Preparation and Optical Properties of Sb2S3 Microcrystallite Doped Silica Glasses by the Sol-Gel Process

The sol-gel process has been applied to the preparation of nano-size Sb2S3 crystallite doped silica glasses and thin films. Silica glasses containing 1–1.5 wt% Sb2S3 are prepared by hydrolysis of complex solution of Si(OC2H5)4, SbCl3 and SC(NH2)2, and subsequent heat treatment. The nano-size crystallite in the matrix is observed by means of TEM. The transmission spectra of the films show that the transmission valley shifts toward longer wavelengths with increasing heat treatment time and temperature. Second harmonic generation (SHG) has been observed in the glasses illuminated with intense 1.06 m and frequency-doubled laser beams from mode-locked Nd:YAG laser.     

ZnSnO3透明导电薄膜：溶胶-凝胶法制备及性能

采用溶胶-凝胶(Sol-Gel)过程和旋涂法制备了Zn-Sn-O系统薄膜。通过对干凝胶的热重-差示扫描同步热分析(TG-DSC),研究了干凝胶在烧结过程中的反应历程。采用X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、场发射扫描电镜(FE-SEM)以及紫外-可见透过率(UV-Vis)等表征了烧结后薄膜的晶相、晶格缺陷、微观形貌以及紫外-可见光透过率。本文还研究了烧结温度、N2气氛热处理以及组成变化对薄膜电阻率的影响,结果表明:偏锡酸锌ZnSnO3晶体薄膜具有较低的电阻率;当nZn/(nZn+nSn)=50.3at%时,薄膜的电阻率达极小值,约为8.0×102Ω.cm。偏锡酸锌ZnSnO3晶体的导电机理研究表明:晶格中间隙阳离子含量的增加有利于薄膜电阻率的降低,而氧空位的形成则使其电阻率升高。薄膜的紫外-可见光透过率(UV-Vis)表明:偏锡酸锌ZnSnO3晶体薄膜在400~900 nm的可见光波段透过率可达80%以上。     

Formation and Properties of Sol-Gel Films and Glasses with Ultrafine Metal and Semiconductor Particles

A novel method of fabrication of silica-based sol-gel films and glasses containing small semiconductor particles was developed. A series of films and glasses with nanoparticles of copper chalcogenides (CuS, Cu₂Se, CuInS₂) and metal particles (Cu) were fabricated through the chemical transformation of precursors incorporated into a sol-gel derived matrix. The properties of the nanoparticles studied by means of XRD, XPS, TEM and optical spectroscopy are provided both by size effects and the chemical nature of surface states and can be controlled at different steps of chemical treatment.     

表面功能化聚苯乙烯纳米微球的制备及自组装

用乳液聚合的方法合成了表面富含羧基的聚苯乙烯纳米微球，采用热分析、红外、透射电镜和X射线粉末衍射仪等对其进行了结构和性能表征;并用自组装的方法将其在玻璃表面组装成膜.考察了制备条件，通过对自组装薄膜原子力显微镜形貌图的分析，确立了最佳组装方案.     

New Routes to Multicomponent Oxide Glasses

Multicomponent oxide glasses can be produced not only by melting methods but also by hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxide complexes with several metals. This requires temperatures only up to the transformation range of the glass in question, usually 500–600 °C. The process does not pass through the molten phase. It is possible to obtain glasses or polycrystalline substances, depending on the composition. The method is particularly suitable for the production of thin, transparent multicomponent oxide layers of almost any composition on substrates. Some of these layers provide protection against climatic attack or against oxidation.     

Control of Optical Properties of Thin Films Doped with Au Fine Particles by the Sol-Gel Method

We have developed tinted glasses with thin films doped with Au particles by the sol-gel method for automotive windows. Pink-colored glasses are mass-produced. The observed color is from absorption due to surface plasma resonance of Au particles. The squeeze-out of fine Au particles out of gel films was restrained by an organic additive. The index of the matrix was adjusted by the mixing ratio of TiO₂ (refractive index n = 2.20) to SiO₂ (n = 1.46). The absorption of Au particles is more intense with the higher index of the matrix, and its peak varies from 530 nm for n = 1.46 to 630 nm for n = 2.20, which yields a transmission color from pink to blue. The combination of the color of the glass substrate and the absorption by the Au particles in the thin films with various indices yields a variety of tinted glasses such as pink, orange, blue, blue-green and gray.     

钐对锰激活的硼硅锌存储玻璃的影响

使用高温固相法合成了钐锰共激活的硼硅锌玻璃. 利用热释光谱研究了钐的掺入对锰激活的硼硅锌玻璃的陷阱能级的影响, 发现钐的掺入使后者的缺陷向浅能级方向移动, 表现为锰激活的硼硅锌玻璃的余辉和存储性能的相应变化.     

Silicon Oxycarbide Glasses

The first attempts to introduce carbon into glass date back to 1951. But up until recently, the use of carbon or carbide raw materials, and the oxidation, volatilization and decomposition that accompany high temperature melting, have limited the synthesis of true silicon oxycarbide glasses. Here, the term silicon-oxycarbide refers specifically to a carbon-containing silicate glass wherein oxygen and carbon atoms share bonds with silicon in the amorphous, network structure. Thus, there is a distinction between black glass, which contains only a second-phase dispersion of elemental carbon, and oxycarbide glasses which usually contain both network carbon and elemental carbon. In addition to exploring the unique properties and applications of these glasses, per se, they are also of interest for developing models of the residual amorphous phases in polymer-derived silicon-carbide and silicon-nitride ceramics.The application of sol/gel techniques to glass synthesis has significantly advanced the development and characterization of silicon oxycarbide glasses. In this approach, alkyl-substituted silicon alkoxides, which are molecular precursors containing oxygen and carbon functionalities on the silicon, can be hydrolyzed and condensed without decomposition or loss of the carbon functional group. A low-temperature (<1000°C) heat-treatment of the gel creates a glassy silicate material whose molecular structure consists of an oxygen/carbon anionic network. In addition, there is always a blackening of the material due to elemental carbon, which forms during pyrolysis and densification of the gel. The nature of the network carbon, and especially the distribution and form of the elemental carbon, are fundamental to the structure and properties of these novel materials. Their chemical and physical characteristics as revealed by NMR, Raman and TEM are discussed in the overview. In addition, the high temperature stability of these glasses (up to 1750°C), and the effect of hot-pressing, are described.It will be shown that the silicon oxycarbide network is stable up to 1000–1200°C. The network carbon is terminated with hydrogen (i.e., CH, =CH2 and –CH3), and with polyaromatic carbon (i.e., nC6Hx) wherein most of the elemental carbon resides. These glasses can be described as molecular composites of polyaromatic graphene-rings dispersed in a silicon oxycarbide network. After heating to temperatures in excess of 1000–1200°C, the oxycarbide network decomposes through the loss of hydrogen, and a two- or three-phase glass-ceramic consisting of nanocrystalline graphite, silicon carbide, and amorphous silica or cristobalite, is created. Some of the properties and applications of these glasses/glass-ceramics for coatings, composites and porous solids are summarized.     

Devitrification of Fluoroindate Glasses

Most fluoride glasses are likely to devitrify when heated for some time between the glass transition and melting temperatures. The crystallization kinetics of some fluoroindate glasses were studied by isothermal and non-isothermal methods using differential scanning calorimetry. The heating rate α varied between 1 and 10 K min^?1. The value of Avrami’s exponent n lay between 1 and 2.5, corresponding to a diffusion-controlled growth of crystals. The apparent activation energy for crystallization, E, varied from 45 to 50 kcal mol^?1. These values of n and E are low by comparison with those of other fluoride glasses, which suggests high stability against devitrification.     

Structural and Photoluminescence Behaviors of Nano-Structure Thin Film and Bulk Silica Gel Derived Glasses

Nano-structure bulk and thin film silica gel derived glasses were prepared by sol-gel technique. Both samples were derived from the same precursor and subjected to the same heat-treatment regime. Structural information about prepared samples are obtained by analyzing the XRD patterns and TEM micrographs. The bulk samples phase changes from amorphous to -crystoballite at higher temperature (1300°C) than that in the thin film (500°C). The crystallite size depends to a large extent on the heat-treatment temperature. Bulk sample heat treated at 1400°C was as small as 10.4 nm. Thin film samples show higher response to heat-treatment temperature than the bulk samples, where the film is denser, has smaller pores and seems more homogeneous at lower temperature than bulk sample as revealed by SEM. The observed Raman spectra for bulk and thin film samples are in accordance with that of the -crystoballite. The Raman peak intensity is higher for thin film than bulk samples. The photoluminescence PL measurements for bulk samples show a broad intense peak at 532 nm combined with three weak peaks at longer wavelength 587, 635 and 666 nm. The PL peak intensity shows a reasonable decrease with increasing the heat-treatment temperature while the peak position shifted slightly to a lower wavelength. While the thin film samples show a unique peak at wavelength = 523 nm. The appearance of PL bands are interpreted on the light of non-bridged oxygen hole center as well as the structure defects.     

