An electrophoretic process is proposed to deposit electrochemically-preformed Au or Pd NPs, with controlled size, directly on MWCNTs-based chemiresistors to improve the detection of aromatic pollutants, compared to pristine ones.

The sensing properties of pristine and functionalized MWCNTs were evaluated at an operating temperature of 40°C towards various concentrations of one aromatic pollutant, belonging to the dangerous BTEX class of compounds, m-Xylene. The sensing performance was related to the metal used in the functionalization process. Metal-doped MWCNTs sensors exhibited a very high gas sensitivity to m-Xylene even at low (80 ppb) concentration at low operating temperature (40°C), good reversibility and repeatability, with the sensing properties controlled by the type of deposited metal catalyst.

The results indicate that Metal-modified MWCNT-based chemiresistive gas sensors has good potential in practical applications, due to its remarkable performance, low power consumption, and facile synthesized methods.

The carbon dots were investigated to reveal their light-emitting mechanism. The fluorescence spectra of carbon dots show typically two different types of photoluminescence: the excitation-independent component in the short wavelength, and the excitation-dependent component in the longer wavelength. The UV-Vis spectrum of carbon dots shows the absorption maximum of 340 nm which should be accredited to the n-π* transition of the carbonyl group in carbon dots. Absolute quantum yields of carbon dots dispersed in Polyvinyl alcohol is around 15% when the excitation wavelength is less than 425 nm, but decreases continuously when the excitation wavelength increases. The decay lifetimes of the carbon dots also show an abrupt change at excitation wavelength 425 nm. Time resolved photoluminescence was implemented from 31K to 291K to study the photoluminescence decay dynamics of carbon dots, resulting in the continuously decreasing of the lifetime as the temperature increases.

In this work, the integration of ZnO-CuO core-shell nanostructures shows improvement in the conversion efficiency of ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This is due to CuO acting as a secondary absorption layer that allows the absorption of near-infrared (NIR) light increasing the generated photocurrent in the device, and as a blocking layer that reduces electron-hole recombination. The ZnO core and encapsulating CuO shell are synthesized through chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and thermal oxidation of a Cu seed layer, respectively. The crystallinity of the synthesized ZnO and CuO is analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show the change in morphology through the steps of Cu seed layer deposition and thermal oxidation of this layer. To determine optical properties of CuO on ZnO nanorods, UV-Vis-NIR photospectrocopy is used. The comparison of conversion efficiency of DSSCs using two different photoelectrodes (i.e. ZnO nanorods versus ZnO-CuO core-shell nanostructure) is performed by I-V measurements.

We have found that several nitrogen-related luminescence centers appear at 389 nm, 503 nm (H3 center), 575 nm (NV0 center), 637 nm (NV- center) in single-crystalline Ib diamond cut by means of a YAG laser irradiation process, followed by a suitable hydrogen microwave-plasma treatment, and that cathodoluminescence peaks related to these centers substantially change in intensity by irradiating the sample with 15-keV electron beam (EB). The relative number of 389-nm centers originating from a pair of a substitutional nitrogen atom and an adjacent interstitial carbon atom increased while the concentrations of the vacancy-related centers were reduced with increasing 15-keV EB doses. These facts indicate that both the process-induced self-interstitials and the vacancies in the diamond rather easily moved to more preferential positions to form their stabler defect states, being suggestive of possibility to control densities of NV and NV-related centers.

Thin films of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown promising for applications such as gas separation, gas storage, optoelectronics or sensing. However, synthesis of polycrystalline MOF films and membranes depends largely on the surface properties of supports, limiting the availability of common supports. It is, therefore, highly desirable to develop ways to modify the surface properties of common supports for the preferred heterogeneous nucleation of the MOFs. Here, we demonstrated that graphene-oxide (GO) can be exploited to readily modify the surface properties of common supports, thereby leading to well inter-grown polycrystalline MOF films. A prototypical zeolitic-imidazolate framework ZIF-8 was chosen as a model MOF system. The stabilization of GO layers with divalent metal ions was found a key step to synthesize well inter-grown ZIF-8 films. The effect of divalent metal ions on the stability of GO layers and the quality of the resulting ZIF-8 films were systematically investigated. Finally, the single gas permeation behaviors of the ZIF-8 films grown on GO-modified supports were tested.

