Multiphase Interfacial Regulation Based on Hierarchical Porous Molybdenum Selenide to Build Anticorrosive and Multiband Tailorable Absorbers

Electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorbing materials have an irreplaceable position in the field of military stealth as well as in the field of electromagnetic pollution control.And in order to cope with the complex electromagnetic environment,the design of multifunctional and multiband high efficiency EMW absorbers remains a tremendous challenge.In this work,we designed a three-dimensional porous structure via the salt melt synthesis strategy to optimize the impedance matching of the absorber.Also,through interfacial engineering,a molybdenum carbide transition layer was introduced between the molybdenum selenide nanoparticles and the three-dimensional porous carbon matrix to improve the absorption behavior of the absorber.The analysis indicates that the number and components of the heterogeneous interfaces have a significant impact on the EMW absorption performance of the absorber due to mechanisms such as interfacial polarization and conduction loss introduced by interfacial engineering.Wherein,the prepared MoSe_(2)/MoC/PNC composites showed excellent EMW absorption performance in C,X,and Ku bands,especially exhibiting a reflection loss of−59.09 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth of 6.96 GHz at 1.9 mm.The coordination between structure and components endows the absorber with strong absorption,broad bandwidth,thin thickness,and multi-frequency absorption characteristics.Remarkably,it can effectively reinforce the marine anticorrosion property of the epoxy resin coating on Q235 steel substrate.This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between interfacial engineering and the performance of EMW absorbers,and provides a reference for the design of multifunctional,multiband EMW absorption materials.

Design of Broadband Metamaterial Absorbers for Permittivity Sensitivity and Solar Cell Application

A broadband and ultra-thin absorber for solar cell application is designed. The absorber consists of three layers, and the difference is that the four split ring resonators made of metal gold are encrusted in the gallium arsenide （GaAs） plane in the top layer. The simulated results show that a perfect absorption in the region from 481.2 to 684.0THz can be obtained for either transverse electric or magnetic polarization wave due to the coupling effect between the material of GaAs and gold. The metamaterial is ultra-thin, having the total thickness of 56nm, which is less than one-tenth resonance wavelength, and the absorption coefficients at the three resonance wavelengths are above 90%. Moreover, the effective medium theory, electric field and surface current distributions are adopted to explain the physical mechanism of the absorption, and the permittivity sensing applications are also discussed. As a result, the proposed structure can be used in many areas, such as solar cell, sensors, and integrated photodetectors.

Metamaterials and metasurfaces for designing metadevices:Perfect absorbers and microstrip patch antennas

In the past twenty years, electromagnetic metamaterials represented by left-handed metamaterials（LHMs） have attracted considerable attention due to the unique properties such as negative refraction, perfect lens, and electromagnetic cloaks. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of our group＇s work on metamaterials and metasurfaces. We present several types of LHMs and chiral metamaterials. As a two-dimensional equivalent of bulk three-dimensional metamaterials, metasurfaces have led to a myriad of devices due to the advantages of lower profile, lower losses, and simpler to fabricate than bulk three-dimensional metamaterials. We demonstrate the novel microwave metadevices based on metamaterials and metasurfaces： perfect absorbers and microwave patch antennas, including novel transmission line antennas,high gain resonant cavity antennas, wide scanning phased array antennas, and circularly polarized antennas.

Transition Metal Dichalcogenides(WS2 and MoS2)Saturable Absorbers for Mode-Locked Erbium-Doped Fiber Lasers

We demonstrate an ultrafast fiber laser based on transition metal dichalcogenide materials which are tungsten disulfide (WS2) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as saturable absorber (SA). These materials are fabricated via a simple drop-casting method. By employing WS2, we obtain a stable harmonic mode-locking at the threshold pump power of 184 mW, and the generated soliton pulse has 3.48 MHz of repetition rate. At the maximum pump power of 250 mW, we also obtain a small value of pulse duration, 2.43 ps with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 57 dB. For MoS2 SA, the pulse is generated at 105 mW pump power with repetition rate of 1.16 MHz. However, the pulse duration cannot be detected by the autocorrelator device as the pulse duration recorded is 468 ns, with the SNR value of 35 dB.

