Nanoprobes for MRI and optical imaging are demonstrated. Gd@C‐dots possess strong fluorescence and can effectively enhance signals on T1‐weighted MR images. The nanoprobes have low toxicity, and, despite a relatively large size, can be efficiently excreted by renal clearance from the host after systemic injection.

Quasi-operando electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) recentlyshowed that a polycrystalline Cu electrode kept in 0.1 M KOH at -0.9 V (SHE), a potential very close to that for electrochemical CO reduction, underwent a two-step surface reconstruction, initially to Cu(111), or Cu(pc)-[Cu (111)

We report on the phonon and thermal properties of thin films of tantalum diselenide (2H-TaSe 2 ) obtained via the "graphene-like" mechanical exfoliation of crystals grown by chemical vapor transport. The ratio of the intensities of the Raman peak from the Si substrate and the E 2g peak of TaSe 2 presents a convenient metric for quantifying film thickness. The temperature coefficients for two main Raman peaks, A 1g and E 2g , are -0.013 and -0.0097 cm -1 / o C, respectively. The Raman optothermal measurements indicate that the room temperature thermal conductivity in these films decreases from its bulk value of ~16 W/mK to ~9 W/mK in 45-nm thick films. The measurement of electrical resistivity of the field-effect devices with TaSe 2 channels indicates that heat conduction is dominated by acoustic phonons in these van der Waals films. The scaling of thermal conductivity with the film thickness suggests that the phonon scattering from the film boundaries is substantial despite the sharp interfaces of the mechanically cleaved samples. These results are important for understanding the thermal properties of thin films exfoliated from TaSe 2 and other metal dichalcogenides, as well as for evaluating self-heating effects in devices made from such materials.KEYWORDS: van der Waals materials, tantalum diselenide, Raman spectroscopy, thermal conductivity, metal dichalcogenide, thin film *Corresponding authors: salguero@uga.edu (TTS) and balandin@ee.ucr.edu (AAB) 2 | P a g e

Germanene is a single layer allotrope of Ge, with a honeycomb structure similar to graphene. This report concerns the electrochemical formation of germanene in a pH 4.5 solution. The studies were performed using in situ Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (EC-STM), voltammetry, coulometry, surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) and Raman spectroscopy to study germanene electrodeposition on Au(111) terraces. The deposition of Ge is kinetically slow and stops after 2–3 monolayers. EC-STM revealed a honeycomb (HC) structure with a rhombic unit cell, 0.44 ± 0.02 nm on a side, very close to that predicted for germanene in the literature. Ideally the HC structure is a continuous sheet, with six Ge atoms around each hole. However, only small domains, surrounded by defects, of this structure were observed in this study. The small coherence length and multiple rotations domains made direct observation with surface X-ray diffraction difficult. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the multi-layer Ge deposits. A peak near 290 cm−1, predicted to correspond to germanene, was observed on one particular area of the sample, while the rest resembled amorphous germanium. Electrochemical studies of germanene showed limited stability when exposed to oxygen.