Abstract: According to various aspects and embodiments, multilayer particles having an irregular surface architecture and methods of making the same are disclosed.

Abstract: According to various aspects and embodiments, materials having a modified surface to increase hydrophobicity and methods of making the same are disclosed. In accordance with one or more aspects, a method of enhancing a surface of a substrate may comprise bonding silane monomers onto the surface of the substrate, and polymerizing the silane monomers to form surface-attached hydrophobic particles comprising silane polymers.

Abstract: Metal nanomaterials and nano structures may be formed via shearing force in the presence of a reactant.

Abstract: A method of preparing an ultra-flat metal surface involves providing a layer of a crystalline metallic material on an ultra-flat substrate surface that is relatively harder than the metallic material layer and then impinging the metallic material layer with incoming metal atoms that are deposited as an additive crystalline layer thereon, wherein at least a lattice constant of the additive crystalline layer is different enough from a lattice constant of the crystalline metallic material layer resulting in a reduction of roughness of the surface of the metallic material layer adjacent to the substrate surface. The metallic material layer having an ultra-flat surface then is separated by template stripping or other technique from the substrate surface for further use of the ultra-flat surface.

Abstract: According to various aspects and embodiments, core-shell particles and methods of making the same are disclosed. The core-shell particles may include a liquid metal core, at least one layer of inorganic material surrounding the liquid metal core, and at least one layer of organic material attached to the at least one layer of inorganic material.

Abstract: A low-melting material, such as Field's metal or related alloy, may be molded into a device which can then be reconfigured to fabricate another device. Related methods and kits are also disclosed for various humanitarian, military, and industrial applications.

Abstract: A portable communication device (104), such as a cellular telephone, is operable in a speakerphone mode. The communication device uses a digital communication scheme, and both receives and generates vocoded signals. The speakerphone provides half duplex operation to eliminate echo. When voice activity is detected, the device activates a speaker and mutes a microphone to avoid echo. When no voice activity is detected in the received signal, the speaker is muted and the microphone activated. To determine when speech activity is present in the received signal, a novel voice activity detection (VAD) algorithm is used which takes advantage of parameters provided as part of the received vocoded signal. The new voice activity algorithm includes calculating a staggered average of the frame energy value for a sequence of received frames, and determining if the staggered average value exceeds a threshold.

Abstract: A digital signal processor (100) receives a digitally vocoded signal (102), and calculates a staggered average value (404) from the frame energy of each received frame, or the product of the frame energy and a voicing value. While the staggered average value is above a threshold voice indicator value, speech is declared present.