Aligned Structure Research Articles

ZnO nanorods loading with fatty amine as composite PCMs device for efficient light-to-thermal and electro-to-thermal conversion

Phase change materials (PCMs) with ideal light-to-thermal conversion efficiency play an important role in solar energy storage and conversion. Hence, we report the fabrication of a novel composite PCMs (CPCMs) device based on ZnO nanorods deposited indium tin oxide (ITO) glass loading with fatty amines. ZnO nanorods were deposited on the ITO glass using a three-electrode electrodeposition method, and 1-Hexadecylamine (HDA) was loaded on the ITO glass via spin-coating, followed by spraying polypyrrole (ppy) on the surface of CPCM device to improve thermal conductivity and solar absorption. The as-prepared CPCM device exhibits excellent light-to-thermal conversion efficiency, achieving a high conversion efficiency of 90.2% obtained at 1sun owing to its high light absorption (80%), enhanced thermal conductivity (improved by 57.8%), and the unique vertical aligned nanorods structure which could significantly decrease tortuosity, thereby reducing thermal route and lowering thermal response time. Furthermore, the electro-to-thermal conversion efficiency of the CPCMs device has also been investigated and the results show that it can reach up to 69.8% under a low voltage of 5 V, indicating that the CPCM device has a high potential in the field of electro-to-thermal conversion. Based on the benefits listed above, the CPCM device may serve an ideal platform for a wide range of solar energy storage and conversion applications.

Environmental Friendly Fabrication of Porous Cement Membranes via Reusable Camphene-Based Freeze-Casting Method.

Inorganic membranes have been developed rapidly in recent years because of excellent anti-fouling performance, high mechanical strength and outstanding resistances to acid and alkali. However, the high production cost still restricts its large-scale industrial application. In this work, an environmental friendly unidirectional freezing method via introducing camphene as a reusable template was adapted to prepare porous cement membranes (PCMs). The naturally formed and highly aligned porous structures of PCMs could be divided into three parts: a dense layer, a transition layer and a supporting layer. With the solid content rising from 40 wt.% to 60 wt.%, the pore size of the PCMs decreased from 3.34 nm to 3.62 nm, the bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection increased from 81.3% to 93.5% and water flux decreased from 346.8 L·m−2·h−1 to 167.3 L·m−2·h−1 (0.2 MPa). Significantly, the performance of PCMs was maintained; even the camphene was reused 20 times. Additionally, the recovery rate of camphene could be reached up to 97.16%. Therefore, this method is cost effective and environmental friendly, which endowed the PCMs great potential in water treatment.

Effect of Graphite Nanoplatelets Content and Distribution on the Electromagnetic Shielding Attenuation Mechanisms in 2D Nanocomposites

Bidimensional nanomaterials, such as graphene, respond to the rising demand for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials, followed by the advancements in wireless technology and increased signal sensitivity in electronic devices, especially for the safety of aircraft and other structures. Lightweight nanocomposites reinforced with 2D carbonaceous nanofillers can replace metals thanks to their ability to attenuate electromagnetic waves and low susceptibility to corrosion. In this work, the EMI shielding properties in the X band (8–12 GHz) of high content graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanocomposites have been investigated. Both the effect of filler content and the nanoarchitecture have been studied. For this purpose, two different configurations have been considered, compact and porous, varying the filler content (from 10 wt% to 90 wt%) and the thickness of the samples. Specifically, four different systems have been tested: thin (i) and thick (ii) compact laminates and thin (iii) and thick (iv) porous coatings. The morphology of the material significantly influences its electromagnetic response in terms of reflection and absorption capacity. Maximum effective absorption of 80% was found for disordered structures, while a maximum reflection of about 90% was found for system highly aligned structures.

