Nb, F-codoped TiO2 hollow spheres (NFTSs) were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method with niobium oxide, hydrofluoric acid, and tetrabutyl titanate. The obtained spheres were hollow, with a diameter of about 2 μm, and the sphere wall was made up of nanorods arranged close together. The NFTSs presented anatase phase with more {001} facets exposed, which could be mainly attributed to...

Highly regulated Fe3O4-polyelectrolyte-modified polyaniline (Fe3O4-PE@PANI) hollow sphere nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using an electrostatic self-assembly approach. The morphology and structure of the Fe3O4-PE@PANI nanocomposites were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray...

The simple design of CuOmicro-/nanostructures has recently attracted tremendous interest particularly for the enzyme-less sensing of biological molecules due to their intrinsic electronic and catalytic properties. Consequently attention has been directed to the development of new CuO nanomaterials that have multi-interdisciplinary applications. Herein, we report for the first time the fabricati...

The effective activation and utilization of metakaolin as an alkali activated geopolymer precursor and its use in concrete surface protection is of great interest. In this paper, the formula of alkali activated metakaolin-based geopolymers was studied using an orthogonal experimental design. It was found that the optimal geopolymer was prepared with metakaolin, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate...

In this work, the hierarchical NiCo₂O₄ hollow sphere synthesized via a "coordinating etching and precipitating" process was demonstrated to exhibit intrinsic peroxidase-like activity. The peroxidase-like activity of NiCo₂O₄, NiO, and Co₃O₄ hollow spheres were comparatively studied by the catalytic oxidation reaction of 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in presence of H₂O₂, and a superior perox...

This chapter describes a biomechanical model of individual deformable viscoelastic cells that can be arranged into tissues of various topologies. The model is based on an immersed boundary method with distributed sources and couples a continuous description of a viscous incompressible cytoplasm with the dynamics of separate elastic cells. Several key cellular processes, such as cell growth, div...

In this paper we investigate the electrostriction effect on the whispering gallery modes (WGM) of polymeric microspheres and the feasibility of a WGM-based microsensor for electric field measurement. The electrostriction is the elastic deformation (strain) of a dielectric material under the force exerted by an electrostatic field. The deformation is accompanied by mechanical stress which pertur...

A simple and effective means for obtaining hollow silica particles of controlled diameter from about 60 to 120 nm is presented. The synthesis utilizes equilibrium vesicles as templates for the directed growth of silica. Two different surfactant systems are used to form the vesicular templates: (a) mixtures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium perfluorooctanoate (FC7) and (b) mixt...

We present a short and self-contained proof of Jin’s theorem about the piecewise syndeticity of difference sets which is entirely elementary, in the sense that no use is made of nonstandard analysis, ergodic theory, measure theory, ultrafilters, or other advanced tools. An explicit bound to the number of shifts that are needed to cover a thick set is provided. Precisely, we prove the following:...