Electrochromism of NiO-TiO2 sol gel layers

Films of NiO-TiO₂ with Ni concentration of 100, 90, 87, 83, 75, 66, 50 and 33 mol% have been obtained via the sol-gel route by dip coating technique and sintered in air between 250 and 500°C using ethanolic sols of nickel acetate tetrahydrate (Ni(CH₃COO)₂·4H₂O) and titanium n-propoxide (Ti(O-CH(CH₃)₂)₄) precursors. Xerogels obtai- ned by drying the sols have been studied up to 900°C by thermal analysis (DTA/TG) coupled to mass and IR spectroscopy. The crystalline structure and morphology of the layers in the as deposited, bleached and colored states were determined by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy Their electrochromic properties have been studied in 1 M KOH aqueous electrolyte as a function of the layer composition, thickness and sintering temperature. Deep brown colour with reversible transmittance changes have been obtained using cycling voltammetry and chronoamperometry processes. The best composition to get stable sols, a high reversible transmittance change and fast switching times (<10 s) was obtained with double NiO-TiO₂ layers 160 nm thick having 75% Ni molar concentration, and sintered between 300 and 350°C. The mechanism of coloration and morphology transformation of the layer during cycling are discussed in terms of an activation and degradation period. The results are in agreement with the accepted Bode model.     

Li ion diffusion in Li4Ti5O12 thin film electrode prepared by PVP sol-gel method

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ thin films for rechargeable lithium batteries were prepared by a sol-gel method with poly(vinylpyrrolidone). Interfacial properties of lithium insertion into Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ thin film were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and potentiostatic intermittent titration technique (PITT). Redox peaks in CV were very sharp even at a fast scan rate of 50 mV s⁻¹, indicating that Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ thin film had a fast electrochemical response, and that an apparent chemical diffusion coefficient of Li⁺ ion was estimated to be 6.8×10⁻¹¹ cm² s⁻¹ from a dependence of peak current on sweep rates. From EIS, it can be seen that Li⁺ ions become more mobile at 1.55 V vs. Li/Li⁺, corresponding to a two-phase region, and the chemical diffusion coefficients of Li⁺ ion ranged from 10⁻¹⁰ to 10⁻¹² cm² s⁻¹ at various potentials. The chemical diffusion coefficients of Li⁺ ion in Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ were also estimated from PITT. They were in a range of 10⁻¹¹-10⁻¹² cm² s⁻¹.     

STRUCTURE OF CRYSTALLINE DOMAINS IN SEMICRYSTALLINE BLOCK COPOLYMER THIN FILMS

Thin film morphology of a symmetric semicrystalline oxyethylene/oxybutylene diblock copolymer （E76B38） on silicon was investigated by tapping mode atomic force microscopy （AFM）. It is found that the nascent thin film is composed of multiple polymer layers having mixed thicknesses of L ≈ L0 and L ≈ L0/2 （L0 is the long period of the block copolymer in bulk） besides the first layer near the substrate. This shows that the crystalline domain in the block copolymer consists of double poly（oxyethylene） layers. Annealing leads to disappearance of the polymer layers with thickness L ≈L0/2, indicating that such polymer layers are metastable.     

Structure and electrical properties of Pb(Zr<Subscript>0.25</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>0.75</Subscript>)O<Subscript>3</Subscript> thin films on LaNiO<Subscript>3</Subscript>—Coated thermally oxidized Si substrates

Pb(Zr_0.25Ti_0.75)O₃ (PZT25) thin films were prepared on LaNiO₃-coated thermally oxidized silicon substrates by chemical solution deposition method, where LaNiO₃ electrodes were also prepared by a chemical solution deposition technique. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the PZT25 thin films were 570 and 0.057, respectively. The remanent polarization and coercive field were 20.11 μC/cm² and 60.7 kV/cm, respectively. The PZT25 thin films on LaNiO₃-coated thermally oxidized silicon substrates showed improved fatigue characteristics compared with their counterparts on plantium-coated silicon substrates.     

Heterogeneous and homogeneous electrochemiluminoimmunoassays of hTSH at disposable oxide-covered aluminum electrodes

Heterogeneous and homogeneous immunoassays of human thyroid stimulating hormone (hTSH) were developed on immunometric basis using aromatic Tb(III) chelates as electrochemiluminescent labels and varied types of disposable oxide-covered aluminum electrodes as the solid phase of the immunoassays. The long luminescence lifetime of the present labels allows the use of time-resolved electrochemiluminescence detection and provide the low detection limits of these labels and, thus, sensitive immunoassays. The primary antibody of immunometric immunoassays was coated upon aluminum oxide surface by physical absorption. In homogeneous immunoassays using 66 μl cell and 15 min incubation time, a linear calibration range of 0.25-324 μU/ml was obtained by applying only a single cathodic excitation pulse in the detection step of the assay.     

Impregnated silica-based layers in thin layer chromatography

Abstract

Impregnated thin-layer chromatography (TLC) layers based on silica gel are presented. Impregnating agents such as metal cations, inorganic ions, chelating agents, chiral selectors, surfactants, ion-pairing reagents, and ionic liquids are discussed. The role of impregnated TLC layers in medicinal chemistry is highlighted. The historical overview of TLC separations on physically coated layers is given and some future prospects ahead of this technique are discussed.     

Structural and optical properties of CuSe2 nanocrystals formed in thin solid Cu–Se film

This paper describes the structural and optical properties of Cu–Se thin films. The surface morphology of thin films was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Formation of Cu–Se thin films is concluded to proceed unevenly, in the form of islands which later grew into agglomerates. The structural characterization of Cu–Se thin film was investigated using X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The presence of two-phase system is observed. One is the solid solution of Cu in Se and the other is low-pressure modification of CuSe₂. The Raman spectroscopy was used to identify and quantify the individual phases present in the Cu–Se films. Red shift and asymmetry of Raman mode characteristic for CuSe₂ enable us to estimate nanocrystal dimension. In the analysis of the far-infrared reflection spectra, numerical model for calculating the reflectivity coefficient of layered system, which includes film with nanocrystalite inclusions (modeled by Maxwell-Garnett approximation) and substrate, has been applied.     

Deposition of ZnS thin film by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis: effect of thickness on the crystallographic and electrical properties

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films have been deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrate using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the films are (0 0 2) preferentially oriented with c-axis-oriented wurtzite structure. The crystallinity has been found to improve with film thickness in the 180–6000 nm range. Film structure has been analyzed by XRD, scanning electron microscope, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, while the stoichiometry has been verified by energy-dispersive spectroscopy and particle-induced X-ray emission techniques. Electrical properties of the grown films were characterized by current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements where, the films show better conducting behavior at higher thickness.     

Sol–gel derived ZnO nanoparticulate films for ultraviolet photodetector (UV) applications

Zinc oxide nanoparticles based UV detector was fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrate. ZnO nanoparticle films were deposited using sol–gel route. The seed solution was prepared using two different solvents (methanol and isopropyl alcohol (IPA)). The surface morphology of the prepared films was characterized by FESEM. Structural characterization along with optical measurements was carried out using XRD and UV–vis spectroscopy. For the UV photo-detector, ZnO thin film prepared in IPA is selected based on their structural and optical analysis. The changes in photo-response of ZnO thin film with respect to time was studied under the dark and variable UV intensities. It was observed that the photocurrent increased with a factor of 4.82 under 1.16 mW of UV intensity. It is believe that the synthesized ZnO thin films have potential to use in the ultraviolet photo-detector applications.