Heavy Ion Research Articles

Effects of saturation and fluctuating hotspots for flow observables in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Effects of saturation and fluctuating hotspots for flow observables in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Weak magnetic field effect on dilepton polarization in heavy-ion collisions

Weak magnetic field effect on dilepton polarization in heavy-ion collisions

Asymmetrical Solar Wind Deflection in the Martian Magnetosheath

AbstractAs incident solar wind encounters the martian upper atmosphere, it undergoes deflection particularly in the magnetosheath. However, the plasma flow exhibits asymmetrical distribution features within this transition region, which is investigated by employing a three‐dimensional Hall magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model from an energy transfer perspective in this study. Simulation results reveal that solar wind protons transfer momentum to ionospheric heavy ions through motional electric field in the hemisphere where the motional electric field points outward from the planet. In the opposite hemisphere, solar wind flow tends to be effectively accelerated by ambipolar and Hall electric fields. The distinct dynamics of solar wind protons in both hemispheres result in the asymmetrical deflection. Furthermore, the extent of asymmetry grows as the cross‐flow component of the upstream interplanetary magnetic field increases, but diminishes as the density of the solar wind proton increases, contingent upon the energy effectively acquired from ambipolar and Hall electric fields.

Smartphone-assisted colorimetric sensor arrays based on nanozymes for high throughput identification of heavy metal ions in salmon

The rapid, precise, and high-throughput identification of multiple heavy metals ions holds immense importance in ensuring food safety and promoting public health. This study presents a novel smartphone-assisted colorimetric sensor array for the rapid and precise detection of multiple heavy metals ions. The sensor array is based on three signal recognition elements (AuPt@Fe-N-C, AuPt@N-C, and Fe-N-C) and the presence of different heavy metal ions affects the nanozymes-chromogenic substrate (TMB) catalytic color production, enabling the differentiation and quantification of various heavy metal ions. Combined with a smartphone-based RGB mode, the colorimetric sensor array can successfully identify five different heavy metal ions (Hg2+, Pb2+, Co2+, Cr6+, and Fe3+) as low as 0.5 μM and different ratios of binary and ternary mixed heavy metal ions in just 5 min. The sensor array successfully tested seawater and salmon samples with a total heavy metal content of 10 μM in the South China Sea (Haikou and Wenchang). Overall, this study highlights the potential of smartphone-assisted colorimetric sensor arrays for the rapid and precise detection of multiple heavy metal ions, which could significantly contribute to food safety and public health monitoring.

Investigating D0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D^0$$\\end{document} meson production in p-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV with a multi-phase transport model

We study the production of D0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D^0$$\\end{document} meson in p+p and p-Pb collisions using the improved AMPT model considering both coalescence and independent fragmentation of charm quarks after the Cronin broadening is included. After a detailed discussion of the improvements implemented in the AMPT model for heavy quark production, we show that the modified AMPT model can provide a good description of D0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D^0$$\\end{document} meson spectra in p-Pb collisions, the QpPb\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Q_{\ extrm{pPb}}$$\\end{document} data at different centralities and RpPb\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{\ extrm{pPb}}$$\\end{document} data in both mid- and forward (backward) rapidities. We also studied the effects of nuclear shadowing and parton cascade on the rapidity dependence of D0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D^{0}$$\\end{document} meson production and RpPb\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{\ extrm{pPb}}$$\\end{document}. Our results indicate that using the same strength of the Cronin effect (i.e δ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\delta $$\\end{document} value) as that obtained from the mid-rapidity data leads to a considerable overestimation of the D0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D^0$$\\end{document} meson spectra and RpPb\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{\ extrm{pPb}}$$\\end{document} data at high pT\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$p_{\ extrm{T}}$$\\end{document} in the backward rapidity. As a result, the δ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\delta $$\\end{document} is determined via a χ2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\chi ^2$$\\end{document} fitting of the RpPb\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$R_{\ extrm{pPb}}$$\\end{document} data across various rapidities. This work lays the foundation for a better understanding of cold-nuclear-matter (CNM) effects in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

