Unidirectional Alignment Research Articles

Interisland-Distance-Mediated Growth of Centimeter-Scale Two-Dimensional Magnetic Fe3O4 Arrays with Unidirectional Domain Orientations.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet arrays with unidirectional orientations are of great significance for synthesizing wafer-scale single crystals. Although great efforts have been devoted, the growth of atomically thin magnetic nanosheet arrays and single crystals is still unaddressed. Here we design an interisland-distance-mediated chemical vapor deposition strategy to synthesize centimeter-scale atomically thin Fe3O4 arrays with unidirectional orientations on mica. The unidirectional alignment of nearly all the Fe3O4 nanosheets is driven by a dual-coupling-guided growth mechanism. The Fe3O4/mica interlayer interaction induces two preferred antiparallel orientations, whereas the interisland interaction of Fe3O4 breaks the energy degeneracy of antiparallel orientations. The room-temperature long-range ferrimagnetic order and thickness-tunable magnetic domain evolution are uncovered in atomically thin Fe3O4. This strategy to tune the orientations of nanosheets through the an interisland interaction can guide the synthesis of other 2D transition-metal oxides, thereby laying a solid foundation for future spintronic device applications at the integration level.

Fabrication of porous Li4SiO4 ceramic sorbent pebbles with high CO2 sorption capacity via the simple freeze-drying method

At present, the Li4SiO4 ceramic sorbents have displayed a great prospect for CO2 gas removal in the atmosphere owing to their high sorption capacity and stable sorption-desorption property. In this paper, a simple method combining the wet method and freeze-drying method is initially employed to fabricate Li4SiO4 sorbent with rich porosity and direction arrangement channels, which overcomes the dense interior structure, barren porosity, inferior adsorption stability, and costly production described in the previous literature. The effects of freeze way and temperature on the interior structure of Li4SiO4 sorbent were studied respectively. In the freeze-drying process, only the freeze-drying Li4SiO4 cylinder (FSC) green sorbents have columnar ice crystals in the interior owing to the temperature gradient, and the unidirectional alignment of pore channels can be obtained after the vacuum drying process due to the sublimation of ice crystals, which will improve CO2 capture capacity. Moreover, it can be seen from the optical image that the sorbent pebbles have a uniform distribution of diameter and sorbent samples of OSF (fabricated without the freezing process), FSP (fabricated with the freezing process), and FSC show excellent mechanical strength of 37.5 N, 22.5 N, and 0.43Mpa, respectively. Compared with OSP and FSP samples, the FSC sorbent performed superior CO2 sorption capacities (0.305 g CO2/g sorbent) and outstanding stability after 40 times cycles due to its optimal pore microstructure. Therefore, the prominent capture capacity and the satisfying crushing load of the FSC sorbents fabricated via the Freeze-drying method in this paper have promising prospects for CO2 removal.

Multi-Exposure Image Fusion via Deformable Self-Attention.

Most multi-exposure image fusion (MEF) methods perform unidirectional alignment within limited and local regions, which ignore the effects of augmented locations and preserve deficient global features. In this work, we propose a multi-scale bidirectional alignment network via deformable self-attention to perform adaptive image fusion. The proposed network exploits differently exposed images and aligns them to the normal exposure in varying degrees. Specifically, we design a novel deformable self-attention module that considers variant long-distance attention and interaction and implements the bidirectional alignment for image fusion. To realize adaptive feature alignment, we employ a learnable weighted summation of different inputs and predict the offsets in the deformable self-attention module, which facilitates that the model generalizes well in various scenes. In addition, the multi-scale feature extraction strategy makes the features across different scales complementary and provides fine details and contextual features. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed algorithm performs favorably against state-of-the-art MEF methods.

Highly soluble Ni(II) dithienylnorcorrole

Recently, norcorrole Ni(II) complexes have received much attention because they exhibit peculiar solid-state structures and fascinating electronic properties originating from their distinct antiaromatic character. In this work, we have prepared a norcorrole Ni(II) complex with 5-hexylthien-2-yl substituents at the meso-positions, of which the antiaromatic nature was evaluated by 1H NMR analysis as well as NICS and ACID calculations. The X-ray diffraction analysis elucidated its molecular structure and crystal packing arrangement. Crystal packing structures of Ni(II) meso-di(5-methylthien-2-yl)norcorrole and Ni(II) meso-di(5-hexylthien-2-yl)norcorrole were markedly different. The latter provided a polar crystal because of the unidirectional alignment of 5-hexylthien-2-yl groups in the solid state.

