Micro-patterned deposition of MoS2 ultrathin-films by a controlled droplet dragging approach

Micropatterning of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) ultrathin-films and monolayers has been demonstrated by various multi-step approaches. However, directly achieving a patterned growth of TMDC films is still considered to be challenging. Here, we report a solution-based approach for the synthesis of patterned MoS2 layers by dragging a precursor solution droplet with variable velocities across a substrate. Utilizing the pronounced shearing velocity dependence in a Landau-Levich deposition regime, MoS2 films with a spatially modulated thickness with alternating mono/bi- and few-layer regions are obtained after precursor annealing. Generally, the presented facile methodology allows for the direct preparation of micro-structured functional materials, extendable to other TMDC materials and even van der Waals heterostructures.

Hydration breaking and chemical ordering in a levitated NaCl solution droplet beyond the metastable zone width limit: evidence for the early stage of two-step nucleation

This work provides evidence for two-step nucleation in highly supersaturated bulk NaCl solution, using electrostatic levitation combined with Raman/X-ray scatterings.

Growth of hopper-shaped CsPbCl3 crystals and their exciton polariton emission

We report hopper-shaped CsPbCl3 crystals grown in a solution droplet and the polariton emission from them.

A Numerical Investigation on Droplet Bag Breakup Behavior of Polymer Solution

The deformation and breakup of a polymer solution droplet plays a key role in inkjet printing technology, tablet-coating process, and other spray processes. In this study, the bag breakup behavior of the polymer droplet is investigated numerically. The simple coupled level set and volume of fluid (S-CLSVOF) method and the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technique are employed in the droplet breakup cases at different Weber numbers and Ohnesorge numbers. The nature of the polymer solution is handled using Herschel–Bulkley constitutive equations to describe the shear-thinning behavior. Breakup processes, external flow fields, deformation characteristics, energy evolutions, and drag coefficients are analyzed in detail. For the bag breakup of polymer droplets, the liquid bag will form an obvious reticular structure, which is very different from the breakup of a Newtonian fluid. It is found that when the aerodynamic force is dominant, the increase of the droplet viscous force will prolong the breakup time, but has little effect on the final kinetic energy of the droplet. Moreover, considering the large deformation of the droplet in the gas flow, a new formula with the cross-diameter (Dcro) is introduced to modify the droplet drag coefficient.

Electricity generation by sliding an ionic solution droplet on a self-assembled reduced graphene oxide film

A voltage at the millivolt level could be generated by moving ionic droplets on a partially reduced, smooth graphene oxide film.