A Novel Embryo Phenotype Associated With Interspecific Hybrid Weakness in Rice Is Controlled by the MADS-Domain Transcription Factor OsMADS8.

A novel hybrid weakness gene, DTE9, associated with a dark tip embryo (DTE) trait, was observed in CR6078, an introgression line derived from a cross between the Oryza sativa spp. japonica "Hwayeong" (HY) and the wild relative Oryza rufipogon. CR6078 seeds exhibit protruding embryos and flowers have altered inner floral organs. DTE9 was also associated with several hybrid weakness symptoms including decreased grain weight. Map-based cloning and transgenic approaches revealed that DTE9 is an allele of OsMADS8, a MADS-domain transcription factor. Genetic analysis indicated that two recessive complementary genes were responsible for the expression of the DTE trait. No sequence differences were observed between the two parental lines in the OsMADS8 coding region; however, numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected in the promoter and intronic regions. We generated overexpression (OX) and RNA interference (RNAi) transgenic lines of OsMADS8 in HY and CR6078, respectively. The OsMADS8-OX lines showed the dark tip embryo phenotype, whereas OsMADS8-RNAi recovered the normal embryo phenotype. Changes in gene expression, including of ABCDE floral homeotic genes, were observed in the OsMADS8-OX and OsMADS8-RNAi lines. Overexpression of OsMADS8 led to decreased expression of OsEMF2b and ABA signaling-related genes including OsVP1/ABI3. HY seeds showed higher ABA content than CR6078 seeds, consistent with OsMADS8/DTE9 regulating the expression of genes related ABA catabolism in CR6078. Our results suggest that OsMADS8 is critical for floral organ determination and seed germination and that these effects are the result of regulation of the expression of OsEMF2b and its role in ABA signaling and catabolism.

Room-Temperature Synthesis of Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Coated VO2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Durability and Flexible Temperature-Responsive Near-Infrared Modulator Application.

Vanadium dioxide is one kind of desirable infrared modulator for sensors because of its remarkable temperature-responsive infrared modulation ability via autogeneic metal-insulator transition. However, the detriments of poor chemical stability and narrow scope of extensive-researched application (e.g., smart windows) restrict its mass production. Here, we propose a VO2@MgF2@PDA inorganic-organic hybrid coated architecture for greatly enhancing the optical durability more than 13 times in contrast to pristine VO2 and the transmittance difference between room and high temperature changed within 20% (decreasing from 25 to 20.1%) at λ = 1200 nm after the ageing time of 1000 h at constant temperature (60 °C) and relative humidity (90%). Furthermore, based on the as-synthesized durability-enhanced nanoparticles, we fabricated a flexible sensor for temperature-field fluorescence imaging by integrating the VO2-based near-infrared modulator with the upconversion fluorescence material. Additionally, the formation mechanism of VO2@MgF2 core-shell nanoparticles was studied in detail. The inorganic-organic combination strategy paves a new way for improving the stability of nanoparticles, and the use of VO2-based flexible temperature-fluorescence sensors is a promising technique for remote and swift temperature-field distribution imaging on complicated and campulitropal surfaces.

Scalable Preparation of Photochromic Composite Foils with Excellent Reversibility for Light Printing.

Photochromic inks for repeatable light-printed media have attracted increasing attention owing to the fact that they may be widely applied to reduce the consumption of papers and plastics and conserve the environment. Therefore, it is of practical significance to develop convenient photochromic inks with a low cost and on a large scale. In this study, a simple one-step hydrothermal route was used to prepare tungsten trioxide (WO3 ) nanoparticles, which were further used to make photochromic inks and transparent photochromic films. The obtained transparent photochromic film could rapidly respond to UV light within tens of seconds, then return to its initial state, with different recovery times at different temperatures, and also exhibit good reversible coloration-bleaching effect. A typical polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foil coated with the photochromic ink could also be repeatedly printed with various patterns and displayed excellent rewritable performance over tens of cycles. This study proposes a simple method for widespread applications of WO3 -based photochromic inks.

Organic-inorganic hybrid optical foils with strong visible reflection, excellent near infrared-shielding ability and high transparency.

