Synthesis and characterization of “mulberry”-like Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites

Nanocomposites composed of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were fabricated using solvothermal method. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction measurements confirmed that these mulberry-like Fe₃O₄ microparticles which were combined with the MWNTs in a random pattern are constructed with tiny nanocrystallites (12 nm in average diameter). The magnetic properties of the Fe₃O₄/MWNTs nanocomposites were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Results showed that the Fe₃O₄/MWNTs nanocomposites exhibited superparamagnetism at room temperature and possessed a lower saturation magnetization (around 27.6 emu/g) than that of the pure Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (around 33.7 emu/g). The Fe₃O₄/MWNTs nanocomposites have potential applications in engineering and medicine.     

Systematic study on visible light collimation nanostructured slits in the metal surface

We present a systematic experimental investigation on visible light collimation by a nanostructured slit flanked with a pair of periodic array of grooves in gold thin film. A wide variety of aspects are considered, such as the polarization state, the transport path of incident light, the groove-groove spacing, the groove width and depth. Our results clearly show that the relationship between the collimation wavelength and the periodicity of the slit-groove structure accords well with the surface plasmon dispersion model proposed by previous researchers. Furthermore, the surface plasmon wave phase retardation effect induced by the surface structure is also verified via the measurement for samples with different groove widths and depths. These results indicate that the detailed geometry of the groove structure has obvious impacts on the collimation effect and the angular distribution of the diffraction light in the subwavelength plasmonic system.     

电子俘获材料的研究现状及在红外检测方面的应用

电子俘获材料在辐射剂量测定、光信息处理、光存储、红外光检测等许多技术领域具有广泛的应用。本文详细介绍了电子俘获材料的发光原理、材料种类、制备方法以及研究现状,并针对该材料在红外光检测方面的应用,提出了在室温下该材料存在红外光检测上限的观点。针对电子俘获材料存在性质不稳定及在制备过程中需用到硫化类材料易造成污染等问题,建议进一步改进材料制备方法。最后,文中指出玻璃陶瓷类电子俘获材料会有很好的发展前景,并对该种材料未来的发展前景进行了展望。     

Fabrication and laser performance of highly transparent Nd:YAG ceramics from well-dispersed Nd:Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanopowders by freeze-drying

Well-dispersed Nd:Y₂O₃ powders with uniform particle size of about 60 nm were synthesized from freeze-dried precursors. Highly transparent 2 at.% Nd:YAG ceramics were fabricated from the as-synthesized Nd:Y₂O₃ powders and commercial Al₂O₃ powders by vacuum sintering at 1,750 °C for 5 h. Phase evolution, microstructures, and spectroscopic properties of the Nd:YAG transparent ceramics were investigated. Freeze-drying played an important role in the synthesis of high-quality Nd:Y₂O₃ nanosized powders, which were essential for the fabrication of highly transparent Nd:YAG ceramics. Optical transmittance of a 3-mm thick sample reached 82% in the wavelength range of 200–900 nm. 5.23 W output power was obtained with 14.3 W diode laser pumping, giving a slope efficiency of 36.5%.     

Microstructure evolution of laser solid forming of Ti-Al-V ternary system alloys from blended elemental powders

Morphology evolution of prior β grains of laser solid forming (LSF) Ti-xAl-yV (x 11,y 20) alloys from blended elemental powders is investigated. The formation mechanism of grain morphology is revealed by incorporating columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) mechanism during solidification. The morphology of prior β grains of LSF Ti-6Al-yV changes from columnar to equiaxed grains with increasing element V content from 4 to 20 wt.-%. This agrees well with CET theoretical prediction. Likewise, the grain morphology of LSF Ti-xAl-2V from blended elemental powders changes from large columnar to small equiaxed with increasing Al content from 2 to 11 wt.-%. The macro-morphologies of LSF Ti-8Al-2V and Ti-11Al-2V from blended elemental powders do not agree with CET predictions. This is caused by the increased disturbance effects of mixing enthalpy with increasing Al content, generated in the alloying process of Ti, Al, and V in the molten pool.     