Pseudoscalar heavy quarkonium production in heavy ion ultraperipheral collision

The inclusive production of pseudoscalar heavy quarkonia (ηc, ηb, and Bc) via photon-photon fusion in heavy ion ultraperipheral collision (UPC) are calculated to QCD next-to-leading order in the framework of nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD). The total cross section of ηc produced in Pb-Pb UPC is 194 nb and 1275 nb at nucleon-nucleon c.m. energies SNN=5.52 TeV and 39.4 TeV, respectively. The cross sections for ηb and Bc mesons are more than two to three orders of magnitude smaller. We make a detailed phenomenological analysis on the ηc production; the uncertainties caused by the renormalization scale and the charm quark mass, the cross sections in other ultraperipheral nucleon-nucleon colliding systems, and the transverse momentum distribution are discussed. At the coming HL-LHC and future FCC, the heavy ion UPC opens another door of the study on the production of heavy quarkonium. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

The Utilization of Carbonated Steel Slag as a Supplementary Cementitious Material in Cement

Carbon emission reduction and steel slag (SS) treatment are challenges in the steel industry. The accelerated carbonation of SS and carbonated steel slag (CSS) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cement can achieve both large-scale utilization of SS and CO2 emission reduction, which is conducive to low-carbon sustainable development. This paper presents the utilization status of CSS. The accelerated carbonation route and its effects on the properties of CSS are described. The carbonation reaction of SS leads to a decrease in the average density, an increase in the specific surface area, a refinement of the pore structure, and the precipitation of different forms of calcium carbonate on the CSS surface. Carbonation can increase the specific surface area of CSS by about 24–80%. The literature review revealed that the CO2 uptake of CSS is 2–27 g/100 g SS. The effects of using CSS as an SCM in cement on the mechanical properties, workability, volume stability, durability, environmental performance, hydration kinetics, and microstructure of the materials are also analyzed and evaluated. Under certain conditions, CSS has a positive effect on cement hydration, which can improve the mechanical properties, workability, bulk stability, and sulfate resistance of SS cement mortar. Meanwhile, SS carbonation inhibits the leaching of heavy metal ions from the solid matrix. The application of CSS mainly focuses on material strength, with less attention being given to durability and environmental performance. The challenges and prospects for the large-scale utilization of CSS in the cement and concrete industry are described.

Agricultural waste-based biochars for sustainable removal of heavy metals from stabilized landfill leachate.

In this work, biochars were used as adsorbents to remove Cu, Cd, and Zn ions in a real stabilized leachate from a controlled landfill. Oak fruit shells biochar (OFSBC) and date palm fibers biochar (DPFBC) were obtained by pyrolysis of oak fruit shells and date palm fibers at 700°C and 400°C, respectively. OFSBC and DPFBC showed well-developed structures and high specific surface areas (520.16 m2/g and 470.46 m2/g, respectively). Equilibrium adsorption of heavy metal ions on DPFBC and OFSBC occurred after 4h and 2h of stirring. The removal efficiencies of Cu, Cd, and Zn ions were 97.01%, 94.40%, and 80.59% with DPFBC and 90.10%, 88.33%, and 76.16% using OFSBC, respectively. The Avrami fractional order model was appropriate for describing kinetic adsorption. Increasing the dose of adsorbent improves heavy metal ion retention. Thermodynamic tests have proven the spontaneous and endothermic adsorption of these heavy metals. The electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, complexation, metal-π bending, and surface precipitation and pore filling were regarded as the most predominant heavy metal retention mechanisms from the landfill leachate onto the biochar surface. Separately, the DPFBC showed the best performance than OFSBC regarding the improvement of leachate quality. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), and phosphorus (P) were respectively removed at an efficiency of 53.57%, 29.17%, 36.07%, and 37.5%, respectively. Thus, the results allow highlighting that the adsorption on DPFBC and OFSBC can be an effective alternative in the practice of landfill leachate treatment.

Dihadron helicity correlation in photon-nucleus collisions

The helicity correlation of two back-to-back hadrons is a powerful tool that makes it possible to probe the longitudinal spin transfer G1L in unpolarized hadronic collisions. In this work, we investigate the helicity correlation of back-to-back dihadrons produced in photon-nucleus collisions with both spacelike and quasireal photons and explore its potential in understanding the flavor dependence of spin-dependent fragmentation functions. We present helicity amplitudes of partonic scatterings with both virtual and real photons and make numerical predictions for the dihadron helicity correlations at the future Electron Ion Collider experiment and the current Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider/LHC ultraperipheral collision experiment. Future experimental measurements can also illuminate the fragmentation function of circularly polarized gluons. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

The influence of acid treatment on the adsorption‑structural characteristics of filtering materials created based on steelmaking slag