Two metal fillers with TiC nanoparticles (TiC NPs) of less than 100 nm for the overlay process is an alternative to hardfacing for treating surfaces subjected to severe wear. In this work, the effect of tribological behavior for TiC NPs addition on two Co-based filler materials, as well as the dilutions, was studied. Mixtures of Co-based filler metals without and with 0.5% and 2% TiC NPs were deposited onto D2 steel plates using PTA (Plasma Transferred Arc). The BET surface area was 0.17 m2 g-1 and 0.31 m2 g-1, respectively, for Stellite 6 and 12. The distribution of ca 23% macroporous for Stellite 6 was sufficient to get inside the TiC NPs, as well as in the case of Stellite 12, with a pore distribution of ca 13%. Stellite 12 has an increase in the dilutions (70%) and enthalpies showed endothermic reactions. Stellite 6 with NPs was determined to be most effective in increasing the wear resistance.

Traditional solar power applications largely avoid using the infrared spectrum. Nevertheless, this region makes up about 45% of the solar power spectrum and therefore represents an untapped resource. Temperature control of buildings represents a significant cost for both businesses and private consumers. We are interested in developing thermochromic materials for building coatings to help moderate solar infrared absorption and thereby offset temperature control costs for buildings. Our initial effort in this study has been to characterize materials which might represent starting points for our research. We previously designed and 3D-printed an optical test platform to perform reflectance measurements with an ultraviolet-visible-near infrared spectrometer over a spectral range from 200-1000nm. The test platform temperature can be adjusted in real time using Peltier modules. In this study, a sample of microencapsulated 7-anilino-3-diethylamino-6-methyl fluoran was studied by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy from 15-40 degrees Celsius. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the dye particles. Temperature and spectral data were monitored while the sample temperature was adjusted. The visible diffuse reflectance from the sample increased from around 15% below the transition to more than 40% above the transition. A modification of this fluoran which extends the switching behavior into the infrared may be viable for passive thermo-optical switching in building coatings.

Most research of texturization of solar cells has been devoted to Si based cells. For perovskites, it was assumed that texturization would not have much of an impact because of the relatively low refractive indexes lead to relatively low reflection as compared to the Si based cells. However, our optical modeling shows that a significant gain in perovskite (1.55 Ev) absorption from 84.6% to 93.5% for the wavelength range of 400 nm up to 800 nm. The largest gain in absorption is achieved between wavelengths of 700 nm and 800 nm. Because this is a range with a high photon density, the current density increases up to 10rel.%.

We have modeled different sine texture sizes and show generic trends in performance with texture. Moreover, by introducing a texture, the light is locally concentrated, depending on the texture configuration. This offers new cell architectures with optimized front and back contacts.

Bulk metallic glass and their composites are unique new materials which have superior mechanical and structural properties as compared to existing conventional materials. Owing to this, they are potential candidates for tomorrow’s structural applications. However, they suffer from disadvantages of poor ductility and little or no toughness which render them brittle and they manifest catastrophic failure on the application of force. Their behavior is dubious and requires extensive experimentation to draw conclusive results. In present study, an effort has been made to overcome this pitfall by simulation. A quantitative mathematical model based on KGT theory has been developed to describe nucleation and growth of second phase dendrites from melt in glassy matrix during solidification. It yields information about numerical parameters necessary to understand the behaviour of each individual element in multicomponent sluggish slurry and their effect on final microstructural evolution. Model is programmed and simulated in MATLAB®. Its validation is done by comparison with identical curves reported in literature previously for similar alloys. Results indicate that the effect of incorporating all heat transfer coefficients at macroscopic level and diffusion coefficients at microscopic level play a vital role in refining the model and bringing it closer to actual experimental observations. Two types of hypo and eutectic systems namely Zr65Cu15Al10Ni10 and Zr47.5Cu45.5Al5Co2 respectively were studied. Simulation results were found to be in good agreement with prior simulated and experimental values.

Glassy materials for HLW immobilization were produced from HLW surrogate, quartz sand, datolite (CaBSiO4OH), and bentonite clay at a temperature of up to 1200 °C. Waste loading (WL) ranged between 20 and 40 wt.%. The glasses were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy. Glasses with waste loading of up to 35 wt.% obtained by melt pouring onto a metal plate were found to be rather homogeneous but contained minor noble metal oxides and britholite (at high waste loadings) while those annealed in turned-off furnace were partly devitrified. Average chemical composition of britholite corresponded to formula Na1.00Ca4.02Y0.33Ce0.05Nd3.64Gd0.17Si6.79O24.39. The glass network is built from SiO4 units with one or two bridging oxygens and complex borate groups with primarily ternary coordinated boron. Increase of waste loading resulted in shift of band’s maxima to lower wavenumbers exhibiting increasing the fraction of SiO4 unit with lower number of bridging oxygen ions and thus reduction of glass network connectedness. Glasses with up to 30 wt.% waste loading kept their high hydrolytic durability making them suitable for HLW immobilization.

