The application of flexible indium tin oxide (ITO)-free electrochromic devices (FCDs) has always been a research hotspot in flexible electronics. Recently, a silver nanowire (AgNW)-based transparent conductive film has raised great interest as an ITO-free substrate for FCDs. However, several challenges, such as the weak binding of AgNWs to the substrate, high junction resistance, and oxidation of AgNWs, remain. In this paper, a novel method for surface modification of AgNWs with N-aminoethyl-γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane [Si(NH2)] solution is proposed to enhance the bonding with the flexible substrates and the active materials, thereby inhibiting the delamination of AgNWs from the substrate and reducing the high junction resistance between nanowires. The TiO2/AgNW-Si(NH2)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films show outstanding mechanical properties, of which the resistance remains almost unchanged after mechanical bending of 5000 cycles (R/R0 3.6%) and repeated peeling off cycles with 3M tape 100 times (R/R0 6.0%). In addition, we found that the oxygen-containing groups on the TiO2/AgNW-Si(NH2)/PET surface form hydrogen bonds with the TiO2 sol, resulting in tight contact between the TiO2 sol and the AgNWs, which prevents the AgNWs from oxidation. As a result, the TiO2/AgNW-Si(NH2)/PET film exhibited long-time aging (R/R0 4.9% in the air for 100 days) stability. A FCD was constructed with the TiO2/AgNW-Si(NH2)/PET film, which showed excellent electrochromic performance (94% retention) after 5000 bending cycles, indicating high stability and mechanical flexibility. These results present a promising solution to the transparent conductive films for flexible energy devices.
Soft-tissue replacements are challenging due to the stringent compliance requirements for the implanted materials in terms of biocompatibility, durability, high wear resistance, low friction, and water content. Acrylate hydrogels are worth considering as soft tissue implants as they can be photocurable and sustain customized shapes through 3D bioprinting. However, acrylate-based hydrogels present weak mechanical properties and significant dimensional changes when immersed in liquids. To address these obstacles, we fabricated double network (DN) hydrogels composed of polyacrylic acid (PAA) and bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BCNFs) by one fast UV photopolymerization step. BCNFs/PAA hydrogels with a 0.5 wt% BCNFs content present an increased stiffness and a lower, non-pH-dependent swelling than PAA hydrogels or PAA hydrogels with cellulose nanocrystals. Besides, BCNFs/PAA hydrogels are biocompatible and can be frozen/thawed. Those characteristics endorse these hybrid hydrogels as potential candidates for vascular and cartilage tissue implants.
We demonstrate temporal shape improvement of a short laser pulse using chirped aperiodic nonlinear frequency converter within an optical parametric amplifier. The aperiodic converter generated walk-off free high spatial quality pulse with ∼40% efficiency second harmonic while preserving the pump bandwidth. A <300 fs idler pulse was generated, with ∼10 nm central wavelength tunability around 1053 nm by pump generation and phase matching control. A pronounced contrast pedestal suppression of up to 40 dB was observed within a few picoseconds range around the peak. Such pedestal suppression has good scalability potential to high energies.
Gideon Rahat and Reuven Y. Hazan. 2022. “The Political System and Political Parties.” In Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Israel, edited by Guy Ben-Porat, Yariv Feniger, Dani Filc, Paula Kabalo, and Julia Mirsky. London: Routledge. Publisher's Version
The coronavirus pandemic has revived scholarly engagement with the concept of biopolitics, with interpretations diagnosing either the widespread adoption of a classic biopolitical regime or the full-blown emergence of totalitarian repression (or both of these simultaneously). Relying on a close analysis of different interventions taken by Israeli authorities in response to the pandemic, this article argues that, rather than classic biopolitical strategies, such governmental interventions are better understood in relation to a problem of actual uncertainty. The case of Israel demonstrates how state apparatuses responded to actual uncertainty with technologies that are linked to different rationalities and how these technologies enabled the creation and management of a new milieu. The article further argues that, in making and intervening upon this milieu, state apparatuses employed a particular normalisation strategy that is tied to a form of power that we term encapsulation.
Yoav Vaknin, Ron Shaar, Oded Lipschits, Amihai Mazar, Aren M Maeir, Yosef Garfinkel, Liora Freud, Avraham Faust, Ron E Tappy, Igor Kreimerman, and others. 2022. “Reconstructing biblical military campaigns using geomagnetic field data.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119, 44, Pp. e2209117119.