Many industrial enterprises use electroplating processes that lead to the formation of water containing heavy metal ions such as chromium, copper, zinc, nickel, and others. Such water is a dangerous source of environmental pollution. Most heavy metal ions belong to hazard classes I–II, they have carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, and have a cumulative effect.The literature analysis showed that there is positive experience in the use of steelmaking slags in the processes of cleaning contaminated water of various origins from heavy metals.The study examines the effect of acid activation on the adsorption‑structural characteristics of filtering materials created based on steelmaking slag. It is shown that during the interaction of some acids with slag, new crystallographic phases are formedon its surface, and contact with other acids leads to the leaching of ions and their transition to the aqueous phase. It has been established that during acid activation, the specific surface area increases by 57–132 times compared to the original material.

Application of Electrospun Nanofiber-Based Electrochemical Sensors in Food Safety

Food safety significantly impacts public health and social welfare. Recently, issues such as heavy metal ions, drug residues, food additives, and microbial contamination in food have become increasingly prominent. Electrochemical sensing technology, known for its low cost, simplicity, rapid response, high sensitivity, and excellent selectivity, has been crucial in food safety detection. Electrospun nanofibers, with their high specific surface area, superior mechanical properties, and design flexibility, offer new insights and technical platforms for developing electrochemical sensors. This study introduces the fundamental principles, classifications, and detection mechanisms of electrochemical sensors, along with the principles and classifications of electrospinning technology. The applications of electrospun nanofiber-based electrochemical sensors in food safety detection over the past five years are detailed, and the limitations and future research prospects are discussed. Continuous innovation and optimization are expected to make electrospun nanofiber-based electrochemical sensors a key technology in rapid food safety detection, providing valuable references for expanding their application and advancing food safety detection methods.

Polarization effects of hot nuclear matter on the fusion of heavy ions

Within the framework of the modified density-dependent Seyler–Blanchard approach in the [Formula: see text] approximation, the polarization effects of hot nuclear matter (PEHNM) are investigated on the fusion process of 16 different colliding systems in the mass range [Formula: see text]. In order to calculate the nucleus–nucleus potential, we use the double-folding (DF) model supplemented with the thermal effects of compound nucleus and also a repulsive potential that takes into account the incompressibility of the nuclear matter. The calculations of the fusion cross-sections are performed based on the couplings to the low-lying [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] vibrational states in both target and projectile. The sensitivity of sub-barrier fusion cross-sections to the polarization effects is evident from this study. The obtained results reveal that the modified form of the DF potential in the presence of the PEHNM appropriately reproduces the energy-dependent behavior of the experimental fusion cross-sections for the studied reactions. The role of the polarization effects on the fusion barriers as well as the inner part of the potential is also discussed.

Adsorption characteristics and mechanisms of individual and a quinary mixture of heavy metal ions on novel CoFe2O4-BiFeO3 nanosorbents in water

Application of CoFe2O4-BiFeO3 nanocomposites (CFO-BFO NCs) in highly adsorptive removal of heavy metal ions (Pb(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II)) by individual and simultanoeous adsorption were investigated for the first time in the present study. The characterization of CFO-BFO NCs were analyzed by using XRD, VSM, SEM, TEM and BET techniques. The CFO-BFO NCs powder consists of characteristic peaks of BFO and CFO without any trace of other crystalline phases; they were uniformly dispersed with a size of about 3–5 nm, much smaller than single – phase CFO (10–25 nm) and BFO (5–10 µm) with the surface area of 84.93 m2/g; remanence and coercivity were 14.33 emu/g, 1.99 emu/g and 195 Oe, respectively, significantly decreased compared to CFO but significantly increased compared to BFO. The single or simultaneous adsorption of a quinary mixture of Pb(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) on CFO-BFO NCs followed the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Adsorption capacity of single heavy metal ions were in the order Pb(II) > Co(II) > Cu(II) > Cd(II) > Zn(II) while the simultaneous adsorption was in the order Pb(II) > Cu(II) > Co(II) > Zn(II) > Cd(II). The maximum adsorption capacities (qmax) of each ion in the case of simultaneous adsorption were smaller than that for cases of the single adsorption but the total qmax of ions mixture was much higher than the highest qmax of single adsorption. The simultaneous adsorption of heavy metal ions is the competition, the best selectivity is Pb(II) and the strongest competition is Cd(II), the adsorption ability reduces as the charge and radius of interfering cation increase and the ionic strength increases. The regeneration and reuse ability were good, while the adsorption efficiency slightly decreased over three recycles. The adsorption increased slightly as temperature increased. The adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. Adsorption of heavy metal ions on CFO-BFO NCs consists of both electrostatic and chemisorption. The applicability for real sample is good. Our results demonstrate that the CFO-BFO NCs is a prospective adsorbent to remove Pb(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) from aqueous environment.

