Carving at the nanoscale: sequential galvanic exchange and Kirkendall growth at room temperature

Shape control of inorganic nanocrystals is important for understanding basic size- and shape-dependent scaling laws and is useful in a wide range of applications. With minor modifications in the chemical environment, it is possible to control the reaction and diffusion processes at room temperature, opening up a synthetic route for the production of polymetallic hollow nanoparticles with very different morphology and composition, obtained by the simultaneous or sequential action of galvanic replacement and the Kirkendall effect.     

农村空心化对我国未来粮食安全的影响研究

为了解复杂的世界粮食安全环境下中国面临的粮食安全形势,必须对中国粮食安全的影响因素进行分析。而从农村发展现状来看,劳动力大量外出带来了农村“空心化”的现象,农业生产主体呈现女性化、高龄化,对粮食安全产生一定负面影响。通过参与式农村评估和问卷调查等方法,对江西、辽宁、贵州、河北4省的9个村庄进行实地调查,发现“空心化”的农村正面临着耕地被抛荒、土地流转不畅、农业科技难以发挥作用等问题,对粮食产量的提高和粮食安全无疑是一种威胁。为解决农村“空心化”对粮食安全的不利影响,应大力发展乡镇企业,加强农业科技投入,推动农业产业化发展。     

Formation of secondary organic aerosols through photooxidation of isoprene

Detailed organic analysis of natural aerosols from the Amazonian rain forest showed considerable quantities of previously unobserved polar organic compounds, which were identified as a mixture of two diastereoisomeric 2-methyltetrols: 2-methylthreitol and 2-methylerythritol. These polyols, which have the isoprene skeleton, can be explained by OH radical-initiated photooxidation of isoprene. They have low vapor pressure, allowing them to condense onto preexisting particles. It is estimated that photooxidation of isoprene results in an annual global production of about 2 teragrams of the polyols, a substantial fraction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimate of between 8 and 40 teragrams per year of secondary organic aerosol from biogenic sources.     

一维纳米材料的制备及应用

一维纳米材料在纳米电子学、纳米光电子学、超高密度存储和扫描探针显微镜诸多领域具有潜在的应用前景,已成为21世纪物理学、化学、材料学及生命科学等科技领域的研究热点。本文主要介绍了一维纳米材料如纳米线、纳米管、纳米棒的制备方法。概述了一维纳米材料的应用及前景。     

日光温室自然对流蓄热中空墙体蓄放热效果研究

研究新型自然对流循环蓄热中空墙体的蓄放热效果,采用自计式传感器连续测试墙体内的温度分布及室内表面的热流量,对该墙体的蓄放热特性进行研究。结果表明:新型墙体内部的温度分布规律与传统的实心墙体构造不同,从内表面至外表面,并不是持续下降的趋势;在晴天白天,内部中空层两侧墙体表面的温度高于相邻实心构造部分,但比中空层空气温度的19.2℃分别低2.2和3.7℃,表明墙体深处处于蓄热状态;清晨温度较低时刻,中空层两侧表面温度分别比其中空气温度的11.7℃高出1.3和0.8℃,表明墙体内部直至清晨仍处于放热阶段。墙体内各点的温度波动幅度显示,晴天中空层两侧表面和空气温度的波动幅度分别可达4.9、4.0和8.2℃,表明墙体内部表面蓄热放热作用显著;阴雪天气下也表现出一定的蓄热放热效果。研究表明,该新型自然对流循环蓄热中空墙体构造可以有效调动墙体深处材料参与蓄热放热过程,显著增加墙体的总蓄热放热面积。     

The problem with determining atomic structure at the nanoscale

Emerging complex functional materials often have atomic order limited to the nanoscale. Examples include nanoparticles, species encapsulated in mesoporous hosts, and bulk crystals with intrinsic nanoscale order. The powerful methods that we have for solving the atomic structure of bulk crystals fail for such materials. Currently, no broadly applicable, quantitative, and robust methods exist to replace crystallography at the nanoscale. We provide an overview of various classes of nanostructured materials and review the methods that are currently used to study their structure. We suggest that successful solutions to these nanostructure problems will involve interactions among researchers from materials science, physics, chemistry, computer science, and applied mathematics, working within a "complex modeling" paradigm that combines theory and experiment in a self-consistent computational framework.     