All-cellulose air filter composed with regenerated nanocellulose prepared through a facile method with shear-induced

High-speed shear system is usually used for the dispersion improvement of slurry, nanomaterials preparation, and even two-dimensional materials production. However, there is barely study that focused on the regenerated cellulose (RC) which was coagulated with shear induced. In this work, a new type of all-cellulose air filter was fabricated through high-speed shear in aqueous regeneration system using parenchyma cellulose from corn stalk. The obtained RC were aggregated by ribbon-like fine cellulose and nanocellulose sheets. The study exhibited the micro-structure of RC displayed excellent unidirectional alignment and a relatively high crystallinity. All-cellulose air filter which was produced via RC presented excellent filtration efficiency (PM2.5 97.3 %, PM10.0 97.7 %) with slightly pressure drop (19 Pa). Therefore, this work provides a facile method to obtain a novel RC with nanocellulose particles used for air filtration, which gives an effective strategy application in the conversion of all-cellulose materials from agricultural waste.

Bone surface mimicked PDMS membranes stimulate osteoblasts and calcification of bone matrix

Cellular microenvironments play a crucial role in cell behavior. In addition to the biochemical cues present in the microenvironments, biophysical and biomechanical properties on surfaces have an impact on cellular functionality and eventually cellular fate. Effects of surface topography on cell behavior are being studied extensively in the literature. However, these studies often try to replicate topographical features of tissue surfaces by using techniques such as chemical etching, photolithography, and electrospinning, which may result in the loss of crucial micro- and nano- features on the tissue surfaces such as bone. This study investigates the topographical effects of bone surface by transferring its surface features onto polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes using soft lithography from a bovine femur. Our results have shown that major features on bone surfaces were successfully transferred onto PDMS using soft lithography. Osteoblast proliferation and calcification of bone matrix have significantly increased along with osteoblast-specific differentiation and maturation markers such as osteocalcin (OSC), osterix (OSX), collagen type I alpha 1 chain (COL1A1), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) on bone surface mimicked (BSM) PDMS membranes in addition to a unidirectional alignment of osteoblast cells compared to plain PDMS surfaces. This presented bone surface mimicking method can provide a versatile native-like platform for further investigation of intracellular pathways regarding osteoblast growth and differentiation.

Multi-attribute group decision-making method with linguistic q-rung orthopair fuzzy information based on bi-direction Choquet integral

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop the linguistic q-rung orthopair fuzzy set (LqROFS) information VIKOR method based on the bi-direction Choquet integral (BDCI), taking into account the correlation between information. The method can enrich the existing studies related to LqROFS information and better solve the problem of MAGDM problem.Design/methodology/approachSince applying Choquet integral (CI) depict information interaction is a common operation in MAGDM. However, the traditional CI has some limitations. The unidirectional alignment may affect the MAGDM results. Therefore, a LqROFS-VIKOR method based on BDCI is proposed, where BDCI is used to aggregate the decision matrix. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to apply exact numbers to express the similarity between two qualitative data. Then a new method of defining similarity using linguistics is proposed. The similarity is used to calculate attribute weights.FindingsThe validity and potential application of MAGMD method with linguistic q-rung orthopair fuzzy information based on BDCI are demonstrated in a numerical examples study.Originality/valueAccording to the study of available literature, the current research on LqROFS is incomplete. The existing studies of both similarity and aggregate operators have certain shortcomings. The definition of similarity proposed in this paper is more in line with reality. And compared with the existing methods, the BDCI-based aggregate operator can describe the interaction between information more reasonably. Based on this VIKOR method based on BDCI under the LqROFS environment can better select the alternative.

Atomistic Insight into the Epitaxial Growth Mechanism of Single-Crystal Two-Dimensional Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides on Au(111) Substrate.