Aqueous Afterglow Dispersion Enabling On‐Site Ratiometric Sensing of Mercury Ions

AbstractPollution caused by heavy metal ions has become a global issue owing to their severe threat to the ecological environment and human health. However, it remains a considerable challenge to detect heavy metal ions in an efficient, selective, and high signal‐to‐noise ratio way. Herein, a portable and sensitive method is presented to probe Hg2+ by using an ultralong afterglow dispersion. The in situ encapsulation of phosphorescent carbon dots (CDs) within rigid hydrogen‐bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) leads to ultralong room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in water with a maximum lifetime of up to 974.86 ms. Moreover, the resultant CDs@HOFs material exhibits robust and long‐term RTP emission with enhanced performance under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions, which contributes to the practical detection of Hg2+ in water. As such, an efficient and sensitive afterglow probe is facilely fabricated by integrating CDs@HOFs with a Hg2+ probe Rhodamine B derivative (RhBTh), demonstrating selective sensing of Hg2+ with greatly improved signal‐to‐noise ratios based on the triplet‐singlet Förster resonance energy transfer system (TS‐FRET). This work not only provides a reliable and versatile method for realizing robust RTP emission in water, but also expands the applications of afterglow materials in the field of optical sensing of toxic analytes.

COF-derived porous nitrogen-doped carbon for removal of emerging organic contaminants and efficient uranium extraction from seawater

The development of adsorbents for efficient and highly selective seawater extraction of uranium was instrumental in fostering sustainable progress in energy and addressing the prevailing energy crisis. However, the complex background composition of the marine environment, including radionuclides, organic pollutants, and a large number of co-existing heavy metal ions, were non-negligible obstacles to the extraction of uranium from seawater. The present investigation successfully employed a self-templated approach to synthesize porous nitrogen-doped carbon (PNC) derived from COF, which exhibited tremendous potential as an adsorbent for pollutant removal in environmental treatment. LZU1@PNC not only retained the structural features of the original COF-LZU1, but also overcame the acid-base instability problem commonly found in COFs. Subsequently, the removal process of two typical water pollutants on the material was investigated using 2,4-DCP and [UO2(CO3)3]4-. The results demonstrated that LZU1@PNC exhibited superior removal performance for the target pollutants compared to COF-LZU1, owing to its larger specific surface area and abundant defect structure. After six desorption-regeneration cycles, LZU1@PNC still maintained a high removal rate of the target contaminants, demonstrating the stability of this material and its excellent recyclability. In addition, based on various characterization techniques, the removal mechanism of 2,4-DCP was presumed to be mainly electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, and π-π stacking interactions. Conversely, the elimination process of [UO2(CO3)3]4- predominantly relied on surface complexation phenomena. The present investigation provided new perspectives and stimulated a broader study of other COF-derived carbon materials and their modifications as adsorbents for uranium extraction from seawater and other applications.

Hot and dense QCD shear viscosity at (almost) NLO

The next-to-leading order weak-coupling shear viscosity of QCD was computed 6 years ago. However, these results have never been applied at finite baryon chemical potential μ, even though intermediate-energy heavy ion collisions and merging neutron stars may explore the Quark-Gluon Plasma in a regime where baryon chemical potentials are large. Here, we extend the next-to-leading order shear viscosity calculations to finite μ, and we show that, while the convergence of the weak-coupling expansion is questionable for achievable plasmas, it is somewhat better at μ > T than at μ = 0.

