Nanoscaled ZnO films used as enhanced substrates for fluorescence detection of dyes

The ability of nanoscaled ZnO films to enhance fluorescence was studied. We found that the fluorescence intensities of Cy5, rhodamine 6G, and fiuorescein can be enhanced about 10-fold on nanoscaled ZnO films as compared to that on glass substrates. The lifetimes of all samples were measured, and no obvious change in lifetime was observed for dyes on different substrates. The mechanism for the nanoscaled ZnO film enhanced fluorescence appears to be different from that for the metal-fluorophore systems.

Clean Steel Technologies Based on Interactions of Refractory Filtering Materials with Steel Melt

New carbon bonded filters with “active and reactive coatings ” for higher filtration efficiency of alumina based inclusions as well as nano-engineered filters with nano-scaled additives are explored with the aid of impingement tests and are evaluated according to their cold crushing strengths at room temperature. The combination of carbon nanotubes and alumina nanosheets additives leads to in situ formation of Al3 CON. Both the nanoscaled additives as well as the extra alumina “active”coating lead to improved mechanical performance of the carbon bonded filters and open the horizon for filter macrostructures with higher filtration capacities in means of bigger dimensions. In a further step MWCNT（ multi walled carbon nanotubes） in combination with a synthetic pitch have been used as a functional coating on the surface of alumina carbon bonded filters. These filters have then been evaluated also with uncoated filters in a special casting simulator and the interactions between steel and filtering material have been investigated.

Lightweight hydrides nanocomposites for hydrogen storage: Challenges, progress and prospects

As typical high-capacity complex hydrides,lightweight hydrides have attracted intensive attention due to their high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities of hydrogen storage.However,lightweight hydrides also have high thermodynamic stability and poor kinetics,so they ususally require high hydrogen desorption temperature and show inferior reversibility under mild conditions.This review summarizes recent progresses on the endeavor of overcoming thermodynamic and kinetic challenges for Mg based hydrides,lightweight metal borohydrides and alanates.First,the current state,advantages and challenges for Mg-based hydrides and lightweight metal hydrides are introduced.Then,alloying,nanoscaling and appropriate doping techniques are demonstrated to decrease the hydrogen desorption temperature and promote the reversibility behavior in lightweight hydrides.Selected scaffolds materials,approaches for synthesis of nanoconfined systems and hydriding-dehydriding properties are reviewed.In addition,the evolution of various dopants and their effects on the hydrogen storage properties of lightweight hydrides are investigated,and the relevant catalytic mechanisms are summarized.Finally,the remaining challenges and the sustainable research efforts are discussed.

Quenching mechanism of Er^(3+) emissions in Er^(3+)-and Er^(3+)/Yb^(3+)-doped SrAl_(12)O_(19) nanophosphors

Nanoscaled SrAl12O19：Er3＋ and SrAl12O19：Yb3＋,Er3＋ phosphors were synthesized by a combustion method.The emission intensities of every sample were compared by a new method with the emission of codoped Gd3＋ ions as a reference.Compared with their bulk material prepared by the solid-state reaction method,a higher Er3＋ quenching concentration,as high as 20%,was observed in the nanoscaled phosphors for both visible（VIS） and near infrared（NIR） emissions.The higher quenching concentration in both VIS and NIR regions for nanoscaled samples are related to the structure characteristics of the nano particles.The influence of the introduction of Yb3＋ ions on the emission spectra intensity was also investigated and discussed.

Removal of Chromium（VI） from Groundwater Using Oil Shale Ash Supported Nanoscaled Zero-valent Iron

Oil shale ash（OSA） supported nanoscaled zero-valent iron（OSA-nZVI） was used as a rapid and efficient reductant for Cr（VI） reduction. The optimal mass ratio of nZVI to OSA and the optimal dosage were explored. The effects of initial pH, reaction temperature, initial Cr（VI） concentration, and common cations and anions in ground- water on Cr（VI） reduction were determined in batch experiments. The results show that the optimum initial pH is 5.0. The reaction temperature has a positive effect on Cr（VI） reduction while the real groundwater has a negative effect. Additionally, 84.22% Cr（VI） was still reduced by 3 g/L OSA-nZVI（1：2）（mass ratio of OSA to Fe^0 was 1：2） within 120 min for 50 mg/L Cr（VI） under conditions of 10℃ and unadjusted pH.

Vasarely painting at the nanoscale on sapphire crystals

We demonstrate that convenient thermal treatment of a specific sapphire vicinal surface can induce the formation of a fully two-dimensional(2D)ordered surface made of a periodic assembly of(006)facets.The simiarity between the resuting surface topography and pattemns represented in the hexagon series"of paintings by Vasarely is really striking!We thus propose to call these surfaces as"nanoscaled Vasarely surfaces".We also show that the self-organization process,which is driven by the minimization of the free energy of a closed system,results in a quasi-linear isothermal growth of the facets'surface area over time.