Research on functional flexible films has recently been attracting widespread attention especially with regards to foils, which can be designed artificially on the basis of the practical requirements. In this work, a foil with high visible reflection and a strong near infrared shielding efficiency was prepared by a simple wet chemical method. In the process of making this kind of optical foil, emulsion polymerization was first introduced to synthesize polymer opals, which were further compressed between two pieces of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foil under polymer melting temperature to obtain a photonic crystal film with a strong reflection in the visible region to block blue rays. The following step was to coat a layer of the inorganic nano paint, which was synthesized by dispersing Cs-doped WO3 (CWO) nanoparticles homogenously into organic resin on the surface of the PET to achieve a high near infrared shielding ability. The final composite foil exhibited unique optical properties such as high visible reflectance (23.9%) to block blue rays, and excellent near infrared shielding efficiency (98.0%), meanwhile it still maintained a high transparency meaning that this foil could potentially be applied in energy-saving window films. To sum up, this study provides new insight into devising flexible hybrid films with novel optical properties, which could be further extended to prepare other optical films for potential use in automobile, architectural and other decorative fields.

Long Straczekite δ-Ca0.24 V2 O5 ⋠H2 O Nanorods and Derived ß-Ca0.24 V2 O5 Nanorods as Novel Host Materials for Lithium Storage with Excellent Cycling Stability.

Nanorods of δ-Ca0.24 V2 O5 ⋅H2 O, a straczekite group mineral with an open double-layered structure, have been successfully fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method and can be transformed into the tunnel ß geometry (ß-Ca0.24 V2 O5 ) through a vacuum annealing treatment. The generated ß-Ca0.24 V2 O5 still preserves the nanorod construction of δ-Ca0.24 V2 O5 ⋅H2 O without substantial sintering and degradation of the nanostructure. As cathode materials, both calcium vanadium bronzes exhibit high reversible capacity, good rate capability, as well as superior cyclability. Compared with the hydrated vanadium bronze, the ß-Ca0.24 V2 O5 nanorods show better cycling performance (81.68 and 97.93 % capacity retention after 200 cycles at 100 and 400 mA g-1 , respectively) and excellent long-term cyclic stability with an average decay of 0.035 % per cycle over 500 cycles at 500 mA g-1 . Note that the double-layered δ-Ca0.24 V2 O5 ⋅H2 O electrode irreversibly converts into ß-Cax V2 O5 phase during the initial Li+ insertion/extraction process, while in contrast, the ß-phase calcium vanadium bronze electrode shows excellent structural stability during cycling. The excellent electrochemical performance demonstrates that the two calcium vanadium bronzes are potential cathode candidates for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

High Performance and Enhanced Durability of Thermochromic Films Using VO2@ZnO Core-Shell Nanoparticles.

For VO2-based thermochromic smart windows, high luminous transmittance (Tlum) and solar regulation efficiency (ΔTsol) are usually pursued as the most critical issues, which have been discussed in numerous researches. However, environmental durability, which has rarely been considered, is also so vital for practical application because it determines lifetime and cycle times of smart windows. In this paper, we report novel VO2@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles with ultrahigh durability as well as improved thermochromic performance. The VO2@ZnO nanoparticles-based thermochromic film exhibits a robust durability that the ΔTsol keeps 77% (from 19.1% to 14.7%) after 103 hours in a hyperthermal and humid environment, while a relevant property of uncoated VO2 nanoparticles-based film badly deteriorates after 30 h. Meanwhile, compared with the uncoated VO2-based film, the VO2@ZnO-based film demonstrates an 11.0% increase (from 17.2% to 19.1%) in ΔTsol and a 31.1% increase (from 38.9% to 51.0%) in Tlum. Such integrated thermochromic performance expresses good potential for practical application of VO2-based smart windows.

Selective and Tunable Near-Infrared and Visible Light Transmittance of MoO3-x Nanocomposites with Different Crystallinity.

In this Communication, we report MoO3-x nanocomposites in which the near-infrared and visible light transmittance can be selectively modulated through the crystallinity. The MoO3-x nanocomposites were fabricated by a hydrothermal method, and their optical properties were characterized by UV-Vis spectrometer. The obtained results proved the possibility to tune the nanocomposite's optical properties in the UV/Visible spectral region: crystalline MoO3 mainly regulates the near-infrared range (800-2600 nm), and amorphous MoO3-x mainly changes the visible range from 350 nm to 800 nm and MoO3-x , with semi-crystalline structures mainly modulating around 800-1000 nm. These kinds of optical modulations could be attributed to small polar absorption, free electron absorption and plasmon absorption according to different crystallinity. Our work may create new possibilities for future applications such as photochromism, photocatalysis, and electrochromism.

Enhanced photochromic modulation efficiency: a novel plasmonic molybdenum oxide hybrid.

