Abstract: A system operable to identify and sort materials of different plastics. The system may include an illumination module operable to emit light at materials of different plastics; an imaging module including a hyperspectral detector and a thermal imaging camera each configured to detect light from the illumination module reflected by the materials of different plastics, where the hyperspectral detector is operable to convert detected light into hyperspectral signal and the thermal imaging camera is operable to convert detected light into thermal image; and a data acquisition module including a hyperspectral signal processing unit and a thermal signal processing unit, where the hyperspectral signal processing unit is operable to generate hyperspectral data from the hyperspectral signal and the thermal signal processing unit is operable to generate thermal imaging data from the thermal image for use in identifying the materials of different plastics.

Abstract: A method of producing a silica-based superhydrophilic film. A coating formulation is provided, where the coating formulation includes an alkali metal silicate having a substantial portion of water removed therefrom, where the alkali metal silicate has a formula of M2O·nSiO2, and where M represents an alkali metal and n is a positive real number greater than zero. Furthermore, the coating formulation and an alcohol including a curing agent are mixed, where the curing agent includes an acid or an alkaline earth metal halide. Additionally, the coating formulation is dried to form the silica-based superhydrophilic film. Furthermore, a silica-based superhydrophilic film is produced according to such a method, where the silica-based superhydrophilic film includes an amine stabilizer.

Abstract: A method of forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is provided. The method may include providing a transition metal oxide, a chalcogen source, a non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger, and a substrate, wherein the substrate is disposed downstream of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source, and wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger is disposed in proximity to the transition metal oxide; generating vapors of the transition metal oxide and vapors of the chalcogen source, wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger reacts preferentially with the vapors of the chalcogen source; disposing the vapors generated from the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate; and reacting the vapors of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate to obtain the transition metal dichalcogenide layer on the substrate. An arrangement for forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is also provided.

Abstract: The apparatus (100A) comprises a cover plate (102) for focusing a terahertz beam (108) and a bottom plate (104) for enhancing an absorption signal of a sample (106) to the terahertz beam (108). The apparatus (100A) comprises a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy module (110) for acquiring (802) terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) data. The apparatus (100A) comprises a processor (120) configured to implement a trained machine learning model (130) that is trained on training dataset (114) comprising a pure compound dataset (114a) and a mixture dataset (114b). The trained machine learning model (130) is configured to process (804) an acquired THz TDS data (116) for obtaining a reduced dimensionality dataset (118); extract (806) at least one feature (118a) from the reduced dimensionality dataset (118); generate (808) a classification label (122) for the reduced dimensionality dataset (118); and indicate (810) a probability of identifying the chemical compound (112).

Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a flow reactor system (100) and a flow reaction method (200). The flow reactor system (100) comprises liquid pumps (110) for communicating liquid reagents based on a set of flow conditions, a fluid pump (200) for communicating a carrier fluid that is immiscible with the liquid reagents; a fluidic mixer (130) for mixing the liquid reagents into a liquid mixture, a measurement device (150) for measuring properties of liquid plugs (140) discharged from an outlet (136) of the fluidic mixer (130); and a control module configured for controlling the liquid pumps (110) and adjusting the flow conditions based on the measured properties of the liquid plugs (140), wherein the liquid plugs (140) are representative of different flow conditions.

Abstract: A method of forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is provided. The method may include providing a transition metal oxide, a chalcogen source, a non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger, and a substrate, wherein the substrate is disposed downstream of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source, and wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger is disposed in proximity to the transition metal oxide; generating vapors of the transition metal oxide and vapors of the chalcogen source, wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger reacts preferentially with the vapors of the chalcogen source; disposing the vapors generated from the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate; and reacting the vapors of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate to obtain the transition metal dichalcogenide layer on the substrate. An arrangement for forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is also provided.

Abstract: A method of forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is provided. The method may include providing a transition metal oxide, a chalcogen source, a non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger, and a substrate, wherein the substrate is disposed downstream of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source, and wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger is disposed in proximity to the transition metal oxide; generating vapors of the transition metal oxide and vapors of the chalcogen source, wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger reacts preferentially with the vapors of the chalcogen source; disposing the vapors generated from the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate; and reacting the vapors of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate to obtain the transition metal dichalcogenide layer on the substrate.

Abstract: A method of producing a silica-based superhydrophilic film. A coating formulation is provided, where the coating formulation includes an alkali metal silicate having a substantial portion of water removed therefrom, where the alkali metal silicate has a formula of M2O·nSiO2, and where M represents an alkali metal and n is a positive real number greater than zero. Furthermore, the coating formulation and an alcohol including a curing agent are mixed, where the curing agent includes an acid or an alkaline earth metal halide. Additionally, the coating formulation is dried to form the silica-based superhydrophilic film. Furthermore, a silica-based superhydrophilic film is produced according to such a method, where the silica-based superhydrophilic film includes an amine stabilizer.

Abstract: A method of forming a transition metal dichalcogenide layer on a substrate is provided. The method may include providing a transition metal oxide, a chalcogen source, a non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger, and a substrate, wherein the substrate is disposed downstream of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source, and wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger is disposed in proximity to the transition metal oxide; generating vapors of the transition metal oxide and vapors of the chalcogen source, wherein the non-gaseous chalcogen scavenger reacts preferentially with the vapors of the chalcogen source; disposing the vapors generated from the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate; and reacting the vapors of the transition metal oxide and the chalcogen source on the substrate to obtain the transition metal dichalcogenide layer on the substrate.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a photo-sensor comprising: an optically transparent substrate; an electrode pair; and a photoactive film with electrical polarization located between the optically transparent substrate and the electrode pair, wherein the optically transparent substrate is configured to transmit incident radiation received by the optically transparent substrate to the photoactive film and wherein the electrode pair is configured to receive charge carriers generated by the photoactive film in response to the transmitted incident radiation.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a photo-sensor comprising: an optically transparent substrate; an electrode pair; and a photoactive film with electrical polarization located between the optically transparent substrate and the electrode pair, wherein the optically transparent substrate is configured to transmit incident radiation received by the optically transparent substrate to the photoactive film and wherein the electrode pair is configured to receive charge carriers generated by the photoactive film in response to the transmitted incident radiation.