A mechanistic understanding of interactions between atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and their growth substrates is important for achieving the unidirectional alignment of nuclei and seamless stitching of 2D TMD domains and thus 2D wafers. In this work, we conduct a cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) study to investigate the atomic-scale nucleation and early stage growth behaviors of chemical vapor deposited monolayer (ML-) MoS2 and molecular beam epitaxy ML-MoSe2 on a Au(111) substrate. Statistical analysis reveals the majority of as-grown domains, i.e., ∼88% for MoS2 and 90% for MoSe2, nucleate on surface terraces, with the rest (i.e., ∼12% for MoS2 and 10% for MoSe2) on surface steps. Moreover, within the latter case, step-associated nucleation, ∼64% of them are terminated with a Mo-zigzag edge in connection with the Au surface steps, with the rest (∼36%) being S-zigzag edges. In conjunction with ab initio density functional theory calculations, the results confirm that van der Waals epitaxy, rather than the surface step guided epitaxy, plays deterministic roles for the realization of unidirectional ML-MoS2 (MoSe2) domains on a Au(111) substrate. In contrast, surface steps, particularly their step height, are mainly responsible for the integrity and thickness of MoS2/MoSe2 films. In detail, it is found that the lateral growth of monolayer thick MoS2/MoSe2 domains only proceeds across mono-Au-atom high surface steps (∼2.4 Å), but fail for higher ones (bi-Au atom step and higher) during the growth. Our cross-sectional STEM study also confirms the existence of considerable compressive residual strain that reaches ∼3.0% for ML-MoS2/MoSe2 domains on Au(111). The present study aims to understand the growth mechanism of 2D TMD wafers.

Stress-adapted fiber orientation along the principal stress directions for continuous fiber-reinforced material extrusion

A proven method to enhance the mechanical properties of additively manufactured plastic parts is the embedding of continuous fibers. Due to its great flexibility, continuous fiber-reinforced material extrusion allows fiber strands to be deposited along optimized paths. Nevertheless, the fibers have so far been embedded in the parts contour-based or on the basis of regular patterns. The outstanding strength and stiffness properties of the fibers in the longitudinal direction cannot be optimally utilized. Therefore, a method is proposed which allows to embed fibers along the principal stresses into the parts in a load-oriented manner. A G-code is generated from the calculated principal stress trajectories and the part geometry, which also takes into account the specific restrictions of the manufacturing technology used. A distinction is made between fiber paths and the matrix so that the average fiber volume content can be set in a defined way. To determine the mechanical properties, tensile and flexural tests are carried out on specimens consisting of carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide. In order to increase the influence of the principal stress-based fiber orientation, open-hole plates are used for the tensile tests, as this leads to variable stresses across the cross section. In addition, a digital image correlation system is used to determine the deformations during the mechanical tests. It was found that the peak load of the optimized open-hole plates was greater by a factor of 3 and the optimized flexural specimens by a factor of 1.9 than the comparison specimens with unidirectional fiber alignment.

High-throughput tensile testing of silver nanowires

Silver nanowires (Ag NWs) have been used in various nanostructured materials such as stretchable electronics due to their small size, high strength, and high conductivity. Envisioned nanostructured materials employ millions of nanostructures to achieve its function, yet due to challenges in sample preparation, mechanical characterization has been limited to a small number of samples. The results thus have limited statistical significance, important, for example, for the case of fracture strain, which is a stochastic variable. Here, we show highly-dense and unidirectional alignment of penta-twinned Ag NWs on top of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using microfluidics. Surface treatment enabled strong bonding between NWs and substrates. We then conducted tensile stretching of the substrates in the direction of alignment, capturing images of the induced deformation and fracture of the NWs, effectively testing many of them in tension simultaneously. We analyzed their fracture strain using digital image correlation (DIC). We show results for more than 200 samples, achieving a statistical quantification of NW fracture strain, useful for the design of applications and nanostructured materials based on them, such as stretchable electronics.

Homogenisation of the Local Thermal Conductivity in Injection-Moulded Short Fibre Reinforced Composites.

