Preparation and characterization of high‐molecular‐weight sericin by γ irradiation

We conducted this study to examine the changes in the molecular structure and physiological activities of silk sericin after γ irradiation. Sericin from Bombyx mori was extracted with an Na₂CO₃ solution. The molecular weight distribution of sericin increased in the gel permeation chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis results as the irradiation dose increased. Circular dichroism data also revealed that the α‐helix contents decreased with the irradiation dose. Ultraviolet absorption was shown a different pattern between the irradiated and unirradiated sericin. However, the Fourier transform infrared spectrum was not changed in all of the groups. Furthermore, the irradiated sericin was significantly increased in 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl‐hydrazil radical scavenging, and the tyrosinase inhibitory activities increased with irradiation dose. Therefore, γ irradiation was an effective method for producing high‐molecular‐weight sericin and for developing functional foods and cosmetics. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Electrochemical properties of the carbon-coated lithium vanadium oxide anode for lithium ion batteries

Carbon-coated Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ powder was prepared by dissolving pure crystalline Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ powder in an ethanol solution containing 10 wt% sucrose and sintering it under an argon atmosphere. The structures of the bare and carbon-coated Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ powders were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. These powders were used as anode active materials for lithium ion batteries in order to determine the electrochemical properties via cyclic voltammetry (CV) and constant current methods. CV revealed the carbon-coated Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ anode to have better reversibility during cycling than the bare Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ anode. Carbon-coated Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ also showed a higher specific discharge and charge capacities, as well as lower electrolyte and interfacial resistance properties. The observed specific discharge and charge capacities of the carbon-coated Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ anode were 330 mAh/g and 250 mAh/g, respectively, in the first cycle. In addition, the cyclic efficiency of this cell was 75.8% in the first cycle. After 20 cycles, the specific capacity of the Li_1.1V_0.9O₂ anode was reduced to approximately 50% of its initial capacity, irrespective of the presence of a carbon coating.     

Size-controlled cubic coordination polymer nanoparticles from chiral dipyridyl Zn-salen

Size-controlled crystalline nanocubic coordination polymer particles from chiral Zn-salen and Co(II) have been obtained. PXRD patterns show that these particles have an identical unit cell regardless of a wide range of size distributions. Furthermore, cubic particles with epitaxial layers have been obtained with a simple manipulation during the synthesis.     

A Review of Three‐Dimensional Resistive Switching Cross‐Bar Array Memories from the Integration and Materials Property Points of View

Issues in the circuitry, integration, and material properties of the two‐dimensional (2D) and three‐dimensional (3D) crossbar array (CBA)‐type resistance switching memories are described. Two important quantitative guidelines for the memory integration are provided with respect to the required numbers of signal wires and sneak current paths. The advantage of 3D CBAs over 2D CBAs (i.e., the decrease in effect memory cell size) can be exploited only under certain limited conditions due to the increased area and layout complexity of the periphery circuits. The sneak current problem can be mitigated by the adoption of different voltage application schemes and various selection devices. These have critical correlations, however, and depend on the involved types of resistance switching memory. The problem is quantitatively dealt with using the generalized equation for the overall resistance of the parasitic current paths. Atomic layer deposition is discussed in detail as the most feasible fabrication process of 3D CBAs because it can provide the device with the necessary conformality and atomic‐level accuracy in thickness control. Other subsidiary issues related to the line resistance, maximum available current, and fabrication technologies are also reviewed. Finally, a summary and outlook on various other applications of 3D CBAs are provided.     

Highly Fluorescent and Color‐Tunable Exciplex Emission from Poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) Film Containing Nanostructured Supramolecular Acceptors

Highly fluorescent excited‐state charge‐transfer complexes (exciplexes) formed at the interfacial region between a polymeric donor matrix, here, poly(N‐vinylcarbazole), and embedded nanostructured acceptors are characterized for their photophysical properties. Exciplex‐to‐exciton emission switching is observed after solvent vapor annealing (SVA) due to the size evolution of the nanostructures beyond the exciton diffusion length. Color‐tunable exiplex emission (sky blue, green, and orange) is demonstrated for three different nanostructured acceptors with the same HOMO–LUMO gap (i.e., the same blue excitonic emission) but with different electron affinity. White‐emitting poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) film is also fabricated, simply by incorporating mixed supramolecular acceptors, which provide independent exciplex emissions. This study presents important insights into the excited‐state intermolecular interaction at the well‐defined nanoscale interface and suggests an efficient way to obtain multicolored exciplex emissions.     

