Flexible free-standing antibacterial nanoporous Ag ribbon.

The biomedical field has the potential to significantly benefit from the use of flexible free-standing Ag nanostructures due to their outstanding mechanical and antibacterial properties. However, the intricate process of synthesizing these nanostructures, as well as the potential toxicity of nanostructured Ag, pose significant challenges. This study used a facile etching method to synthesize the free-standing nanoporous Ag (NP-Ag) ribbons with a homogeneous and bicontinuous three-dimensional ligament structure. The free-standing NP-Ag ribbons demonstrated stable mechanical performance and excellent flexibility when subjected to various deformation states on artificial fingers. Additionally, the NP-Ag ribbons exhibited remarkable antibacterial capacity with rates of 99.81 ± 0.14% against Escherichia coli, 96.11 ± 1.49% against Staphylococcus aureus, and 95.37 ± 1.24% against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial mechanism of NP-Ag is attributed to the rapid release of Ag ions (Ag+) in 24 h, causing damage to the bacterial membrane. Moreover, the in vivo results demonstrate that the NP-Ag ribbons provide rapid antibacterial efficacy and are biosafe due to the long-term stable Ag+ release of NP-Ag. The development of these free-standing flexible NP-Ag ribbons offers a new avenue for wearable antibacterial applications.

Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes Fibrous Composite Decorated with PdMg Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Absorption-Desorption Kinetics for Hydrogen Storage Application.

We describe a graphene and fibrous multiwall carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT) composite film prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for use as a suitable and possible candidate of hydrogen storage materials. A high storage capacity of 5.53 wt% has been obtained with improved kinetics. The addition of binary PdMg alloy nanoparticles to the surface of graphene-fibrous nanotubes composite films raised the storage capacity by 53% compared to the film without PdMg decorated nanoparticles. Additionally, the graphene/f-MWCNT composite film decorated with PdMg nanoparticles exhibited an enhanced hydrogen absorption-desorption kinetics. The fibrous structure of the MWCNTs, alongside graphene sheets within the film, creates an enormous active region site for hydrogen reaction. The addition of PdMg nanoparticles enhanced the reaction kinetics due to the catalytic nature of Pd, and increased the hydrogen content due to the high absorption capacity of Mg nanoparticles. The combination of Pd and Mg in a binary alloy nanoparticle enhanced the hydrogen capacity and absorption-desorption kinetics.

Strong adhesion of wet conducting polymers on diverse substrates.

Conducting polymers such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), polypyrrole (PPy), and polyaniline (PAni) have attracted great attention as promising electrodes that interface with biological organisms. However, weak and unstable adhesion of conducting polymers to substrates and devices in wet physiological environment has greatly limited their utility and reliability. Here, we report a general yet simple method to achieve strong adhesion of various conducting polymers on diverse insulating and conductive substrates in wet physiological environment. The method is based on introducing a hydrophilic polymer adhesive layer with a thickness of a few nanometers, which forms strong adhesion with the substrate and an interpenetrating polymer network with the conducting polymer. The method is compatible with various fabrication approaches for conducting polymers without compromising their electrical or mechanical properties. We further demonstrate adhesion of wet conducting polymers on representative bioelectronic devices with high adhesion strength, conductivity, and mechanical and electrochemical stability.

Novel bioactive Fe-based metallic glasses with excellent apatite-forming ability.

We demonstrate, for the first time, that the (Fe0.75B0.15Si0.1)100-xNbx (x=0, 1 and 3at.%) metallic glasses without toxic and allergic elements exhibit excellent apatite-forming ability in simulated body fluids (SBF), which is expected to be a new generation of biomaterials in stents and orthopedic implants. For the alloys without any surface treatment, spherical particles corresponding to octacalcium phosphate are spontaneously nucleated and precipitated throughout the alloy surface after immersion only for 1day, indicating that the present alloys possess an unusual high bioactivity. During the subsequent in-vitro immersion for 3days, SEM image reveals the typical 'cauliflower' morphology of bone-like hydroxyapatite (HA) with Ca/P ratio of 1.65. In addition, it is surprising to find that the in-vitro SBF immersion not only leads to the formation and growth of the apatite layer but also causes the progressive development of the underlying alloy substrate. Moreover, for the alloys immersed for 3 or 9days, the substrate alloy just beneath the apatite layer consists of a hierarchical nano/macro-porous structure through selective dissolution of the active components Fe and B in the surface. XPS analysis indicates that the apatite nucleation on the present alloys in SBF is attributed to the specific dissolution properties of the present alloys and the fast formation of Si-OH and Fe-OH or Nb-OH functional groups, followed by combination of these groups with Ca(2+) and phosphate ions.

Nanoporous CuS with excellent photocatalytic property.

We present the rational synthesis of nanoporous CuS for the first time by chemical dealloying method. The morphologies of the CuS catalysts are controlled by the composition of the original amorphous alloys. Nanoporous Cu2S is firstly formed during the chemical dealloying process, and then the Cu2S transforms into CuS. The nanoporous CuS exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of the methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB). The excellent photocatalytic activity of the nanoporous CuS is mainly attributed to the large specific surface area, high adsorbing capacity of dyes and low recombination of the photo generated electrons and holes. In the photo degradation process, both chemical and photo generated hydroxyl radicals are generated. The hydroxyl radicals are favor in the oxidation of the dye molecules. The present modified dealloying method may be extended for the preparation of other porous metal sulfide nanostructures.

Mechanical properties and structural features of novel Fe-based bulk metallic glasses with unprecedented plasticity.

Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) have attracted great attention due to their unique magnetic and mechanical properties, but few applications have been materialized because of their brittleness at room temperature. Here we report a new Fe(50)Ni(30)P(13)C(7) BMG which exhibits unprecedented compressive plasticity (>20%) at room temperature without final fracture. The mechanism of unprecedented plasticity for this new Fe-based BMG was also investigated. It was discovered that the ductile Fe(50)Ni(30)P(13)C(7) BMG is composed of unique clusters mainly linked by less directional metal-metal bonds which are inclined to accommodate shear strain and absorbed energy in the front of crack tip. This conclusion was further verified by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy experiments of Fe(80-x)Ni(x)P(13)C(7) (x = 0, 10, 20, 30) and Fe(72-x)Ni(x)B(20)Si(4)Nb(4) (x = 0, 7.2, 14.4, 21.6, 28.8) glassy systems. The results also indicate a strong correlation between the p-d hybridization and plasticity, verifying that the transition from brittle to ductile induced by Ni addition is due to the change of bonding characteristics in atomic configurations. Thus, we can design the plasticity of Fe-based BMGs and open up a new possible pathway for manufacturing BMGs with high strength and plasticity.

Composition effect on intrinsic plasticity or brittleness in metallic glasses.

The high plasticity of metallic glasses is highly desirable for a wide range of novel engineering applications. However, the physical origin of the ductile/brittle behaviour of metallic glasses with various compositions and thermal histories has not been fully clarified. Here we have found that metallic glasses with compositions at or near intermetallic compounds, in contrast to the ones at or near eutectics, are extremely ductile and also insensitive to annealing-induced embrittlement. We have also proposed a close correlation between the element distribution features and the plasticity of metallic glasses by tracing the evolutions of the element distribution rearrangement and the corresponding potential energy change within the sliding shear band. These novel results provide useful and universal guidelines to search for new ductile metallic glasses at or near the intermetallic compound compositions in a number of glass-forming alloy systems.

A novel Ti-based nanoglass composite with submicron-nanometer-sized hierarchical structures to modulate osteoblast behaviors.

Owing to recent progress in nanotechnology, the ability to tune the surface properties of metals has opened an avenue for creating a new generation of biomaterials. Here we demonstrate the successful development of a novel Ti-based nanoglass composite with submicron-nanometer-sized hierarchical glassy structures. A first exploratory study was performed on the application of the unique nanostructure to modulate osteoblast behaviors. Our results show that this Ti-based nanoglass composite, relative to conventional metallic glasses, exhibits significantly improved biocompatibility. In fact, a 10 times enhancement in cell proliferation has been achieved. To a great extent, this superior bioactivity (such as enhanced cell proliferation and osteogenic phenotype) is promoted by its unique hierarchical structures combining nanoglobules and submicron button-like clusters from collective packing of these nanoglobules. This nanoglass composite could be widely applicable for surface modifications by means of coating on various materials including BMGs, crystalline metals or ceramics. Therefore, our successful experimental testing of this nanostructured metallic glass may open the way to new applications in novel biomaterial design for the purpose of bone replacement.

Ni- and Be-free Zr-based bulk metallic glasses with high glass-forming ability and unusual plasticity.

