Negative photoconductivity in silver nanocubes prepared by simple photochemical method

Silver nanocubes embedded in polyvinyl alcohol matrix have been synthesised by photoirradiation technique. The composite films are characterised by FESEM, XRD, UV-Visible absorption and photoluminescence. These show characteristics of silver nanoparticles with FESEM showing the cubic shape. The photoconductivity study of these films shows decrease in photocurrent with light irradiation. Such negative photoconductivity behaviour may be attributed to dominant scattering of electrons by excited surface plasmon polaritons in nanoscale.     

RF magnetron sputtered Cd doped ZnO thin films for gas-sensing applications

RF magnetron sputtering has been employed to manufacture undoped and Cd doped (3%, 10%, and 20%) ZnO (CZO) films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the films have preferential orientation along (002) plane with hexagonal structure, and there are no secondary peaks. It is observed from the Hall Effect measurement that CZO films posses n-type conductivity, and the carrier concentration does not vary much with Cd concentration. On the other hand, the band gap estimated from Tauc’s plot shows that band gap decreased with increase in Cd concentration. Red shift was observed in photoluminescence spectrum. Ethanol, methanol, and ammonia at gas concentration range of 50–200?ppm were exposed on the grown CZO films at different temperatures. Among the various concentrations of the films, CZO having 20% Cd exhibited better gas response toward methanol, while CZO with 10% Cd showed maximum gas response toward ammonia gas. This has been explained by grain boundary barrier (GBB) and double Schottky potential barrier mechanisms.     

Self‐Healing Inside APbBr3 Halide Perovskite Crystals

Self‐healing, where a modification in some parameter is reversed with time without any external intervention, is one of the particularly interesting properties of halide perovskites. While there are a number of studies showing such self‐healing in perovskites, they all are carried out on thin films, where the interface between the perovskite and another phase (including the ambient) is often a dominating and interfering factor in the process. Here, self‐healing in perovskite (methylammonium, formamidinium, and cesium lead bromide (MAPbBr₃, FAPbBr₃, and CsPbBr₃)) single crystals is reported, using two‐photon microscopy to create damage (photobleaching) ≈110 µm inside the crystals and to monitor the recovery of photoluminescence after the damage. Self‐healing occurs in all three perovskites with FAPbBr₃ the fastest (≈1 h) and CsPbBr₃ the slowest (tens of hours) to recover. This behavior, different from surface‐dominated stability trends, is typical of the bulk and is strongly dependent on the localization of degradation products not far from the site of the damage. The mechanism of self‐healing is discussed with the possible participation of polybromide species. It provides a closed chemical cycle and does not necessarily involve defect or ion migration phenomena that are often proposed to explain reversible phenomena in halide perovskites.     

Intensity enhancement of photoluminescent polyesters by photocrosslinking

A series of polyesters with alkylated triazole heterocyclic rings at the branches were designed and synthesized via the polycondensation reaction. The synthesized polyesters were examined with various spectroscopic methods such as Fourier transform IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. The alkyl chain length at the branch was found to affect the thermal stability of the polyesters, which decreased with longer alkyl chain. These polyesters possessed an aggregation‐induced emission enhancement characteristic evidenced by the transformation of the clear solutions in tetrahydrofuran with weak greenish blue emission to cloudy solutions with enhanced blue emission when water was added to promote aggregation. Furthermore, enhancement in the photoluminescence intensity was observed when the polyesters underwent photocrosslinking upon UV irradiation and appeared as self‐assembled aggregates. The formation of aggregates in the water ? tetrahydrofuran solutions and after photocrosslinking was confirmed via TEM analysis. The SEM images showed that the photocrosslinked polyesters were highly porous which may enhance the π ? π stacking interaction that improved the photoluminescence intensity. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and characterization of a titanium phosphate-tellurite glass for Faraday rotators

