Phase behaviors in binary mixture of diblock copolymers confined between two parallel walls

The phase behaviors in binary mixture of diblock copolymers confined between two parallel walls are investigated by using cell dynamics simulation of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory. The morphological dependence of the wall-block interaction and the distance between walls (confinement degree) has been systematically studied, and the effect of repulsive interactions between different monomers is also discussed. It is interesting that multiple novel morphological transitions are observed by changing these factors, and various multilayered sandwich structures are formed in the mixture. Furthermore, the parametric dependence and physical reasons for the microdomain growth and orientational order transitions are discussed. From the simulation, we find that much richer morphologies can form in binary mixture of diblock copolymers than those in pure diblock copolymer. Our results provide an insight into the phase behaviors under parallel walls confinement and may provide guidance for experimentalists. This model system can also give a simple way to realize orientational order transition in soft materials through confinement.     

Ordered silicon nanorod arrays with controllable geometry and robust hydrophobicity

Highly ordered silicon nanorod(Si NR)arrays with controllable geometry are fabricated via nanosphere lithography and metal-assisted chemical etching.It is demonstrated that the key to achieving a high-quality metal mask is to construct a non-close-packed template that can be removed with negligible damage to the mask.Hydrophobicity of Si NR arrays of different geometries is also studied.It is shown that the nanorod structures are effectively quasi-hydrophobic with a contact angle as high as 142°,which would be useful in self-cleaning nanorod-based device applications.     

Phase behaviors in a binary mixture of diblock copolymers confined between two parallel walls

The phase behaviors in a binary mixture of diblock copolymers confined between two parallel walls are investigated by using a cell dynamics simulation of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory.The morphological dependence of the wall-block interaction and the distance between walls(confinement degree) has been systematically studied,and the effect of repulsive interactions between different monomers is also discussed.It is interesting that multiple novel morphological transitions are observed by changing these factors,and various multilayered sandwich structures are formed in the mixture.Furthermore,the parametric dependence and physical reasons for the microdomain growth and orientational order transitions are discussed.From the simulation,we find that much richer morphologies can form in a binary mixture of diblock copolymers than those in a pure diblock copolymer.Our results provide an insight into the phase behaviors under parallel wall confinement and may provide guidance for experimentalists.This model system can also give a simple way to realize orientational order transition in soft materials through confinement.     

Ultrafast laser assisted fabrication of ZnO nanorod arrays for photon detection applications

Orderly aligned ZnO nanorod arrays were grown by the ultrafast laser assisted ablation deposition method. These nanorod arrays were further used to make efficient p-n heterojunction photodetector arrays, which have the potential to have nanoscale spatial resolution for imaging, unique incident polarization discrimination capability, and much improved quantum efficiency as well as detection sensitivity. Both front- and back-illumination photodetection schemes were demonstrated by growing those ZnO nanorod arrays on p-type silicon and p-type Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O-coated Al₂O₃ (0 0 0 1) substrates, respectively. Typical diode rectification behavior and photosensitivity were observed in both designs through I-V and photocurrent measurements.     

Self-assembly of lamella-forming diblock copolymers confined in nanochannels: Effect of confinement geometry

