Crystallinity and dimensional stability of biaxial oriented poly(lactic acid) films

Transparent biaxial oriented poly(lactic acid) (BOPLA) films with improved dimensional stability were successfully prepared by controlling the crystallization of poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The crystalline morphology of PLA films can be manipulated by changing certain processing parameters, such as stretch ratio, heat setting temperatures, and heat setting time. Optical and mechanical properties as well as dimensional stability of the resulting polymer films are governed by their crystallinity and crystalline morphology. Crystallization behavior and kinetics of PLA, therefore, were investigated using wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Mechanical properties and the dimensional stability of the biaxial oriented PLA films were obtained and correlated with their processing conditions. Poly(lactic acid) films prepared by melt extrusion methods have great potential for food packaging, shrink labeling and protective film applications. However, shrinkage at elevated processing temperature should be minimized to avoid puckering of the polymer film. Shrinkage of less than 2% was achieved for a BOPLA film stretched 300% in both directions at 75 °C and then annealed at 160 °C for 30 s. Fabrication, properties, and potential applications of a series of biodegradable films will be described.     

Influence of deposition conditions on the optical properties of erbium-doped yttrium oxide films grown by aerosol-UV assisted MOCVD

Erbium-doped Y₂O₃ films were prepared by aerosol-UV assisted metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) at 410 °C. The effects of humidity of carrier gas and UV-assistance on their structure and optical properties were investigated on the as-deposited and thermal annealed films using infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the as-deposited Er:Y₂O₃ films crystallise in the Y₂O₃ cubic structure and present a very low organic contamination when the deposition takes place under high air humidity and, even better, with UV-assistance. After annealing, two different structural phases are observed corresponding to the cubic and the monoclinic structures of Y₂O₃. The Er³⁺ luminescence analysed in the visible and IR regions, shows the classical green transitions. The best optical properties were obtained with as-deposited and annealed Er:Y₂O₃ films grown under high air humidity with UV-assistance. Under such deposition conditions, ⁴I_13/2 lifetimes was found to be 3.07 and 6.1 ms for films annealed at 800 and 1000 °C, respectively, and up-conversion phenomena were underlined. This indicates that the deposition conditions, in particular air humidity, play an important role in the luminescent properties even after annealing.     

On the origin of the phase–space diffusion limit in (dis)ordered protein aggregation

Derivation of a phase–space diffusion limit (D-L) allows to obtain a useful formula for a characteristic width of the macroion-channeling filter, controlling model (dis)ordered protein aggregations in a non-ideal aqueous solution. The channel’s width is estimated at the order of an inner half-width of the Stern-type double layer circumventing the growing object and depends in turn on an interplay of the local thermal and electrostatic conditions. The interfacial channeling effect manifests at the edge of biomolecular hydration-duration dependent (non)Markovianity of the system. The interface vs. solution aggregation late-time dynamics are discussed in such local (non)isothermal context with the aim to suggest their experimental assessment.     

Langmuir-Blodgett film structure

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films occupy a unique niche at the crossroads of materials science, complex fluids, and biophysics. They have many similarities to inorganic epitaxial films due to the layer by layer deposition process; however, the amphiphilic nature of the constituent molecules provides the connection to lyotropic liquid crystals and membranes. A great deal is known about LB film structure and thermodynamic behavior; both from classical studies as well as from recent experiments using sophisticated characterization techniques such as synchrotron X-ray scattering and scanning probe microscopy. This article summarizes the current understanding of these systems from a physical/structural point of view. Included are discussions of the deposition process, the layered nature of LB films, intralayer molecular packing, defects, stability, and phase transitions.     

A Direct Experimental Evidence of Collective Electron Resonance Mechanism of Surface Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy (Seirs)

Abstract

We report here the preliminary results of the surface enhanced transmission infrared spectra of CH₃(CH₂)₇Azo(CH₂)₃COOH monolayers on CaF₂ substrate which was coated by silver island films with different size and distribution. The larger enhancement of absorbance of v(C=O) in COOH residing between silver island gap and small enhancement of absorbance of vibration mode of COO^? located on the silver islands are observed. It give us a direct experimental evidence of the collective electron resonance mechanism of surface enhance infrared spectroscopy (SEIRS), i.e. the decrease of the electromagnetic (EM) coupling reduces the enhancement factor of SEIRS.     

聚苯乙烯芪盐L—B膜的二阶非线性光学性质研究

首次合成了一种称之为聚苯乙烯芪盐的有机高分子材料.此材料可以在水面上形成稳定的单分子层膜,并且所形成的单分子层膜可以转移到固体衬底上去.对聚苯乙烯芪盐单分子层膜进行光学二次谐波产生测量,得到聚苯乙烯芪盐对应于每个发色团的二阶非线性极化率为1.2×10~(-28)esu.制备了该材料两种不同类型的多层膜,讨论了多层膜二次谐波产生信号不随层数增加而增加的可能原因.     

Effect of substrate’s nature on the growth of HgBCCO thin films

The synthesis of HgBCCO films by spray pyrolysis on single crystals is investigated. It is shown that in conditions where the precursor is expected to give Hg-1223, Hg-1212 grows on LaAlO₃ (0 0 1) while Hg-1223 grows on MgO (0 0 1). The samples are analysed by X-ray pole figures, SEM and critical current measurements. Both samples were superconducting but the sample on MgO had a negligible I_c while 17 A was measured on LAO at 77 K (sf). These differences are analysed in terms of texture and microstructure and some conclusions concerning the growth are drawn. On LAO, the nucleation is probably epitaxial and the anisotropy of the growth inhibits the transformation into Hg-1223 while some interfacial contribution expected to occur on MgO makes this transformation easier.     

Ab-initio study of doped nanostructures—Mn-doped ultrathin ZnS films

An ab-initio study of the effects of the quantum confinement has been performed for the first time in the ultrathin ZnS films: unpassivated, passivated and the Mn-doped ones. A self-consistent full potential linear muffin tin orbital (FP-LMTO) method has been employed. The studied films have comparatively a large thickness range of 2.7–29.7 Å. The fundamental band gap increases exponentially with decrease in the size of the quantum confinement. The Mn-doped films reveal the localized impurity-induced states within the band gap and also in the conduction band region. The intense optical transitions between the Mn-induced states will appear at about 2.1 eV which is in excellent agreement with the observed peak in the photoluminescence experiments.     

Facile Fabrication of Large Area Polystyrene Colloidal Crystal Monolayer via Surfactant-free Langmuir-Blodgett Technique

A facile and novel method for the production of a large area of well-ordered polystyrene(PS)colloidal crystal monolayer was established using the surfactant-free Langmuir-Blodgett(LB)technique.The hydrophobic property(film-forming ability)of PS spheres was improved by a thermo-rheology treatment before LB assembly,and a large film was obtained.In contrast to the traditional LB technique,no surfactant was needed in this method,which could eliminate the additional contamination of surfactants in the preparation process and provided the products with versatile applications in nanosphere lithography(NSL)for biosensor,surface plasmon resonance,and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.     

Colored LiF: an optical material for all seasons

Colored LiF salt has been always considered a singular optical material among alkali halides and other dielectric crystals for its peculiar characteristics, which in due time have been applied with success in thermoluminescence and laser technology. Lately, while the two previous topics have been revived, new relevant results have been obtained in the optoelectronic field by using both bulk crystals and newly characterized thin films. In practice, miniaturized photoluminescent patterns can be produced rather easily by using low-energy electron beams and soft X-rays. So, LiF salt is becoming a new interesting photonic material with promising developments in basic reasearch and applications as well.