Ultralong Copper Phthalocyanine Nanowires with New Crystal Structure and Broad Optical Absorption

The development of molecular nanostructures plays a major role in emerging organic electronic applications, as it leads to improved performance and is compatible with our increasing need for miniaturisation. In particular, nanowires have been obtained from solution or vapour phase and have displayed high conductivity, or large interfacial areas in solar cells. In all cases however, the crystal structure remains as in films or bulk, and the exploitation of wires requires extensive post-growth manipulation as their orientations are random. Here we report copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) nanowires with diameters of 10-100 nm, high directionality and unprecedented aspect ratios. We demonstrate that they adopt a new crystal phase, designated eta-CuPc, where the molecules stack along the long axis. The resulting high electronic overlap along the centimetre length stacks achieved in our wires mediates antiferromagnetic couplings and broadens the optical absorption spectrum. The ability to fabricate ultralong, flexible metal phthalocyanine nanowires opens new possibilities for applications of these simple molecules

Surface Nano-structured Coating for Improved Performance of Axial Piston Pumps

The work starts from the consideration that most of the power losses in a hydraulic pump is due to frictional losses made by the relative motion between moving parts. This fact is particularly true at low operating velocities, when the hydraulic lift effect must be able to maintain a minimum clearance in meatus to limit the volumetric losses. The potential of structured coatings at nanoscale, with super-hydrophobic and oleophobic characteristics, has never been exploited before in an industrial application. The work studies the potential application of nano-coating on piston slippers surface in a real industrial case. The aim is to develop a new industrial solution to increase the energetic efficiency of hydraulic pump used in earthmoving machines. The proposed solution is investigated using a dedicated test bench, designed to reproduce real working conditions of the pump. The results showa reduction of friction coefficient while changing working pressure and rotation velocity

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead