Optical and electrical properties of aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) nanostructured thin film deposited on polycarbonate substrate

Transparent polymer materials, due to their unique properties, such as light weight, optical transparency, and electrical and mechanical properties, have become very attractive as a replacement for inorganic glass substrates in a wide range of optoelectronic applications. In this research, aluminum zinc oxide nanostructured thin film was deposited on polycarbonate polymer substrates using a magnetron sputtering technique. The structure, morphology, and surface composition of the thin film were investigated by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The optical and electrical properties of the thin film were investigated by UV–VIS-NIR spectrophotometer, ellipsometer, and four point probe method. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the aluminum zinc oxide thin film had a polycrystalline structure. The optical and electrical results indicated that the refractive index, band gap, and sheet resistance of the aluminum zinc oxide thin film were 1.8, 3.2 eV, and 265 Ω/sq, respectively.     

Increasing the pump-up rate to polarize He gas using spin-exchange optical pumping method

In recent years, polarized ³He gas has increasingly been used as neutron polarizers and polarization analyzers. Two of the leading methods to polarize the ³He gas are the spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) method and the meta-stable exchange optical pumping (MEOP) method. At present, the SEOP setup is comparatively compact due to the fact that it does not require the sophisticated compressor system used in the MEOP method. The temperature and the laser power available determine the speed, at which the SEOP method polarizes the ³He gas. For the quantity of gas typically used in neutron scattering work, this speed is independent of the quantity of the gas required, whereas the polarizing time using the MEOP method is proportional to the quantity of gas required. Currently, using the SEOP method to polarize several bar-liters of ³He to 70% polarization would require 20−40 h. This is an order of magnitude longer than the MEOP method for the same quantity of gas and polarization. It would therefore be advantageous to speed up the SEOP process. In this article, we analyze the requirements for temperature, laser power, and the type of alkali used in order to shorten the time required to polarize ³He gas using the SEOP method.     

Exciton localization behaviour in different well width undoped GaN/Al0.07Ga0.93N nanostructures

We report results from optical spectroscopy such as photoluminescence (PL) and time resolved photo-luminescence (TRPL) techniques from different well width MOCVD grown GaN/Al_0.07Ga_0.93N MQW samples. There is evidence of localization at low temperature in all samples. The decay time of all samples becomes non-exponential when the detection energy is increased with respect to the peak of the emission. Localization of carriers (excitons) is demonstrated by the “S-shape” dependences of the PL peak energies on the temperature. The time-resolved PL spectra of the 3-nm well multi quantum wells reveal that the spectral peak position shifts toward lower energies as the decay time increases and becomes red-shifted at longer decay times. There is a gradient in the PL decay time across the emission peak profile, so that the PL process at low temperatures is a free electron-localized hole transition.     

Relativistic symmetries in the Hulth6n scalar-vector-tensor interactions

In the presence of spin and pseudospin （p-spin） symmetries, the approximate analytical bound states of the Dirac equation for scalar-vector-tensor Hulth6n potentials are obtained with any arbitrary spin-orbit coupling number using the Pekeris approximation. The Hulth6n tensor interaction is studied instead of the commonly used Coulomb or linear terms. The generalized parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov （NU） method is used to obtain energy eigenvalues and corresponding wave functions in their closed forms. It is shown that tensor interaction removes degeneracy between spin and p-spin doublets. Some numerical results are also given.     

Cobalt determination with FI-FAAS after on-line sorbent preconcentration using 1-nitroso-2-naphthol

The suitability of 1-nitroso-2-naphthol (NN) as a complexing agent for on-line preconcentration of cobalt using C(18) microcolumn with FI-FAAS system has been tested. Various parameters affecting the complex formation and its elution were optimized. Reagent solution (2.5x10(-3) mol l(-1)) and aqueous sample solution acidified with 0.1% (v/v) nitric acid were on-line mixed in a reaction coil set at 65+/-1 degrees C and flowed through the microcolumn for 30 s. The pH of the mixed solution was adjusted to 3 approximately 4 by adding HNO(3) (1 mol l(-1)) or NaOH (1 mol l(-1)) in the reagent solution. The adsorbed complexes in the microcolumn were eluted with ethanol (acidified to 1% nitric acid) in 10 s into the nebulizer of FAAS. A good precision (1.6% for 100 mug l(-1) Co(II), n=10), high enrichment factor 17.2, with detection limit (3sigma) 3.2 mug l(-1), and sample throughput (90 h(-1)) were obtained. The method was applied on the certified reference materials (CRMs) i.e. NBS-362 and NBS-364 (special low alloy steel), for the determination of cobalt and the results were in good agreement with the certified values.     

