Disclosed is a method of forming a conductive diamond layer on a surface of a carbon fibre substrate that is used as a component of an electrode for neural stimulation and/or electrochemical sensing. The method comprises functionalising at least a portion of the surface with a functionalising agent to facilitate coating the surface with the conductive diamond layer. The method also comprises providing a diamond precursor and depositing the diamond precursor over the functionalising agent to form the conductive diamond layer. The disclosure also relates to an electrode that is used as a component of an electrode for neural stimulation and/or electrochemical sensing.

An assembly for the deposition of silicon nanostructures comprising a deposition chamber, which is defined by a side wall and by two end walls; a microwave generator, which is adapted to generate microwaves inside the deposition chamber; an electromagnetic termination wall, made of a conductor material and reflecting the microwave radiation, which is such as to create a termination for a TE-mode waveguide and is housed inside the deposition chamber; and a substrate-carrier support, which is made of a dielectric material and on which the substrate is housed on which to perform the growth of silicon nanostructures. The substrate-carrier support is arranged inside the deposition chamber above the termination wall.

The present disclosure generally relates to compositions comprising substrate-free crystalline 2D bismuthene, and the method of making and using the substrate-free crystalline 2D bismuthene.

The present disclosure generally relates to compositions comprising substrate-free crystalline 2D bismuthene, and the method of making and using the substrate-free crystalline 2D bismuthene.

This invention describes a type of all-organic piezoelectric material based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). This type of material is flexible and transparent, and its properties can be tuned by adjusting the composition and ionic strength. The fabrication of this type of piezoelectric material can be carried out entirely in an aqueous medium and does not require high temperature poling and stretching treatment. It renders possible a commercially viable route to producing inexpensive, sustainable, eco-friendly high piezo-electric-response organic materials for sensors, transducers, actuators, and energy harvest applications.

A large grain quasi-single-crystal film and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The metal film having the <111> preferred orientation on its surface is subjected to mechanical tensile force to make the arrangement of crystal grains more ordered. The metal film is grown into a film with large crystal grains having an average diameter of over 500 microns by annealing at a temperature below the recrystallization temperature, thereby obtaining a large grain quasi-single-crystal film having the preferred directions of three axes. The large grain quasi-single-crystal film has a <110> preferred orientation along the tensile direction and a <211> preferred orientation along the direction vertical to the tensile force, and maintains a <111> preferred orientation on its top surface. The present invention can be used to produce highly anisotropic large-area quasi-single-crystal films, and can also be applied to grow 2-dimensional materials or develop anisotropic structures.

The present invention relates to novel gold nanocrystals and nanocrystal shape distributions that have surfaces that are substantially free from organic impurities or films. Specifically, the surfaces are “clean” relative to the surfaces of gold nanoparticles made using chemical reduction processes that require organic reductants and/or surfactants to grow gold nanoparticles from gold ions in solution.

The invention includes novel electrochemical manufacturing apparatuses and techniques for making the gold-based nanocrystals. The invention further includes pharmaceutical compositions thereof and the use of the gold nanocrystals or suspensions or colloids thereof for the treatment or prevention of diseases or conditions for which gold therapy is already known and more generally for conditions resulting from pathological cellular activation, such as inflammatory (including chronic inflammatory) conditions, autoimmune conditions, hypersensitivity reactions and/or cancerous diseases or conditions. In one embodiment, the condition is mediated by MT (macrophage migration inhibiting factor).

The present invention relates to novel gold nanocrystals and nanocrystal shape distributions that have surfaces that are substantially free from organic impurities or films. Specifically, the surfaces are “clean” relative to the surfaces of gold nanoparticles made using chemical reduction processes that require organic reductants and/or surfactants to grow gold nanoparticles from gold ions in solution.

The invention includes novel electrochemical manufacturing apparatuses and techniques for making the gold-based nanocrystals. The invention further includes pharmaceutical compositions thereof and the use of the gold nanocrystals or suspensions or colloids thereof for the treatment or prevention of diseases or conditions for which gold therapy is already known and more generally for conditions resulting from pathological cellular activation, such as inflammatory (including chronic inflammatory) conditions, autoimmune conditions, hypersensitivity reactions and/or cancerous diseases or conditions. In one embodiment, the condition is mediated by MT (macrophage migration inhibiting factor).

Core-shell nanostructures with platinum overlayers conformally coating palladium nano-substrate cores and facile solution-based methods for the preparation of such core-shell nanostructures are described herein. The obtained Pd@Pt core-shell nanocatalysts showed enhanced specific and mass activities towards oxygen reduction, compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst.

Core-shell nanostructures with platinum overlayers conformally coating palladium nano-substrate cores and facile solution-based methods for the preparation of such core-shell nanostructures are described herein. The obtained Pd@Pt core-shell nanocatalysts showed enhanced specific and mass activities towards oxygen reduction, compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst.