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1.
Nat Commun ; 15(1): 4972, 2024 Jun 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38862491

ABSTRACT

Molecular doping plays an important role in controlling the carrier concentration of organic semiconductors. However, the introduction of dopant counterions often results in increased energetic disorder and traps due to the molecular packing disruption and Coulomb potential wells. To date, no general strategy has been proposed to reduce the counterion-induced structural and energetic disorder. Here, we demonstrate the critical role of non-covalent interactions (NCIs) between counterions and polymers. Employing a computer-aided approach, we identified the optimal counterions and discovered that NCIs determine their docking positions, which significantly affect the counterion-induced energetic disorder. With the optimal counterions, we successfully reduced the energetic disorder to levels even lower than that of the undoped polymer. As a result, we achieved a high n-doped electrical conductivity of over 200 S cm-1 and an eight-fold increase in the thermoelectric power factor. We found that the NCIs have substantial effects on doping efficiency, polymer backbone planarity, and Coulomb potential landscape. Our work not only provides a general strategy for identifying the most suitable counterions but also deepens our understanding of the counterion effects on doped polymeric semiconductors.

2.
Adv Mater ; : e2403411, 2024 May 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38804620

ABSTRACT

Understanding psychology is an important task in modern society which helps predict human behavior and provide feedback accordingly. Monitoring of weak psychological and emotional changes requires bioelectronic devices to be stretchable and compliant for unobtrusive and high-fidelity signal acquisition. Thin conductive polymer film is regarded as an ideal interface; however, it is very challenging to simultaneously balance mechanical robustness and opto-electrical property. Here, a 40 nm-thick film based on photolithographic double-network conductive polymer mediated by graphene layer is reported, which concurrently enables stretchability, conductivity, and conformability. Photolithographic polymer and graphene endow the film photopatternability, enhance stress dissipation capability, as well as improve opto-electrical conductivity (4458 S cm-1@>90% transparency) through molecular rearrangement by π-π interaction, electrostatic interaction, and hydrogen bonding. The film is further applied onto corrugated facial skin, the subtle electromyogram is monitored, and machine learning algorithm is performed to understand complex emotions, indicating the outstanding ability for stretchable and compliant bioelectronics.

3.
Nat Commun ; 15(1): 3433, 2024 Apr 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38653966

ABSTRACT

Skin-like field-effect transistors are key elements of bio-integrated devices for future user-interactive electronic-skin applications. Despite recent rapid developments in skin-like stretchable transistors, imparting self-healing ability while maintaining necessary electrical performance to these transistors remains a challenge. Herein, we describe a stretchable polymer transistor capable of autonomous self-healing. The active material consists of a blend of an electrically insulating supramolecular polymer with either semiconducting polymers or vapor-deposited metal nanoclusters. A key feature is to employ the same supramolecular self-healing polymer matrix for all active layers, i.e., conductor/semiconductor/dielectric layers, in the skin-like transistor. This provides adhesion and intimate contact between layers, which facilitates effective charge injection and transport under strain after self-healing. Finally, we fabricate skin-like self-healing circuits, including NAND and NOR gates and inverters, both of which are critical components of arithmetic logic units. This work greatly advances practical self-healing skin electronics.

4.
Adv Sci (Weinh) ; 11(25): e2401345, 2024 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38647436

ABSTRACT

The development of semiconducting polymers with good processability in green solvents and competitive electrical performance is essential for realizing sustainable large-scale manufacturing and commercialization of organic electronics. A major obstacle is the processability-performance dichotomy that is dictated by the lack of ideal building blocks with balanced polarity, solubility, electronic structures, and molecular conformation. Herein, through the integration of donor, quinoid and acceptor units, an unprecedented building block, namely TQBT, is introduced for constructing a serial of conjugated polymers. The TQBT, distinct in non-symmetric structure and high dipole moment, imparts enhanced solubility in anisole-a green solvent-to the polymer TQBT-T. Furthermore, PTQBT-T possess a highly rigid and planar backbone owing to the nearly coplanar geometry and quinoidal nature of TQBT, resulting in strong aggregation in solution and localized aggregates in film. Remarkably, PTQBT-T films spuncast from anisole exhibit a hole mobility of 2.30 cm2 V-1 s-1, which is record high for green solvent-processable semiconducting polymers via spin-coating, together with commendable operational and storage stability. The hybrid building block emerges as a pioneering electroactive unit, shedding light on future design strategies in high-performance semiconducting polymers compatible with green processing and marking a significant stride towards ecofriendly organic electronics.