Rational design of stretchable and highly aligned organic/inorganic hybrid nanofiber films for multidirectional strain sensors and solar-driven thermoelectrics

Electrospinning technology is an effective and simple approach to prepare nanofiber films, which has been widely used in the wearable electronics based on energy harvesting. However, their application in the field of thermoelectrics is rarely reported mainly due to the ultralow performance and difficulty in maintaining temperature difference. Herein, we have designed highly aligned organic/inorganic hybrid nanofiber films with excellent stretchability and thermoelectric performance via electrospinning technology and surface coating methods. The aligned structure is beneficial to fast carrier transportation, in which a sevenfold increase in power factor is achieved as compared with the random structure. Additionally, novel radiative-cooling photothermal-heating electrodes are successfully designed to fabricate solar-driven thermoelectric generators based on the unique aligned nanofiber structure, providing a new concept to build in-plane temperature difference for ultrathin-film-based thermoelectrics. Furthermore, two highly aligned organic/inorganic hybrid nanofiber films are stacked orthogonally to assemble multidirectional strain sensors, which can distinguish the complex motion of human joints. These findings will inspire the future development and application of electrospun nanofiber-based thermoelectrics in the next-generation wearable electronics.

A novel approach to mechanical characterization of pharmaceutical lyospheres

Lyosphere has been broadly used to deliver chemical and biotherapeutic entities. However, the fragile nature of lyospheres can result in challenges in operation, and there is no comprehensive understanding of its strength to resist directional stress. This research was aimed to develop an appropriate approach to comprehensively evaluate lyospheres' strength. An innovative method was developed to probe the shear strength of lyospheres employing a highly sensitive rheometer bundled with a bespoke 3D-printed holder. It is found that fracture energy could be considered as an appropriate descriptor for mechanical performance of lyospheres. At different RH, the strength of lyospheres was inversely proportional to the residual moisture content. Microstructure of lyospheres is found to be critical to explain the anisotropic mechanical properties. An aligned honeycomb-like structure was shown to directly correlate different fracturing-modes (buckling, collapsing and scissoring). The methods and results should provide insight for controlling lyospherical strength through formulation and processing. • An innovative mechanistic characterization was developed to study lyospheres. • Shear strength of fragile lyosphere is characterized for the first time. • The first report of humidity impact on mechanical properties of lyospheres. • Fracture-energy is identified as the best descriptor for the strength of lyospheres • An aligned honeycomb microstructure of lyospheres was revealed for the first time.

Electrospun aligned poly(ε-caprolactone) nanofiber yarns guiding 3D organization of tendon stem/progenitor cells in tenogenic differentiation and tendon repair.

Hierarchical anisotropy structure directing 3D cellular orientation plays a crucial role in designing tendon tissue engineering scaffolds. Despite recent development of fabrication technologies for controlling cellular organization and design of scaffolds that mimic the anisotropic structure of native tendon tissue, improvement of tenogenic differentiation remains challenging. Herein, we present 3D aligned poly (ε-caprolactone) nanofiber yarns (NFYs) of varying diameter, fabricated using a dry-wet electrospinning approach, that integrate with nano- and micro-scale structure to mimic the hierarchical structure of collagen fascicles and fibers in native tendon tissue. These aligned NFYs exhibited good in vitro biocompatibility, and their ability to induce 3D cellular alignment and elongation of tendon stem/progenitor cells was demonstrated. Significantly, the aligned NFYs with a diameter of 50 μm were able to promote the tenogenic differentiation of tendon stem/progenitor cells due to the integration of aligned nanofibrous structure and suitable yarn diameter. Rat tendon repair results further showed that bundled NFYs encouraged tendon repair in vivo by inducing neo-collagen organization and orientation. These data suggest that electrospun bundled NFYs formed by aligned nanofibers can mimic the aligned hierarchical structure of native tendon tissue, highlighting their potential as a biomimetic multi-scale scaffold for tendon tissue regeneration.

Fabrication of hierarchically porous silicon carbonitride monolith using branched polysilazane and freeze casting method without crosslinking step: Effect of polymer additive to aligned macropore structure

AbstractA hierarchically porous SiCN monolith with aligned macropores was prepared using a branch‐structured polysilazane, silsesquiazane (SSQZ), as a precursor and polymer additive, through the freeze casting method. As polymer additives, polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate), which have different compatibilities with SSQZ, were used to confirm the effect on the pore formation. In addition, the pore formability according to the molecular weight was investigated using PSs with different molecular weights. When the SSQZ and high‐molecular‐weight PS (HPS) were used, a porous SiCN with micro/meso/macropore structure could be fabricated because of the structural stability of the SSQZ and high molecular weight of HPS. The hierarchically porous SiCN monolith was successfully manufactured using SSQZ and HPS with 639 m2/g of specific surface area, 0.36 cm3/g of pore volume, and 2.1 nm of average pore size. The hierarchically porous SiCN monolith with high HPS content has improved dimensional stability to show its compressive fracture energy.

