Abstract: A sintering furnace can have a housing, one or more heating elements, and a conveying assembly. Each heating element can be disposed within the housing and can subject a heating zone to a thermal shock temperature profile. A substrate with one or more precursors thereon can be moved by the conveying assembly through an inlet of the housing to the heating zone, where it is subjected to a first temperature of at least 500° C. for a first time period. The conveying assembly can then move the substrate with one or more sintered materials thereon from the heating zone and through an outlet of the housing.

Abstract: A piece of natural wood can be immersed in a first solution at a first temperature less than 100° C. and then immersed in a second solution at a second temperature greater than 100° C. so as to form a piece of partially-delignified wood. In some embodiments, the first and second solutions can be the same solution, and the immersion at the second temperature can be heating the solution from the first temperature to the second temperature. The immersion in the first and second solutions can be effective to remove 45-90% of lignin from the piece of natural wood and to destroy a structure of the ray cells in the piece of natural wood while retaining cell walls of the other cells. The partially-delignified wood can then be dried. After drying, the partially-delignified wood can be clastic along its tangential direction but inelastic along its radial and longitudinal directions.

Abstract: A structure can comprise a substrate and a composite coating. The composite coating can be formed over a surface of the substrate. The composite coating can include one or more nanoparticles within an oxide matrix. The nanoparticles can be formed of a temperature-dependent Mott insulator having a phase transition temperature. At a temperature below the phase transition temperature, the composite coating can transmit light in a first wavelength range, and at a temperature above the phase transition temperature, the composite coating can block light in the first wavelength range. For example, the structure can be used as a smart 10 window to help regulate heating of building interiors due to solar radiation. The composite coating can be formed via a short-duration, high-temperature heating pulse, for example, at least 1500 K for less than 60 seconds.

Abstract: Radiative cooling compositions, as well as precursors for forming such compositions, are disclosed. The compositions comprise solid particles of at least a first composition (e.g., Al2O3), which are bound by a suitable binder (matrix or framework). During the synthesis of these compositions from a precursor, solvent of a binder-forming liquid such as water glass may be evaporated, or otherwise glass (e.g., mixed oxide) particles in the precursor may be softened and/or melted, in either case providing a binder for the solid particles. The manipulation of composition porosity, impacting mechanical strength, as well as performance characteristics (reflectance and/or emissivity), is possible through the selection of types and amounts of components, such that a suitable combination of properties can be engineered without the need for polymers or other materials that may be detrimental in terms of cost and/or stability.

Abstract: A sintering furnace can have a housing, one or more heating elements, and a conveying assembly. Each heating element can be disposed within the housing and can subject a heating zone to a thermal shock temperature profile. A substrate with one or more precursors thereon can be moved by the conveying assembly through an inlet of the housing to the heating zone, where it is subjected to a first temperature of at least 500° C. for a first time period. The conveying assembly can then move the substrate with one or more sintered materials thereon from the heating zone and through an outlet of the housing.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a tea plant CsVAAT3 gene and use thereof. The tea plant CsVAAT3 gene has a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 in sequence listing. A protein coded by the tea plant CsVAAT3 gene has an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing. An expression pattern of CsVAAT3 in tea plant is significantly positively correlated with the nitrogen level in tea roots. The CsVAAT3 is highly expressed in tea roots. A pDR196-CsVAAT3 plasmid constructed from this gene is transformed into a vacuolar amino acid uptake-deficient yeast strain ypq2, which can restore the growth ability of the yeast mutant on a high-concentration theanine medium. Cloning of the gene is beneficial to analysis of a molecular mechanism of theanine storage in tea roots, providing an important target gene resource and a theoretical basis for cultivation of new tea cultivars with high theanine content.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a tea plant CsFAAH6 gene and use thereof. The tea plant CsFAAH6 gene has a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 in sequence listing. A protein coded by the tea plant CsFAAH6 gene has an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing. The CsFAAH6 is highly expressed in mature leaves of tea plants; there is significant negative correlation between theanine content in shoots (one bud and two leaves) of different tea cultivars in different months and expression level of the CsFAAH6; instantaneous silencing of CsFAAH6 expression can significantly increase the theanine content, indicating that CsFAAH6 has a physiological function of theanine degradation and a molecular mechanism thereof.