Polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) have kindled a spark of interest because of their unique characteristic of electrically controlled switching. However, some issues including high operating voltage, low contrast ratio and poor mechanical properties are hindering their practical applications. To overcome these drawbacks, some measures were taken such as molecular structure optimization of the monomers and liquid crystals, modification of PDLC and doping of nanoparticles and dyes. This review aims at detailing the recent advances in the process, preparations and applications of PDLCs over the past six years.

Potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) are emerging as the prospective alternatives to lithium-ion batteries in energy storage systems owing to the sufficient resources and relatively low cost of K-related materials. However, serious volume expansion and low specific capacity are found in most materials systems resulting from the large intrinsic radius of K + . Herein, SnS 2 nanosheets anchored on nitrogen and sulfur co-doped MXene (SnS 2 NSs/MXene) are creatively designed as advanced anode materials for KIBs. SnS 2 NSs/MXene with a unique hierarchical structure can not only provide fast transmission channels for K + but also avoid the accumulation of K + and volume expansion. These novel features make SnS 2 NSs/MXene electrodes exhibit a superior reversible specific capacity of 342.4 mA h g −1 under 50 mA g −1 . Also, they maintain 206.1 mA h g −1 at an even higher current density of 0.5 A g −1 over 800 cycles almost without capacity decay. Moreover, the multistep alloying reaction mechanism of SnS 2 NSs/MXene composites and K + is revealed by the ex situ Xray diffraction measurement. In addition, the density functional theory calculations confirm the existence of Ti−S bonds between SnS 2 nanosheets and MXene, which significantly enhance the structural stability and cycling electrochemical performance of SnS 2 NSs/MXene composites.

No abstract

No abstract

The flag leaf is the main organ of photosynthesis during grain-filling period of wheat, and flag leaf-related traits affect plant morphology and yield potential. In this study, two BC 3 F 6 introgression line (IL) populations derived from the common recipient parent Lumai 14 with Jing 411 and Shaanhan 8675, respectively, were used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for flag leaf length (FLL), flag leaf width (FLW), flag leaf area (FLA) and chlorophyll content (CC) at flowering stage and 15 and 20 days after anthesis (DAA) in 2016-2017 (E1) and 2017-2018 (E2) two environments. A total of 14 and 15 QTLs for flag leaf-related traits were detected in Lumai 14 / Jing 411 and Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 populations, respectively. Among them, Both QFLW-6A and QFLA-6A were detected in Lumai 14 / Jing 411 population under E2 and in Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 population under E1 and E2 environments, respectively. QCC S2 -3A from Lumai 14 / Jing 411 population and QCC S3 -1A, QFLL-4A and QFLL-6A from Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 population were repeatedly identified under two tested environments. Moreover, eight QTL clusters controlling flag leaf-related traits were identified, which provided a genetic basis for significant correlations in phenotype among these traits. On the other hand, positive alleles of QFLW-6A for FLW detected in two populations were derived from their donors. Eighteen lines and 44 lines carried this QTL were found in Lumai 14 / Jing 411 and Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 populations, respectively. The means of FLW in these lines were wider than that of the recipient parent, Lumai 14, in two environments, suggesting that QFLW-6A played an important role for increasing FLW. The IL 124 in Lumai 14 / Jing 411 population and the IL 59 and IL 127 in Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 population had five, five and four donor chromosomal segments which carried no other QTL controlling FLW than QFLW-6A, respectively. And the FLWs of these lines were significantly greater than that of Lumai 14 under two environments. So these lines and their donor parent can be regarded as potential near-isogenic lines. Further, a synteny analysis found QFLW-6A was near the 574,283,851-574,283,613 bp fragment on chromosome 6A and 10 genes were in the range of 500 kb upstream and downstream of the fragment. , et al. (2020) QTL mapping for flag leafrelated traits and genetic effect of QFLW-6A on flag leaf width using two related introgression line populations in wheat. PLoS ONE 15(3): e0229912.These results provide the basis for identification of candidate gene and map-based cloning and functional verification of the QTL. PLOS ONEQTL mapping for flag leaf-related traits PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.The linkage maps of Lumai 14 / Jing 411 and Lumai 14 / Shaanhan 8675 BC 3 F 6 populations were constructed, based on 156 and 185 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, respectively [36,41]. QTL analysis for flag leaf-related traits was performed by IciMapping 4.0 PLOS ONEQTL mapping for flag leaf-related traits PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.