This paper deals with predicting the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of injection-moulded short fibre reinforced polymers (SFRPs) using two different homogenisation schemes: a scheme based on the dielectric theory for pseudo-oriented inclusions and a two-step homogenisation model based on the mean-field homogenisation approach. In both cases, the fibre orientation tensor (FOT) obtained from Autodesk Moldflow® simulation was used. The Moldflow FOT predictions were validated via structure tensor analysis of micro-computed X-ray tomography (micro-CT) scans of the part. In the dielectric-wise approach, the orientation of fibres was originally defined by a scalar parameter, which is related to the diagonal components of the FOT. In the two-step homogenisation approach, an interpolative model based on the Mori–Tanaka theory is used in the first step for calculating the ETC for the ideal case of unidirectional fibre alignment, followed by a second step in which orientation averaging based on the FOT inside each element is applied. The ETC was calculated using both schemes for the specific case of uniform fibre orientation distribution and at three different locations with non-identical FOTs of an injection-moulded SFRP part. The results are compared with each other and evaluated against the direct numerical simulation for the uniform fibre orientation and experimental measurements for the injection-moulded SFRP. This shows that while the two-step homogenisation can predict the ETC in the full range of orientations between the perfectly aligned and uniformly distributed fibres, the dielectric-wise approach is only capable of modelling the ETC when distributions are close to the two extreme ends of the orientation spectrum.

Bi-directional freezing to fabricate freeze-cast ceramics with orientation gradient and uniaxial compressive deformation behavior of infiltrated composites

Structural orientation gradient in living organisms is attributed to their enhanced surface protection to penetration and deformation, providing bioinspiration to fabricate engineering materials with gradient in mechanical properties. Freeze-casting is a promising technique to fabricate bioinspired materials. However, in the conventional freeze-casting process, due to the applied unidirectional temperature gradient, all the material layers are also unidirectional, oriented in the direction of applied gradient. While bi-directional freezing conditions have been used but still preserving the characteristic unidirectional alignment. The main objective of this work was to demonstrate that bi-directional freezing conditions could be employed to create and control orientation gradient in freeze-cast materials and thereby develop multilayered composites with orientation gradient. Bi-directional freezing conditions were used to generate both horizontal freezing front (HFF) and vertical freezing front (VFF), where the ice crystals associated with VFF tilted the ice crystals associated with HFF, resulting in orientation gradient. 4 different bi-directional freezing conditions were achieved to change gradient microstructure. In situ studies were performed to investigate different growth front movements and calculate the velocities. Porous ceramics were infiltrated to develop bi-directionally freeze-cast composites. While the current literature sheds invaluable insights into the mechanical behavior of freeze-cast composites with unidirectional orientation, this investigation characterized uniaxial compressive mechanical response and damage characteristics of bi-directionally freeze-cast composites, which is another objective of this work. It was revealed that bi-directional freezing conditions can tune material layer orientation throughout freeze-cast microstructure, strongly influencing compressive mechanical response and damage characteristics in the resulting composite materials.

Perfectness of the main-chain alignment in the conjugated polymer films prepared by the floating film transfer method

Polymer semiconductor/gate dielectric interface is well known to influence the charge transport behaviors in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). In the unidirectional floating-film transfer method (UFTM), thin floating films of uniaxially aligned π-conjugated polymers are solidified at the air/liquid interface before transferring them onto device substrates. Therefore, packing structures in the films prepared by UFTM are not affected by the strong interactions with the device substrate as usually seen in other film growth methods. Here, one question arises: will the difference in interactions between the liquid substrate and air impact the orientational structure of the polymer chain near the two surfaces or not? To answer this question, we have studied the charge-transport anisotropy in top- and bottom-gate OFETs by changing the film thickness. As a result, the field-effect carrier mobility and its anisotropy did not significantly differ for both surfaces and were constant against the film thickness. These results indicate that the UFTM can provide unidirectional alignment of polymer chains throughout the film thickness and gives a similar superior performance either for a bottom- or a top-gate OFET.