Efficient two-photon sensitized luminescence of europium （Ⅲ） complex based on hypersensitive transitions

Red frequency-upconversion fluorescence emission is observed in europium(Ⅲ) complex with encapsulating polybenzimidazole tripodal ligands, pumped with 930- and 1070-nm picosecond laser pulses. The lumines- cence of transition 5D0 →7F2 (612 nm) is induced by two-photon absorption of hypersensitive transitions 7F0 →5D2 (465 nm) and 7F1 →5D1 (535 nm). Analysis results suggest that the two-photon excitation strength of these hypersensitive transitions is increased dramatically owing to the C3 symmetry of the coordination field.     

Tunneling of Boseben-Einstein condensate and interference effect in a harmonic trap with a Gaussian energy barrier

The tunneling effect of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a harmonic trap with a Gaussian energy barrier is studied in this paper. The initial condensate evolves into two separate moving condensates after the tunneling time under certain conditions. The interference pattern between the two moving condensates is given as a comparison and as a further demonstration of the existence of the global phase.     

Varistor behavior study in undoped tungsten trioxide ceramic

In this paper, varistor property and mechanism of undoped tungsten trioxide (WO₃) ceramic have been studied. Experimental results revealed that pure WO₃ ceramic could exhibit a nonohmic behavior which was formed in the cooling process of ceramic, and very sensitive to heat treatment in different atmospheres. By comparison with the reported SnO₂ and ZnO varistor systems, it is supposed that the surface of WO₃ grain is more ready to adsorb oxygen and form high enough barriers at grain boundaries responsible for varistor behavior. The influences of heat treatments on the varistor properties of WO₃ ceramic have been investigated.     

First-principles calculations on electronic structures of Fe-vacancy-codoped TiO2 anatase (1 0 1) surface

The electronic structures of Fe-doped TiO₂ anatase (1 0 1) surfaces have been investigated by all spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) plane-wave pseudopotential method. The general gradient approximation (GGA)+U (Hubbard coefficient) method has been adopted to describe the exchange-correlation effects. Through the density functional calculations for the formation energies of various configurations, the complex of a substitutional Fe plus an O vacancy was found to form easily in the most range of O chemical potential. The calculated density of the states of the system of Fe-doped surface with a surface oxygen vacancy shows a band gap narrowing from 2.8 to 1.9 eV comparing with the pure surface due to the synergistic effects of surface Fe impurities with O vacancies. The system processes high visible light sensitivity and photocatalytic ability by decreasing extrinsic absorption energy. By comparing the partial DOS of some O and Ti atoms lying in the outermost and bottom layers of Fe-doped surfaces, it was found that the influence of Fe impurities on the electronic structure of the system is localized.     

Synthesis of dimension-tunable ZnO nanostructures via the design of zinc hydroxide precursors

A facile synthesis route is presented to achieve dimension-tunable ZnO nanostructures by the design of zinc hydroxide precursors under the surfactant-free condition. From three types of zinc hydroxide precursors, namely, crystalline Zn(OH)(NO₃)(H₂O) nanobelts, amorphous zinc hydroxides microparticles and soluble Zn(OH)^2-₄\mathrm{Zn}(\mathrm{OH})^{2-}_{4} species, the porous ZnO nanosheets, ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO nanowires can be achieved, respectively. The porous ZnO nanosheets exhibit large polar surface area. Thermal analysis indicates that the crystalline Zn(OH)(NO₃)(H₂O) nanobelts were converted to the porous ZnO nanosheets by in situ lattice reconstruction, which was attributed to the unique fibrous structure of Zn(OH)(NO₃)(H₂O) nanobelts. The as-prepared dimension-tunable ZnO nanostructures have potential applications in solar cells, photocatalysis, novel chemical and biological sensors, etc.