Simultaneous Determination of Ultraviolet Absorbers and Antibacterial Agents in Textiles by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Orbitrap High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

This paper reported a new analytical method for the simultaneous determination of seven benzotriazole ultraviolet absorbers and seven antibacterial agents in textiles. After ultrasonic extraction for the textile samples in methanol, the solutions were analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromotagraphy/orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC/Orbitrap HRMS). It showed that a good chromatographic separation for these target compounds was achieved by a Hypersil GOLD column (100 mm × 2.1 mm × 1.9 μm) with a gradient elution of methanol and 0.1% aqueous formic acid solution (containing 0.5 mmol/L ammonium acetate). Triclosan and 4-chloro-3,5-dimethyl phenol (PCMX) were detected by the orbitrap HRMS in an electrospray ionization (ESI) negative mode while the other twelve target compounds were detected by orbitrap HRMS in ESI positive mode. Full scan experiment was performed over the range from m/z 100 to m/z 500. These target compounds were routinely detected with mass accuracy below 2 × 10-6 (2 ppm) at the optimized conditions. The results showed that the limits of detection (LODs) were in the range from 0.1 to 0.3 μg/kg. The blank samples were spiked at three levels and their average recoveries varied from 80.5% to 96.3% while the relative standard deviation (RSD) changed from 3.2% to 9.9%. The present method was also applied for the determination of those ultraviolet absorbers and antibacterial agents in the commercial textiles.

Nearly Perfect Absorbers Operating Associated with Fano Resonance in the Infrared Range

We fabricate a three-layer metamaterial of metal patterns/dielectric/metal films. The optical properties associated with Fano resonance of the metamaterials are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The results indicate that the introduction of Fano resonance due to symmetry breaking leads to a much wider absorption range. Furthermore, the amplitude and phase of reflection can be modulated effectively by adjusting various free parameters using the proposed structure.

Coupling metal oxide nanoparticle catalysts for water oxidation to molecular light absorbers

Water oxidation, as a mandatory reaction of solar fuels conversion systems, requires the use of light absorbers with electronic properties that are well matched with those of the multi-electron catalyst in order to achieve high efficiency. Molecular light absorbers offer flexibility in fine tuning of orbital energetics,and metal oxide nanoparticles have emerged as robust oxygen evolving catalysts. Hence, these material choices offer a promising approach for the development of photocatalytic systems for water oxidation.However, efficient charge transfer coupling of molecular light absorbers and metal oxide nanoparticle catalysts has proven a challenge. Recent new approaches toward the efficient coupling of these components based on synthetic design improvements combined with direct spectroscopic observation and kinetic evaluation of charge transfer processes are discussed.

Metamaterial Inspired Radar Absorbers:Emergence,Trends and Challenges

The advances in metamaterial science and technology have raised the expectations of camouflage or stealth researchers to one order higher in terms of absorption characteristics.As metamaterial inspired radar absorbing structures are proving themselves as a good candidate with near unity absorption,feasibility towards hardware realization is necessary.Hence an extensive literature survey of metamaterial inspired radar absorbing structure has been carried out and reported in this paper along with the challenges and material issues.The various types of metamaterial structures that can be used as absorber have been provided along with simulation figures.To make the review more useful,graphene and carbon nanotube(CNT)based radar absorbing structures are also included along with their simulation and fabrication techniques.

Metamaterial Absorbers in Terahertz Band

In recent years, a great deal of effort has been made to a create terahertz （THz） wave absorber based on metamaterials （MM）. Metamaterials absorbers have a variety of potential applications including thermal emitters, detector, stealth technology, phase imaging, etc. In this paper, we firstly introduce the basic structure and work principle of the THz MM absorbers, and a transmission line model is developed for devices analysis. To expand the application of THz absorbers, dual-band and broadband THz MM absorbers are designed, fabricated, and measured. At the end of this article, the future development trends of MM absorbers are discussed.

Rapid Prototyping of Pyramidal Structured Absorbers for Ultrasound

Acoustic measurements or ultrasonic testing can be strongly affected by reflections or echoes from test tank walls. In order to create a non-reflecting environment equivalent to infinite medium, a pyramidal structured absorber (PSA) can be used to coat the walls of an ultrasonic tank. In this work, we model an array of tetragonal pyramid ultrasonic wave absorbers. This model is based on two coupled first-order equations describing the stress and particle velocity within an isotropic medium. For absorbing media, the Kelvin-Voigt model of viscoelasticity is used. The equations are discretized in 2D using an efficient time-stepping pseudo-spectral scheme that takes in consideration both, the acoustic properties and attenuation characteristics of the composite materials. We then built a 3D printed PSA using a Stratasys Objet500 Connex 3D printer, which allows to combine photopolymers in specific concentrations and microstructures. We designed PSA covering the frequency ranges from 0.5 MHz to 5 MHz and from 1 MHz to 10 MHz, with double homogeneous layer: a core of rubber material with a skin of a variety of elastomers by combining rigid and flexible materials. Each single pyramid contains two major parts: the ground of the pyramid (9.4 mm base × 4.7 mm height, for 0.5 MHz and 4.7 mm base × 2.35 mm height, for 1 MHz) and the body of the pyramid (23.5 mm height, for 0.5 MHZ and 11.75 mm height, for 1 MHz). The measured echo-reduction was greater than 35 dB at the covering frequency range and the transmission loss was estimated by 20 dB. Echoes increase rapidly for frequencies below the minimum frequency of the covering range. The modeling and 3D printing of PSA with different sizes, in a wide range of frequencies, is a cost-effective custom solution for a wide range of applications including for example, radiation force balances, hydrophone mounts and medical ultrasound equipment.

