H2S gas sensor based on integrated resonant dual-microcantilevers with high sensitivity and identification capability

Detection of trace-level hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas is of great importance whether in industrial production or disease diagnosis. This research presents a novel H₂S gas sensor based on integrated resonant dual-microcantilevers which can identify and detect trace-level H₂S in real-time. The sensor consists of two integrated resonant microcantilever sensors with different functions. One cantilever sensor can identify H₂S by outputting positive frequency shift signals, while the other cantilever sensor will detect H₂S as a normally used cantilever sensor with negative frequency shifts. Combined the two cantilever sensors, the proposed gas sensor can distinguish H₂S from a variety of common gases, and the detection limit to H₂S of the sensor is as sensitive as below 1 ppb.     

Methylthiouracil‐modified Carbon Paste Electrode as a New Voltammetric Sensor Based on a 1,4‐Michael Addition Reaction for Detection of Dopamine

A sensitive dopamine sensor was constructed based on the modified carbon paste electrode with methylthiouracil as a nucleophile in the 1,4‐Michael addition reaction. An ECE mechanism was suggested for dopamine oxidation at the modified electrode. Design of experiments was used in the optimization of variables. Under the optimum conditions, calibration graph was linear in the range of 0.20–15.0 µM with a detection limit of 73 nM. The relative standard deviations (n=5) for 0.50 µM of dopamine was 3.83 %. The selectivity of the sensor was also studied. The developed sensor was applied for analysis of pharmaceutical and biological samples.     

Crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) containing siloxanes fabricated through thiol‐ene photochemistry

Homogenous amphiphilic crosslinked polymer films comprising of poly(ethylene oxide) and polysiloxane were synthesized utilizing thiol‐ene “ click ” photochemistry. A systematic variation in polymer composition was Carried out to obtain high quality films with varied amount of siloxane and poly(ethylene oxide). These films showed improved gas separation performance with high gas permeabilities with good CO₂/N₂ selectivity. Furthermore, the resulting films were also tested for its biocompatibility, as a carrier media which allow human adult mesenchymal stem cells to retain their capacity for osteoblastic differentiation after transplantation. The obtained crosslinked films were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR, Raman‐IR , and small angle X‐ray scattering. The synthesis ease and commercial availability of the starting materials suggests that these new crosslinked polymer networks could find applications in wide range of applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1548–1557     

Noria: A Highly Xe‐Selective Nanoporous Organic Solid

Separation of xenon and krypton is of industrial and environmental concern; the existing technologies use cryogenic distillation. Thus, a cost‐effective, alternative technology for the separation of Xe and Kr and their capture from air is of significant importance. Herein, we report the selective Xe uptake in a crystalline porous organic oligomeric molecule, noria, and its structural analogue, PgC‐noria, under ambient conditions. The selectivity of noria towards Xe arises from its tailored pore size and small cavities, which allows a directed non‐bonding interaction of Xe atoms with a large number of carbon atoms of the noria molecular wheel in a confined space.     

Crosslinkable high dielectric constant polymer dielectrics for low voltage organic field‐effect transistor memory devices

I n this study, we successfully synthesized water/methanol soluble random copolymers with a high dielectric constant, poly(n‐(hydroxymethyl) acrylamide‐co‐5‐(9‐(5‐(diethylamino)pentyl)?2‐(4‐vinylphenyl)?9H‐fluorene(P(NMA‐co‐F6NSt)), which contained chemical crosslinkable segment (NMA) and hole trapping building block (F6NSt). The feeding molar ratios of two monomers (NMA:F6NSt) were set as 100:0, 95:5, 80:20, and 67:33 for the copolymers of P1 , P2 , P3, and P4 , respectively. The crosslinked P(NMA‐co‐F6NSt) thin film could serve as both dielectric and charge storage layers in organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) memory device and exhibited high k (i.e., 4.91–6.47) characteristics, leading to a low voltage operation and a small power consumption. Devices based on the P1 ‐ P4 dielectrics showed excellent insulating properties and good charge storage performance under a low operating voltage in a range of ±5V because of tightly network structures and well‐dispersed trapping cites. In particular, P3 ‐based memory device exhibited a large memory window of 4.13 V with stable data retention stability over 10⁴ s, a large on/off ratio of 10⁴, and good endurance characteristics as high as 200 cycles. The above results suggested that a high‐performance OFET memory device could be facilely achieved using the novel crosslinkable high‐k copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3224–3236     

Effects of silica nanoparticle addition on polymer semiconductor wettability and carrier mobility in solution‐processable organic transistors on hydrophobic substrates

The effects of the addition of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) on wettability of regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) organic semiconductor solutions on hydrophobic substrates and the carrier mobility in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) made of these films are investigated. The dewetting of films made from P3HT solutions on hydrophobic substrates modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) is markedly suppressed after the addition of SNPs with phenyl surfactants. This enables us to fabricate continuous P3HT/SNPs films with high crystallinity by the conventional spin‐coating technique, leading to higher mobility compared with P3HT FETs fabricated on non‐modified substrates. Moreover, the addition of SNPs with larger diameters compensates for the degradation of mobility associated with the increase in the concentration of SNPs. Solution‐processed P3HT/SNPs FETs on ODTS‐modified substrates exhibit a field‐effect mobility of 1.3 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1, which is almost comparable to that of P3HT FETs without SNPs (2.1 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1). © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 509–516     

Enhancement of Light Absorption Ability of Synthetic Chlorophyll Derivatives by Conjugation with a Difluoroboron Diketonate Group

The enhancement of the light absorption ability of synthetic chlorophyll derivatives is demonstrated. Chlorophyll derivatives directly conjugated with a difluoroboron 1,3‐diketonate group at the C3 position were synthesized from methyl pyropheophorbide‐d through Barbier acylmethylation of the C3‐formyl moiety, oxidation of the C3‐carbinol, and difluoroboron complexation of the diketonate. Electronic absorption spectra in a diluted solution showed that the synthetic conjugates gave an absorption band at λ=400–500 nm, with a Qy band shifted to a longer wavelength of λ≈700 nm. DFT calculations demonstrated that the absorption bands and redshifts were ascribable to the coupling of the LUMO of chlorin with that of the difluoroboron diketonate moiety. The introduction of a pyrenyl group at the C3³‐position of the conjugate afforded an additional charge‐transfer band over λ=500 nm, producing a pigment that bridged the green gap in standard chlorophylls.     

Thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione based copolymers for high performance organic solar cells and organic field effect transistors

Donor-acceptor type copolymers have wide applications in organic field-effect transistors and organic photovoltaic devices. Thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD), as an electron-withdrawing unit, has been widely used in D-A type copolymers recently. Till now, the highest power conversion efficiency and mobility of TPD-based copolymers are over 8% and 1.0 cm² V^-1 s^-1 respectively. In this review, the recent progress of TPD-based copolymers in organic solar cells and organic transistors is summarized.