We developed Ni- and Be-free Zr(45+x)Cu(40-x)Al7Pd5Nb3 bulk metallic glasses with large glass-forming ability and unusual plasticity. The alloys have large critical diameters (larger than 10 mm) in a wide composition range (x=0-20). The Zr50Cu35Al7Pd5Nb3 and Zr55Cu30Al7Pd5Nb3 alloys exhibit the largest critical diameter (between 18 and 20 mm). The Zr(45+x)Cu(40-x)Al7Pd5Nb3 bulk metallic glasses also have large plastic elongation in wide composition range (x=10-17). The Zr62Cu23Al7Pd5Nb3 bulk metallic glass exhibits significant plasticity (over 20% of plastic elongation). With increasing Zr content, the compressive strength decreases except for the Zr67Cu18Al7Pd5Nb3 alloy. The fragility parameters were calculated to evaluate the glass-forming ability and plasticity. The fragility exhibits more sensitive correlation with plasticity than glass-forming ability. The ZrCuAlPdNb bulk metallic glasses have high crystallization activation energies of above 300 kJ/mol. The ZrCuAlPdNb bulk metallic glasses are favorable for application to biomaterials.

Ni-free Zr-Cu-Al-Nb-Pd bulk metallic glasses with different Zr/Cu ratios for biomedical applications.

Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) possess attractive properties for prospective biomedical applications. The present study designs Ni-free Zr-Cu-Al-Nb-Pd BMGs and investigates their in vitro biocompatibility by studying mechanical properties, bio-corrosion resistance, and cellular responses. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy is used as a reference material. It is found that the Zr-based BMGs exhibit good mechanical properties, including high strengths above 1600 MPa, high hardness over 4700 MPa, and low elastic moduli of 85-90 GPa. The Zr-based BMGs are corrosion resistant in a simulated body environment, as revealed by wide passive regions, low passive current densities, and high pitting overpotentials. The formation of ZrO(2)-rich surface passive films of the Zr-based BMGs contributes to their high corrosion resistance, whereas their pitting corrosion in the phosphate buffered saline solution can be attributed to the sensitivity of the ZrO(2) films to the chloride ion. The general biosafety of the Zr-based BMGs is revealed by normal cell adhesions and cell morphologies. Moreover, the Zr/Cu content ratio in the alloy composition affects the biocompatibility of the Zr-based BMGs, by increasing their corrosion resistance and surface wettability with the increase of the Zr/Cu ratio. Effects of Zr/Cu ratios can be used to guide the future design of biocompatible Zr-based BMGs.

Excellent capability in degrading azo dyes by MgZn-based metallic glass powders.

The lack of new functional applications for metallic glasses hampers further development of these fascinating materials. In this letter, we report for the first time that the MgZn-based metallic glass powders have excellent functional ability in degrading azo dyes which are typical organic water pollutants. Their azo dye degradation efficiency is about 1000 times higher than that of commercial crystalline Fe powders, and 20 times higher than the Mg-Zn alloy crystalline counterparts. The high Zn content in the amorphous Mg-based alloy enables a greater corrosion resistance in water and higher reaction efficiency with azo dye compared to crystalline Mg. Even under complex environmental conditions, the MgZn-based metallic glass powders retain high reaction efficiency. Our work opens up a new opportunity for functional applications of metallic glasses.

Formation of metallic glass nanowires by gas atomization.

Gas atomization which is a conventional technique in powder metallurgy is adapted for the formation of metallic glass nanowires. This approach is able to produce a large quantity of nanowires with diameters in the 50-2000 nm range. Experiments performed with different conditions and alloy compositions confirm that the key mechanism of the nanowire formation is the spinnability which increases exponentially when the melt stream is supercooled from the liquid state.

Aerobic oxidation of alcohols in the liquid phase with nanoporous gold catalysts.

Aerobic oxidation of alcohols in the liquid phase proceeded smoothly in the presence of nanoporous gold catalyst. The catalyst is reusable multiple times without leaching and loss of the catalytic activity. The reaction was applied successfully to a flow system. Adsorptions of O(2) and 1-phenylethanol into the AuNPore were confirmed by TDS analysis.

Micromirror with large-tilting angle using Fe-based metallic glass.