Solution‐Processed h‐BN Film as an Alignment Layer for Liquid Crystal Devices: Realization of a Non‐Polymer Approach for Unidirectional Alignment over Unprecedentedly Large Areas

AbstractFabrication of liquid crystal devices heavily relies on the alignment layer providing the mandatory unidirectional orientation of the nematic molecules. Drawbacks of the traditional mechanically rubbed polymer layer have prompted to find better alternatives. However, cost‐effective methods for large‐area unidirectional alignment are still elusive. The latest attempt has been to use 2D materials deposited through the well‐known chemical vapor deposition process, invariably inviting all the associated complexities including high‐temperature processing, cumbersome transfer onto the required substrate, etc. Most importantly, the achieved domain size over which the nematic molecules exhibit unidirectional planar orientation, has been too small (sub‐mm2) for employable devices. Here, the authors present a room temperature solution process for obtaining h‐BN dispersion and directly depositing it as a film on the device substrate using the electrophoretic technique. The achieved layer far surpasses the size limitation mentioned above, resulting in unidirectional LC orientation over at least 4 cm2 and promising for much larger areas with the electrical and electro‐optic switching performance being comparable to an industry‐standard device. The success of this simpler method establishes 2D materials as strong contenders for achieving non‐contact LC alignment and, in a broader sense, brings the much‐needed impetus to explore new horizons for solution‐processed devices.

Soft-Shear-Aligned Vertically Oriented Lamellar Block Copolymers for Template-Free Sub-10 nm Patterning and Hybrid Nanostructures.

The template-free unidirectional alignment of lamellar block copolymers (l-BCPs) for sub-10 nm high-resolution patterning and hybrid multicomponent nanostructures is important for technological applications. We demonstrate a modified soft-shear-directed self-assembly (SDSA) approach for aligning pristine l-BCPs and l-BCPs with incorporated polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs), as well as the l-BCP conversion to aligned gold nanowires, and hybrid of metallic gold nanowire and dielectric silica nanoparticle in the form of line-dot nanostructures. The smallest patterns have a half-pitch as small as 9.8 nm. In all cases, soft-shear is achieved using a high-molecular-mass polymer topcoat layer, with support on a neutral bottom layer. We also show that the hybrid line-dot nanostructures have a red-shifted plasmonic response in comparison to neat gold nanowires. These template-free aligned BCPs and nanowires have potential use in nanopatterning applications, and the line-dot nanostructures should be useful in the sensing of biomolecules and other molecular species based on the plasmonic response of the nanowires.

Unidirectional Alignment of Surface-Grafted ZnO Nanorods in Micrometer-Thick Cells Using Low-Molecular-Weight Liquid Crystals.

Inorganic nanomaterials such as nanotubes and nanorods have attracted great attention due to their anisotropic properties. Although the alignment control of inorganic nanomaterials is key to the development of functional devices utilizing their fascinating properties, there is still difficulty in achieving uniform alignment over a large area with a micrometer thickness. To overcome this problem, we focused on liquid crystals (LCs) to promote the alignment of anisotropic nanomaterials, taking advantage of the cooperative motion of LCs. We present the uniform, one-dimensional alignment of ZnO nanorods along the direction of LCs in micrometer-thick cells by grafting nematic LC polymers from the nanorod surfaces to provide miscibility with the host LCs. Polarized optical microscopy and polarized UV–visible absorption spectroscopy revealed the unidirectional alignment of nematic LC polymer-grafted ZnO nanorods parallel to the nematic host LCs.

Dual-coupling-guided epitaxial growth of wafer-scale single-crystal WS2 monolayer on vicinal a-plane sapphire.

The growth of wafer-scale single-crystal two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) on insulating substrates is critically important for a variety of high-end applications1-4. Although the epitaxial growth of wafer-scale graphene and hexagonal boron nitride on metal surfaces has been reported5-8, these techniques are not applicable for growing TMDs on insulating substrates because of substantial differences in growth kinetics. Thus, despite great efforts9-20, the direct growth of wafer-scale single-crystal TMDs on insulating substrates is yet to be realized. Here we report the successful epitaxial growth of two-inch single-crystal WS2 monolayer films on vicinal a-plane sapphire surfaces. In-depth characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the epitaxy is driven by a dual-coupling-guided mechanism, where the sapphire plane-WS2 interaction leads to two preferred antiparallel orientations of the WS2 crystal, and sapphire step edge-WS2 interaction breaks the symmetry of the antiparallel orientations. These two interactions result in the unidirectional alignment of nearly all the WS2 islands. The unidirectional alignment and seamless stitching of WS2 islands are illustrated via multiscale characterization techniques; the high quality of WS2 monolayers is further evidenced by a photoluminescent circular helicity of ~55%, comparable to that of exfoliated WS2 flakes. Our findings offer the opportunity to boost the production of wafer-scale single crystals of a broad range of two-dimensional materials on insulators, paving the way to applications in integrated devices.