Characterization of Fluxing and Hybrid Underfills with Micro‐encapsulated Catalyst for Long Pot Life

For the fine‐pitch application of flip‐chip bonding with semiconductor packaging, fluxing and hybrid underfills were developed. A micro‐encapsulated catalyst was adopted to control the chemical reaction at room and processing temperatures. From the experiments with a differential scanning calorimetry and viscometer, the chemical reaction and viscosity changes were quantitatively characterized, and the optimum type and amount of micro‐encapsulated catalyst were determined to obtain the best pot life from a commercial viewpoint. It is expected that fluxing and hybrid underfills will be applied to fine‐pitch flip‐chip bonding processes and be highly reliable.     

3‐Level Envelope Delta‐Sigma Modulation RF Signal Generator for High‐Efficiency Transmitters

This paper presents a 0.13 μm CMOS 3‐level envelope delta‐sigma modulation (EDSM) RF signal generator, which synthesizes a 2.6 GHz‐centered fully symmetrical 3‐level EDSM signal for high‐efficiency power amplifier architectures. It consists of an I‐Q phase modulator, a Class B wideband buffer, an up‐conversion mixer, a D2S, and a Class AB wideband drive amplifier. To preserve fast phase transition in the 3‐state envelope level, the wideband buffer has an RLC load and the driver amplifier uses a second‐order BPF as its load to provide enough bandwidth. To achieve an accurate 3‐state envelope level in the up‐mixer output, the LO bias level is optimized. The I‐Q phase modulator adopts a modified quadrature passive mixer topology and mitigates the I‐Q crosstalk problem using a 50% duty cycle in LO clocks. The fabricated chip provides an average output power of –1.5 dBm and an error vector magnitude (EVM) of 3.89% for 3GPP LTE 64 QAM input signals with a channel bandwidth of 10/20 MHz, as well as consuming 60 mW for both channels from a 1.2 V/2.5 V supply voltage.     

Versatile threshold voltage control of OTFTs via discontinuous pn-heterojunction formation

We demonstrate the versatility of the threshold voltage control for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) based on formation of discontinuous pn-heterojunction on the active channel layer. By depositing n-type dioctyl perylene tetracarboxylic diimide molecules discontinuously onto base p-type pentacene thin films (the formation of the discontinuous pn-heterojunction), a positive shift of the threshold voltage was attained which enabled realizing a depletion-mode transistor from an original enhancement-mode pristine pentacene transistor. Careful control of the threshold voltage based on this method led assembling a depletion-load inverter comprising a depletion-mode transistor and an enhancement-mode transistor connected in series that yielded tunable signal inversion voltage approaching 0 V. In addition, the tunability could be applied to improve the program/erase signal ratio for non-volatile transistor memories by more than 4 orders of magnitude compared to reference memory devices made of pristine pentacene transistors.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Direct Arylations of 1,2‐Azolo[1,5‐a]pyridines using Copper(I) Chloride as a Lewis Acid Activator and the Synthesis of 2,6‐Disubstituted Pyridines

A direct method for the arylation of 1,2‐azolo[1,5‐a]pyridines has been developed. In the process, the fused pyridines react with aryl halides in the presence of the palladium complex Pd(OAc)₂(Phen) as a catalyst and copper(I) chloride (CuCl) as a Lewis acid to form arylated derivatives. While pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyridines and [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5‐a]pyridines are arylated at ortho‐positions of their pyridine rings using this method, in situ ring‐opening of the formed C‐7 arylated [1,5‐a]pyridine takes place to generate the 2,6‐disubstituted pyridine. Also, upon treatment with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), C‐7 arylated pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyridine‐3‐carboxylates react to produce diversely substituted 2,6‐disubstituted pyridines. Finally, a sequential C‐3 arylation was accomplished through a two‐step sequence involving hydrolysis of pyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyridine‐3‐carboxylates followed by the bimetallic Pd/Cu‐catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reaction with aryl bromide.