Highly ordered arrays of hat-shaped hierarchical nanostructures with different curvatures for sensitive SERS and plasmon-driven catalysis

Regulation of hot spots exhibits excellent potential in many applications including nanolasers, energy harvesting, sensing, and subwavelength imaging. Here, hat-shaped hierarchical nanostructures with different space curvatures have been proposed to enhance hot spots for facilitating surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and plasmon-driven catalysis applications. These novel nanostructures comprise two layers of metal nanoparticles separated by hat-shaped MoS2 films. The fabrication of this hybrid structure is based on the thermal annealing and thermal evaporation of self-assembled polystyrene spheres, which are convenient to control the metal particle size and the curvature of hat-shaped nanostructures. Based on the narrow gaps produced by the MoS2 films and the curvature of space, the constructed platform exhibits superior SERS capability and achieves ultrasensitive detection for toxic molecules. Furthermore, the surface catalytic conversion of p-nitrothiophenol (PNTP) to p, p′-dimercaptobenzene (DMAB) was in situ monitored by the SERS substrate. The mechanism governing this regulation of hot spots is also investigated via theoretical simulations.

Effects of Gap Resonance on the Hydrodynamics and Dynamics of a Multi-Module Floating System with Narrow Gaps

Multi-module floating system has attracted much attention in recent years as ocean space utilization becomes more demanding. This type of structural system has potential applications in the design and construction of floating piers, floating airports and Mobile Offshore Bases (MOBs) generally consists of multiple modules with narrow gaps in which hydrodynamic interactions play a non-neglected role. This study considers a numerical model consisting of several rectangular modules to study the hydrodynamics and dynamics of the multi-module floating system subjected to the waves. Based on ANSYS-AQWA, both frequency-domain and time-domain simulations are performed to analyze the complex multi-body hydrodynamic interactions by introducing artificial damping on the gap surfaces. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of the gap width, shielding effects of the multi-body system, artificial damping ratio on the gap surface, and the dependency of the hydrodynamic interaction effect on wave headings is clarified. Based on the results, it is found that the numerical analysis based on the potential flow theory with artificial damping introduced can produce accurate results for the normal wave period range. In addition, the effects of artificial damping on the dynamics and connector loads are investigated by using a simplified RMFC model. For the case of adding an artificial damping ratio of 0.2, the relative heave and pitch motions are found to be reduced by 33% and 50%, respectively. In addition, the maximum cable and fender forces are found to be reduced by 50%, compared with the case without viscosity correction.

Essential Electronic Properties of Silicon Nanotubes

In this work, the various electronic properties of silicon nanotubes (SiNTs) were investigated by the density functional theory. The cooperative and competitive relationships between the chiral angle, periodic boundary conditions, and multi-orbital hybridizations create unusual narrow gaps and quasi-flat bands in the ultra-small armchair and zigzag tubes, respectively. The features varied dramatically with tube radii. Armchair SiNTs (aSiNTs) have an indirect-to-direct band gap transition as their radius is increased to a particular value, while zigzag SiNTs (zSiNTs) present a metal-semiconductor transition. The projected density of states was used to elucidate the critical transitions, and the evolution of p and s orbital mixing states during the process are discussed in detail. The information presented here provides a better understanding of the essential properties of SiNTs.