Thermodynamics of a rotating hadron resonance gas with van der Waals interaction

Studying the thermodynamics of the systems produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions is crucial in understanding the QCD phase diagram. Recently, a new avenue has opened regarding the implications of large initial angular momentum and subsequent vorticity in the medium evolution in high-energy collisions. This adds a new type of chemical potential into the partonic and hadronic systems, called the rotational chemical potential. We study the thermodynamics of an interacting hadronic matter under rotation, formed in an ultra-relativistic collision. We introduce attractive and repulsive interactions through the van der Waals equation of state. Thermodynamic properties like the pressure (P), energy density (ε\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\varepsilon $$\\end{document}), entropy density (s), trace anomaly ((ε-3P)/T4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$(\\varepsilon - 3P)/T^{4}$$\\end{document}), specific heat (cv\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$c_\ extrm{v}$$\\end{document}) and squared speed of sound (cs2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$c_\ extrm{s}^{2}$$\\end{document}) are studied as functions of temperature (T) for zero and finite rotation chemical potential. The conserved charge fluctuations, which can be quantified by their respective susceptibilities, are also studied. The rotational (spin) density corresponding to the rotational chemical potential is explored. In addition, we explore the possible liquid–gas phase transition in the hadron gas with van der Waals interaction in the T – ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\omega $$\\end{document} phase space.

Swift heavy ion irradiation-induced enhancement of spin–orbit torque efficiency in Pt/Co/Ta trilayers

Increasing the efficiency of spin–orbit torque (SOT) is of great interest in applications for magnetic random access memory and logic devices due to decreased energy consumption. Here, we present that the SOT efficiency of Pt/Co/Ta films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy can be improved by swift high-energy heavy Fe11+ ion irradiation, which is an effective method to alter crystallinity, interface roughness, and defects in ferromagnet/heavy metal heterostructures. Specifically, the Pt/Co/Ta films show an optimal SOT efficiency at ion fluence around 1.0 × 1013 ions/cm2 with the largest spin Hall angles reaching 0.59, which is the largest improvement of spin Hall angle by ion irradiation compared to previous studies using light ions. We demonstrate that the increase in SOT efficiency arises from structural changes in the Pt layer due to ion irradiation-induced damage effects at proper fluence, while the decrease in SOT efficiency is mainly attributed to the restoration of Pt crystallinity induced by beam-heating effects at high fluence. This work demonstrates that an appropriate ion irradiation process could improve the SOT efficiency and the spin Hall angle, thereby providing a way to develop future SOT-based spintronic devices.

TEM and DFT calculation on the nanostructure and self-cleaning performance of in-situ grown Zn-doped graphene-based films

Graphene, g-C3N4/graphene (NG), CF2-modified g-C3N4/graphene (FNG) films were in situ grown on roving fabric via PECVD, in which Zinc nanoparticles (Zn-NPs) acted as an enhancer integrated by a following chemical method. The nanostructures were revealed by high-resolution TEM, the self-cleaning performance in Zn(NO3)2 solution was evaluated, and the interaction model was established with DFT calculation. Results show that the NG@Zn-NPs film presents tightly bound zinc nanoparticles, which are stacked with the NG; whereas the FNG@Zn-NPs film is enriched with the F atoms, which alleviate stacking structure and improves bonding force of Zn-NPs with the FNG surface. The heavy metal ions are efficiently precipitated through the NG@Zn-NPs and FNG@Zn-NPs films. Moreover, the superhydrophobicity of FNG@Zn-NPs film is enhanced by the charge density around the CF2 functional groups, which further improves self-cleaning performance.

Novel Type of Non‐Toxic, Degradable, Luminescent Ratiometric Thermometers Based on Dyes Embedded in Disulfide‐Bridged Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Particles

AbstractDespite the excellent thermometric performance of many developed luminescent nanomaterials, their use has not gone beyond proof‐of‐concept in vivo experiments to date. An important issue that needs to be resolved before moving toward true biomedical applications of engineered nanothermometers is their potential toxicity and bioaccumulation in the human body considering the ultimate objective of clinical applications. Since most reported nanothermometers currently are not degradable materials and are mainly based on the incorporation of heavy metal ions, these aspects remain of genuine concern in the fields of nanomedicine, nanobiotechnology, nanotoxicology, and nanopharmacology. This work explores the possibility of designing visible, as well as near‐infrared, emitting luminescent ratiometric nanothermometers based on appropriate organic dye mixtures embedded in hollow disulfide‐bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) particles. Such hybrid particles show excellent thermometric performance in the physiological temperature range (20–50 °C), favorable degradability in simulated physiological conditions, as well as no toxicity to healthy normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cells in a wide concentration range. Considering the simplicity of the approach from the synthetic point of view, and the large available library of known fluorescent dyes emitting in various regions of the electromagnetic range, this motif renders a very promising approach to designing novel non‐toxic, decomposable, luminescent ratiometric thermometers.