Selective adsorption and efficient degradation of oil pollution by microorganisms immobilized natural biomass aerogels with aligned channels

Efficient elimination of organic pollution from wastewater is of great importance for sustainable human development. In this paper, natural biomass of lotus root (LR) and sorghum straw (SS), which showed aligned structure after treatment, was used to prepare efficient, low-cost, selective adsorption and self-floating microbial immobilization materials by hydrophobic modification assembly for the efficient degradation of diesel. By immobilizing microorganisms in aligned structured lotus flower (ALR) and sorghum straw (ASS) aerogels, hydrophobically modifying the aerogel surfaces with SiO2/PDMS, and assembling them with polyurethane foam to form hydrophobically immobilized microbial bilayer structured self-floating composites (SA6-ALR4@SiO2/PDMS and SA6-ASS4@SiO2/PDMS), diesel in water can be selectively adsorbed for biodegradation. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of diesel degradation process were investigated by treating oily wastewater and the effect of different carriers on microbial tolerance under different factors (temperature, pH, degradation substrate concentration, salinity) was examined. The results showed that the different carriers were effective in the degradation of diesel. However, the rich vertical aligned channels and excellent self-floating characteristics of SA6-ALR4@SiO2/PDMS accelerated the mass transfer rate between microorganisms and pollutants, achieving a high degradation rate of 96.25% for diesel in 276 h, which was better than that of 33.06% for free microorganisms under the same conditions. The degradation of oily wastewater by immobilized microorganisms follows first order kinetics. Moreover, this degradation process is spontaneous and the ΔG value is less than 0 at different temperatures. Compared with the existing methods using natural biomass to treat oily wastewater or applying only free microorganisms for biodegradation to remove oily wastewater, these methods have the disadvantages of poor selective adsorption, easy settling and low efficiency. It has greater advantages and application potential in on-site oil spill accident treatment, and opens up an effective green channel for the purification of oily wastewater.

Vertical Alignment of Anisotropic Fillers Assisted by Expansion Flow in Polymer Composites

HighlightsThe vertically aligned structures of anisotropic fillers (using 2D boron nitride (BN) platelets as a proof-of-concept) in composites are constructed assisted by the expansion flow.BN platelets in composites are aligned in a curved shape that includes vertical alignment in the central area and horizontal alignment close to strip surfaces.The shape of expansion channels affects the vertical orientation order and the through-plane thermal conductivity of composites.

Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensor Using Cholesteric Liquid Crystals on the Optical Fiber Ferrules.

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) can be applied to various physical and chemical sensors because their alignment structures are changed by external stimuli. Here, we propose a CLC device fabricated by vertically forming the helical axis of the CLC between the cross-sections of two optical fiber ferrules. An optical fiber temperature sensor was successfully implemented using the proposed optical fiber ferrule-based CLC device. A wideband wavelength-swept laser with a center wavelength of 1073 nm and scanning range of 220 nm was used as a light source to measure the variations in the reflection spectrum band according to the temperature change in the CLC cell. The wavelength variation of the reflection spectrum band according to the temperature applied to the CLC cell was reversible and changed linearly with a change in the temperature, and the long-wavelength edge variation rate according to the temperature change was −5.0 nm/°C. Additionally, as the temperature applied to the CLC cell increased, the reflection spectrum bandwidth gradually decreased; the reflection spectrum bandwidth varied at a rate of −1.89 nm/°C. The variations in the refractive indices with temperature were calculated from the band wavelengths of the reflection spectrum. The pitch at each temperature was calculated based on the refractive indices and it gradually decreased as the temperature increased.

Rheology-Guided Assembly of a Highly Aligned MXene/Cellulose Nanofiber Composite Film for High-Performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Infrared Stealth.