Applications such as batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, and sensors, can benefit from high surface-to-volume ratio core/shell arrays of nanorods. The fabrication of the conformal shell layers on nanorod arrays has been a formidable task. In order to assess the deposition conditions for the production of conformal shell coatings by physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques, we employed Monte Carlo (MC) simulations that involved shell depositions under different flux distributions and angles on arrays of rods. We investigated the conformality of PVD shell layers on nanorod arrays of different aspect ratios, which is defined to be the ratio of rod height to the gaps between nearest-neighbor rods. MC simulated core/shell structures were analyzed for the thickness uniformity of the shell layer across the sidewalls of rods. Our results show that a small angle deposition approach involving a uniform oblique flux (U-SAD) with a small incidence angle ≤ 30o can generate a fairly conformal shell coating around small aspect-ratio rods. However, normal angle deposition with an angular flux distribution (A-NAD) achieves superior conformality both on small and high-aspect-ratio structures compared to U-SAD, conventional uniform normal angle deposition (U-NAD), and SAD with an angular flux distribution (A-SAD). A-NAD can be realized in a PVD system such as by high pressure sputter deposition; while U-SAD can be achieved in thermal evaporation system with a small angle incident flux. In addition, U-NAD and A-SAD can correspond to film growth by normal incidence thermal evaporation and SAD-high pressure sputter deposition, respectively.

Ferromagnetic/Ferroelectric/Ferromagnetic (Ni/PZT/Ni) tri-layer artificial multiferroelectric structures in spin capacitor configuration were fabricated by sputtering ferromagnetic electrodes on PZT. Magnetocapacitance, magnetoimpedance, and phase angle measurements were carried out by a wide range of frequencies and magnetic fields at room temperature. We also compared the magnetodielectric measurements with Ni/PZT/Ag and Ag/PZT/Ag tri-layers structures. Ni/PZT/Ni spin capacitor shows a significantly different behavior compared to conventional PZT capacitor with Ag electrode and mixed electrode capacitor with one ferromagnetic and one conventional electrode.

Light-weight alloys based on intermetallic titanium aluminides (TiAl) are structural materials considered for high-temperature applications, e.g. in aero engines or automotive engines. TiAl alloys of engineering interest consist of two phases, the γ-TiAl and the α2-Ti3Al-phase. Recent developments have led to the so-called TNM alloys (T = TiAl; N = Nb; M = Mo) with an Al-content of 43.5 at.%. These alloys also possess the disordered body centered cubic β-Ti(Al)-phase at elevated temperatures, which ensures a better hot-workability compared to conventional two-phase alloys. However, the relatively low Al content (< 45 at.%) limits the high-temperature capability due to reduced oxidation resistance. This impedes their application in a temperature range above 800°C. The present work shows how the fluorine effect counteracts this disadvantage due to the formation of a protective alumina layer. The performance of the TNM alloy with the nominal composition of Ti-43.5Al-4Nb-1Mo-0.1B (at.%) is compared with another TNM alloy variant containing additional elements, such as Si and C, and the so-called GE alloy (Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb; at.%), which is already in use for turbine blades. The results of isothermal and thermocyclic high-temperature exposure tests of untreated and fluorine treated specimens will be compared. The effect of composition and microstructure of the alloys on the oxidation behavior with and without fluorine treatment are discussed.

The parameter optimizations of square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry using boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes with different doping levels for cadmium detection were studied. The optimized relation among the peak current with the pulse frequency, the amplitude, and the potential increment for highly (1019 cm-3) and heavily BDD (1021 cm-3) electrodes was considered. The peak currents were measured around -0.75 V vs. Ag/AgCl for Cd2+ concentration ranged from 1 to 20 ppb. Both BDD films provided detection limits lower than 5 ppb showing that these electrodes are suitable to use in a mercury-free method to determine cadmium trace levels in water.