Plasmonic materials have drawn emerging interest with their high charge carrier density and solar harvesting ability, resulting in tunable enhanced absorption and scattering resonances. Herein, a novel plasmonic MoO3-x hybrid comprising orthorhombic MoO3-x nanorod and hexagonal MoO3 nanograin was obtained using a simple hydrothermal method. An excellent photochromic property with up to 40% solar modulation efficiency at 600-1000 nm was achieved, which was mainly attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption at around 900 nm and the polaron absorption at 650 nm with a synergistic effect. In comparison to the limited near-infrared absorption of conventional crystalline MoO3, a distinct modulation range in the critical range between visible and near-infrared was rationalized by a size effect deduced from Mie scattering theory. Our research provided a novel plasmonic molybdenum oxide hybrid to realize an optical modulation function with a tunable wavelength range for energy saving.

Atomic scale observation of a defect-mediated first-order phase transition in VO2(A).

The study of first-order structural transformations has attracted extensive attention due to their significant scientific and industrial importance. However, it remains challenging to exactly determine the nucleation sites at the very beginning of the transformation. Here, we report the atomic scale real-time observation of a unique defect-mediated reversible phase transition between the low temperature phase (LTP) and the high temperature phase (HTP) of VO2(A). In situ Cs-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images clearly indicate that both phase transitions (from the HTP to the LTP and from the LTP to the HTP) start at the defect sites in parent phases. Intriguingly, the structure of the defects within the LTP is demonstrated to be the HTP of VO2 (A), and the defect in the HTP of VO2(A) is determined to be the LTP structure of VO2(A). These findings are expected to broaden our current understanding of the first-order phase transition and shed light on controlling materials' structure-property phase transition by "engineering" defects in applications.

One step spray-coated TiO2 electron-transport layers for decent perovskite solar cells on large and flexible substrates.

Spray-coating as a facile and quantitative method was introduced to prepare thin and continuous TiO2 compact layers on different substrates for perovskite solar cells. The as-prepared film is highly transparent and smooth, which is of significance in perovskite solar cells to decrease incident light loss and facilitate the film cast and electric contact. The compact TiO2 layer shows excellent performance when coated with perovskite and assembled into a device. Since it provides unlimited substrate size, patterning function and the TiO2 used for spray-coating is well crystallized, this method has huge potential for mass production and great adaptability for a variety of applications.

Composite Film of Vanadium Dioxide Nanoparticles and Ionic Liquid-Nickel-Chlorine Complexes with Excellent Visible Thermochromic Performance.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2), as a typical thermochromic material used in smart windows, is always limited by its weaker solar regulation efficiency (ΔTsol) and lower luminous transmittance (Tlum). Except for common approaches such as doping, coating, and special structure, compositing is another effective method. The macroscopic thermochromic (from colorless to blue) ionic liquid-nickel-chlorine (IL-Ni-Cl) complexes are selected in this paper to be combined with VO2 nanoparticles forming a composite film. This novel scheme demonstrates outstanding optical properties: ΔTsol = 26.45% and Tlum,l = 66.44%, Tlum,h = 43.93%. Besides, the addition of the IL-Ni-Cl complexes endows the film with an obvious color change from light brown to dark green as temperature rises. This splendid visible thermochromic performance makes the composite film superior in function exhibiting and application of smart windows.

Vanadium Dioxide Nanoparticle-based Thermochromic Smart Coating: High Luminous Transmittance, Excellent Solar Regulation Efficiency, and Near Room Temperature Phase Transition.

An annealing-assisted preparation method of well-crystallized VxW1-xO2(M)@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles for VO2-based thermochromic smart coatings (VTSC) is presented. The additional annealing process reduces the defect density of the initial hydrothermally prepared VxW1-xO2(M) nanoparticles and enhances their crystallinity so that the thermochromic film based on VxW1-xO2(M)@SiO2 nanoparticles can exhibit outstanding thermochromic performance with balanced solar regulation efficiency (ΔTsol) of 17.3%, luminous transmittance (Tlum) up to 52.2%, and critical phase transition temperature (Tc) around 40.4 °C, which is very promising for practical application. Furthermore, it makes great progress in reducing Tc of VTSC to near room temperature (25.2 °C) and simutaneously maintaining excellent optical properties (ΔTsol = 14.7% and Tlum = 50.6%). Such thermochromic performance is good enough to make VTSC applicable to practical architecture.

Preparation and characterization of VO2(M)-SnO2 thermochromic films for application as energy-saving smart coatings.