The self-assembly of symmetric diblock copolymers confined in the channels of variously shaped cross sections(regular triangles, squares, and ellipses) is investigated using a simulated annealing technique. In the bulk, the studied symmetric diblock copolymers form a lamellar structure with period LL. The geometry and surface property of the confining channels have a large effect on the self-assembled structures and the orientation of the lamellar structures. Stacked perpendicular lamellae with period LLare observed for neutral surfaces regardless of the channel shape and size, but each lamella is in the shape of the corresponding channel’s cross section. In the case of triangle-shaped cross sections, stacked parallel lamellae are the majority morphologies for weakly selective surfaces, while morphologies including a triangular-prism-shaped B-cylinder and multiple tridentate lamellae are obtained for strongly selective surfaces. In the cases of square-shaped and ellipse-shaped cross sections, concentric lamellae are the signature morphology for strongly selective surfaces, whereas for weakly selective surfaces, stacked parallel lamellae, and several types of folding lamellae are obtained in the case of square-shaped cross sections, and stacked parallel lamellae are the majority morphologies in the case of ellipse-shaped cross sections when the length of the minor axis is commensurate with the bulk lamellar period. The mean-square endto-end distance, the average contact number between different species and the surface concentration of the A-monomers are computed to elucidate the mechanisms of the formation of the different morphologies. It is found that the resulting morphology is a consequence of competition among the chain stretching, interfacial energy, and surface energy. Our results suggest that the self-assembled morphology and the orientation of lamellae can be manipulated by the shape, the size, and the surface property of the confining channels.     

超小间距纳米柱阵列中的谐振调制

本文首先研究了具有通常柱间距（大于100 nm）的纳米柱阵列在近红外波段的光学特性并实现了通过改变阵列参数（如周期）来调制局域表面等离子体谐振. 随后,通过使用电子束直写和离子束刻蚀的方法制备出具有超小柱间距（小于50 nm）和超高密度（ultrahigh density）的纳米柱阵列并通过对表面等离子体谐振的调制实现了在可见光波段滤出不同颜色的单色光. 本文中所展示的纳米柱功能阵列可以与现有的数字光处理（digital light processing,DLP）技术相兼容进而构造具有超小像素的显示屏,可以在显示、成像等领域取得广泛的应用. 关键词： 纳米柱 超小间距 超高密度 显示     

一维二嵌段高聚物中电荷输运的分子弹性效应

基于扩展SSH(Su-Schrieffer-Heeger)模型并采用动力学方法讨论了一维二嵌段高聚物中分子弹性对电荷输运的影响。我们发现,由于两嵌段高聚物中分子弹性的差异,在其交界处会形成一个载流子跃迁势垒。增大注入电子的动能将有效降低电子隧穿的临界电场,而加大两段高聚物弹性的差别将增大临界电场的强度。     

一维二嵌段高聚物中电荷输运的分子弹性效应

基于扩展SSH(Su-Schrieffer-Heeger)模型并采用动力学方法讨论了一维二嵌段高聚物中分子弹性对电荷输运的影响。我们发现,由于两嵌段高聚物中分子弹性的差异,在其交界处会形成一个载流子跃迁势垒。增大注入电子的动能将有效降低电子隧穿的临界电场,而加大两段高聚物弹性的差别将增大临界电场的强度。     

两步法制备超疏水性ZnO纳米棒薄膜

采用两步法制备了超疏水性ZnO纳米棒薄膜,在用磁控溅射在普通玻璃衬底上生长一层ZnO籽晶层基础上,利用液相法制备了空间取向高度一致的ZnO纳米棒阵列,经修饰后由亲水性转变为超疏水性.用扫描电子显微镜观察了纳米棒的表面结构,用接触角测量仪测出水滴在ZnO纳米棒薄膜表面的接触角为151°±05°,滚动角为7°.用Cassie模型对ZnO纳米棒薄膜的超疏水性进行了验证. 关键词： ZnO纳米棒 超疏水 两步法     

两步法制备空间取向高度一致的ZnO纳米棒阵列

采用两步法,即先用磁控溅射在Si(100)表面生长一层ZnO籽晶层、再利用液相法制备空间取向高度一致的ZnO纳米棒阵列.用扫描电子显微镜、X射线衍射、高分辨透射电子显微镜和选区电子衍射对样品形貌和结构特征进行了表征.结果表明,ZnO纳米棒具有垂直于衬底沿c轴择优生长和空间取向高度一致的特性和比较大的长径比,X射线衍射的(XRD)(0002)峰半高宽只有0.06°,选区电子衍射也显示了优异的单晶特性.光致发光谱表明ZnO纳米棒具有非常强的紫外本征发光和非常弱的杂质或缺陷发光特性. 关键词： ZnO纳米棒阵列 ZnO籽晶层 两步法 液相生长     