Thickness Impacts of Vacancy Defects in Epitaxial La0.7Sr0.3MnO3Thin Films Using Slow Positron Beam

Thickness effects of thin La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) films on (LaAlO₃)_0:3(Sr₂AlTaO₆)_0:7 sub-strates were examined by a slow positron beam technique. Doppler-broadening line shape parameter S was measured as a function of thickness and differnt annealing conditions. Re-sults reveal there could be more than one mechanism to induce vacancy-like defects. It was found that strain-induced defects mainly influence the S value of the in situ oxygen- ambience annealing LSMO thin films and the strain could vanish still faster along with the increase of thickness, and the oxygen-deficient induced defects mainly affect the S value of post-annealing LSMO films.     

Characterization of Tin Oxide Based Sol-Gel Coatings on Borosilicate Glasses by X-Ray Reflectivity

The X-ray reflectivity technique was applied in the study of tin oxide films deposited by sol-gel dip-coating on borosilicate glasses. The influence of the withdrawal speed and temperature of thermal treatment on the film structure was analyzed. We have compared the thermal evolution of the density and the shrinkage of the films with these properties measured for the monolithic xerogel by helium picnometry and thermomechanical analysis. In agreement with the Landau-Levich model, the layer thickness increases by increasing the withdrawal speed. Nevertheless, it decreases with the increase of the thermal treatment temperature, due to the densification process. The values of apparent density are smaller than the skeletal density, which shows that the films are porous. The comparison between the film and the monolith indicates that shrinkage during firing is anisotropic, occurring essentially perpendicular to the coating surface.     

Metal Organic Framework Glasses: A New Platform for Electrocatalysis?

Metal organic framework (MOF) glasses are a coordination network of metal nodes and organic ligands as an undercooled frozen-in liquid, and have therefore broadened the potential of MOF materials in the fundamental research and application scenarios. On the road to deploying MOF glasses as electrocatalysts, it remains several basic scientific hurdles although MOF glasses not only inherit the structural merits of MOFs but also endow with active catalytic features including concentrated defects, metal centers and disorder structure etc. The research on the ionic conductivity, catalytic stability and reactivity of MOF glasses has yielded scientific insights towards its electrocatalytic applications. Here, we first comb the history, definition and basic properties of MOF glasses. Then, we identify the main synthetic methods and characterization techniques. Finally, we advance the potentials and challenges of MOF glasses as electrocatalysts in furthering the understanding of these themes.     

Proton Conduction in Nanopore-Controlled Silica Glasses

The proton conduction in the sol–gel-derived silica glasses was discussed to be related with the pore structure. The porous glasses with the pore size of 2 to 20 nm in diameter were prepared by the sol–gel method of Si-alkoxides. The proton conduction is promoted by the dissociation of proton from the hydroxyl bonds and the proton hopping through water molecules. The conductivities follow the Arrhenius equation and the activation energy decreases with increasing the logarithm of the product of proton and water concentration. The pore size plays an important role to absorb the water in pores, resulting into the determination of proton transfer. The glass having ～5 nm diameter is more appropriate for the fast proton-conduction. The preparation of pore-controlled glass films exhibiting high conductivity is also described.     

Proton conduction in nanopores of sol–gel-derived porous glasses and thin films

Nanoporous glasses and nanoporous thin films were prepared using sol–gel method, and proton conductivities in nanopores of sol–gel-derived porous glasses and thin films are overviewed in this paper. Proton motions inside nanopores were monitored by impedance and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. The impedance data is correlated with the proton motion in bulk scale, whereas NMR data is correlated with that in nanometer scale, respectively. From the comparison of the activation energies obtained from impedance and NMR spectroscopies, percolation of proton conducting path and its relation to the amount of absorbed water molecules are shown. In the case of nanoporous thin films, directions of pores can be controlled by using cationic and non-ionic surfactants. Relationship between direction of pores and proton conductivity is discussed based on impedance test results.     

