Water reclamation is becoming a growing need, in particular developing countries where harvesting the required energy can be challenging problem. In this context, exploiting solar specifically tailored membrane distillation (MD) process viable solution. Traditional MD guarantees complete retention of non-volatile compounds and does not require high feed water temperatures. work, suitable amount...

A hybrid-fiber nanogenerator comprising a ZnO nanowire array, PVDF polymer and two electrodes is presented. Depending on the bending or spreading action of the human arm, at an angle of ∼90°, the hybrid fiber reaches electrical outputs of ∼0.1 V and ∼10 nA cm(-2) . The unique structure of the hybrid fiber may inspire future research in wearable energy-harvesting technology.

Simple methods for detection and isolation of protein-porphyrin complexes were elaborated in our laboratory. They are based on the separation of protein-porphyrin complexes in native polyacrylamide gel and measurement of their fluorescence, with the use of two detection systems: the commercially available Gel Doc(TM) 2000 system, and a system specially designed for the purpose of these investig...

The authors report on a study of dipole flip-flop "local" transition in ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride [P(VDF)] chains, using total energy calculation based on the density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that a simple flipping of a single electric dipole moment is energetically allowed. Furthermore, such a flipping involves no change either in bond length, bond angle, ...

We have demonstrated an effective electrical control of polarization in the individual crystalline nanomesas of the ferroelectric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) and its relation to the polymer structure. The mechanism of polarization reversal has been investigated via sub-10 nm real space imaging of domain pattern evolution under an applied electric field. The ...

Based on the energy-minimization method in molecular simulation, the origin of piezoelectricity in b-phase PVDF crystals was investigated. Simulation results indicated that under the action of a constant applied voltage, PVDF crystal would be stretched or compressed, dependent on the orientation of dipoles and the polarity of the applied voltage. Our simulation confirmed that piezoelectricity i...

We provide the in-depth characterization of light-polymer nanowire interactions in the context of an effective Mie scattering regime associated with low refractive index materials. Properties of this regime sharply contrast with these of resonant Mie scattering, and involve the formation of strictly forward-scattered and coupling-free optical fields in the vicinity of core-shell polymer nanowir...