Controlled synthesis of oriented ZnO nanorod arrays by seed-layer-free electrochemical deposition

Oriented ZnO nanorod arrays were successfully prepared on transparent conductive substrates by seed-layer-free electrochemical deposition in solution of Zn(NO₃)₂ at a low temperature of 70 °C without using any catalysts, additives, and additional seed crystals. The effects of the Zn(NO₃)₂ concentration, deposition time and applied current on the localized nanorod arrays are investigated. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were used to characterize the structures and the morphologies of ZnO nanorod arrays. The heights and diameters of ZnO nanorods can be tuned by controlling the electrodeposition parameters.     

Cylindrical-confinement-induced phase behaviours of diblock copolymer melts

The phase behaviours of diblock copolymers under cylindrical confinement are studied in two-dimensional space by using the self-consistent field theory. Several phase parameters are adjusted to investigate the cylindrical-confinement-induced phase behaviours of diblock copolymers. A series of lamella-cylinder mixture phases, such as the mixture of broken-lamellae and cylinders and the mixture of square-lamellae and cylinders, are observed by varying the phase parameters, in which the behaviours of these mixture phases are discussed in the corresponding phase diagrams. Fur-thermore, the free energies of these mixture phases are investigated to illustrate their evolution processes. Our results are compared with the available observations from the experiments and simulations respectively, and they are in good agreement and provide an insight into the phase behaviours under cylindrical confinement.     

Synthesis and application of TiO_2 single-crystal nanorod arrays grown by multicycle hydrothermal for dye-sensitized solar cells

TiO2 is a wide band gap semiconductor with important applications in photovoltaic cells. Vertically aligned Tit2 nanorod arrays （NRs） are grown on the fluorine-doped tin oxide （FTO） substrates by a multicycle hydrothermal synthesis process. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）, and selected-area electron diffraction （SAED）. It is found that dye-sensitized solar cells （DSSCs） assembled by the as-prepared Tit2 single-crystal NRs exhibit different trends under the condition of different nucleation and growth concentrations. Optimum cell performance is obtained with high nucleation concentration and low growth cycle concentration. The efficiency enhancement is mainly attributed to the improved specific surface area of the nanorod.     

嵌段共聚物受限于软孔内的自组装

利用自洽场方法研究两嵌段共聚物受限于接枝均聚物链(聚合物刷)圆孔中的自组装相形貌.研究表明,当圆孔内径一定时,嵌段比f和聚合物刷C的体积分数φ_C是调控嵌段共聚物相形貌的主要因素,聚合物刷的弹性熵也起着重要作用.当f＝0.7时,在聚合物刷的浸润下,贴近刷表面处AB嵌段共聚物构成环层状结构,随着φ_C的减小这种结构会周而复始地出现.当f处于0. 关键词： 嵌段共聚物 圆孔受限 聚合物刷 自洽场     

Fabrication of an intelligent superhydrophobic surface based on ZnO nanorod arrays with switchable adhesion property

The superhydrophobic ZnO surface possessing water adhesive reversibility is fabricated by a facile method. The as-prepared surface is low adhesive; however, after being irradiated by UV light through a photomask, it becomes highly adhesive. A water droplet can suspend on the irradiated surface. Further annealing the irradiated surface, water droplets can roll on the surface again. Reversible transition between the high adhesive pinning state and low adhesive rolling state can be realized simply by UV illumination and heat treatment alternately. The adhesion transition is attributed to the adsorption/desorption of surface hydroxyl groups and the organic chains rearrangement on the top surfaces of ZnO.     