5.
Nanoscale ; 16(13): 6495-6506, 2024 Mar 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38465951

ABSTRACT

Conjugated polymers (CPs) are solution-processible for various electronic applications, where solution aggregation and dynamics could impact the morphology in the solid state. Various solvents and solvent mixtures have been used to dissolve and process CPs, but few studies have quantified the effect of solvent quality on the solution behavior of CPs. Herein, we performed static light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to investigate CP solution behaviors with solvents of varying quality, including poly(3-alkylthiophene) (P3ATs) with various sidechain lengths from -C4H9 to -C12H25, poly[bis(3-dodecyl-2-thienyl)-2,2'-dithiophene-5,5'-diyl] (PQT-12) and poly[2,5-bis(3-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene] (PBTTT-12). We found that chlorobenzene is a better solvent than toluene for various CPs, which was evident from the positive second virial coefficient A2 ranging from 0.3 to 4.7 × 10-3 cm3 mol g-2 towards P3ATs. For P3ATs in non-polar solvents, longer sidechains promote more positive A2, indicating a better polymer-solvent interaction, wherein A2 for toluene increases from -5.9 to 1.4 × 10-3 cm3 mol g-2, and in CB, A2 ranges from 1.0 to 4.7 × 10-3 cm3 mol g-2 when sidechain length increases from -C6H13 to -C12H25. Moreover, PQT-12 and PBTTT-12 have strong aggregation tendencies in all solutions, with an apparent positive A2 (∼0.5 × 10-3 cm3 mol g-2) due to multi-chain aggregates and peculiar chain folding. These solvent-dependent aggregation behaviors can be well correlated to spectroscopy measurement results. Our coarse-grained MD simulation results further suggested that CPs with long, dense, and branched sidechains can achieve enhanced polymer-solvent interaction, and thus enable overall better solution dispersion. This work provides quantitative insights into the solution behavior of conjugated polymers that can guide both the design and process of CPs toward next-generation organic electronics.

6.
Adv Mater ; 36(11): e2310279, 2024 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38088488

ABSTRACT

The performance of large-area perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been assessed for typical compositions, such as methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3 ), using a blade coater, slot-die coater, solution shearing, ink-jet printing, and thermal evaporation. However, the fabrication of large-area all-inorganic perovskite films is not well developed. This study develops, for the first time, an eco-friendly solvent engineered all-inorganic perovskite ink of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a main solvent with the addition of acetonitrile (ACN), 2-methoxyethanol (2-ME), or a mixture of ACN and 2-ME to fabricate large-area CsPbI2.77 Br0.23 films with slot-die coater at low temperatures (40-50 °C). The perovskite phase, morphology, defect density, and optoelectrical properties of prepared with different solvent ratios are thoroughly examined and they are correlated with their respective colloidal size distribution and solar cell performance. The optimized slot-die-coated CsPbI2.77 Br0.23 perovskite film, which is prepared from the eco-friendly binary solvents dimethyl sulfoxide:acetonitrile (0.8:0.2 v/v), demonstrates an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.05%. Moreover, the device maintains ≈91% of its original PCE after 1 month at 20% relative humidity in the dark. It is believed that this study will accelerate the reliable manufacturing of perovskite devices.

