Optical properties of hybrid polymers as barrier materials

The development of high barrier films for the encapsulation of organic electronics devices onto flexible polymeric substrates is attracting a considerable scientific interest, since it is important to protect the organic semiconductor layers of these devices from corrosion due to atmospheric gas molecule permeation. The barrier layers for encapsulation consist of a sequence of inorganic and hybrid polymer thin films that are deposited onto flexible polymeric substrates, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In addition to their barrier response, these multilayer systems should also exhibit high transparency and good adhesion between the hybrid polymer and inorganic layers. The knowledge of their optical properties and the correlation of the optical response with their structure and the final barrier response are of major importance since it will contribute towards the optimization of their functionality. In this work, the optical properties of hybrid polymers deposited onto silicon oxide inorganic thin films that were grown onto flexible polymeric substrates, have been investigated by the use of spectroscopic ellipsometry in a wide spectral region from the infrared to the visible-ultra violet. As it has been found, the increase of the solid content in the hybrid polymers is associated with a reduction in the refractive index values. This behavior can be correlated to a lower density of the hybrid polymer, and furthermore to a poor barrier response, due to the less cohesive inorganic-organic bonding network. Finally, from the investigation of the optical response of the hybrid polymers in the IR spectral region has revealed information on their bonding structure that has been discussed together with their barrier response.     

Orbits of hybrid systems as qualitative indicators of quantum dynamics

Hamiltonian theory of hybrid quantum–classical systems is used to study dynamics of the classical subsystem coupled to different types of quantum systems. It is shown that the qualitative properties of orbits of the classical subsystem clearly indicate if the quantum subsystem does or does not have additional conserved observables.     

The use of ionic liquids as solvent-free green electrolytes for hybrid supercapacitors

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the use of ionic liquids (ILs) in activated carbon (AC)//poly(3-methyl-thiophene) (pMeT) hybrid supercapacitors is a very promising strategy to develop high voltage supercapacitors operating above room temperature with solvent-free green electrolytes. The ILs used were 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hexafluorophosphate, N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. We report and discuss the performance of AC and pMeT electrodes in such ILs compared to that in propylene carbonate-based electrolytes, in order to give indications for further research effort in IL-based hybrid supercapacitors. PACS 82.47.Uv; 84.60.-h     

Highly amorphous PbO2 as an electrode in hybrid electrochemical capacitors

This paper presents a synthesis and characterizes highly amorphous lead dioxide and its use in hybrid electrochemical capacitor C/PbO₂. Highly amorphous lead dioxide with a small amount of β-PbO₂ was synthesized by galvanostatic deposition from acetate solution. The hybrid supercapacitor was constructed with PbO₂ as the positive electrode whereas activated carbon as the negative electrode. The morphology of materials was examined by scanning electron microscopy and their structure was characterized by means of an X-ray diffraction technique. The electrochemical performance of hybrid electrochemical capacitor with synthesized PbO₂ was studied by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. To indicate that the amorphous form of lead dioxide was predominant, results were compared to highly crystalline β-PbO₂. The hybrid electrochemical capacitor with synthesized material exhibits a much greater specific capacitance, higher specific energy and power than the highly crystalline one. The specific capacitance values obtained for the supercapacitor rose more than twice in favour of amorphous PbO₂. Also, long cycling did not influence any of the electrochemical properties of this hybrid electrochemical capacitor, which makes it an interesting energy storage device.     

Design and synthesis of benzodiazepine-1,2,3-triazole hybrid derivatives as selective butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors

Molecular Diversity - A new series of compounds based on benzodiazepine-1,2,3-triazole were synthesized and evaluated as cholinesterase inhibitors by Ellman’s method. The compounds proved to...     

Highly stable Ag nanoparticles in agar-agar matrix as inorganic–organic hybrid

A novel synthesis of inorganic–organic hybrid films containing well dispersed and almost uniform size Ag nanoparticles in agar-agar matrix has been reported. The films are found to be highly stable for more than a year. The colloidal particles of Ag can be obtained in large quantities in the form of a film or in the gel form when dispersed in agar-agar or by dissolving in a suitable solvent as solution. Characterization has been done by UV–visible spectroscopy and TEM. The hybrid may be of interest to study third-order non-linear susceptibility.     

