Skin effect and high density are the main reasons that restrict the search of lightweight and high-performance metal-based electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbing materials. Although nanostructured metal materials have been fabricated to solve above problems, poor dispersibility and chemical stability issues brought about by high surface energy due to existing nano-size effect. In this work, lightweight Ni foam with NiO/NiFe 2 O 4 in situ growth composites are fabricated by a facile and universal route as an effective alternative to high-performance metal-based EM wave absorber. Impressively, it is found that the foam structure and NiO/NiFe 2 O 4 /Ni components can synergistically boost EM wave absorption capacity. In detail, impedance matching from foam structure and energy dissipation from interfacial polarization and defect induced polarization provided by NiO/NiFe 2 O 4 mainly contributes to its ultra-broadband EM wave absorption performance. As a result, the as-prepared sample (0.06 g•cm −3 ) delivers a wide absorption bandwidth of 14.24 GHz and thin thickness of 0.6 mm, as well as, high specific effective absorption bandwidth of 19444.4 GHz•g −1 •cm −2 . This work sheds light on the novel view on the synergistic effect of structure and components on EM wave absorption behaviors and demonstrates a new pathway for preparation of lightweight and high-performance metal-based EM wave absorbers.

Defect engineering is an effective approach to manipulate electromagnetic (EM) parameters and enhance absorption ability, but defect induced dielectric loss dominant mechanism has not been completely clarified. Here the defect induced dielectric loss dominant mechanism in virtue of multi-shelled spinel hollow sphere for the first time is demonstrated. The unique but identical morphology design as well as suitable composition modulation for serial spinels can exclude the disturbance of EM wave dissipation from dipolar/interfacial polarization and conduction loss. In temperature-regulated defect in NiCo 2 O 4 serial materials, two kinds of defects, defect in spinel structure and oxygen vacancy are detected. Defect in spinel structure played more profound role on determining materials' EM wave dissipation than that of oxygen vacancy. When evaluated serial Co-based materials as absorbers, defect induced polarization loss is responsible for the superior absorption performance of NiCo 2 O 4 -based material due to its more defect sites in spinel structure. It is discovered that electron spin resonance test may be adopted as a novel approach to directly probe EM wave absorption capacities of materials. This work not only provides a strategy to prepare lightweight, efficient EM wave absorber but also illustrates the importance of defect engineering on regulation of materials' dielectric loss capacity.

Monodisperse spherical and mesoporous Eu-doped TiO2 phosphor particles were prepared by nonionic surfactant-assisted soft-chemistry method. It is shown that the phosphor particles possess submicron diameter of about 250nm and narrow size distribution. Under ultraviolet irradiation the particles show characteristic luminescence corresponding to D05-Fj7 of Eu3+. Especially, the calcined particles consisted of mesopores and semicrystalline framework shows the strongest photoluminescence compared to the amorphous particles without annealing and the completely crystalline particles annealed at higher temperature. This is attributed to the energy transfer from titania nanocrystallite to Eu3+ ions dispersed in glassy amorphous titania region.

Enhancing the critical temperature (TC) is important not only to the practical applications but also to the theories of superconductivity. MgB2 is a type II superconductor with a TC of 39 K, which is very close to the McMillan limit. Improving the TC of MgB2 is challenging but significant. Inspired by the metamaterial structure, we designed a smart meta-superconductor that consists of MgB2 microparticles and Y2O3:Eu 3+ nanorods. In the local electric field, Y2O3:Eu 3+ nanorods will generate electroluminescence (EL) that can excite MgB2 particles, thereby improving the TC by strengthening the electron-phonon interaction. Each MgB2-based superconductor doped with one of the four dopants of different EL intensities was prepared by an exsitu process. The results showed that the addition of Y2O3:Eu 3+ brings about an impurity effect that decreases the TC and an EL exciting effect that increases the TC. Apart from the EL intensity, the micro-morphology and degree of dispersion of the dopants also affected the TC. This smart meta-superconductor provides a new method for increasing TC.

A magneto-optical (MO) microscope that uses the polarization modulation method has been developed for quantitative MO imaging. In this technique, images of MO rotation and ellipticity are reconstructed from three images for different polarization states; i.e., linear, right-circular, and left-circular polarization states. The three polarization states are generated either by rotating a quarter-wave plate or by changing the voltage applied to a liquid crystal modulator (LCM). Measurements are performed using a patterned thin film of Bi,Ga-substituted yttrium iron garnet prepared on a glass substrate. The values of MO rotation and ellipticity obtained from the images for several wavelengths between 450 and 650 nm are found to agree quantitatively with those obtained by an MO spectrometer. Hysteresis loops at any point of the image can be displayed by simply placing a pointer at the position. A real-time MO imaging with a rate of 1 frame/s is also achieved by using the LCM and a high-speed charge-coupled device camera.