Novel VO2(M)/SnO2 heterostructured nanorods are prepared by combining the conventional hydrothermal synthesis method and post annealing process. The results reveal that the nanosized SnO2 particles are not only successfully grown on the surface of the VO2 nanorods but also uniformly distribute on VO2 without aggregation. The existence of the SnO2 nanoparticles inhibits the aggregation during the annealing process and widens the band gap of the VO2 crystals from 0.75 to 1.7 eV. The two aspects can both improve the optical properties of the VO2(M)/SnO2 composite film. The visible transmittance is up to 35.7% and the IR modulation at 2500 nm is more than 56%, which were much higher than the pure VO2(M) film. In addition, the SnO2 layer could reduce the width of the hysteresis from 17.8 to 10.7°C caused by Sn-doping and enhance the sensitivity. We believe that the VO2(M)/SnO2 heterostructured coating is a good candidate for smart windows.

Functional fiber mats with tunable diffuse reflectance composed of electrospun VO2/PVP composite fibers.

Thermochromic VO2 nanoparticles have been dispersed into polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) fibers by electrospinning of a VO2-PVP blend solution. The structure and optical properties of the obtained composite fiber mat were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The fiber mat revealed two diffuse reflectance states in infrared spectral region at temperatures under and above the phase transition temperature of VO2 and its IR reflectance is smaller in high temperature. The difference of diffuse reflectance between the two states (ΔRdif) was obvious to be more than 25% in the wavelengths from 1.5 µm to 6 µm. The diffuse reflectance of the fiber mat could be controlled by adjusting the diameter of the fiber or the content of VO2 in the fibers and this particular optical property was explained by a multiple scattering-absorbing process.

QTL mapping reveals a tight linkage between QTLs for grain weight and panicle spikelet number in rice.

BACKGROUND: A number of QTL studies reported that one genomic region was associated with several traits, indicating linkage and/or pleiotropic effects. The question of pleiotropy versus tight linkage in these studies should be solved using a large-size population combined with high-density mapping. For example, if each of the 2 parents has a TGW-increasing or SPP-increasing QTL that is tightly linked, complementary combination of the 2 beneficial QTLs by using molecular markers could produce higher yields compared to the 2 parents. However, a pleiotropic QTL with opposite effects on the SPP and 1,000-grain weight (TGW) is complicated and challenging in terms of its application to rice improvement. RESULTS: In this study, using a series of BC5F4 nearly isogenic lines (NILs) that were derived from a cross between the Korean japonica cultivar Hwayeongbyeo and Oryza rufipogon, we demonstrated that 2 QTLs, qSPP5 for spikelets per panicle (SPP) and qTGW5 for grain weight (TGW), are tightly linked on chromosome 5. Alleles from the O. rufipogon parent increased the SPP and decreased TGW in the Hwayeongbyeo background. qSPP5 was located within a 803-kb interval between the simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers INDEL3 and RM18076. Based on the map position, qTGW5 seemed to be the same gene as qSW5, which controls grain morphology. The additive effect of the O. rufipogon allele at qSPP5 was 10-15 SPP, and 33.0% of the phenotypic variance could be explained by the segregation of the SSR marker RM18058. Yield trials with BC5F4 NILs showed that lines that contained a homozygous O. rufipogon introgression at the qSPP5 region out-yielded sibling NILs that contained Hwayeongbyeo DNA by 15.3% and out-yielded the Hwayeongbyeo parent by 7.3%. CONCLUSION: Based on the finding that the O. rufipogon allele for the SPP was beneficial in the japonica and indica cultivar backgrounds, the qSPP5 allele could be valuable for improving rice yields. In addition, the NIL populations and molecular markers are useful for cloning qSPP5.

Surface plasmon resonance induced excellent solar control for VO2@SiO2 nanorods-based thermochromic foils.

Transition-metal oxide nanocrystals are novel candidates for being used as the hosts of localized surface plasmon resonance because they exhibit fascinating properties arising from the unique characteristics of their outer-d valence electrons. VO2(M) nanocrystal is well-known due to its reversible metal-insulator transition (MIT) temperature near room temperature (∼68 °C) corresponding to the appearance/disappearance of localized surface plasmon resonance across the MIT. In this study, a microemulsion-based method was introduced to synthesize VO2(M)@SiO2 nanoparticles which were applied to prepare VO2-based thermochromic foils owing to a strong and tunable surface plasmon resonance in the metallic state. The optical transmittance spectra demonstrates that the employment of surface plasmon resonance in VO2-based thermochromic foils greatly improves their solar regulating efficiency up to 18.54%, and provides an unprecedented insight in optimizing VO2-based thermochromic windows for solar control.

