Films and fibers of oriented single wall nanotubes

As-produced nanotubes form a light, fragile and isotropic soot. Different efforts are made to process nanotubes into macroscopic forms of more practical use and more controlled properties. We briefly review in this paper two methods recently proposed to make films of magnetically aligned nanotubes and fibers by using an electrophoretic method. Preferential orientation of the nanotubes in the plane of the films or along the fiber axis is an important feature of the obtained materials. Then we describe in details a different, spinning like, process for making fibers out of single wall carbon nanotubes. This process consists of dispersing the nanotubes in a surfactant solution, re-condensing the nanotubes in the flow of a polymer solution to form a nanotube mesh, and then collating this mesh to a nanotube fiber. The behaviors of the surfactant-stabilized dispersions, which are also presented, are critical for this process. The degree of nanotubes alignment in dried fibers has been characterized by X-ray scattering. It is found to be smaller than the alignment obtained in the previous materials. However, the processing is simpler and faster and potentially scalable for large-scale production.     

Effect of doping polyacrylic acid with some dopants as studied by different techniques

The molecular weight of polyacrylic acid (PAA) was determined by a viscometric method using NaNO₃ as solvent at 30°C. The specific electric conductivities (σ) of PAA as well as PAA doped with carbon black (CB), chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃), and cupferron with different concentrations (from 0.25 to 1 wt %) were measured at a temperature range 360–400 K. IR spectra of some polymers were determined and it was shown that when PAA was doped with 0.5 wt % CB, a C? O? C band appeared at 775–875 cm^?1. The positron annihilation lifetime (PAL) spectra in PAA doped with the above‐mentioned dopants were measured as a function of their concentrations. It was observed that the short lifetime intensity I₁ decreased, whereas the intermediate lifetime intensity I₂, which is related to the conductivity of the material, increased with increasing the wt % of Cr₂O₃ and cupferron as well as at low concentrations of CB. These results are discussed in terms of the conducting island model. It was found that there were distinct positive relationships between σ and I₂. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 877–883, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10381     

Origin of visible photoluminescence from porous silicon as studied by Raman spectroscopy

In this paper we discuss the different models proposed to explain the visible luminescence in porous silicon (PS). We review our recent photoluminescence and Raman studies on PS as a function of different preparation conditions and isochronal thermal annealing. Our results can be explained by a hybrid model which incorporates both nanostructures for quantum confinement and silicon complexes (such as SiH _x and siloxene) and defects at Si/SiO₂ interfaces as luminescent centres.     

Nd：MgO：LiNbO3晶体的荧光光谱及其双晶体腔内互倍频实验

采用激光感生荧光技术测量了Ｎｄ：ＭｇＯ：ＬｉＮｂＯ３晶体的偏振荧光光谱，简要地说明了Ｎｄ：ＭｇＯ：ＬｉＮｂＯ３双晶体腔内互倍频的基本原理，并在实验中用染料激光作泵浦源实现了其双晶体腔内互倍频运转；得到５４３ｎｍ横模倍频绿光单端输出约ＹＭＷ，腔前泵浦阈值约３８ＭＷ，总转换效率约为１．３％。     

短波长相干光与原子团受激发射

多种原子团及其离子已具有在VUV/XUV波段产生受激发射的能力。本文介绍了产生短波长相干辐射的方法、研究现状、研究方法和原子团的结构与受激发射。     

Charge transfer resistance of spray deposited and compressed counter electrodes for dye-sensitized nanoparticle solar cells on plastic substrates

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the effective charge transfer resistances of porous dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes prepared by low-temperature spray deposition and compression of conductive carbon and platinized Sb-doped SnO₂ powders on indium tin oxide-coated plastic substrates. The charge transfer resistances were 0.5–2 and 8–13 Ω cm², respectively, when using 3-methoxypropionitrile as the electrolyte solvent. The manufacturing method used lends itself to produce mechanically stable and even-quality electrodes in an easy and fast manner.     

Investigation of Ni/4H-SiC diodes as radiation detectors with low doped n-type 4H-SiC epilayers

The development of SiC minimum ionising particle (MIP) detectors imposes severe constrains in the electronic quality and the thickness of the material due to the relatively high value of the energy required to produce an electron–hole pair in this material by MIP against the value for Si. In this work, particle detectors were made using semiconductor epitaxial undoped n-type 4H-SiC as the detection medium. The thickness of the epilayer is on the order of 40 μm and the detectors are realised by the formation of a nickel silicide on the silicon surface of the epitaxial layer (Schottky contact) and of the ohmic contact on the back side of 4H-SiC substrate. The low doping concentration (6×10¹³ cm⁻³) of the epilayer allows the detector to be totally depleted at relatively low reverse voltages (100 V). We present experimental data on the charge collection properties by using 5.486 MeV -particles impinging on the Schottky contact. A 100% charge collection efficiency (CCE) is demonstrated for reverse voltages higher than the one needed to have a depletion region equal to the -particle extrapolated range in SiC. The diffusion contribution of the minority change carriers to CCE is pointed out. By comparing measured CCE values to the outcomes of drift–diffusion simulation, values are inferred for the hole lifetime within the neutral region of the charge carrier generation layer.     

Changes in the dielectric relaxations of water in epoxy resin as a function of the extent of water ingress in carbon fibre composites

Dielectric relaxation measurements are reported over a frequency range from 10⁻¹ to 10⁹ Hz as a function of exposure time for an epoxy resin-carbon fibre composite, ageing at 60 °C in water. Investigation of the nature of the dipole relaxation of the water molecules, indicates the nature of their interaction with the polymer matrix. Analysis of the dielectric relaxation spectra allow identification of processes that can be attributed to ‘free’ and ‘bonded’ water, water in micro-cracking, located in carbon fibre disbonds and plasticizing the polymer matrix. Identification of the various types of location in which water exists was aided by use of the N_g factor from the Kirkwood-Frölich equation, which describes the constraints on free dipole ration nature imposed by the environment in which it is located. These data indicate the power of the dielectric technique for quantitative analysis of water ingress into epoxy composites.     

Electrical characterization of waterside corrosion films formed on ZrNb(1%)O(0.13%)

Oxide films formed by water oxidation at 360°C on ZrNb(1%)O(0.13%) for several durations (50-300 days) were studied by impedance spectroscopy (IS) in gaseous atmosphere. The electrical behavior of oxide layers was investigated as a function of the temperature (25-300°C) at constant oxygen partial pressure (0.3 Pa). Cole-Cole diagrams suggest a frequency-temperature equivalence. A simple electrical model has been derived from the as-deduced 14 decade master curve. Equivalent circuit includes a series association of two layers exhibiting different dielectric properties: a dense layer near the oxide-metal interface and a porous layer at the waterside. Electronic conductivity is predominant within the whole temperature range, but ionic contribution was proposed to increase for temperature higher than 170°C. During the parabolic oxidation step, the oxide thickness of the barrier layer increases but oxide growth would not be only a geometrical one. The kinetic modification to a constant oxidation rate was observed to be correlated to the increase of the dense layer thickness. Such a behavior suggests that the mechanism controlling oxidation rate is not a pure mechanism of oxygen diffusion through this layer. Finally, a qualitative model of activated electrons transport based on an hopping mechanism was proposed in order to take into account that the Arrhenius diagrams of both total conductivity and dispersion factor are characterized by a break point with two activation energy values.