DNA origami templated self-assembly has shown its potential in creating rationally designed nanophotonic devices in a parallel and repeatable manner. In this investigation, we employ a multiscaffold DNA origami approach to fabricate linear waveguides of 10 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. This approach provides independent control over nanoparticle separation and spatial arrangement. The waveguides were characterized using atomic force microscopy and far-field polarization spectroscopy. This work provides a path toward large-scale plasmonic circuitry.

Layered TiNb2O7/graphene composites (TNO/G) are synthesized through a simple freeze drying process. Such a sandwiched structure combined advantages of graphene sheets and TiNb2O7(TNO) exhibiting much enhanced rate performance, storage capacity and cycling stability for both lithium and sodium ion insertion.

Macroporous Nb 2 O 5 (MP-Nb 2 O 5 ) has been synthesized using dispersed polystyrene microspheres (PS) as template followed by annealing in air. The structural characterization showed that the diameters of the macropores are around 200 nm and the average particle size of the composition is 20-50 nm. XPS revealed the presence of low valence Nb 4 + and oxygen vacancies on the surface of the resulting product introduced during the pyrolysis of PS. Such a unique combination of macroporous nanostructure and tetravalent niobium ions enables the electrode with superior lithium ion insertion properties, such as high specific capacity ( % 190 mA h g À1 at 0.5C) and rate capability. Even at a current density of 1.6 A g À1, an average capacity of 129.2 mA h g À1 can still be obtained. These findings demonstrate MP-Nb 2 O 5 is a promising candidate for high-rate lithium ion storage applications.Presently, research on electrochemical energy storage is attracting increasing attention due to the rapidly growing and imperative demand for a wide range of applications, which impact our daily life, including portable electronics, electric vehicles, and the smart power grid.[1] Among various electrical energy-storage devices, batteries as well as capacitors play an important role and also have been developed rapidly during past decades. Nowadays, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are becoming necessities in people's daily life owing to their high energy density, long cyclic lifetimes and environmental friendliness.[2] Although only moderately high discharge-charge rates are required by most electronics, there has been an increasing demand for a new generation of rechargeable batteries with both high energy and high power density to meet the rapid advancement in electronics and other technologies. For some new applications, such as regenerative braking in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), power backup, and portable power tools, both high energy and high power density have become a necessity, which has been difficult to accomplish with present LIBs.[3] Possessing a number of desirable properties, such as fast charging and discharging, structural and chemical stability for long-term cycling, and much more power than conventional batteries, electrochemical capacitors have the potential to be a complement to batteries.[4] In order to produce LIBs or capacitors with high performance, the development of new and improved electrode materials becomes crucial. [5] In commercial LIBs, graphite is the most commonly used anode material because of its low working potential, abundance, and low cost.[6] However, some drawbacks still exist, especially according to different demands in various areas; there is still a lot of room to develop and improve. For example, in an effort to increase the energy-storage capacity of LIBs, materials with high capacity as anodes (e.g., Sn-based, [7] Si-based, [8] etc.) have been investigated. In addition, in some specific applications, using graphite as the anode cannot meet the requirements of ...

A novel anode material for all-vanadium redox flow battery was synthesized by dispersion coating of sol-gel processed (resorcinol-furaldehyde) mesoporous carbon (MPC) onto the surface of polyacrylonitrile carbon felt (CF). The coated samples were then annealed at 900°C and 1100°C and the subsequent morphology, surface chemistry, and electrochemical properties of the MPC coated CF were characterized and compared with an uncoated CF. Addition of the MPC coating is shown to dramatically increase surface area while also increasing the number of active surface oxygen groups particularly for samples annealed at 1100°C. MPC coating shows a mixed effect on electrochemical properties. Characterization with cyclic voltammetry reveals the introduction of MPC coating provides roughly 30% increase in peak current density for the oxidation and reduction reactions of the V(IV)/V(V ) redox couple, which is attributed to the significantly increased number of active reaction sites. However, MPC coating seems to be accompanied by a reduction in conductivity as demonstrated by increased redox peak separation and charge transfer resistance. This negative effect on conductivity can be mitigated by heat treatment (at or above 1100°C) which improves surface graphitization reducing redox peak separation and charge transfer resistance such that it is comparable with uncoated samples.