Delicately aligned structures of two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets have demonstrated positive effects on applications, especially in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and infrared (IR) stealth. However, precise regulation of structural assembly by theory-guided solution processing is still a great challenge. Herein, one-dimensional (1D) cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) with a high aspect ratio are applied as a reinforcing agent and a rheological modifier for MXene/CNF colloids to fabricate aligned MXene-based materials for EMI shielding and IR stealth. Notably, a systematical rheological study of the MXene/CNF colloids is proposed to determine the optimal solution-processing conditions for finely oriented component arrangement requirements and provides in-depth information on the interactions between the components. The delicately regulated orientation structure assembled by shear inducement is convincingly demonstrated through micro-CT and wide-angle X-ray diffraction/small-angle X-ray scattering (WAXD/SAXS), which endows the MXene/CNF film with a significantly enhanced electrical conductivity of 46 685 S m-1, a tensile strength of 281.7 MPa, and Young's modulus of 14.8 GPa. Furthermore, the highly aligned structure of the ultrathin film possesses a great enhancement in EMI shielding effectiveness (50.2 dB) and IR stealth (0.562 emissivity). These findings provide a fruitful understanding of the optimized fabrication in solution processing of high-performance MXene-based functional composite films and open up a great opportunity for the development of multifunctional stealth materials.

Improved photocatalytic performance of gradient reduced TiO2 ceramics with aligned pore channels

Magnéli, a fascinating sub-stoichiometric titanium oxide phase that contains oxygen vacancies of TiO 2 , is proposed as a potential photo-electrode for photocatalysis due to its high conductivity and photoelectric conversion efficiency. In this work, partially reduced porous TiO 2 ceramics with a graded reduction profile and an aligned pore structure were prepared by carbo-thermal reduction of freeze-cast TiO 2 with a range of porosities from 10 to 30 ​vol.%. AC conductivity evaluation revealed that the oxygen vacancies that exist in Magnéli lead to a relatively high AC conductivity of ∼10 ​S/m at 1 ​kHz, as compared to that of the stoichiometric porous TiO 2 . A maximum photocurrent density and incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of 9.14 ​mA/cm 2 and 40.52% respectively were achieved from the gradient porous Magnéli with a porosity of 30 ​vol.%.

Bubble freeze casting artificial rattan

Although bioinspired technology is expected to play an important role in the discovery of prospective advanced materials, facile synthesis of large-scale bioinspired structural materials remains a major challenge. Here we introduce a new all-in-one design methodology, bubble freeze casting, a universally applicable strategy to assemble building units via the simultaneous growth of aligned bubbles and ordered ice crystals, for fabricating biomimetic structural materials with multiscale long-range aligned microchannels. Through in-situ microscopy, we captured the nucleation-growth process of bubbles during bubble freeze casting, and revealed the formation mechanism and controllable factors of the bubble. This work takes an important step toward realistic rattan-like multiscale aligned microchannel structures and may have a broad implication in design of future biomimetic multiscale structural materials. We expect this methodology to be used to assemble a wide variety of building units (e.g., polymers, ceramic powders, various nanoparticles) for fabricating versatile multiscale aligned porous materials, which are in demand for a range of applications, such as ultrafast liquid absorption, microfluidics, electrodes and solar-driven steam generation.

Harvest of quality-controlled bovine myogenic cells and biomimetic bovine muscle tissue engineering for sustainable meat production

Alternative technology for meat production holds the potential to alleviate ethical, environmental, and public health concerns associated with conventional meat production. Cultured meat produced using cell culture technology promises to become a viable alternative to animal-raised meat for the future of the food industry. In this study, biomimetic bovine muscle tissue was artificially fabricated from myogenic cells extracted from bovine meat. Our primary culture method relies on three key factors; a sequential digesting process, enzymatic treatment with pronase, and coating with laminin fragment on culture dishes. This method allows the efficient collection of large numbers of primary cells from bovine cheek meat, purifies the myogenic cells from the cell mixture, and then continuously grows the myogenic cells in vitro. In addition, using our “quality control” methods, we were able to determine the “cell quality”, including the proliferative and differentiation capability in each step of the primary culture. Furthermore, to mimic native bovine meat, the quality-controlled bovine myogenic cells were cultured on a micropatterned thermoresponsive substrate stimulating a native-like aligned structure of cells, which were then transferred onto a fibrin-based gel. This gel-based culture environment promoted structural and functional maturation of the myogenic cells, resulting in the production of bovine muscle tissues with sarcomere structures, native-like membrane structures, and contractile ability. We believe that these biomimetic features of “tissue-engineered meat” are important for the production of future cultured meat, which will need native-like nutrients, texture and taste. Therefore, our meat production approach will provide a new platform to produce more native biomimetic tissue-engineered meat in the near future.

