proposed two-dimensional material composed entirely of carbon pentagons,is believed to possess much lower failure stress and strain than those of graphene.An open question is whether and how these properties can be enhanced.Herein using molecular dynamics simulations,we examine the deformation and failure processes of PG functionalized with different functional groups.We reveal that complete chemical functionalization leads to remarkable increases in the failure stress and strain of PG by up to 86.6% and 82.4%,respectively.The underlying reason for this enhancement is that the buckled pentagonal rings in pristine and partially functionalized PGs can easily transform into planar polygon rings under stretching;in contrast,complete functionalization of PG strongly stabilizes its structure and prevents such transformation,thereby significantly increasing the failure stress and strain.Our findings suggest a possible route to enhance the mechanical properties of PG for potential applications in nanocomposites and nanodevices.

Aqueous and mechanical exfoliation, unique properties, and theoretical understanding of MoO3 nanosheets made from free-standing a-MoO3 crystals： Raman mode softening and absorption edge blue shift

Crystalline α-MoO3 belts consisting of nanosheets stacked along their [010] axes were synthesized via thermal vapor transport of MoO3 powders at elevated temperatures. The MoO3 belts were millimeters in length along their [001] axes and tens to hundreds of micrometers in width along their [100] axes. Mechanical and aqueous exfoliations of the belts to form two-dimensional （2D） nanosheets were processed via the scotch-tape and bovine serum albumin （BSA） assisted methods, respectively. Upon scotch-tape exfoliation, the Raman features of MoO3 exhibited monotonic decreases in intensity as the thickness was gradually fell to approach that of a 2D nanosheet. Most Raman features eventually disappeared when a monolayer nanosheet was produced, except for the Mo-O-Mo stretching mode （Ag） at - 818 cm^-1, which was accompanied by mode-softening of up to 5 cm^-1 This mode softening, hitherto not reported for 2D α-MoO3 nanosheets, can be attributed to lattice relaxations that are validated here via theoretical density functional perturbation theory calculations. The BSA-assisted exfoliation products exhibited a blueshift in the α-MoO3 nanosheet absorption edge; they also revealed an absorption peak at 3.98 eV that can be attributed to their intrinsic exciton absorptions. These observations, together with the facile synthesis of high-purity α-MoO3 crystals, illuminate the possibility of further 2D α-MoO3 nanosheet production and lattice dynamic studies.