7.
Stress Health ; 40(1): e3273, 2024 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37221984

ABSTRACT

Loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKCM) have been well applied among employees to improve their health and well-being. Existing studies on LKCM have also provided supportive evidence of its benefits and effectiveness under organizational contexts. The current meta-analytical study aimed to systematically summarise the effects of LKCM in the workplace and to outline directions for future research and practice. Among 327 empirical studies on LKCM published until March 2022, 21 trials focussed on employees and provided sufficient information, which were included in the following meta-analysis. The results showed that LKCM benefited eight categories of workplace outcomes. Specifically, LKCM effectively decreased employees' burnout (g = 0.395, k = 10) and stress (g = 0.544, k = 10) and facilitated their mindfulness (g = 0.558, k = 14), self-compassion (g = 0.646, k = 12), personal mental health (g = 0.308, k = 13), job attitudes (g = 0.283, k = 4), interpersonal relationships (g = 0.381, k = 12), and psychological resources (g = 0.406, k = 6). The results of moderation analyses further indicated that the participants' job type, gender, and the focus of LKCM might differentially fluctuate the magnitude of LKCM effects. To advance research and best practice, we finally pointed out several issues that deserve attention, such as long-term effects, underlying mechanisms, potential moderators, and outcomes or influential factors at the organizational level.


Subject(s)
Burnout, Professional , Meditation , Mindfulness , Humans , Empathy , Meditation/methods , Mental Health , Workplace
8.
Mater Horiz ; 11(1): 196-206, 2024 Jan 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37807887

ABSTRACT

Modulating the segmental order in the morphology of conjugated polymers is widely recognized as a crucial factor for achieving optimal electronic properties and mechanical deformability. However, it is worth noting that the segmental order is typically associated with the crystallization process, which can result in rigid and brittle long-range ordered crystalline domains. To precisely control the morphology, a comprehensive understanding of how highly anisotropic conjugated polymers form segmentally ordered structures with ongoing crystallization is essential, yet currently elusive. To fill this knowledge gap, we developed a novel approach with a combination of stage-type fast scanning calorimetry and micro-Raman spectroscopy to capture the series of specimens with a continuum in the polymer percent crystallinity and detect the segmental order in real-time. Through the investigation of conjugated polymers with different backbones and side-chain structures, we observed a generally existing phenomenon that the degree of segmental order saturates before the maximum crystallinity is achieved. This disparity allows the conjugated polymers to achieve good charge carrier mobility while retaining good segmental dynamic mobility through the tailored treatment. Moreover, the crystallization temperature to obtain optimal segmental order can be predicted based on Tg and Tm of conjugated polymers. This in-depth characterization study provides fundamental insights into the evolution of segmental order during crystallization, which can aid in designing and controlling the optoelectronic and mechanical properties of conjugated polymers.

9.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces ; 15(46): 53755-53764, 2023 Nov 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37906700

ABSTRACT

The optimization of field-effect mobility in polymer field-effect transistors (FETs) is a critical parameter for advancing organic electronics. Today, many challenges still persist in understanding the roles of the design and processing of semiconducting polymers toward electronic performance. To address this, a facile approach to solution processing using blends of PDPP-TVT and PTPA-3CN is developed, resulting in a 3.5-fold increase in hole mobility and retained stability in electrical performance over 3 cm2 V-1 s-1 after 20 weeks. The amorphous D-A conjugated structure and strong intramolecular polarity of PTPA-3CN are identified as major contributors to the observed improvements in mobility. Additionally, the composite analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the flash differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique showed a uniform distribution and was well mixed in binary polymer systems. This mobility enhancement technique has also been successfully applied to other polymer semiconductor systems, offering a new design strategy for blending-type organic transistor systems. This blending methodology holds great promise for the practical applications of OFETs.

