In this work, we report a fabrication of epoxy resin/ordered three-dimensional boron nitride (3D-BN) network composites through combination of ice-templating self-assembly and infiltration methods. The polymer composites possess much higher thermal conductivity up to 4.42 W m K at relatively low loading 34 vol % than that of random distribution composites (1.81 W m K for epoxy/random 3D-BN composites, 1.16 W m K for epoxy/random BN composites) and exhibit a high glass transition temperature (178.9-229.2 °C) and dimensional stability (22.7 ppm/K). We attribute the increased thermal conductivity to the unique oriented 3D-BN thermally conducive network, in which the much higher thermal conductivity along the in-plane direction of BN microplatelets is most useful. This study paves the way for thermally conductive polymer composites used as thermal interface materials for next-generation electronic packaging and 3D integration circuits.

The dependence of the properties of so-called "surface nanobubbles" at the interface of binary self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of octadecanethiol (ODT) and 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) on ultraflat template-stripped gold and water on the surface composition was studied systematically by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). The macroscopic water contact angle (θ(macro)) of the SAMs spanned the range between 107° ± 1° and 15° ± 3°. Surface nanobubbles were observed on all SAMs by intermittent contact-mode AFM; their size and contact angle were found to depend on the composition of the SAM. In particular, nanoscopic contact angles θ(nano) < 86° were observed for the first time for hydrophilic surfaces. From fits of the top of the bubble profile to a spherical cap in three dimensions, quantitative estimates of nanobubble height, width, and radius of curvature were obtained. Values of θ(nano) calculated from these data were found to change from 167° ± 3° to 33° ± 58°, when θ(macro) decreased from 107° ± 1° to 37° ± 3°. While the values for θ(nano) significantly exceeded those of θ(macro) for hydrophobic SAMs, which is fully in line with previous reports, this discrepancy became less pronounced and finally vanished for more hydrophilic surfaces.

We present a non-fullerene electron acceptor bearing a fused 10-heterocyclic ring with a narrow band gap, which achieved a power conversion efficiency of 6.5% when paired with PTB7-Th.

We describe the use of block copolymer micelles as building blocks for incorporation of water-insoluble dyes and then fabricate multilayer films by alternating deposition of the polymer micelles of poly(styreneb-acrylic acid) and poly(diallyl-dimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). Pyrene, a small organic molecule that is difficult to assemble by the usual methods, was incorporated into the micelles and then assembled into multilayer film. The growth procedure of the multilayer films was monitored by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies, and the results revealed that the multilayer films grew in a uniform way in every deposition cycle. In-situ and ex-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) images proved the existence of block copolymer micelles in LbL films. Furthermore, pyrene molecules assembled can be released from the multilayer films by immersing the films into solutions of different ionic strength. Micelles with different core-shell structures exhibited different release rates of pyrene. These films have potential use as controlled assembly and release materials for some water-insoluble dyes.