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The thermal Marangoni flow induced by nonuniform surface temperature has been widely invoked to interpret the deposition pattern from drying drops. The surface temperature distribution of a drying droplet, although being crucial to the Marangoni flow, is still controversial. In this paper, the surface temperature in the drop central region is analyzed theoretically based on an asymptotic analysis on the heat transfer in such region, and a quantitative criterion is established for the direction of the surface temperature gradient and the direction of the induced Marangoni flow of drying drops. The asymptotic analysis indicates that these two directions will reverse at a critical contact angle, which depends not only on the relative thermal conductivities of the substrate and liquid, but also on the ratio of the substrate thickness to the contact-line radius of the droplet. The theory is corroborated experimentally and numerically, and may provide a potential means to control deposition patterns from drying droplets.

The mechanical properties of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres of ca. 50-1000 nm in diameter were evaluated by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The compressive elastic moduli of individual nanospheres were obtained by analyzing the AFM force-displacement curves on the basis of the Hertz and JKR contact theories. The results showed that the elastic moduli of PS nanospheres of different sizes were in the range of 2-8 GPa. The elastic modulus of PS nanospheres increased with the decrease of the sphere diameter, especially when the diameter was less than 200 nm. The measurement errors due to tip wear and the deformation at the bottom of the sphere were analyzed. Mechanisms for the size dependence on the elastic modulus of PS nanospheres were also discussed.

The mechanical properties of black phosphorus (BP) nanoribbons suspended on narrow grooves are quantitatively investigated with the nanoindentation method on the basis of atomic force microscopy. The elastic moduli of BP nanoribbons are strongly related to the included angle between the lattice orientation and the groove. A theoretical model based on classical elasticity theory is established to explain the directional elastic modulus and matches well with the experimental results. The ideal elastic modulus of zigzag and armchair BP nanoribbons are about 65 and 27 GPa, respectively, and this agrees with the simulation results obtained by theoretical calculations. The obtained results in the present investigations strengthen the understanding of the fascinating anisotropic properties of BP, which would be of great help for future application of BP in flexible electronics, nanoelectromechanical systems, etc.

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SERS arrays with uniform gold nanoparticle distribution were fabricated by direct-writing with an inkjet printing method. Quantitative analysis based on Raman detection was achieved with a small standard statistical deviation of less than 4% for the reproducibility and less than 5% for the long-term stability for 12 weeks.

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the rotational and translational motions of ionic liquids composed of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide and bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anions and their binary systems including lithium salts