EV flexibility trading in the electricity market

The rapid development of electric vehicles (EVs) poses significant challenges for the electricity systems. EV flexibility ( e.g., smart charging and vehicle-to-grid services) plays a crucial role in enabling system operators to integrate renewable generation, thus facilitating Net-Zero carbon targets. Market measures are of great help to incorporate EV flexibility for electricity system operation requirements. It should be fairly rewarded when providing various services to the electricity system. EV flexibility trading effectively supports the integration of renewable energy resources (RERs) and uncertain demand. This paper investigates EV flexibility values for the electricity system, the aligned market structures and trading mechanisms. An example demonstration demonstrates that integrating EV flexibility in the centralized dual-stage electricity market notably decreases the average balancing cost, enabling more efficient operation.

Nanostructured block copolymer muscles.

High-performance actuating materials are necessary for advances in robotics, prosthetics and smart clothing. Here we report a class of fibre actuators that combine solution-phase block copolymer self-assembly and strain-programmed crystallization. The actuators consist of highly aligned nanoscale structures with alternating crystalline and amorphous domains, resembling the ordered and striated pattern of mammalian skeletal muscle. The reported nanostructured block copolymer muscles excel in several aspects compared with current actuators, including efficiency (75.5%), actuation strain (80%) and mechanical properties (for example, strain-at-break of up to 900% and toughness of up to 121.2 MJ m-3). The fibres exhibit on/off rotary actuation with a peak rotational speed of 450 r.p.m. Furthermore, the reported fibres demonstrate multi-trigger actuation (heat and hydration), offering switchable mechanical properties and various operating modes. The versatility and recyclability of the polymer fibres, combined with the facile fabrication method, opens new avenues for creating multifunctional and recyclable actuators using block copolymers.

Hierarchically and wood-like cyclodextrin aerogels with enhanced thermal insulation and wide spectrum acoustic absorption

Environmentally friendly aerogels with high performance and multifunction are the next generation of materials with potential applications in thermal insulation and acoustic absorption. It is a great challenge to make a material combining excellent specific strength, good thermal conductivity and low-frequency sound absorption properties, because these properties often have contradictory structural requirements. In this study, we develop a new strategy to resolve the above problem by preparing β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) aerogel with a hierarchical and wood-like porous structure. The unique vertically arranged lamellar structure with the “bridge” between the lamellar not only reduces the solid heat conduction and heat transfer effectively, but also gives β-CD aerogels (BRAA) superior mechanical properties. As a result, the radial thermal conductivity of BRAA is as low as 0.016 W m−1K−1, and the ultra-light aerogel BRAA can withstand nearly 3000 times its own weight. Furthermore, BRAA exhibits outstanding low-frequency sound absorption performance (sound absorption coefficient up to 0.995 at 750 Hz) due to its hierarchical and aligned porous structure. In addition, BRAAs show excellent environmental friendliness since biomass CD as raw materials and have good regenerative ability.

Bioactive Fish Scale Scaffolds with MSCs-Loading for Skin Flap Regeneration.

Skin flap transplantations are common methods for covering and repairing tissue defects in surgery, while the survival rates of these skin flaps are still low due to the vascular crisis and necrosis. To improve this situation, herein a novel biohybrid scaffold is proposed by integrating the advantages of anisotropic fish scales and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for skin flap regeneration. The fish scale scaffold is obtained through its decellularization and decalcification processes, which reserved intact collagen, glycosaminoglycan, and other endogenous growth factors for MSCs and human vascular endothelial cells proliferation. As the scaffold maintains intrinsic anisotropic structures on both surfaces, the proliferative cells can be elongated along the aligned structures on the fish scale, which endow them the capacity to differentiate into multiple directions. Based on these features, it is demonstrated from an in vivo experiment that the MSCs‐loading fish scale scaffolds can effectively convert the activated inflammatory macrophages into anti‐inflammatory properties, reduce the inflammation around the flap, and improve the survival rate. These results indicate that the MSCs‐loading fish scale scaffold is suitable and has the potential for skin flap regeneration and functional recovery.

Self-Assembly of Nanowires: From Dynamic Monitoring to Precision Control.

Natural biomaterials often show ordered nanowire structures (ONWS) which display unique structural color or superior mechanical performance. Meanwhile, plenty of modern nanodevices with ONWS have flourished with activities focused on both basic and applied research. Manipulating synthetic nanowire (NW) from a disordered state to a hierarchically ordered structure via various assembly strategies brings about intriguing and exotic chemical/physical properties. In the past decades, many methods have been developed to assemble NWs and fabricate organized architectures, such as Langmuir-Blodgett interfacial assembly, spin-coating assembly, fluid-flow-induced assembly, and ice-template assembly. Nevertheless, for practical applications, large-scale and high-efficiency assembly strategies toward precise controlled architectures are largely limited by the lack understanding of assembly mechanisms. Especially, the manipulation principles and driving forces behind the state-of-art assembly strategies are still unclear. Besides, the lesser research attention on dynamic kinetics also impedes the revelation of the NW self-assembly mechanism. With the emergence of advanced in situ techniques, such as synchrotron-based X-ray techniques and in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the dynamic monitoring of NW behavior in many practical environments becomes possible. In addition, the alignment direction and the stacking manner of NW film are of significance to the final performance. There is a lack of connection between the properties of one-dimensional nanoscale building blocks and the functionalities of the macro-assembly structures. To this end, dynamic monitoring is highly desired, which enables the precision modulation of NW assembly structure, leading to the discovery or prediction of new structures, novel properties, and performance optimization.In this Account, we aim to uncover the underlying kinetics of NW assembly or local reaction and mass transportation processes, as well as to build a solid connection from individual NWs to NW assembly structures with enhanced properties and eventually to macroscopic materials application. We first review the recent progress in state-of-art NW assembly strategies for diverse aligned structures according to the manipulation principle and the driving forces. To systematically review the NW self-assembly strategies, we categorize these strategies into three states: NWs on the liquid interface via surface tension, NW assembly in liquid via solution-shearing flow field, and NW assembly at the solid interval via physical repulsive force. Then, we introduce the existing advanced characterization techniques, including synchrotron-based X-ray scattering and in situ TEM, to dynamically monitor the intermediate states of the NW assembly and transport processes. The comprehensive understanding of this thermodynamic and kinetic mechanism facilitates the rational design, large scale, and high-efficiency fabrication of NW assemblies, thus promoting their applications in tailored optical-electrical electronics, smart electrochromic devices, electrocatalysis, structural materials, and chiral photonic crystals.

A reassessment of Arundian–Holkerian (Viséan) carbonates in South Cumbria, UK

Despite the importance of south Cumbrian sections for the Arundian–Holkerian (mid Viséan) boundary, beyond the stratotype proposed at Barker Scar in 1976, little else is known regionally about this boundary and its relationship to adjacent formations. We re-evaluate the Dalton Formation, making its upper and lower boundaries regionally more consistent and precisely-defined, in good quality outcrops with associated biostratigraphy. The Dalton Formation is formally divided into the Blackstone Member and overlying Raven's Member. Rich foraminiferal assemblages of the Cf4δ subzone are recognized in the Blackstone Member and the lower to mid Raven's Member in nine sections. The Cf4γ–Cf4δ boundary is recognized in the underlying Red Hill Limestone Formation in 3 sections. The upper part of the Raven's Member shows the first appearance of taxa assigned to the Cf5α and Cf5β subzones of the Holkerian in three of the sections. Bentonitic shales in the mid and upper-most part of the Raven's Member were evaluated for zircon and apatite geochronology, although only 4 out of 504 analyses yielded Carboniferous ages, indicating an almost entirely detrital source. This detritus was northerly or northeasterly-derived and predominantly from the Southern Uplands Terrane with subsidiary input from the Lewisian Complex or eastern Greenland sources. Petrographic analysis identified 13 microfacies indicating that the Dalton Formation represents the inner to outer part of a southward inclined shelf, in which east–west changes in microfacies were generated by synsedimentary faulting inherited from northwest–southeast aligned basement structures.