Hydrodynamic Model and Tidal Current Energy Potential in Lepar Strait, Indonesia

Previous studies have shown the abundance of tidal energy resources in Indonesia. However, some sites have yet to be considered. The Lepar Strait, for example, is located between Bangka and Lepar Islands. This paper describes a field survey and numerical modelling conducted in the Lepar Strait. The modelling was performed using Delft3D, with the aim of determining potential sites for harvesting tidal current energy and estimate the generated power. In the modelling, the domain decomposition method was employed for model downscaling, allowing grid resolution reaching 130 x 130 m2, which is sufficient to represent the narrow gaps between tiny islands in the area of interest. The National Bathymetric (Batnas) from the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) tide constituents were applied for the bathymetry and tide elevation boundaries. The comparison between the surveyed and modelled data showed a good agreement. The RMSE and r for water level are > 0.95 and < 0.15, and the RMSE for velocity was <0.19. Furthermore, an energetic flow reaching 1.5 m/s was found at the Northern part of Lepar Strait, situated at the narrow gaps. The Gorlov Helical Turbine was selected in this study due to shallow water and low mean velocity. In the 2019 model, the power density and power output at the best potential sites were 2,436.94 kWh/m2 and 1,870.41 kWh, respectively. This number is higher than those previously found in Kelabat Bay. Nonetheless, it is still far below the currently promising project in Larantuka and Lombok Straits. Future research is recommended, to conduct a detailed field measurement campaign and assess the impact of energy extraction in more detail.

Confinement Effect of Plasmon for the Fabrication of Interconnected AuNPs through the Reduction of Diazonium Salts

This paper describes a rapid bottom-up approach to selectively functionalize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate using the plasmon confinement effect. The plasmonic substrates based on a AuNP-free surfactant were fabricated by electrochemical deposition. Using this bottom-up technique, many sub-30 nm spatial gaps between the deposited AuNPs were randomly generated on the ITO substrate, which is difficult to obtain with a top-down approach (i.e., E-beam lithography) due to its fabrication limits. The 4-Aminodiphenyl (ADP) molecules were grafted directly onto the AuNPs through a plasmon-induced reduction of the 4-Aminodiphenyl diazonium salts (ADPD). The ADP organic layer preferentially grew in the narrow gaps between the many adjacent AuNPs to create interconnected AuNPs. This novel strategy opens up an efficient technique for the localized surface modification at the nanoscale over a macroscopic area, which is anticipated to be an advanced nanofabrication technique.

Computational Sub-10 nm Plasmonic Nanogap Patterns by Block Copolymer Self-Assembly

Plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) arrays with narrow gaps have been suggested as an effective light collection solution for plasmonic structures. For an effective low-cost bottom-up strategy, block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly with evaporative metal-deposition is mentioned as one of the best effective ways to produce Au NP arrays with narrow gaps. In this paper, BCP self-assembly for nanopost-template arrays and metal-deposition over the nanotemplate surface for positional arrangement of Au NPs are described using a self-consistent field theory (SCFT) and a level-set method, respectively. According to the of BCP self-assembly simulation results, both the diameter of the cylinder post and gap size become larger due to the increase of polymerization degree (N). However, these parameters become smaller in terms of the increase of the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter χ. For plasmonic phenomena about a top-down incident wavelength of 600-nm, according to a rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA), although the electric field around a single spherical post becomes larger at smaller diameter, there is no top-down plasmonic phenomenon at a gap size of 10-nm between nanoposts.

Performance Improvement of High-speed Edm and Ecm Combined Process by Using a Helical Tube Electrode With Matched Internal and External Flushing

Micro-hole fabrication at a high speed and accuracy of machining while maintaining high surface quality is challenging. A core difficulty is the removal of the products of machining from extremely narrow gaps. To solve this problem, this study proposes an approach that combines high-speed electrical discharge machining (EDM) with electrochemical machining (ECM) by using a helical tube electrode with matched internal and external flushing. During high-speed electrical discharge drilling, matching the internal flushing with the clockwise rotation of the helical electrode can help remove debris from the bottom of the blind hole. During ECM, matching the external flushing with the anticlockwise rotation of the helical electrode can improve the flow of electrolyte in the gap. First, the flow field was simulated to show that matching the internal and external flushing of the helical electrode can enhance the flow of the medium and reduce particle concentration in extremely narrow gaps. Second, a series of experiments were conducted to verify that the taper of the hole and the surface quality of its wall can be improved by using the helical tube electrode. Finally, an experiment was carried out to optimize the machining parameters, and yielded a minimum taper of 0.008 at a speed of rotation of 460 rpm, and pressures of internal and external flushing of 9 MPa and 4 MPa, respectively.