Two types of oleogels-made of carnauba wax with canola oil or beeswax with grapeseed oil-were prepared at concentrations from 0 to 15% (w/w) of wax. Physical characterization was done and oxidative stability of the oleogels were evaluated. As the proportion of wax increased from 5 to 15%, the enthalpy of crystallization and melting increased in both oleogels. The carnauba wax-based oleogel (CWO) required greater enthalpy than the beeswax-based oleogel (BWO). Differences in L*, a*, and b* values between control oils and the oleogels significantly decreased as the concentration of wax increased in the oleogels (5-15%; <0.05). Oil-binding capacity of the BWO was higher than that of the CWO. Solid-fat content of the CWO did not change significantly from 10 to 60oC, whereas that of the BWO decreased. In general, oxidative stability of the CWO was better at 60 and 180oC heat treatment in comparison with control oils (<0.05). However, the BWO did not provide high oxidative stability than the control oils.

For ex-situ co-doping methods, sintering at high temperatures enables rapid diffusion of Sn4+ and Be2+ dopants into hematite (α–Fe2O3) lattices, without altering the nanorod morphology or damaging their crystallinity. Sn/Be co-doping results in a remarkable enhancement in photocurrent (1.7 mA/cm2) compared to pristine α–Fe2O3 (0.7 mA/cm2), and Sn4+ mono-doped α-Fe2O3 photoanodes (1.0 mA/cm2). From first-principles calculations, we found that Sn4+ doping induced a shallow donor level below the conduction band minimum, which does not contribute to increase electrical conductivity and photocurrent because of its localized nature. Additionally, Sn4+-doping induce local micro-strain and a decreased Fe-O bond ordering. When Be2+ was co-doped with Sn4+-doped α–Fe2O3 photoanodes, the conduction band recovered its original state, without localized impurities peaks, also a reduction in micro-strain and increased Fe-O bond ordering is observed. Also the sequence in which the ex-situ co-doping is carried out is very crucial, as Be/Sn co-doping sequence induces many under-coordinated O atoms resulting in a higher micro-strain and lower charge separation efficiency resulting undesired electron recombination. Here, we perform a detailed systematic characterization using XRD, FESEM, XPS and comprehensive electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies, along with sophisticated synchrotron diffraction studies and extended X-ray absorption fine structure.

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We investigate the use of twin-mode quantum states of light with symmetric statistical features in their photon number for improving intensity-sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors. For this purpose, one of the modes is sent into a prism setup where the Kretschmann configuration is employed as a sensing platform and the analyte to be measured influences the SPR excitation conditions. This influence modifies the output state of light that is subsequently analyzed by an intensity-difference measurement scheme. We show that quantum noise reduction is achieved not only as a result of the sub-Poissonian statistical nature of a single mode, but also as a result of the non-classical correlation of the photon number between the two modes. When combined with the high sensitivity of the SPR sensor, we show that the use of twin-mode quantum states of light notably enhances the estimation precision of the refractive index of an analyte. With this we are able to identify a clear strategy to further boost the performance of SPR sensors, which are already a mature technology in biochemical and medical sensing applications.