Dual-Wavelength Passively Q-Switched Ytterbium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticle Saturable Absorbers

We report on generation of a dual-wavelength, all-fiber, passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser using aluminum oxide nanoparticle （Al2O3-NP） thin film. A thin film of Al2O3 was prepared by embedding Al2O3-NPs into a polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） as a host polymer, and then inserted between two fiber ferrules to act as a saturable absorber （SA）. By incorporating the Al2O3-PVA SA into the laser cavity, a stable dual-wavelength pulse output centered at 1050 and 1060.7nm is observed at threshold pump power of 80mW. As the pump power is gradually increased from 80 to 300mW, the repetition rate of the generated pulse increases from 16.23 to 59 kHz, while the pulse width decreases from 19 to 6μs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration for this type of SA operating in the 1 μm region.

Thermal Analysis of Vehicular Twin-Tube Hydraulic Gas-Precharged Shock Absorbers

In this study of temperature rising in vehicular twin-tube hydraulic gas-precharged shock absorbers,thermodynamic analyses were conducted via simulations.Equations on heat conduction,heat convection as well as radiation were derived by applying certain laws governing heat transfer;an equivalent thermal resistance network model of a shock absorber undergoing heat transfer was established innovatively;moreover,the shock absorber’s thermodynamic model of control volume system was built by using the first law of thermodynamics;and finally,time required for shock absorber to reach thermal equilibrium and corresponding value of steady temperature were calculated by programming.In this way,a lower thermal equilibrium temperature will be achieved,hence help to improve reliability of shock absorbers in work by offering low ambient temperature,by reducing amplitudes and frequencies of external incentives exerted on them and by increasing flow rate of ambient air passing around them.

Preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube–Fe composites and their application as light weight and broadband electromagnetic wave absorbers

Multi-walled carbon nanotube （MWCNT）-Fe composites were prepared via the metal organic chemical vapor deposi- tion by depositing iron pentacarbonyl on the surface of MWCNTs. The structural and morphological analyses demonstrated that Fe nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of the MWCNTs. The electromagnetic properties of the MWCNTs were significantly changed, and the absorbing capacity evidently improved after the Fe deposition on the MWCNT surface. A minimum reflection loss of -29.4 dB was observed at 8.39 GHz, and the less than -10 dB bandwidth was about 10.6 GHz, which covered the whole X band （8.2-12.4 GHz） and the whole Ku band （12.4-18 GHz）, indicating that the MWCNT-Fe composites could be used as an effective microwave absorption material.

Recommended strategy and limitations of burnable absorbers used in VVER fuel assemblies

There is an obvious effort to increase the burn up of used fuel assemblies in order to improve fuel utilization.A more effective operation can be realized by extending the fuel cycles or by increasing the number of reloadings.This change is nevertheless connected with increasing the uranium enrichment even above 5% of 235U. Burnable absorbers are widely used to compensate for the positive reactivity of fresh fuel. With proper optimization, burnable absorbers decrease the reactivity excess at the beginning of the cycle, and they can help with stabilization of power distribution. This paper describes properties of several materials that can be used as burnable absorbers. The change in concentration or position of the pin with a burnable absorber in a fuel assembly was analyzed by the HELIOS transport lattice code. The multiplication factor and power peaking factor dependence on fuel burn up were used to evaluate the neutronic properties of burnable absorbers. The following four different materials are discussed in this paper: Gd2O3, IFBA, Er2O3,and Dy2O3.Gadolinium had the greatest influence on fuel characteristics. The number of pins with a burnable absorber was limited in the VVER-440 fuel assembly to six. In the VVER-1000 fuel assembly, 36 pins with a burnable absorber can be used as the assembly is larger. The erbium depletion rate was comparable with uranium burn up.Dysprosium had the largest parasitic absorption after depletion.

