Important discoveries have frequently been made through the studies of matter under high pressure. The conditions of the pressure environment are important for the interpretation of the experimental results. Due to various restrictions inside the pressure cell, detailed information relevant to the pressure environment, such as the pressure distribution, can be hard to obtain experimentally. Here we present the study of pressure distributions inside the pressure medium under different experimental conditions with NVcenters in diamond particles as the sensor. These studies not only show a good spatial resolution, wide temperature and pressure working ranges, compatibility of the existing pressure cell design with the new method, but also demonstrate the usefulness to measure with these sensors as the pressure distribution is sensitive to various factors. The method and the results will benefit many disciplines such as material research and phase transitions in fluid dynamics.
A study on low temperature processed solid state dye sensitized solar cell (LT-SDSC) is reported. The LT-SDSC uses a photoelectrode with a mesoporous TiO2 (mp-TiO2) film fabricated from a binder-free nanoparticle-TiO2 paste at room temperature, and a blocking layer of an amorphous TiO2 thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at 150 °C. A power conversion efficiency of 1.30% is obtained from the LT-SDSC with 0.9 μm mp-TiO2 layer and 20 nm ALD-TiO2 blocking layer, in cooperating with organic indoline dyes and a hole conductor, 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis-(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD). The lower electron conductivity of the low-temperature-processed mp-TiO2 film and the amorphous blocking layer is equilibrated by using smaller thicknesses of the films. Ways to further boost the LT-SDSC performance are proposed. These LT-SDSC are potentially compatible with low cost plastic substrates and show promising manufacturing potential for low cost flexible SDSCs.
3D printing in the context of medical application can allow for visualization of patient-specific anatomy to facilitate surgical planning and execution. Intra-operative usage of models and guides allows for real time feedback but ensuring sterility is essential to prevent infection. The additive manufacturing process restricts options for sterilisation owing to temperature sensitivity of thermoplastics utilised for fabrication. Here, we review one of the largest single cohorts of 3D models and guides constructed from Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and utilized intra-operatively, following terminal sterilization with hydrogen peroxide plasma. We describe our work flow from initial software rendering to printing, sterilization, and on-table application with the objective of demonstrating that our process is safe and can be implemented elsewhere. Overall, 7% (8/114 patients) of patients developed a surgical site infection, which was not elevated in comparison to related studies utilizing traditional surgical methods. Prolonged operation time with an associated increase in surgical complexity was identified to be a risk factor for infection. Low temperature plasma-based sterilization depends upon sufficient permeation and contact with surfaces which are a particular challenge when our 3D-printouts contain diffusion-restricted luminal spaces as well as hollows. Application of printouts as guides for power tools may further expose these regions to sterile bodily tissues and result in generation of debris. With each printout being a bespoke medical device, it is important that the multidisciplinary team involved in production and application understand potential pitfalls to ensuring sterility as to minimize infection risk.
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