10.
Environ Pollut ; 338: 122581, 2023 Dec 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37748638

ABSTRACT

A multicopper oxidase Lac-W from Weizmannia coagulans 36D1 was identified and characterized as a laccase (Lac-W) with a robust enzymatic activity, which was used in various mycotoxins degradation. We demonstrated that Lac-W could directly degrade six major mycotoxins in the absence of redox mediators in pH 9.0, 24h static incubation at room temperature, including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1, 88%), zearalenone (60%), deoxynivalenol (34%), T-2 toxin (19%), fumonisin B1 (18%), and ochratoxin A (12%). The optimal condition for Lac-W to degrade AFB1 was 30 °C, pH 9.0, enzyme-substrate ratio 3U/µg in 24h static condition. Furthermore, we characterized aflatoxin Q1 as a Lac-W-mediated degradation product of AFB1 using UHPLC-MS/MS. Interestingly, degradation products of AFB1 failed to generate cell death and apoptosis of intestinal porcine epithelial cells. Finally, our molecular docking simulation results revealed that the substrate-binding pocket of Lac-W was large enough to allow the entry of six mycotoxins with different structures, and their degradation rates were positively correlated to their interacting affinity with Lac-W. In summary, the unique properties of the Lac-W make it a great candidate for detoxifying multiple mycotoxins contaminated food and feed cost-effectively and eco-friendly. Our study provides new insights into development of versatile enzymes which could simultaneously degrade multiple mycotoxins.


Subject(s)
Mycotoxins , Animals , Swine , Aflatoxin B1 , Laccase/metabolism , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , Molecular Docking Simulation , Oxidation-Reduction
11.
Science ; 381(6658): 686-693, 2023 08 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37561870

ABSTRACT

The use of bioelectronic devices relies on direct contact with soft biotissues. For transistor-type bioelectronic devices, the semiconductors that need to have direct interfacing with biotissues for effective signal transduction do not adhere well with wet tissues, thereby limiting the stability and conformability at the interface. We report a bioadhesive polymer semiconductor through a double-network structure formed by a bioadhesive brush polymer and a redox-active semiconducting polymer. The resulting semiconducting film can form rapid and strong adhesion with wet tissue surfaces together with high charge-carrier mobility of ~1 square centimeter per volt per second, high stretchability, and good biocompatibility. Further fabrication of a fully bioadhesive transistor sensor enabled us to produce high-quality and stable electrophysiological recordings on an isolated rat heart and in vivo rat muscles.


Subject(s)
Polymers , Semiconductors , Tissue Adhesives , Transistors, Electronic , Animals , Rats , Electrophysiological Phenomena , Polymers/chemistry , Heart/physiology , Muscle, Skeletal/physiology
12.
Nat Nanotechnol ; 18(10): 1175-1184, 2023 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37322142

ABSTRACT

Stretchable polymer semiconductors (PSCs) are essential for soft stretchable electronics. However, their environmental stability remains a longstanding concern. Here we report a surface-tethered stretchable molecular protecting layer to realize stretchable polymer electronics that are stable in direct contact with physiological fluids, containing water, ions and biofluids. This is achieved through the covalent functionalization of fluoroalkyl chains onto a stretchable PSC film surface to form densely packed nanostructures. The nanostructured fluorinated molecular protection layer (FMPL) improves the PSC operational stability over an extended period of 82 days and maintains its protection under mechanical deformation. We attribute the ability of FMPL to block water absorption and diffusion to its hydrophobicity and high fluorination surface density. The protection effect of the FMPL (~6 nm thickness) outperforms various micrometre-thick stretchable polymer encapsulants, leading to a stable PSC charge carrier mobility of ~1 cm2 V-1 s-1 in harsh environments such as in 85-90%-humidity air for 56 days or in water or artificial sweat for 42 days (as a benchmark, the unprotected PSC mobility degraded to 10-6 cm2 V-1 s-1 in the same period). The FMPL also improved the PSC stability against photo-oxidative degradation in air. Overall, we believe that our surface tethering of the nanostructured FMPL is a promising approach to achieve highly environmentally stable and stretchable polymer electronics.

13.
Sci Adv ; 9(25): eadh1504, 2023 Jun 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37343088

ABSTRACT

Intrinsically stretchable light-emitting materials are crucial for skin-like wearable displays; however, their color range has been limited to green-like yellow lights owing to the restricted stretchable light-emitting materials (super yellow series materials). To develop skin-like full-color displays, three intrinsically stretchable primary light-emitting materials [red, green, and blue (RGB)] are essential. In this study, we report three highly stretchable primary light-emitting films made from a polymer blend of conventional RGB light-emitting polymers and a nonpolar elastomer. The blend films consist of multidimensional nanodomains of light-emitting polymers that are interconnected in an elastomer matrix for efficient light-emitting under strain. The RGB blend films exhibited over 1000 cd/m2 luminance with low turn-on voltage (<5 Von) and the selectively stretched blend films on rigid substrate maintained stable light-emitting performance up to 100% strain even after 1000 multiple stretching cycles.

14.
Sci Total Environ ; 894: 165043, 2023 Oct 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37355114

ABSTRACT

Partial denitrification (PD, nitrate (NO3--N) â†’ nitrite (NO2--N)) as a novel pathway for NO2--N production has been widely concerned, but the specific conditions for highly efficient and stable nitrite maintenance are not yet fully understood. In this study, the effects of carbon sources (acetate, R1; propionate, R2; glucose, R3) on NO2--N accumulation was discussed without seeding PD sludge and the mechanism analysis related to sludge characteristic and microbial evolution were elucidated. The optimal NO2--N, nitrate-to-nitrite transformation ratio (NTR) and nitrite removal efficiency (NRE) reached up to 32.10 mg/L, 98.01 %, and 86.95 % in R1. However, due to the complex metabolic pathway of glucose, the peak time of NO2--N production delayed from 30 min to 60 min. The sludge particle size decreased from 154.2 µm (R1), 130.8 µm (R2) to 112.6 µm (R3) with the increasing extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from 80.75-85.44 mg/gVSS, 82.68-92.75 mg/gVSS to 106.31-110.25 mg/gVSS, where the ratio of proteins/polysaccharides (PN/PS) was proved to be closely associated with NO2--N generation. For the microbial evolution, Saccharimonadales (70.42 %) dominated the glucose system, while Bacillus (7.42-21.63 %) and Terrimonas (4.24-5.71 %) were the main contributors for NO2--N accumulation in the acetate and propionate systems. The achievement of PD showed many advantages of lower carbon demand, minimal sludge production, lesser greenhouse gas emission and prominent nutrient removal, offering an economically and technically attractive alternative for NO3--N containing wastewater treatment.


Subject(s)
Nitrites , Sewage , Nitrites/metabolism , Nitrates/metabolism , Wastewater , Denitrification , Carbon/metabolism , Nitrogen Dioxide , Propionates , Bioreactors , Oxidation-Reduction , Acetates , Glucose
15.
Adv Mater ; 35(41): e2302178, 2023 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37318244

ABSTRACT

Tuning the optoelectronic properties of donor-acceptor conjugated polymers (D-A CPs) is of great importance in designing various organic optoelectronic devices. However, there remains a critical challenge in precise control of bandgap through synthetic approach, since the chain conformation also affects molecular orbital energy levels. Here, D-A CPs with different acceptor units are explored that show an opposite trend in energy band gaps with the increasing length of oligothiophene donor units. By investigating their chain conformation and molecular orbital energy, it is found that the molecular orbital energy alignment between donor and acceptor units plays a crucial role in dictating the final optical bandgap of D-A CPs. For polymers with staggered orbital energy alignment, the higher HOMO with increasing oligothiophene length leads to a narrowing of the optical bandgap despite decreased chain rigidity. On the other hand, for polymers with sandwiched orbital energy alignment, the increased band gap with increasing oligothiophene length originates from the reduction of bandwidth due to more localized charge density distribution. Thus, this work provides a molecular understanding of the role of backbone building blocks on the chain conformation and bandgaps of D-A CPs for organic optoelectronic devices through the conformation design and segment orbital energy alignment.

