The electrochemistry of antibody-modified conducting polymer electrodes

The modification of conducting polymer electrodes with antibodies (i.e. proteins) by means of electrochemical polymerization is a simple step that can be used to develop an immunological sensor. However, the electrochemical processes involved leading to the generation of analytical signals by the sensor have not been fully investigated. In this work, we report on the characterization of the interaction between an antigen, human serum albumin (HSA) and an antibody-immobilized polypyrrole electrode (such as anti-HSA) using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy. This interaction was monitored using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at three different potentials. The potentials correspond to the three redox states of the electroconducting polymer (i.e. reduced, doped and overoxidized states). Evidence from the CV experiments confirmed that there was a shift in the potential, which was found to be proportional to the concentration. Both the CV and the impedance experiments indicated that this potential-dependent shift could be attributed to antibody–antigen (Ab–Ag) binding.     

Extremal Problems in the Class of Delta-Subharmonic Functions of Finite Order in a Half-Plane

We obtain exact lower bounds of the upper limits of ratios of the Nevanlinna characteristics of a delta-subharmonic function in the upper half-plane.     

Forced convection from a microstructure on a flat plate

In this work, a cooling of a flat microelectronic structure with single-phase forced convection is investigated. The axial conduction, usually neglected in boundary layer theory, is considered here since the length of the heated element is in the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the boundary layer. The microstructure represents a package of chips mounted flush with the surface of the plate, and uniformly heated with a constant heat flux. The differential method is used to reduce the governing partial differential equations to ordinary differential ones, which are solved numerically by the use of a computational code developed by the authors. This code is based on Keller–Box method. The temperature profiles and Nusselt numbers are plotted at several locations on the heated element and are given as functions of the Reynolds number at the beginning of heated microstructure and of the ratio of unheated to heated length. Furthermore, the average Nusselt numbers on the heated length are computed for Prandtl numbers in the range 0.7≤Pr≤7,000. The results are compared to the boundary layer solution of unheated starting length problem. The results will be used as a baseline for successively more complex situations of cooling in electronics.     

A new nonlocal model for the restoration of textured images

In this paper, we focus on the mathematical and numerical study of a new nonlocal reaction-diffusion system for image denoising. This model is motivated by involving the decomposition approach of $H^{-1}$ norm suggested by Meyer [25] which is more appropriate to represent the oscillatory patterns and small details in the textured image. Based on Schaeffer''s fixed point theorem, we prove the existence and uniqueness of solution of the proposed model. To illustrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our model, we test the denoising experimental results as well we compare with some existing models in the literature.     

RF-sputtered CrB2 diffusion barrier for Ni/Au Ohmic contacts on p-CuCrO2

Ohmic contacts to p-type CuCrO₂ using Ni/Au/CrB₂/Ti/Au contact metallurgy are reported. The samples were annealed in the 200–700 °C range for 60 s in flowing oxygen ambient. A minimum specific contact resistance of 2 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm² was obtained after annealing at 400 °C. Further increase in the annealing temperature (>400 °C) resulted in the degradation of contact resistance. Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling showed that out-diffusion of Ti to the surface of the contact stacks was evident by 400 °C, followed by Cr at higher temperature. The CrB₂ diffusion barrier decreases the specific contact resistance by almost two orders of magnitude relative to Ni/Au alone.     

Plasma-based preparation of polyaniline/graphene and polypyrrole/graphene composites for dye-sensitized solar cells as counter electrodes

This study presents the preparation of graphene (GR) nanocomposites with polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPy) through the fast, versatile and environmentally friendly process of radio frequency (RF)-plasma polymerization. Morphological characterization of the nanocomposites is performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and shows that the PANI and PPy conducting polymers coated the GR surface. The surface properties of the GR nanocomposites are determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The prepared GR nanocomposites are then used as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The conversion cell efficiencies for iodine-doped DSSC samples are found to be 0.086%, 5.41%, and 5.60% for I₂-PANI, I₂-PANI-GR and I₂-PPy-GR, respectively, while the corresponding undoped samples reaches power conversion efficiencies of 3.82%, 1.30%, and 0.077% for PPy-GR, PANI-GR and PANI, respectively. The incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of iodine-doped composite-based DSSCs is significantly enhanced.     

Microwave‐Sensitive Foamable Poly(ionic liquids) Bearing tert‐Butyl Ester Groups: Influence of Counterions on the Ester Pyrolysis

Several poly(ionic liquids) have been synthesized based on poly(1‐vinyl‐3‐tert‐butoxycarbonylmethylene imidazolium) salts with different counterions to investigate the tert‐butyl ester pyrolysis of these compounds. It is found that the counterions strongly influence the temperature of the pyrolysis. The pyrolysis temperature shifts to higher or lower temperatures depending on the nature of the counterions. The use of microwave irradiation was employed to accelerate the gas release because of the high dipolar interaction of amorphous salts with microwaves. The result of these reactions is the formation of organic foams that could be of industrial interest.