Characterisation of ZnO nanorod arrays grown by a low temperature hydrothermal method

In this paper, growth steps of well defined ZnO nanorod arrays deposited on seeded substrates were investigated. To obtain ZnO seed layer on glass substrates, a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method was used and then ZnO nanorods were grown on seed layer using a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The effects of seed layer and deposition time on morphology, crystallographic structure (e.g. grain size, microstrain and dislocation density) and electrical characteristics of ZnO nanorods were studied. From the SEM micrographs, it could be seen that the ZnO nanorods densely covered the substrate and were nearly perpendicular to the substrate surface. The XRD patterns showed that the ZnO nanorod arrays had a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred orientation along the (002) plane. An increase in deposition time resulted in an increase in the intensity of the preferred orientation and grain size, but a decrease in microstrain and dislocation density. Electrical activation energies of the structures were calculated as 0.15–0.85?eV from current–temperature characteristics. It was concluded that the morphologies of the structures obtained in this study via a simple and fast solution method can provide high surface areas which are important in area-dependent applications, such as solar cells, hydrogen conversion devices, sensors, etc.     

Spherical/gyroid phase diagram of the diblock copolymer in the median selective solvent

The effect of the median selective solution on the lamellar, spherical and gyroid structures is studied. The self-consistent field equations of the diblock copolymer solution are solved by using the reciprocal space method. It is shown that the spherical and gyroid phases have the lowest free energy in the certain range of the solution concentration. Furthermore, the phase diagram of the ordered structures in the diblock copolymer solution with the median selective solvent is calculated, which is consistent with the experimental results. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10834014, 10674173, and 30770517) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB930704)     

Theoretical study on tailoring symmetric and asymmetric thin films of diblock copolymers

We used density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the formation of symmetric and asymmetric thin film of diblock copolymer melts by tuning the size of the slit confinement. In this work, the DFT contains a modified fundamental measure theory for the excluded volume effect and the first-order thermodynamic perturbation theory for the chain connectivity as well as the mean-field approximation for van der Waals attraction. For the symmetric A₈B₈ linear copolymers, it is observed that with the increase of the width of the slit, morphologies of copolymer in the slits undergo an evolution of “non-layered structure → ABA → ABAB → BABAB → disordered structure”, while the morphologies of asymmetric copolymer with the increase of the width of the slit exhibit a process of “ABA → ABAB → ABABA → ABABAB lamellar structure” in all the cases studied. It suggests that the ratio of two blocks of a copolymer plays an important role on the structure of copolymer film. By adjusting the ratio of two blocks, some copolymer films with novel morphologies, including asymmetric ABAB lamellar structure, can be tailored. Furthermore, it is found that the bonding orientation distribution introduced into the DFT can act as a criterion to identify the disordered and ordered states of copolymers.     

The SERS response of semiordered Ag nanorod arrays fabricated by template oblique angle deposition

Semiordered Ag nanorod arrays are fabricated by template oblique angle deposition (OAD) using regular Au nano‐post arrays with different diameters as seed patterns. The Au nano‐post arrays do not give an observable surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity under our detection configuration, whereas the patterned Ag nanorod arrays can produce a very strong SERS signal. These SERS intensities increase monotonically with the decrease in the diameter and separation of the Ag nanorods, which demonstrates that one can improve the SERS detection by tuning the diameter and separation of the Ag nanorods, and the template OAD method can help produce more uniform, reproducible, and sensitive Ag nanorod SERS substrates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ring pattern solutions of a free boundary problem in diblock copolymer morphology

The cross section of a diblock copolymer in the cylindrical phase is made up of a large number of microdomains of small discs with high concentration of the minority monomers. Often several ring like microdomains appear among the discs. We show that a ring like structure may exist as a stable solution of a free boundary problem derived from the Ohta-Kawasaki theory of diblock copolymers. The existence of such a stable, single ring structure explains why rings exist for a long period of time before they eventually disappear or become discs in a diblock copolymer. A variant of Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction process is carried out that rigorously reduces the free boundary problem to a finite-dimensional problem. The finite-dimensional problem is solved numerically. A stability criterion on the parameters determines whether the ring solution is stable.