Competition of superconducting phenomena and Kondo screening at the nanoscale

Magnetic and superconducting interactions couple electrons together to form complex states of matter. We show that, at the atomic scale, both types of interactions can coexist and compete to influence the ground state of a localized magnetic moment. Local spectroscopy at 4.5 kelvin shows that the spin-1 system formed by manganese-phthalocyanine (MnPc) adsorbed on Pb(111) can lie in two different magnetic ground states. These are determined by the balance between Kondo screening and superconducting pair-breaking interactions. Both ground states alternate at nanometer length scales to form a Moiré-like superstructure. The quantum phase transition connecting the two (singlet and doublet) ground states is thus tuned by small changes in the molecule-lead interaction.     

Cluster assembly of interfaces: nanoscale engineering

Overlayer structures can be formed on surfaces by the deposition of clusters containing hundreds or thousands of atoms. Cluster assembly alters the reaction pathway at the surface so that novel structures with unique chemical and physical properties can be stabilized. This article discusses the process of cluster assembly. Cluster-assembled interfaces are compared to those obtained by conventional techniques, and examples are given for metal-semiconductor and semiconductor-high temperature superconductor systems.     

Impact-induced cleaving and melting of alkali-halide nanocrystals

Impact of nanocrystalline alkali-halide clusters against solid surfaces causes them to fission exclusively into low surface-energy fragments. In time-of-flight scattering experiments, this process appears at an impact energy so low that it must result from a single-step cleavage of the nanocrystal along low surface-energy cleavage planes. At higher energies (more than 1 electron volt per atom), a crossover occurs to an entirely different behavior-evaporative cascades that proceed irrespective of the structureenergetic properties of the fragments. These cascades, and the approximately linear scaling of the crossover energy with cluster size, are characteristic of impact-induced transformation of the cluster to a molten state. Collision with the high-rigidity surface of silicon gives a substantially greater cleavage probability than the soft basal-plane surface of graphite.     

Controlling the Kondo effect of an adsorbed magnetic ion through its chemical bonding

We report that the Kondo effect exerted by a magnetic ion depends on its chemical environment. A cobalt phthalocyanine molecule adsorbed on an Au111 surface exhibited no Kondo effect. Cutting away eight hydrogen atoms from the molecule with voltage pulses from a scanning tunneling microscope tip allowed the four orbitals of this molecule to chemically bond to the gold substrate. The localized spin was recovered in this artificial molecular structure, and a clear Kondo resonance was observed near the Fermi surface. We attribute the high Kondo temperature (more than 200 kelvin) to the small on-site Coulomb repulsion and the large half-width of the hybridized d-level.     

In situ determination of the nanoscale chemistry and behavior of solid-liquid systems

Many fundamental questions in crystal-growth behavior remain unanswered because of the difficulties encountered in simultaneously observing phases and determining elemental concentrations and redistributions while crystals nucleate and grow at the nanoscale. We show that these obstacles can be overcome by performing energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy on partially molten Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy particles during in situ heating in a transmission electron microscope. Using this technique, we were able to (i) determine that the aluminum and silicon concentrations change in a complementary and symmetric manner about the solid-liquid interface as a function of temperature; (ii) directly measure the solid- and liquid-phase compositions at equilibrium and in highly undercooled conditions for quantitative comparison with thermodynamic calculations of the liquidus and solidus phase boundaries; and (iii) provide direct evidence for homogeneous nucleation of the aluminum-rich solid.     

免耕露播稻草覆盖栽培小麦的生物学效应分析

免耕露播稻草覆盖栽培小麦的次生根数量、单株根系总长和根重均显著高于翻耕小麦。且在不同生育阶段根系活力均明显增强；免耕露播使小麦分蘖增多．尤其是芽鞘蘖、低节位蘖发生早而多；基部节间缩短、充实度提高．穗颈节增长．利于增强抗倒伏能力和提高产量；叶面积指教和群体质量提高，光合功能增强，干物质积累增多。     

浅谈我国利率市场化问题

利率市场化是我国的利率管理体制改革的方向和目标 ,也是我国金融改革的核心内容 ,现行我国集中统一的利率管理体制越来越不适应市场经济发展需要。只有市场化的利率 ,才能发挥利率的杠杆作用 ,正确引导资金流向、合理配置资源 ,促进经济发展。利率市场化改革应坚持有效性、灵活性、规范性和渐进性的原则 ,审时度势、逐步推进 ,逐步到位。     

Skeleton of Euplectella sp.: structural hierarchy from the nanoscale to the macroscale