Synthesis, structural characterization and electrochemical studies of nickel(II), copper(II) and cobalt(III) complexes of some ONS donor ligands derived from thiosemicarbazide and S-alkyl/aryl dithiocarbazates

Four tridentate ONS ligands, namely 2-hydroxyacetophenonethiosemicarbazone (H₂L¹), the 2-hydroxyacetophenone Schiff base of S-methyldithiocarbazate (H₂L²), the 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde Schiff base of S-methyldithiocarbazate (H₂L³), and the 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde Schiff base of S-benzyldithiocarbazate (H₂L⁴), and their complexes of general formula [Ni(HL¹)₂], [ML] (M?=?Ni^II or Cu^II; L?=?L¹, L², L³ and L⁴), [Co(HL)(L); L?=?L¹, L², L³ and L⁴] and [ML(B)] (M?=?Ni^II or Cu^II; L?=?L² and L⁴; B?=?py, PPh₃) have been prepared and characterized by physico-chemical techniques. Spectroscopic evidence indicates that the Schiff bases behave as ONS tridentate chelating agents. X-ray crystallographic structure determination of [NiL²(PPh₃)] and [CuL⁴(py)] indicates that these complexes have an approximately square-planar structure with the Schiff bases acting as dinegatively charged ONS tridentate ligands coordinating via the phenoxide oxygen, azomethine nitrogen and thiolate sulfur atoms. The electrochemical properties of the complexes have been studied by cyclic voltammetry.     

Improved DNA fragment length estimation in capillary electrophoresis

In CE the charged DNA strands are fractionated according to fragment lengths as they migrate through the capillary, since shorter DNA fragments pass through the sieving matrix faster. Multiplexed internal size standards are used to estimate the size of unknown DNA fragments. In the literature there are statements about migration abnormalities for the 250 and 340 bp fragments in the GeneScan-500 (GS500) internal size standards. Such anomalous migration of size standards could obviously introduce errors in the estimation of unknown fragments. Therefore, a number of analysis programs simply exclude some of these fragments. In the present work we first evaluate the effect of excluding each of the fragments in the internal size standards used in CE. Next, a method which is based on estimating the true values of the anomalous fragments is presented. The results obtained by the new method indicate a significant improvement compared to results obtained when one (or both) of the anomalous fragments in GS500 is (are) excluded or included when estimating the size of unknown DNA fragments. In the higher-molecular-weight region, the average error is reduced from 1.91 bp in ABI GeneMapper (excluding 250 bp) to 0.15 bp in the new method (using the estimated values for 250 and 340 bp). In the lower-molecular-weight region, excluding both fragments will improve the results by an average of 0.74 bp compared to ABI GeneMapper.     

A polyaniline-magnetite nanocomposite as an anion exchange sorbent for solid-phase extraction of chromium(VI) ions

This work describes a novel polyaniline-magnetite nanocomposite and its application to the preconcentration of Cr(VI) anions. The material was obtained by oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of magnetite nanoparticles. The parameters affecting preconcentration were optimized by a Box-Behnken design through response surface methodology. Extraction time, amount of magnetic sorbent and pH value were selected as the main factors affecting sorption. The sorption capacity of the sorbent for Cr(VI) is 54 mg g⁻¹. The type, volume and concentration of the eluents, and the elution time were selected as main factors in the optimization study of the elution step. Following sorption and elution, the Cr(VI) ions were reacted with diphenylcarbazide, and the resulting dye was quantified by HPLC with optical detection at 546 nm. The limit of detection is 0.1 μg L⁻¹, and all the relative standard deviations are <6.3 %. The nanocomposite was successfully applied to the rapid extraction and determination of trace quantities of Cr(VI) ions in spiked water samples.

A schematic procedure of magnetic solid phase extraction

     

Stable aqueous dispersion of magnetic iron oxide core–shell nanoparticles prepared by biocompatible maleate polymers

A new method is applied to prepare stable aqueous dispersion of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs) by biocompatible maleate polymers. Fe₃O₄ magnetic core–shell nanoparticles are obtained via forming an inclusion complex between carboxylic acid groups of maleated biocompatible polymers shell and Fe₃O₄ MNPs core surface. Maleate polymers are synthesized via esterification of poly(ethylene glycol), poly(vinyl alcohol) and starch with maleic anhydride (MA). The Fe₃O₄ magnetic core–shell nanoparticles are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The obtained magnetic core–shell nanoparticles exhibit superparamagnetic property and reveal long‐term aqueous stability. This work represents a valid methodology to produce highly stable aqueous dispersion of Fe₃O₄ MNPs ferrofluids which can be expected to have great potential as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, the shell composition of biocompatible maleate polymers with double bond of MA as crosslinker agent allows the polymerization with other monomers to design preferred drug delivery systems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A sensitive and efficient method for trace analysis of some phenolic compounds using simultaneous derivatization and air‐assisted liquid–liquid microextraction from human urine and plasma samples followed by gas chromatography–nitrogen phosphorous detection

In present study, a simultaneous derivatization and air‐assisted liquid–liquid microextraction method combined with gas chromatography–nitrogen phosphorous detection has been developed for the determination of some phenolic compounds in biological samples. The analytes are derivatized and extracted simultaneously by a fast reaction with 1‐flouro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene under mild conditions. Under optimal conditions low limits of detection in the range of 0.05–0.34 ng mL^?1 are achievable. The obtained extraction recoveries are between 84 and 97% and the relative standard deviations are less than 7.2% for intraday (n = 6) and interday (n = 4) precisions. The proposed method was demonstrated to be a simple and efficient method for the analysis of phenols in biological samples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.