16.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces ; 15(21): 25495-25505, 2023 May 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37201183

ABSTRACT

Homogeneous and pinhole-free large-area perovskite films are required to realize the commercialization of perovskite modules and panels. Various large-area perovskite coatings were developed; however, at their film coating and drying stages, many defects were formed on the perovskite surface. Consequently, not only the devices lost substantial performance but also their long-term stability deteriorated. Here, we fabricated a compact and uniform large-area MAPbI3-perovskite film by a slot-die coater at room temperature (T) and at high relative humidity (RH) up to 40%. The control slot-die-coated perovskite solar cell (PSC) produced 1.082 V open-circuit voltage (Voc), 24.09 mA cm-2 short current density (Jsc), 71.13% fill factor (FF), and a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.54%. We systematically employed a multi-functional artificial amino acid (F-LYS-S) to modify the perovskite defects. Such amino acids are more inclined to bind and adhere to the perovskite defects. The amino, carbonyl, and carboxy functional groups of F-LYS-S interacted with MAPbI3 through Lewis acid-base interaction and modified iodine vacancies significantly. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the C═O group of F-LYS-S interacted with the uncoordinated Pb2+ ions, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the lone pair of -NH2 coordinated with the uncoordinated Pb2+ and consequently modified the I- vacancies remarkably. As a result, the F-LYS-S-modified device demonstrated more than three-fold charge recombination resistance, which is one of the primary requirements to fabricate high-performance PSCs. Therefore, the device fabricated employing F-LYS-S demonstrated remarkable PCE of 21.08% with superior photovoltaic parameters of 1.104 V Voc, 24.80 mA cm-2 Jsc, and 77.00%. FF. Concurrently, the long-term stability of the PSCs was improved by the F-LYS-S post-treatment, where the modified device retained ca. 89.6% of its initial efficiency after storing for 720 h in air (T ∼ 27 °C and RH ∼ 50-60%).

17.
Macromol Rapid Commun ; 44(17): e2300169, 2023 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37191155

ABSTRACT

A backbone engineering strategy is developed to tune the mechanical and electrical properties of conjugated polymer semiconductors. Four Donor-Acceptor (D-A) polymers, named PTDPPSe, PTDPPTT, PTDPPBT, and PTDPPTVT, are synthesized using selenophene (Se), thienothiophene (TT), bithiophene (BT), and thienylenevinylenethiophene (TVT) as the donors and siloxane side chain modified diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as acceptor. The influences of the donor structure on the polymer energy level, film morphology, molecular stacking, carrier transport properties, and tensile properties are all examined. The films of PTDPPSe show the best stretchability with crack-onset-strain greater than 100%, but the worst electrical properties with a mobility of only 0.54 cm2  V-1  s-1 . The replacement of the Se donor with larger conjugated donors, that is, TT, BT, and TVT, significantly improves the mobility of conjugated polymers but also leads to reduced stretchability. Remarkably, PTDPPBT exhibits moderate stretchability with crack-onset-strain ≈50% and excellent electrical properties. At 50% strain, it has a mobility of 2.37 cm2 V-1  s-1 parallel to the stretched direction, which is higher than the mobility of most stretchable conjugated polymers in this stretching state.


Subject(s)
Polymers , Siloxanes , Engineering , Semiconductors
18.
Nanoscale ; 15(24): 10244-10253, 2023 Jun 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37226987