Structural materials in nature exhibit remarkable designs with building blocks, often hierarchically arranged from the nanometer to the macroscopic length scales. We report on the structural properties of biosilica observed in the hexactinellid sponge Euplectella sp. Consolidated, nanometer-scaled silica spheres are arranged in well-defined microscopic concentric rings glued together by organic matrix to form laminated spicules. The assembly of these spicules into bundles, effected by the laminated silica-based cement, results in the formation of a macroscopic cylindrical square-lattice cagelike structure reinforced by diagonal ridges. The ensuing design overcomes the brittleness of its constituent material, glass, and shows outstanding mechanical rigidity and stability. The mechanical benefits of each of seven identified hierarchical levels and their comparison with common mechanical engineering strategies are discussed.     

Effect of infrared transparency on the heat transfer through windows: a clarification of the greenhouse effect

The various radiative, convective, and conductive components of the net heat transfer are calculated and illustrated for various infrared transparencies of covers such as would be used in architectural, greenhouse, or solar collector windows. It is shown that in the limiting cases of infrared opacity and infrared transparency the relative contributions of the three modes of heat transfer are altered, but all contribute significantly. The radiation shielding arguments pertain to the analogous green-house effect in the atmosphere.     

一锅法制备羧基化纳米纤维素晶体

为了探究高效、简便的羧基化纳米纤维素晶体(CCN)制备工艺,以微晶纤维素(MCC)为原料,过硫酸铵为氧化剂,采用一锅法制备出羧基化纳米纤维素晶体。并运用响应面分析法对影响羧基化纳米纤维素得率的各因素及其相互之间的交互作用进行优化。再采用透射电镜、马尔文激光粒度仪、红外光谱、X射线衍射和热分析对样品的微观形貌、粒度分布、晶体特性、结构和热稳定性能进行了研究。结果表明:过硫酸铵浓度与时间、温度与时间之间的交互作用比过硫酸铵浓度与温度间的交互作用对羧基化纳米纤维素得率的影响显著。通过优化得到的制备工艺条件为时间204min、过硫酸铵浓度2mol/L、温度62℃,优化条件下制备的羧基化纳米纤维素得率为46.41%,与模型预测值(46.93%)吻合较好,表明建立的数学模型是有效的。CCN为直径10~30nm、长度50~200nm均匀分布的棒状,Z均粒径为96.92nm;在1731cm-1出现了羧基基团的CO特征峰,表明过硫酸铵分解产生的氧化剂H2O2选择性地把纤维素C6原子上的羟基氧化成了羧基;CCN属纤维素Ⅰ型,结晶度为78.35%;羧基化后的CCN热稳定性相对于MCC有较明显的降低。      

Ferroelectricity at the nanoscale: local polarization in oxide thin films and heterostructures

Ferroelectric oxide materials have offered a tantalizing potential for applications since the discovery of ferroelectric perovskites more than 50 years ago. Their switchable electric polarization is ideal for use in devices for memory storage and integrated microelectronics, but progress has long been hampered by difficulties in materials processing. Recent breakthroughs in the synthesis of complex oxides have brought the field to an entirely new level, in which complex artificial oxide structures can be realized with an atomic-level precision comparable to that well known for semiconductor heterostructures. Not only can the necessary high-quality ferroelectric films now be grown for new device capabilities, but ferroelectrics can be combined with other functional oxides, such as high-temperature superconductors and magnetic oxides, to create multifunctional materials and devices. Moreover, the shrinking of the relevant lengths to the nanoscale produces new physical phenomena. Real-space characterization and manipulation of the structure and properties at atomic scales involves new kinds of local probes and a key role for first-principles theory.     

Low-field magnetic separation of monodisperse Fe3O4 nanocrystals

Magnetic separations at very low magnetic field gradients (<100 tesla per meter) can now be applied to diverse problems, such as point-of-use water purification and the simultaneous separation of complex mixtures. High-surface area and monodisperse magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals (NCs) were shown to respond to low fields in a size-dependent fashion. The particles apparently do not act independently in the separation but rather reversibly aggregate through the resulting high-field gradients present at their surfaces. Using the high specific surface area of Fe3O4 NCs that were 12 nanometers in diameter, we reduced the mass of waste associated with arsenic removal from water by orders of magnitude. Additionally, the size dependence of magnetic separation permitted mixtures of 4- and 12-nanometer-sized Fe3O4 NCs to be separated by the application of different magnetic fields.