This study reports the development of a one-step method for the production of antimicrobial protective coatings for aluminum surfaces with titania nanoparticles. An aerosol flame synthesis system was used to produce monodisperse, ultra-fine TiO2 nanoparticles, which were directly deposited by thermophoresis onto plates of aluminum alloy by means of a rotating disc. Fuel-lean reactor conditions were used to synthesize pure anatase nanoparticles of 3.5 nm in diameter. Substrates were mounted onto the rotating disc that repetitively passes through the flame. Convection due to the rotational motion cooled the substrates, on which particles were deposited as films by thermophoresis. Such a system allowed to obtain submicron coatings of different thickness, by varying the total time of deposition. The antimicrobial activity of TiO2 coatings was tested against the Gram positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. To determine the inhibition of biofilms formation, microbes were plated on TiO2 coatings and a semi-quantitative colorimetric assay was performed using crystal violet. The tests showed that the TiO2 coating obtained with tdes=10 s inhibits up to 70-80% Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation, and the inhibition of biofilms formation was confirmed by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy observation. Also, the antimicrobial properties of the coatings was enhanced by irradiating the samples in the UV region. The results of the present work are promising for using titania films as protective coatings for applications where an antimicrobial activity is required.

Two-dimensional layered materials, materials with weak out-of-plane van der Waals bonding and strong in-plane covalent bonding, have attracted special attention in recent years since the isolation and characterization of monolayer graphite, the graphene. The electrical bandgap in Transition Metal Di-Chalcogenides (TMDCs), non-existent in graphene, make them a good alternative family of materials for novel electronic and optoelectronic applications. 2H- MoS2, one of the most stable TMDCs, has been extensively studied, including the synthesis methods, and its potential applications in photodetection. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis method has increased its potential over the years. The advantages of this method are scalability compared to micromechanical exfoliation, common process used in research laboratories, and the maintenance of the quality and intrinsic properties of the material compared to the liquid exfoliation methods. In this work, we synthesized high quality pristine 2H-MoS2 via atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) by vapor phase reaction of MoO3 and S powder precursors. The samples were characterized via Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and compared to mechanically exfoliated MoS2 crystal by measuring the full-width half maxima (FWHM) of monolayer and few-layer mesoscopic flakes. In addition, the CVD synthesized single and few-layered MoS2 domains were transferred to different substrates using a high yield process, including a flexible substrate, preserving the quality of the material. Finally, and mechanically exfoliated MoS2 two-terminal photodetector was designed, fabricated, and measured. Demonstrating thus the capability of heterostructure fabrication and the quality of our synthesis and device fabrication process.

By taking advantage of three-terminal capacitance-voltage (TT-CV) measurement, we investigated a formation of trapped charge in pentacene(Pn)-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) during the bias stress measurement. The shift of the turn-on voltage in transfer curve correlated well with the increase of trapped charge estimated from TT-CV curves. Moreover, TT-CV measurement revealed that the trapped charges were distributed inhomogeneously at the vicinity of the pentacene/insulator interface, indicating that the current does not obviously affect their formation. Thus we suggested that the trapped charges are formed by keeping Pn molecules as unstable cation (hole state) by the prolonged bias stress.

Micro-scale energy storage devices are of great importance to the advancement of low maintenance, high power electronics. They can easily be used in applications that extract energy from mechanical, solar, thermal and thermoelectric sources. Several of these devices have achieved mean areal capacitance of 1.5 mF cm-2 and maximal energy and power densities of 6.6 mJ cm-2 and 44.9 mW cm-2, respectively. It has been demonstrated that a smaller interspace enhances the performance. Currently, these types of devices are only made possible by using several micro-fabrication steps and techniques that are cost prohibitive and limit the larger scale manufacturability. We present a simple but highly scalable and cost effective method in fabricating high power interdigitated micro energy storage devices using binder-free carbon nanotubes membranes and laser irradiation to obtain interspaces on the order of 75 μm. The binder-free electrode devices show higher power density and an improved frequency response, compared to what has been reported in the literature. Additionally, we observed significant reduction in cell resistance leading to enhancement in cell capacitance, and consequently, an increase in energy density.

The electronic and transport properties of graphene nanoribbons strongly depends on different types of adatoms. Oxygen as adatom on graphene is expected to resemble oxidized graphene sheets and enable in understanding their transport properties. Here, we report the transport properties of oxygen adsorbed zigzag edge saturated graphene nanoribbon. It is interesting to note that increasing the number of oxygen adatoms on graphene sheets lift the spin degeneracy as observed in the transmission profile of graphene nanoribbons. The relative orientation of the oxygen atom on the graphene basal plane is detrimental to flow of spin current in the nanoribbon.