Conducting polymer based hybrid structure as transparent and flexible field electron emitter

An efficient cathode material with high transparency (93%) based on conducting polymer poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has been developed for the fabrication of highly transparent and flexible field electron emitters (FEE). This kind of material showed superior field emission (FE) performance with very high current density (10^–3A/cm²) at very low electric field. The FE performance of the hybrid materials was dramatically improved compared to either SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS. Thus the hybrid structures of conducting polymer and SWCNTs might be a good choice for use as a cathode material to enhance the FE performance and for potential application in future portable displays. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A discotic disguised as a smectic: A hybrid columnar bragg glass

We show that discotics, lying deep in the columnar phase, can exhibit an x-ray scattering pattern which mimics that of a somewhat unusual smectic liquid crystal. This exotic, new glassy phase of columnar liquid crystals, which we call a "hybrid columnar Bragg glass," can be achieved by confining a columnar liquid crystal in an anisotropic random environment of, e.g., strained aerogel. Long-ranged orientational order in this phase makes single-domain x-ray scattering possible, from which a wealth of information could be extracted. We give detailed quantitative predictions for the scattering pattern in addition to exponents characterizing anomalous elasticity of the system.     

QCD: The $ \Lambda$(1405) as a hybrid

Using the QCD sum rule method, we estimate the mass of the lowest strange mixed hybrid/three-quark baryon with IJ ^P = 0(1/2)^- . We find the mass for a hybrid is approximately that of the L \Lambda(1405) , whose nature has been a puzzle for many decades. Possible tests of this result are discussed.     

金纳米棒核/贵金属壳杂化纳米结构的可控制备和性质调控

贵金属纳米颗粒由于其独特的光学及催化性能引起了人们的广泛关注,而这些性能与纳米颗粒的尺寸、形貌、结构组成等密切相关.目前如何有意识地控制晶体生长过程,以得到人们需要的纳米结构和组成,仍具有相当大的挑战性.文章重点介绍了利用具有特定形貌和晶面组成的金纳米棒（Au nanorods）作为种子,借助形成核/壳结构,诱导了Ag...     

Synthesis and utilization of chitin-humic acid hybrid as sorbent for Cr(III)

New types of hybrid material have been synthesized by using four different methods of immobilization of humic acid (HA) on chitin. The most stable hybrid material toward the change of medium acidity was then utilized as sorbent for Cr(III).The HA was extracted from peat soil of Gambut District, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, using the recommended procedure of International Humic Substances Society (IHSS), while the chitin was isolated from crab shell waste through deproteination using 3.5% (w/v) NaOH and followed by removal of inorganic impurities using 1 M HCl. The four methods of immobilization of HA on chitin were (i) Method A: chitin powder (4 g) was gently poured into the stirred solution of 0.4 g HA in 40 mL of 0.01 M NaOH. After overnight stirring, the solid was separated, washed with water, and dried in oven at 70 °C. (ii) Method B: gelatinous chitin (40 g) in 250 mL of 0.5 M HCl was reacted with HA (4 g) in 500 mL of 0.5 M NaOH and aged for 24 h. The product was washed with water and dried. (iii) Method C: HA powder (0.5 g) was mixed with the stirred gel of chitin (2.5 g) in 60 mL of CaCl₂ saturated methanol and the mixture was then washed with the mixed solution of 25 mL of 2 M sodium citrate and ethylene glycol 1:1. The solid was separated, washed with water, and dried. (iv) Method D: the solution of HA (0.056 g) in 10 mL of 0.01 M NaOH was reacted with the gel of chitin (0.2 g) in 10 mL of CaCl₂ saturated methanol. After 24 h stirring, the solid was separated from the reaction medium, washed with the mixed solution of 2 M sodium citrate and ethylene glycol 1:1, and followed by washing with water and drying. Parameters investigated in this study consisted of the stability test of the immobilized HA, as well as the rate constant (k₁), capacity (b), and energy (E) of sorption as well as the rate constant of desorption (k₋₁). The k₁ and k₋₁ were determined according to a kinetic model of first order sorption reaching equilibrium, while the b and E were determined according to the Langmuir isotherm model.Compared to HA, Methods, A, C, and D; Method B produced the most stable immobilization of HA on chitin. The hybrid material (Chitin-HA) synthesized through Method B was stable in the acidity range that equivalent to pH 2.0-11.0. At the acidity giving maximum sorption, i.e. pH 5, the presence of immobilized HA on the Chitin-HA enhanced more than three times the k₁ and k₋₁, i.e. from 0.057 min⁻¹ and 8.51 × 10⁻⁴ (min⁻¹) (mol/L) for chitin to 0.183 min⁻¹ and 3.27 × 10⁻³ (min⁻¹) (mol/L) for the Chitin-HA. On the contrary, the presence of HA on Chitin-HA only gave small increase on b and small decrease on E. The values of b and E for Cr(III) on chitin were 1.45 × 10⁻² mol/g and 23.12 kJ/mol, respectively, while those on Chitin-HA were 1.78 × 10⁻² mol/g and 19.95 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Investigation of polymer/inorganic hybrid photovoltaic device using quantum dots as the interface modifier

