Growth of oxide thin films for optical gas sensor applications

Tungsten trioxide and titanium dioxide thin films were synthesised by pulsed laser deposition. We used for irradiations of oxide targets an UV KrF* (λ = 248 nm, τ_FWHM ≅ 20 ns, ν = 2 Hz) excimer laser source, at 2 J/cm² incident fluence value. The experiments were performed in low oxygen pressure. The (0 0 1) SiO₂ substrates were heated during the thin film deposition process at temperature values within the 300-500 °C range. The structure and crystalline status of the obtained oxide thin films were investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Our analyses show that the films are composed by nanoparticles with average diameters from a few to a few tens of nm. Moreover, the films deposited at substrate temperatures higher than 300 °C are crystalline. The tungsten trioxide films consist of a mixture of triclinic and monoclinic phases, while the titanium dioxide films structure corresponds to the tetragonal anatase phase. The oxide films average transmittance in the visible-infrared spectral range is higher than 80%, which makes them suitable for sensor applications.     

Reaction of acetylenes with transition metals: VIII. π-allylpalladium complexes from acetylenes and alkenes

Coupling of diarylacetylenes with alkenes in the presence of dichlorobis(benzonitrile)palladium gives chloro(syn-1-chloro-anti-1-aryl-syn-3-alkyl)-π-allylpalladium complexes.     

Polybenzimidazole-Ester-Imides

Thermostable heterocyclic polymers containing benzimidazole and imide rings, as well as flexible ester groups, have been synthesized by solution polycondensation of diaminobenzimidazoles with dianhydrides incorporating preformed ester linkages. The thermal stability and the electrical insulating properties of these products are discussed and compared with related heterocyclic polymers.     

On the natural Fiber (Maize) Composite material

This work is focused on the compressive behavior in the elastic region of a composite material made out of stalk-based maize fiber and unsaturated polyester resin polymer as matrix with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide as a catalyst and Cobalt Octoate as a promoter [1]. Deformation and fracture behavior are investigated by using Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM). XFEM enables the accurate approximation of solutions with jumps, discontinuities or general high gradients across interfaces between the fibers and the matrix [2], [3]. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A linear filtering problem in complete correlated actions

In the last paper, the geometry of the Sz.-Nagy-Foia model for contraction operators on Hilbert spaces was used to advantage in several problems of multivariate analysis. The lifting of intertwining operators, one of the basic results from the Sz.-Nagy-Foia theory, is now recognized as the most adequate operatorial form of the deep classical results of the extrapolation theory. The labeling of the exact intertwining dilations given by [1]Acta Sci. Math. (Szeged) 40 9–32] and the recursive methods used there open a broad perspective for using the Sz.-Nagy-Foia model in multivariate filtering theory. In this paper, using the notion of correlated action (see [5 and 6] Rev. Roumaine Math. Pures Appl. 23, No. 9 1393–1423]) as a time domain, a linear filtering problem is formulated and its solution in terms of the coefficients of the analytic function which factorizes the spectral distribution of the known data and the coefficients of an analytic function which describes the cross correlations is given. In some special cases it is shown that the filter coefficients can be determined using recursive methods from the intertwining dilation theory, of the autocorrelation function of the known data and an intertwining operator, interpreted as the initial estimator given by the prior statistics.     

Study of the gradual interface between hydroxyapatite thin films PLD grown onto Ti-controlled sublayers

Hydroxyapatite thin films were grown on layered structures by Pulsed Laser Deposition with the goal of investigating the interface of the ceramic film with the substrate. The latter consisted of Si/TiN/Ti sandwich structures. This multilayer substrate was also prepared by laser ablation earlier in the same experimental session.This particular type of structure was chosen in order to induce the in situ growth of hydroxyapatite directly onto freshly deposited Ti. We tried this way to avoid previous direct Ti exposure to air, hence its oxidation. The subsequent depositions of multilayers were performed with the aid of a carousel multi-target system mounted inside the irradiation chamber. This allowed for selecting in order the respective TiN, Ti and HA targets without opening the chamber between individual depositions.X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffractometry studies revealed the formation at the interface of a transition complex phase, 2 to 25 nm thick, consisting of a mixture of TiO₂ and CaP phase. The specific growth of TiN and Ti phases was also investigated.     

Polycaprolactone biopolymer thin films obtained by matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation

We report the successful deposition of polycaprolactone polymer by MAPLE using a KrF* excimer laser (λ = 248 nm, τ = 7 ns). According to FTIR spectra the deposited films have similar chemical structure to the dropcast material. The fluence plays a key role in optimizing the performances of MAPLE-synthesized polycaprolactone structures. We demonstrated that MAPLE allows for controlling the morphology of films to the level required in targeted drug delivery of pharmacologic agents.