水浴法制备CdS薄膜产生的本征缺陷对光电学性质的影响

采用化学水浴沉积法(CBD)在钠钙玻璃衬底上制备硫化镉(CdS)薄膜,研究不同硫酸镉(CdSO_4)浓度下产生的本征缺陷对CdS薄膜光电学性质的影响。采用光致发光光谱、紫外-可见分光光度计及霍尔效应测试系统对薄膜的本征缺陷、光学及电学性质进行分析,发现CdS薄膜主要存在镉间隙(Cdi)及硫空位(VS)等本征缺陷,且VS随CdSO_4浓度的降低而逐渐减少。同时,VS缺陷的减少有利于薄膜透过率的提高,但在一定程度上降低了薄膜的电导率。根据透过率及其相关公式可知,半导体材料中透过率与电导率成e指数反比关系,适当减小薄膜的电导率可以使其透过率得到大幅度的提高,理论解释与实验结果相一致。     

Free-standing smectic films at high temperature

Optical reflectivity studies on free-standing liquid crystal films above the bulk smectic temperature range have revealed different melting phenomena. Our measurements are performed on tilted smectic phases (smectic C*, smectic C) using optical microscopy in polarized light in order to visualize the changes of the film structure. We observe the formation of twodimensional defect structures from string-like lines in very thick (about 1000 layers) as well as in thin (about 20 layers) films. In thick films these structures nucleate around the temperature of the bulk smectic-cholesteric phase transition, while in thin films the formation of the defects occurs well above this temperature and just before the thinning transitions. In thick and intermediate thickness films, cholesteric or nematic droplets and a 'quasi-smectic' structure are observed. The films exhibiting the 'quasi-smectic' structure definitely exist at higher temperatures than the smectic films with the same thickness.     

Defect evolution in block copolymer thin films via temporal phase transitions

We study the details of the defect dynamics in thin films of a cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-polybutadiene (SB) diblock copolymer melt. The high temporal resolution of in-situ scanning force microscopy (SFM) uncovers elementary dynamic processes of structural rearrangements on time scales not accessible so far. Short-term interfacial undulations and the formation of transient phases (spheres, perforated lamellae, and lamellae) are observed. We demonstrate that the well-known structural defects are annihilated by short-term phase transitions into what may be considered excited states. These temporary phase transitions are reproduced in simulations based on dynamic self-consistent field theory. We discuss the role of the observed structural evolution in the context of the equilibrium phase behavior in SB thin films.     

Free-standing smectic films at high temperature

Optical reflectivity studies on free-standing liquid crystal films above the bulk smectic temperature range have revealed different melting phenomena. Our measurements are performed on tilted smectic phases (smectic C*, smectic C) using optical microscopy in polarized light in order to visualize the changes of the film structure. We observe the formation of twodimensional defect structures from string-like lines in very thick (about 1000 layers) as well as in thin (about 20 layers) films. In thick films these structures nucleate around the temperature of the bulk smectic-cholesteric phase transition, while in thin films the formation of the defects occurs well above this temperature and just before the thinning transitions. In thick and intermediate thickness films, cholesteric or nematic droplets and a ‘quasi-smectic’ structure are observed. The films exhibiting the ‘quasi-smectic’ structure definitely exist at higher temperatures than the smectic films with the same thickness.     

Alignment of liquid crystals using Langmuir‒Blodgett films of unsymmetrical bent-core liquid crystals

ABSTRACT

The properties of the thin films of liquid crystal (LC) molecules can be governed easily by external fields. The anisotropic structure of the LC molecules has a large impact on the electrical and optical properties of the film. The Langmuir monolayer (LM) of LC molecules at the air–water interface is known to exhibit a variety of surface phases which can be transferred onto a solid substrate using the Langmuir?Blodgett (LB) technique. Here, we have studied the LM and LB films of asymmetrically substituted bent-core LC molecules. The morphology of LB film of the molecules is found to be a controlling parameter for aligning bulk LC in the nematic phase. It was found that the LB films of the bent-core molecules possessing defects favour the planar orientation of nematic LC, whereas the LB films with fewer defects show homeotropic alignment. The defect in LB films may introduce splay or bend distortions in the nematic near the alignment layer which can govern the planar alignment of the bulk LC. The uniform layer of LB film facilitates the molecules of nematic to anchor vertically due to a strong van der Waals interaction between the aliphatic chains leading to a homeotropic alignment.