Design and application of functional absorbers

This paper gives an overview of the research at Institute of Acoustics, Tongji University, on functional absorbers and experience acquired in practical applications over the past three decades. Experiments and analysis of the absorption characteristics of three different geometrical forms of functional absorbers, i.e., panels, cubes and tubes, were conducted with different arrangements. The resulting esthetical effects are illustrated with pictures. Several non-fiber materials are used to compose functional absorbers with advantages both in acoustic properties and in architectural features. Cost effectiveness analysis is also given in order to provide design guidelines.

Promising Ultraviolet Absorbers——Novel Guanine Analogs Having Significantly Improved Ultraviolet Absorption Capacity and Dissipating the Energy of Absorbed Photons by Nonradiative Decay Mechanism

Structural properties of nucleobase underlie their ultrafast excited-state dynamics and low fluorescence quantum yields, which cause effectively nonradiative decay process and render them like sunscreens. Thus, eight guanine analogs[N-2-（2＇-nitrobenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（3＇-nitrohenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（4＇-nitrobenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（2＇-hydroxybenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（4＇-methoxylbenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（4＇-chloricbenzoyl）-guanine, N-2-（4＇- me- thylicbenzoyl）-guanine and N-2-（3＇,5＇-dinitrobenzoyl）-guanine] with different substituted benzoyls, except N-2-（4＇-chloricbenzoyl）-guanine, were newly synthesized. In contrast with guanine, they exhibit wider ultraviolet absorbent range, higher molar extinction coefficient and lower fluorescence intensity.

Bridging the terahertz near-field and far-field observations of liquid crystal based metamaterial absorbers

Metamaterial-based absorbers play a significant role in applications ranging from energy harvesting and thermal emitters to sensors and imaging devices.The middle dielectric layer of conventional metamaterial absorbers has always been solid.Researchers could not detect the near field distribution in this layer or utilize it effectively.Here,we use anisotropic liquid crystal as the dielectric layer to realize electrically fast tunable terahertz metamaterial absorbers.We demonstrate strong,position-dependent terahertz near-field enhancement with sub-wavelength resolution inside the metamaterial absorber.We measure the terahertz far-field absorption as the driving voltage increases.By combining experimental results with liquid crystal simulations,we verify the near-field distribution in the middle layer indirectly and bridge the nearfield and far-field observations.Our work opens new opportunities for creating high-performance,fast,tunable,terahertz metamaterial devices that can be applied in biological imaging and sensing.

Dynamically Tunable Perfect Absorbers Utilizing Hexagonal Aluminum Nano-Disk Array Cooperated with Vanadium Dioxide

A tunable perfect absorber composed of hexagonal-arranged aluminum nano-disk array embedded in the vanadium dioxide(VO_2) film is proposed. The aim is to achieve the tunability of resonance absorption peak in the visible and near-infrared regimes. Numerical results reveal that the absorption peak achieves a large tunability of 76.6% while VO_2 undergoes a structural transition from insulator phase to metallic phase. By optimizing the structural parameters, an average absorption of 95% is achieved from 1242 to 1815 nm at the metallic phase state. In addition, the near unity absorption can be fulfilled in a wide range of incident angle(0°–60°) and under all polarization conditions. The method and results presented here would be beneficial for the design of active optoelectronic devices.

Metamaterial absorbers realized in an X-band rectangular waveguide

In this paper, we demonstrate six types of metamaterial absorbers （MMAs） by measuring their absorptivities in an X-band （8 12 GHz） rectangular waveguide. Some of the MMAs have been demonstrated previously by using the free space measurement method, and the others are proposed firstly in this paper. The measured results show that all of the six MMAs exhibit high absorptivities above 98%, which have similar absorbing characteristics to those measured in the free space. The numerically obtained surface current densities for each MMA show that the absorbing mechanism is the same as that under the free space conditions. Such a demonstration method is superior to the conventional free space measurement method due to the small-scale test samples required, the simple measure device, and its low cost. Most importantly, the proposed method opens a way to enable MMAs to be used in microwave applications such as matched terminations.

Tunable Double-Band Perfect Absorbers via Acoustic Metasurfaces with Nesting Helical Tracks

We propose a design of tunable double-band perfect absorbers based on the resonance absorption in acoustic metasurfaces with nesting helical tracks and deep-subwavelength thicknesses(<λ/30 withλbeing the operation wavelength).By rotating the cover cap with an open aperture on the nesting helical tracks,we can tailor the effective lengths of resonant tubular cavities in the absorber at will,while the absorption peak frequency is flexibly shifted in spectrum and the acoustic impedance is roughly matched with air.The simulated particle velocity fields at different configurations reveal that sound absorption mainly occurs at the open aperture.Our experiment measurements agree well with the theoretical analysis and simulation,demonstrating the wide-spectrum and tunable absorption performance of the designed flat acoustic device.