Modification of Mott phase transition characteristics in VO2@TiO2 core/shell nanostructures by misfit-strained heteroepitaxy.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a key material for thermochromic smart windows that can respond to environmental temperature and modulate near-infrared irradiation by changing from a transparent state at low temperature to a more reflective state at high temperature, while maintaining visible transmittance. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the Mott phase transition characteristics in VO2 nanoparticles can be remarkably modified by misfit strains occurring at the epitaxial interface between VO2 and the anatase TiO2 of VO2/TiO2 core-shell particles. The heteroepitaxial growth of the as-synthesized particles followed an unprecedented orientation relationship, and an epitaxial growth mechanism is proposed to explain this behavior. A relatively small theoretical coherent misfit (3-11%) and a moderate heating rate (20 °C·min(-1)) in the preparation of the core-shell structure were critically important from the thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives, respectively. The misfit-induced interfacial strain along the uniaxial cR axis increased the transition temperatures, especially on the cooling portion of the heating-cooling cycle, leading to a notably reduced transition hysteresis loop width (from 23.5 to 12.0 °C). Moreover, the optical band gap was also engineered by the interfacial effect. Such a reduced hysteresis showed a benefit for enhancing a rapid response for energy saving thermochromic smart windows.

Preparation and characterization of self-supporting thermochromic films composed of VO2(M)@SiO2 Nanofibers.

Nanofibers of VO2(A) with the diameter and length averagely at 100 nm and 10-20 µm were prepared via a facile one-step hydrothermal method by reducing NH4VO3 with 1,3-propylene glycol in an acidic solution. The obtained VO2(A) was coated by SiO2 to form VO2(A)@SiO2 core-shell nanocomposites, which were then transformed into VO2(M)@SiO2 by annealing under nitrogen atmosphere. The resulted composites maintained the original fibrous morphology, particularly with a large amount of pores emerging inside the fiber due to the volume shrinkage during the phase transition, which may improve its thermal insulation ability in real applications. The VO2(M)@SiO2 nanofibers were arranged into a self-supporting film by filtration, which shows excellent thermochromic properties.

Core-shell VO2@TiO2 nanorods that combine thermochromic and photocatalytic properties for application as energy-saving smart coatings.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a Mott phase transition compound that can be applied as a thermochromic smart material for energy saving and comfort, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a well-known photocatalyst for self-cleaning coatings. In this paper, we report a VO2@TiO2 core-shell structure, in which the VO2 nanorod core exhibits a remarkable modulation ability for solar infrared light, and the TiO2 anatase shell exhibits significant photocatalytic degradation of organic dye. In addition, the TiO2 overcoating not only increased the luminous transmittance of VO2 based on an antireflection effect, but also modified the intrinsic colour of VO2 films from yellow to light blue. The TiO2 also enhanced the chemical stability of VO2 against oxidation. This is the first report of such a single nanoparticle structure with both thermochromic and photocatalytic properties that offer significant potential for creating a multifunctional smart coating.

Structural characterization of magnesium-based compounds Mg9Si5 and Mg4Si3Al (superconductor) synthesized under high pressure and high temperature conditions.

Two kinds of magnesium-based compounds Mg9Si5 and Mg4Si3Al have been prepared under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions of 5 GPa at 900-1100 °C. Single crystal study revealed that Mg9Si5 crystallizes in space group P6(3) (No. 173) with the lattice parameters a = 12.411(1) Å, c = 12.345(1) Å, and Z = 6. The structure can be derived from the high pressure form Mg2Si with the anticotunnite structure; excess Si atoms of Mg9Si5 form Si-Si pairs in the prismatic cotunnite columns running along the c axis. Mg4Si3Al is obtained by a rapid cooling of a ternary mixture Mg:Al:Si = 1:1:1 from ~800 °C to room temperature under a pressure of 5 GPa. The compound crystallizes in space group P4/ncc (No. 130) with the lattice parameters a = 6.7225(5) Å, c = 13.5150(9) Å, and Z = 4. The structure consists of an alternate stacking of [AlSi2] layers having a Cairo pattern and [Mg4Si] antitetragonal prismatic layers. It can be viewed as composed of hexa-Si-capped tetragonal prismatic cages Mg8Si6 with an Al atom at the center of each cage, Al@Mg8Si6. The compound shows superconductivity with a transition temperature Tc = 5.2 K. The formation regions of the two kinds of new magnesium-based compounds have been proposed.