ABSTRACT

Atomic force microscopy paired with infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) is a robust technique for investigating complex polymer blends and composites' nanoscale surface topography and chemical composition. In this work, we measured bilayer polymer films to study the effect of laser power, laser pulse frequency, and laser pulse width on the depth sensitivity of the technique. Unique bilayer polystyrene (PS) and polylactic acid (PLA) samples with various film thicknesses and blend ratios were prepared. The depth sensitivity characterized by the amplitude ratio of the resonance bands of PLA and PS was monitored as the thickness of the top barrier layer was incrementally increased from tens of nanometers to hundreds of nanometers. In addition, incrementally increasing the incident laser power resulted in greater depth sensitivity due to the enhanced thermal oscillations generated in the buried layer. In contrast, incrementally increasing the laser frequency increased the surface sensitivity, as indicated by a reduced PLA/PS AFM-IR signal ratio. Finally, the dependence of the depth sensitivity on the laser pulse width was observed. Consequently, by precisely controlling the laser energy, pulse frequency, and pulse width, one can finely control the depth sensitivity of the AFM-IR tool from 10 nm to 100 nm. Our work provides the unique capability to study buried polymeric structures without the need for tomography or destructive etching.


Subject(s)
Polyesters , Polymers , Microscopy, Atomic Force/methods , Polymers/chemistry , Spectrophotometry, Infrared/methods , Polyesters/chemistry , Radionuclide Imaging , Polystyrenes/chemistry
19.
Nanoscale ; 15(16): 7365-7373, 2023 Apr 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37038929

ABSTRACT

Atomic-force microscopy coupled with infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) deciphers surface morphology of thin-film polymer blends and composites by simultaneously mapping physical topography and chemical composition. However, acquiring quantitative phase and composition information from multi-component blends can be challenging using AFM-IR due to the possible overlapping infrared absorption bands between different species. Isotope labeling one of the blend components introduces a new type of bond (carbon-deuterium vibration) that can be targeted using AFM-IR and responds at wavelengths sufficiently shifted toward unoccupied regions (around 2200 cm-1). In this project, AFM-IR was used to probe the surface morphology and chemical composition of three polymer blends containing deuterated polystyrene; each blend is expected to exhibit various degrees of miscibility. AFM-IR results successfully demonstrated that deuterium labeling prevents infrared spectral overlap and enables the visualization of blend phases that could not normally be distinguished by other scanning probe techniques. The nanoscale domain composition was resolved by fast infrared spectrum analysis. Overall, we presented isotope labeling as a robust approach for circumventing obstacles preventing the quantitative analysis of multiphase systems by AFM-IR.

20.
BMJ Open ; 13(4): e070803, 2023 04 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37076155

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influencing factors of survival in intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinoma (IGA) and set up prediction model for the prediction of survival of patients diagnosed with IGA. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2232 patients with IGA who came from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients' overall survival (OS) rate and cancer-specific survival (CSS) at the end of follow-up. RESULTS: Of the total population, 25.72% survived, 54.93% died of IGA and 19.35% died of other causes. The median survival time of patients was 25 months. The result showed that age, race, stage group, T stage, N stage, M stage, grade, tumour size, radiotherapy, number of lymph nodes removed and gastrectomy were independent prognostic factors of OS risk for patients with IGA; age, race, race, stage group, T stage, N stage, M stage, grade, radiotherapy and gastrectomy were associated with CSS risk for patients with IGA. In view of these prognostic factors, we developed two prediction models for predicting the OS and CSS risk for patients with IGA separately. For the developed OS-related prediction model, the C-index was 0.750 (95% CI: 0.740 to 0.760) in the training set, corresponding to 0.753 (95% CI: 0.736 to 0.770) in the testing set. Likewise, for the developed CSS-related prediction model, the C-index was 0.781 (95% CI: 0.770 to 0.793) in the training set, corresponding to 0.785 (95% CI: 0.766 to 0.803) in the testing set. The calibration curves of the training set and testing set revealed a good agreement between model predictions in the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival for patients with IGA and actual observations. CONCLUSION: Combining demographic and clinicopathological features, two prediction models were developed to predict the risk of OS and CSS in patients with IGA, respectively. Both models have good predictive performance.


Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma , Stomach Neoplasms , Humans , Retrospective Studies , Calibration , Databases, Factual , Immunoglobulin A , Nomograms
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