For enhancing the micromirror properties like tilting angle and stability during actuation, Fe-based metallic glass (MG) was applied for torsion bar material. A micromirror with mirror-plate diameter of 900 µm and torsion bar dimensions length 250 µm, width 30 µm and thickness 2.5 µm was chosen for the tilting angle tests, which were performed by permanent magnets and electromagnet setup. An extremely large tilting angle of over -270° was obtained from an activation test by permanent magnet that has approximately 0.2 T of magnetic strength. A large mechanical tilting angle of over -70° was obtained by applying approximately 1.1 mT to the mirror when 93 mAwas applied to solenoid setup. The large-tilting angle of the micromirror is due to the torsion bar, which was fabricated with Fe-based MG thin film that has large elastic strain limit, fracture toughness, and excellent magnetic property.

Glass formation, chemical properties and surface analysis of Cu-based bulk metallic glasses.

This paper reviews the influence of alloying elements Mo, Nb, Ta and Ni on glass formation and corrosion resistance of Cu-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). In order to obtain basic knowledge for application to the industry, corrosion resistance of the Cu-Hf-Ti-(Mo, Nb, Ta, Ni) and Cu-Zr-Ag-Al-(Nb) bulk glassy alloy systems in various solutions are reported in this work. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis is performed to clarify the surface-related chemical characteristics of the alloy before and after immersion in the solutions; this has lead to a better understanding of the correlation between the surface composition and the corrosion resistance.

A nanostructured skeleton catalyst: Suzuki-coupling with a reusable and sustainable nanoporous metallic glass Pd-catalyst.

Nanoporous metallic glass Pd, which was fabricated by dealloying of a glassy metallic alloy Pd(30)Ni(50)P(20), exhibited a remarkable catalytic activity for the Suzuki-coupling reaction between iodoarenes and arylboronic acids under mild conditions. Moreover, the catalyst can be reused several times without a significant loss of catalytic activity.

Fabrication and nano-imprintabilities of Zr-, Pd- and Cu-based glassy alloy thin films.

With the aim of investigating nano-imprintability of glassy alloys in a film form, Zr(49)Al(11)Ni(8)Cu(32), Pd(39)Cu(29)Ni(13)P(19) and Cu(38)Zr(47)Al(9)Ag(6) glassy alloy thin films were fabricated on Si substrate by a magnetron sputtering method. These films exhibit a very smooth surface, a distinct glass transition phenomenon and a large supercooled liquid region of about 80 K, which are suitable for imprinting materials. Moreover, thermal nano-imprintability of these obtained films is demonstrated by using a dot array mold with a dot diameter of 90 nm. Surface observations revealed that periodic nano-hole arrays with a hole diameter of 90 nm were successfully imprinted on the surface of these films. Among them, Pd-based glassy alloy thin film indicated more precise pattern imprintability, namely, flatter residual surface plane and sharper hole edge. It is said that these glassy alloy thin films, especially Pd-based glassy alloy thin film, are one of the promising materials for fabricating micro-machines and nano-devices by thermal imprinting.

Direct observation of local atomic order in a metallic glass.

The determination of the atomic configuration of metallic glasses is a long-standing problem in materials science and solid-state physics. So far, only average structural information derived from diffraction and spectroscopic methods has been obtained. Although various atomic models have been proposed in the past fifty years, a direct observation of the local atomic structure in disordered materials has not been achieved. Here we report local atomic configurations of a metallic glass investigated by nanobeam electron diffraction combined with ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. Distinct diffraction patterns from individual atomic clusters and their assemblies, which have been theoretically predicted as short- and medium-range order, can be experimentally observed. This study provides compelling evidence of the local atomic order in the disordered material and has important implications in understanding the atomic mechanisms of metallic-glass formation and properties.

Superconductivity of Ni-Nb-Zr-H glassy alloys with nanoclusters.

We investigated the hydrogen effect on superconductivity in the (Ni0.36Nb0.24Zr0.40)(100-x)H(x)(0 < or = x < or = 6.4) glassy alloys with nanoclusters, as a function of temperature. The resistivity of these alloys started to drop from onset temperature of around 9.5 K. The (Ni0.36Nb0.24Zr0.40)98.6H1.6 showed zero resistance at 2.1 K. However, the application of a magnetic field > 4.6 T arrested the drop of resistivity, showing the existence of superconductivity of type II. The maximum onset temperature of 11.3 K was observed at 4.4 at% H. The superconducting behavior of the glassy alloys would be associated with electron pair transport along zigzag paths, which link the shortened atomic -Ni-Ni-Ni- array in the Zr5Ni5Nb3 clusters, and tunneling among the clusters.