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At least 1,801 records · Page 100

The Cell Wall Arabinose-Deficient Arabidopsis thaliana Mutant murus5 Encodes a Defective Allele of REVERSIBLY GLYCOSYLATED POLYPEPTIDE2

Traditional marker-based mapping and next-generation sequencing was used to determine that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) low cell wall arabinose mutant murus5 (mur5) encodes a defective allele of REVERSIBLY GLYCOSYLATED POLYPEPTIDE2 (RGP2). Marker analysis of 13 F2 confirmed mutant progeny from a recombinant mapping population gave a rough map position on the upper arm of chromosome 5, and deep sequencing of DNA from these 13 lines gave five candidate genes with G→A (C→T) transitions predicted to result in amino acid changes. Of these five, only insertional mutant alleles of RGP2, a gene that encodes a UDP-arabinose mutase that interconverts UDP-arabinopyranose and UDP-arabinofuranose, exhibited the low cell wall arabinose phenotype. The identities of mur5 and two SALK insertional alleles were confirmed by allelism tests and overexpression of wild-type RGP2 complementary DNA placed under the control of the 35S promoter in the three alleles. The mur5 mutation results in the conversion of cysteine-257 to tyrosine-257 within a conserved hydrophobic cluster predicted to be distal to the active site and essential for protein stability and possible heterodimerization with other isoforms of RGP.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Thick sputtered tantalum coatings for high-temperature energy conversion applications

Thick sputtered tantalum (Ta) coatings on polished Inconel were investigated as a potential replacement for bulk refractory metal substrates used for high-temperature emitters and absorbers in thermophotovoltaic energy conversion applications. In these applications, high-temperature stability and high reflectance of the surface in the infrared wavelength range are critical in order to sustain operational temperatures and reduce losses due to waste heat. The reflectance of the coatings (8 and 30 μm) was characterized with a conformal protective hafnia layer as-deposited and after one hour anneals at 700, 900, and 1100 °C. To further understand the high-temperature performance of the coatings, the microstructural evolution was investigated as a function of annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the texture and residual stress in the coatings at four reflections (220, 310, 222, and 321), as-deposited and after anneal. No significant changes in roughness, reflectance, or stress were observed. No delamination or cracking occurred, even after annealing the coatings at 1100 °C. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the thick Ta coatings are a promising alternative to bulk substrates and pave the way for a relatively low-cost and easily integrated platform for nanostructured devices in high-temperature energy conversion applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optimization principles and the figure of merit for triboelectric generators

Energy harvesting with triboelectric nanogenerators is a burgeoning field, with a growing portfolio of creative application schemes attracting much interest. Although power generation capabilities and its optimization are one of the most important subjects, a satisfactory elemental model that illustrates the basic principles and sets the optimization guideline remains elusive. We use a simple model to clarify how the energy generation mechanism is electrostatic induction but with a time-varying character that makes the optimal matching for power generation more restrictive. By combining multiple parameters into dimensionless variables, we pinpoint the optimum condition with only two independent parameters, leading to predictions of the maximum limit of power density, which allows us to derive the triboelectric material and device figure of merit. We reveal the importance of optimizing device capacitance, not only load resistance, and minimizing the impact of parasitic capacitance. Optimized capacitances can lead to an overall increase in power density of more than 10 times.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A nanofluidic ion regulation membrane with aligned cellulose nanofibers

The advancement of nanofluidic applications will require the identification of materials with high-conductivity nanoscale channels that can be readily obtained at massive scale. Inspired by the transpiration in mesostructured trees, we report a nanofluidic membrane consisting of densely packed cellulose nanofibers directly derived from wood. Numerous nanochannels are produced among an expansive array of one-dimensional cellulose nanofibers. The abundant functional groups of cellulose enable facile tuning of the surface charge density via chemical modification. The nanofiber-nanofiber spacing can also be tuned from ~2 to ~20 nm by structural engineering. The surface-charge-governed ionic transport region shows a high ionic conductivity plateau of ~2 mS cm -1 (up to 10 mM). The nanofluidic membrane also exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility, demonstrating stable performance even when the membrane is folded 150°. Combining the inherent advantages of cellulose, this novel class of membrane offers an environmentally responsible strategy for flexible and printable nanofluidic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Compliant and stretchable thermoelectric coils for energy harvesting in miniature flexible devices

With accelerating trends in miniaturization of semiconductor devices, techniques for energy harvesting become increasingly important, especially in wearable technologies and sensors for the internet of things. Although thermoelectric systems have many attractive attributes in this context, maintaining large temperature differences across the device terminals and achieving low–thermal impedance interfaces to the surrounding environment become increasingly difficult to achieve as the characteristic dimensions decrease. Here, we propose and demonstrate an architectural solution to this problem, where thin-film active materials integrate into compliant, open three-dimensional (3D) forms. This approach not only enables efficient thermal impedance matching but also multiplies the heat flow through the harvester, thereby increasing the efficiencies for power conversion. Interconnected arrays of 3D thermoelectric coils built using microscale ribbons of monocrystalline silicon as the active material demonstrate these concepts. Quantitative measurements and simulations establish the basic operating principles and the key design features. The results suggest a scalable strategy for deploying hard thermoelectric thin-film materials in harvesters that can integrate effectively with soft materials systems, including those of the human body.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Renewable lubricants with tailored molecular architecture

We present a strategy to synthesize three types of renewable lubricant base oils with up to 90% yield using 2-alkylfurans, derived from nonfood biomass, and aldehydes, produced from natural oils or biomass through three chemistries: hydroxyalkylation/alkylation (HAA), HAA followed by hydrogenation, and HAA followed by hydrodeoxygenation. These molecules consist of (i) furan rings, (ii) saturated furan rings, and (iii) deoxygenated branched alkanes. The structures of these molecules can be tailored in terms of carbon number, branching length, distance between branches, and functional groups. The site-specific, energy-efficient C–C coupling chemistry in oxygenated biomass compounds, unmatched in current refineries, provides tailored structure and tunable properties. Molecular simulation demonstrates the ability to predict properties in agreement with experiments, proving the potential for molecular design.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Optical Broadband Angular Selectivity

Light selection based purely on the angle of propagation is a long-standing scientific challenge. In angularly selective systems, however, the transmission of light usually also depends on the light frequency. Here we tailored the overlap of the band gaps of multiple one-dimensional photonic crystals, each with a different periodicity, in such a way as to preserve the characteristic Brewster modes across a broadband spectrum. We provide theory as well as an experimental realization with an all–visible spectrum, p-polarized angularly selective material system. Our method enables transparency throughout the visible spectrum at one angle—the generalized Brewster angle—and reflection at every other viewing angle.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

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