CARBON FIBRE ALIGNMENT FOR REINFORCED COMPOSITES USING EMBROIDERY TECHNOLOGY

Composites are materials formed by the combination of two or more components that acquire better properties than the ones obtained by each component on its own. Composites have been widely used in the industry due to its light weight and good mechanical properties. To improve these properties several layers of reinforced material (e.g., carbon fibre) are overlapped which produce an increase in the fibre consumption. In this sense Tailored Fibre Placement (TFP) embroidery can offer good opportunity to reduce the consumption of reinforced fibre while improving the mechanical properties due to the alignment of the fibres in the effort direction. This study analyzes the performance of carbon fibre reinforced composites with Polyester resin made with TFP embroidery technology against flexural strength efforts and without using plain woven fabrics to demonstrate that the use of reinforcement fabrics in composites can be optimized by a curved alignment of the fibers. Two different structures were embroidered with TFP technology, one simulating a woven fabric with straight unidirectional alignment of fibres in horizontal and vertical direction, and a second structure made with curvilinear alignment of carbon fibers. After the study of the flexural mechanical properties an improvement of 18% was obtained in maximum flexural strength.

Chiral Plasmonic Nanowaves by Tilted Assembly of Unidirectionally Aligned Block Copolymers with Buckling-Induced Microwrinkles.

Chiral-structured nanoscale materials exhibit chiroptical properties with preferential absorptions of circularly polarized light. The distinctive optical responses of chiral materials have great potential for advanced optical and biomedical applications. However, the fabrication of three-dimensional structures with mirrored nanoscale geometry is still challenging. This study introduces chiral plasmonic nanopatterns in wavy shapes based on the unidirectional alignment of block copolymer thin films and their tilted transfer, combined with buckling processes. The cylindrical nanodomains of polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) thin films were unidirectionally aligned over a large area by the shear-rolling process. The aligned block copolymer thin films were transferred onto uniaxially prestrained polydimethylsiloxane films at certain angles relative to the stretching directions. The strain was then released to induce buckling. The aligned nanopatterns across the axis of the formed microwrinkles were selectively infiltrated with gold ions. After reduction by plasma treatment, chiral plasmonic nanowave patterns were fabricated with the presence of mirror-reflected circular dichroism spectra. This fabrication method does not require any lithography processing or innately chiral biomaterials, which can be advantageous over other conventional fabrication methods for artificial nanoscale chiral materials.

Epitaxial growth of wafer-scale molybdenum disulfide semiconductor single crystals on sapphire.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, in particular transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), have attracted great interest in extending Moore's law beyond silicon1-3. However, despite extensive efforts4-25, the growth of wafer-scale TMDC single crystals on scalable and industry-compatible substrates has not been well demonstrated. Here we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of 2 inch (~50 mm) monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) single crystals on a C-plane sapphire. We designed the miscut orientation towards the A axis (C/A) of sapphire, which is perpendicular to the standard substrates. Although the change of miscut orientation does not affect the epitaxial relationship, the resulting step edges break the degeneracy of nucleation energy for the antiparallel MoS2 domains and lead to more than a 99% unidirectional alignment. A set of microscopies, spectroscopies and electrical measurements consistently showed that the MoS2 is single crystalline and has an excellent wafer-scale uniformity. We fabricated field-effect transistors and obtained a mobility of 102.6 cm2 V-1 s-1 and a saturation current of 450 μA μm-1, which are among the highest for monolayer MoS2. A statistical analysis of 160 field-effect transistors over a centimetre scale showed a >94% device yield and a 15% variation in mobility. We further demonstrated the single-crystalline MoSe2 on C/A sapphire. Our method offers a general and scalable route to produce TMDC single crystals towards future electronics.