Protemics (Germany)

Polymer-based substrates have recently become popular for flexible electronic applications due to their flexibility and durability; however, they still have limited applications in flexible electronic device manufacturing due to poor sensitivity at low strain levels. In this study, graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were spray-coated onto wettable polymer composites formed from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), graphene oxide (GO), dioctyl terephthalate, and bis (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal-Solution-based Taguchi method was used to analyze the factor effect and determine the optimum strain sensor design. Graphene and AgNPs-coated PVA/GO/BHET polymer composites fabricated using the layer-by-layer spray-coating technique represent the optimum strain sensor for the analyzed samples. It showed gauge factors of 33.89 and 26.51, respectively, under a small compressive and tensile strain range of 0.04% and a sheet resistance of 1.459 ± 0.053 kohm/sq. The high gauge factor and low sheet resistance of the optimum coating were attributed to a synergetic effect of the GNPs and AgNPs, which diffuse inside the graphene network. This work suggests that BHET is a highly promising candidate both as a PET recycling material and for producing sensors due to its ability to form hydrogen bonds.

Dispersion-based graphene materials are promising candidates for various sensing applications. They offer the advantage of relatively simple and fast deposition via spin-coating, Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, or inkjet printing. Film uniformity and reproducibility remain challenging in all of these deposition methods. Here, we demonstrate, characterize, and successfully apply a scalable structuring method for graphene dispersions. The method is based on a standard lift-off process, is simple to implement, and increases the film uniformity of graphene devices. It is also compatible with standard semiconductor manufacturing methods. We investigate two different graphene dispersions via Raman spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy and observe no degradation of the material properties by the structuring process. Furthermore, we achieve high uniformity of the structured patterns and homogeneous graphene flake distribution. Electrical characterizations show reproducible sheet resistance values correlating with material quantity and uniformity. Finally, repeatable humidity sensing is demonstrated with van der Pauw devices, with sensing limits of less than 1% relative humidity.

Saline soda lakes are of immense ecological value as they niche some of the most exclusive haloalkaliphilic communities dominated by bacterial and archaeal domains, with few eukaryotic algal representatives. A handful reports describe Picocystis as a key primary producer with great production rates in extremely saline alkaline habitats. An extremely haloalkaliphilic picoalgal strain, Picocystis salinarum SLJS6 isolated from hypersaline soda lake Sambhar, Rajasthan, India, grew robustly in an enriched soda lake medium containing mainly Na2CO3, 50 g/l; NaHCO3, 50 g/l, NaCl, 50 g/l (salinity ≈150‰) at pH 10. To elucidate the molecular basis of such adaptation to high inorganic carbon and NaCl concentrations, a high-throughput label-free quantitation based quantitative proteomics approach was applied. Out of the total 383 proteins identified in treated samples, 225 were differentially abundant proteins (DAPs), of which 150 were statistically significant (p < 0.05) including 70 upregulated and 64 downregulated proteins after 3 days of growth in highly saline-alkaline medium. Most DAPs were involved in photosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, glucose metabolism and ribosomal structural components envisaging that photosynthesis and ATP synthesis were central to the salinity-alkalinity response. Key components of photosynthetic machinery like photosystem reaction centres, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase ATP, Rubisco, Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase were highly upregulated. Enzymes peptidylprolyl isomerases (PPIase), important for correct protein folding showed remarkable marked-up regulation along with other chaperon proteins indicating their role in osmotic adaptation. Enhanced photosynthetic activity exhibited by P. salinarum in highly saline-alkaline condition is noteworthy as photosynthesis is suppressed under hyperosmotic conditions in most photosynthetic organisms. The study provided the first insights into the proteome of extremophilic alga P. salinarum exhibiting extraordinary osmotic adaptation and proliferation in polyextreme conditions prevailing in saline sodic ecosystems, potentially unraveling the basis of resilience in this not so known organism and paves the way for a promising future candidate for biotechnological applications and model organism for deciphering the molecular mechanisms of osmotic adaptation. The mass spectrometry proteomics data is available at the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD037170.

We present photonic terahertz (THz) near-field, frequency resolved measurements of high-frequency THz emitters from 100 GHz to 4 THz. Up to 528 GHz, we are able to accurately model our measurements with the finite element method for high-frequencies. For higher frequencies, modelling becomes too time consuming, thus stressing importance of measurements. Around 2 THz, we identify unwanted reflections from the air / submount interface.

Terahertz (THz) inspection is a versatile tool for the non-destructive, quantitative characterization of conductive thin-films, including 2D-materials such as graphene. In this work, we apply high-resolution THz near-field transceiver probe-tips for the inspection of graphene-layers in reflection-mode. By taking advantage of the additional interface-selectivity of the reflection-mode not available in transmission-mode, we can now directly discern substrate- from top-layer inhomogeneity, which is important for the reliable 2D-layer characterization on inhomogeneous substrates.

Terahertz (THz) inspection is among the most versatile tools to perform non-destructive, quantitative characterization of conductive thin-films. In this work we apply high-resolution THz near-field measurements for the inspection of graphene-based thin-films for flexible applications. We show and discuss sheet resistance results for wafer-scale CVD-grown graphene as well as for conductive thin-films produced from dispersions of exfoliated graphene-flakes on various substrates.

We present the current challenges for high frequency interconnects, especially for calibrated measures of the frequency response of components operating above 100 GHz. This is the challenge addressed by the TERAmeasure Future and Emerging Technologies project, aiming to combine photonics and electronics to develop new paradigm in the millimetre and Terahertz frequency ranges, overcoming the current obstacles to better measurements, eliminating the frequency banded nature of rectangular waveguides and providing metrology-grade results across the full frequency range.

THz-radiation based measurements in reflection-mode provide several advantages over transmission-mode configurations such as depth information and single side sample access useful e.g. for the inspection of multi-layer structures, detection of buried defects or the investigation of samples on THz opaque substrates. We present here an InGaAs:Rh-based photoconductive near-field transceiver probe operating at 1550 nm excitation wavelength which can be directly driven by modern fiber-based THz TDS systems without requiring optical frequency-doubling units. The new probe will foster the configuration of fiber-based robotic scanning systems thanks to the simplification of the optical front-end module.

Abstract The synergy betweenMycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) and HIV-1 interferes with therapy and facilitates pathogenesis of both human pathogens. Fundamental mechanisms by whichMtbexacerbates HIV-1 are not clear. Here, we show that exosomes secreted by macrophages infected withMtb, including drug-resistant clinical strains, reactivate HIV-1 by inducing oxidative stress. Mechanistically,Mtb-specific exosomes realign mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and modulates the expression of genes mediating oxidative stress response, inflammation, and HIV-1 transactivation. Proteomics revealed the enrichment of several host factors (e.g.,HIF-1α, galectins, Hsp90) known to promote HIV-1 reactivation in theMtb-specific exosomes. Treatment with a known antioxidant, N-acetyl cysteine, or with the inhibitors of host factors galectins and Hsp90 attenuated HIV-1 reactivation byMtb-specific exosomes. Our findings uncovered new paradigms for understanding the redox and bioenergetics basis of HIV-TB co-infection, which will enable the design of effective therapeutic strategies.