CdS quantum dots (QDs) were introduced as an interface modifier in the poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/TiO₂ nanorod arrays hybrid photovoltaic device. The presence of CdS QDs interlayer was found to provide enhanced light absorption, increased interfacial recombination resistance at the P3HT/TiO₂ interfaces, thus leading to a lower recombination rate of the electrons due to the stepwise structure of band edge in P3HT/CdS/TiO₂, which accounts for the observed enhanced photocurrent and photovoltage of the hybrid solar cells. The optimized performance was achieved in P3HT/CdS/TiO₂ hybrid solar cells after deposition of CdS QDs for 10 cycles, with a power conversion efficiency of 0.57 %, which is nearly ten times higher than that of P3HT/TiO₂. The findings indicate that inorganic semiconductor quantum dots provide effective means to improve the performance of polymer/TiO₂ hybrid solar cells.     

Graphene-Co/CoO shaddock peel-derived carbon foam hybrid as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

A novel graphene (G)-Co/CoO shaddock peel-derived carbon foam (SPDCF) hybrid was fabricated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The preparation of G-Co/CoO SPDCF was according to the following two steps. Firstly, the dried shaddock peels were immersed into the mixture of Co(NO₃)₂/graphene oxide for about 12 h. Then, the shaddock peels were taken out and heated at 800 °C for 2 h under N₂ atmosphere. The strategy is simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly because the shaddock peel is abundant and renewable. The obtained G-Co/CoO SPDCF hybrid were carefully characterized by SEM, EDS, XPS, XRD, TGA, BET, TEM, and electrochemical techniques. The results showed that the carbonized shaddock peels had hierarchical porous nanoflakes structures and graphene was uniformly dispersed into the SPDCF. The nanosized Co/CoO was formed on the G-SPDCF. The resulted G-Co/CoO SPDCF hybrid could maintain a high capacity of 600 mA h g^?1 at 0.2 A g^?1 after 80 cycles, which was much higher than that of commercial graphite (372 mA h g^?1). The enhanced performance might be ascribed to the existence of lots of uniform Co/CoO and the hierarchical G-SPDCF alleviating the mechanical stress during the process of lithiation/delithiation.     

PtRu/carbon hybrid materials prepared by hydrothermal carbonization as electrocatalysts for methanol electrooxidation

PtRu/carbon hybrid materials were prepared by hydrothermal carbonization using starch as carbon source and reducing agent and H₂PtCl₆.6H₂O and RuCl₃.xH₂O as metal sources of the carbonization process. The materials were prepared in the following conditions: without pH adjustment, in the absence and in the presence of tetrapropylammonium chloride, and adjusting the pH using potassium hydroxide or tetrapropylammonium hydroxide. The as-synthesized materials were further treated under argon atmosphere at 900 °C and characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, BET isotherm, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and cyclic voltammetry. The electrooxidation of methanol was studied by chronoamperometry. The addition of tetrapropylammonium ion promoted an increase in surface area and total pore volume while the alkaline medium favored smaller particle sizes. The material prepared using tetrapropylammonium hydroxide showed the best electroactivity for methanol electrooxidation compared to others obtained materials.     

Chitin-humic acid hybrid as adsorbent for Cr(III) in effluent of tannery wastewater treatment

Adsorption of Cr(III) from both synthetic and real samples of tannery wastewater treatment's effluent on chitin-humic acid (chitin-HA) hybrid has been carried out. Rate constant and capacity of adsorption of Cr(III) from the synthetic sample were investigated and removal of Cr(III) from the real sample was tested at optimum medium acidity equivalent to pH 3.5. Characterization using Fourier transform infra red (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed that both COO⁻ and N-acetyl originated from respectively humic acid (HA) and chitin were involved on the adsorption of Cr(III), and hence the Freundlich's multilayer and multi-energy adsorption model was more applicable to treat the adsorption data than the Langmuir's monolayer and mono-energy model. The quantification of adsorption capacity and rate constant using Freundlich isotherm model and first order adsorption reaching equilibrium yielded values of 6.84 × 10⁻⁴ mol g⁻¹ (35.57 mg g⁻¹) and 1.70 × 10⁻² min⁻¹, respectively. Removal test for the real wastewater treatment's effluent showed that the maximum amount of Cr(III) could be removed by 1 g of chitin-HA hybrid was 2.08 × 10⁻⁴ mol or equivalent to 10.82 mg.     

Surface and electrical properties of organic-inorganic hybrid structure as gate insulator to organic thin film transistor

Carbon-based OTFT devices were fabricated using a plasma process for the gate electrode and gate insulators. A nanocrystalline carbon (nc-C) film was used as the gate electrode, and three different layers, cyclohexene, diamond-like carbon (DLC), and cyclohexene/DLC (hybrid insulator), were used as the gate insulator. The surface and electrical properties of the three different gate insulators on the nc-C gate electrode were investigated using the SPM method, and the leakage current density and dielectric constant of the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structures with three different insulator layers were evaluated. The hybrid insulator layer had a very smooth surface, approximately 0.2 nm, a uniform surface without defects, and good adhesion between the layers. Overall, it is believed that the hybrid insulator lead to a decrease in the electrical leakage current and an improvement in the device performance.     

Investigation of TiO2 photocatalyst performance for decolorization in the presence of hydrodynamic cavitation as hybrid AOP

In this article, an acoustic cavitation engineered novel approach for the synthesis of TiO₂, cerium and Fe doped TiO₂ nanophotocatalysts is reported. The prepared TiO₂, cerium and Fe doped TiO₂ nanophotocatalysts were characterized by XRD and TEM analysis to evaluate its structure and morphology. Photo catalytic performance of undoped TiO₂ catalyst was investigated for the decolorization of crystal violet dye in aqueous solution at pH of 6.5 in the presence of hydro dynamic cavitation. Effect of catalyst doping with Fe and Ce was also studied for the decolorization of crystal violet dye. The results shows that, 0.8% of Fe-doped TiO₂ exhibits maximum photocatalytic activity in the decolorization study of crystal violet dye due to the presence of Fe in the TiO₂ and it may acts as a fenton reagent. Kinetic studies have also been reported for the hybrid AOP (HAOP) that followed the pseudo first-order reaction kinetics.     

Utilization of stimulated Raman Scattering as secondary pump on hybrid remotely-pump l-band Raman/erbium-doped fiber amplifier

An L-band remotely-pumped erbium-doped fiber amplifier incorporating a secondary pumping scheme utilizing stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) was demonstrated. 1423 nm Raman laser was employed to generate SRS which became the secondary pump source. The amplifier displayed excellent gain of up to 27.3 dB at 1570 nm for −30 dBm input. Noise figures were also kept to a minimum, with the highest figure measured at 11 dB which was influenced by imperfection of the C/L coupler utilized in this architecture. Overall transmission performance was measured as well and demonstrated an encouraging outcome with gain as high as 24 dB while the noise figure was maintained at about 11 dB. The L-band signal amplification was also contributed by the stimulated Raman scattering along the transmission fiber. The outcome of this study emphasized the feasibility of secondary pumping scheme using SRS in L-band gain enhancement.