This work is focused on investigation of thermal, structural, optical, magnetic, and magneto-optical properties of novel titanium phosphate-tellurite glass applied as Faraday rotators. The glass belonging to the system 35Li₂O–10Al₂O₃–5TiO₂–45P₂O₅–5TeO₂ was prepared by a nonconventional wet route of raw materials processing, followed by melting-quenching-annealing steps. Some important physical properties of the investigated glass have been measured and calculated, providing knowledge related to glass compactness, electronic structure, glass forming capability, etc. XRD analysis evidenced an amorphous network structure of the investigated glass. The optical absorption in the Vis domain is mainly due to Ti³⁺ ions and Te₂ clusters formed during the glass melting process. A relatively low optical absorption is noticed over 600 nm that activates a significant Faraday magneto-optical effect. Photoluminescence bands in the blue, red, and infrared domains are observed, caused by Te₂ clusters formed during the glass melting process. The magnetization in dependency on applied magnetic field reveals a complex behavior of the glass, depending on temperature. Thus, it is found a ferromagnetic behavior up to 2000 Oe, a paramagnetic component up to 40 000 Oe, followed by a diamagnetic one over 40 000 Oe. Faraday rotation angle and Verdet constant values in the visible domain are correlated with the reduced TeO₂ content of the glass.     

Growth mechanism and gas-sensing characteristics of organic-additive-free zinc oxide of various shapes

Zinc oxide is widely used in gas sensors, solar cells, and photocatalysts because of its wide bandgap and exciton binding energy of 60 meV in various metal oxides. To use ZnO as a gas sensor, it is necessary to synthesize it with surface defects and a large specific surface area. In this study, hydrothermal synthesis without surfactants was employed to obtain organic-additive-free ZnO. For morphology control, we varied the ratio of the hydroxide ion concentration to the zinc ion concentration. To confirm the growth mechanism of ZnO, we performed X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements were performed to analyze the surface properties. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and probe stations were used to measure the specific surface area and sensitivity of the gas sensor, respectively. The results confirmed that flower-shaped ZnO is the most suitable gas-sensing material.     

The sprayed ZnO films: nanostructures and physical parameters

We synthesized the pure and indium-doped (IZO) ZnO films with a facile composition control spray pyrolysis route. The substrate temperature (T_s) and In-doping effects on the properties of as-grown films are investigated. The X-ray pattern confirms that the as-synthesized ZnO phase is grown along a (002) preferential plane. It is revealed that the crystalline structure is improved with a substrate temperature of 350 ℃. Moreover, the morphology of as-grown films, analyzed by AFM, shows nanostructures that have grown along the c-axis. The (3 × 3μm²) area scanned AFM surface studies give the smooth film surface RMS < 40 nm. The UV-VIS-IR measurements reveal that the sprayed films are highly transparent in the visible and IR bands. The photoluminescence analysis shows that the strong blue and yellow luminescences of 2.11 and 2.81 eV are emitted from ZnO and IZO films with a slight shift in photon energy caused by In-doping. The band gap is a bit widened by In-doping, 3.21 eV (ZnO) and 3.31 eV (IZO) and the resistivity is reduced from 385 to 8 Ω ·m. An interesting result is the resistivity linear dependence on the substrate temperature of pure ZnO films.     

基于光纤传感技术的伽马探测研究

利用Sol-gel法制作掺铈石英光纤的前驱体,采用powder-in-tube技术拉制掺铈光纤,分析闪烁光纤的影响因素,确定光纤传感器的结构和尺寸,研制出闪烁光纤传感器.闪烁光纤传感器对伽马射线具有发致发光效应,伽马射线与被记录光子算有对应关系,通过计算处理,得到伽马射线的强度.通过实验,实现闪烁光纤对伽马射线的探测,并能分辨出射线强度随距离变化的响应.通过与NaI晶体作为探测体进行对比,得知闪烁光纤传感器探测的技计数率相对比较低,距实际测井应用还有需要进一步研究.通过闪烁光纤传感技术能够实现对伽马射线的探测,对于实现光纤传感器对自然伽马射线探测具有重要的意义.     

稀磁半导体化合物Zn_(1-x)Mn_xO的制备和表征

用固相法合成了Zn1-xMnxO(x=0.03、0.05、0.08、0.10、0.15)系列化合物,利用X射线衍射、红外光谱、磁强计和荧光光谱对该系列化合物的结构和磁性进行了表征。结果表明,锰离子进入了Zn O的晶格中,形成了纤锌矿型的固熔体,空间群位P63mc,晶格参数和体积随着锰掺入量先增加而后降低,每个Mn2+离子的磁矩随着锰含量增加而降低。荧光光谱分析表明锰离子掺入使得近带边缺陷电子跃迁光谱消失,并且随着锰离子掺入量增加缺陷数目降低。