Soft‐Chemical Exfoliation Route to Layered Cobalt Oxide Monolayers and Its Application for Film Deposition and Nanoparticle Synthesis

A colloidal suspension of exfoliated, layered cobalt oxide nanosheets has been synthesized through the intercalation of quaternary tetramethylammonium ions into protonated lithium cobalt oxide. According to atomic force microscopy, exfoliated nanosheets of layered cobalt oxide show a plateau‐like height profile with nanometer‐level height, underscoring the formation of unilamellar 2D nanosheets. The exfoliation of layered cobalt oxide was cross‐confirmed by X‐ray diffraction, UV/Vis spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The maintenance of the hexagonal in‐plane structure of the cobalt oxide lattice after the exfoliation process was evidenced by selected‐area electron diffraction and Co K‐edge X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure analysis. The zeta‐potential measurements clearly demonstrated the negative surface charge of cobalt oxide nanosheets. Adopting the nanosheets of layered cobalt oxide as a precursor, we were able to prepare the monodisperse CoO nanocrystals with a particle size of ≈10 nm as well as the heterolayered film composed of cobalt oxide monolayer and polycation.     

Monolayer Co3O4 Inverse Opals as Multifunctional Sensors for Volatile Organic Compounds

Monolayers of periodic porous Co₃O₄ inverse opal (IO) thin films for gas‐sensor applications were prepared by transferring cobalt‐solution‐dipped polystyrene (PS) monolayers onto sensor substrates and subsequent removal of the PS template by heat treatment. Monolayer Co₃O₄ IO thin films having periodic pores (d≈500 nm) showed a high response of 112.9 to 5 ppm C₂H₅OH at 200 °C with low cross‐responses to other interfering gases. Moreover, the selective detection of xylene and methyl benzenes (xylene+toluene) could be achieved simply by tuning the sensor temperature to 250 and 275 °C, respectively, so that multiple gases can be detected with a single chemiresistor. Unprecedentedly high ethanol response and temperature‐modulated control of selectivity with respect to ethanol, xylene, and methyl benzenes were attributed to the highly chemiresistive IO nanoarchitecture and to the tuned catalytic promotion of different gas‐sensing reactions, respectively. These well‐ordered porous nanostructures could have potential in the field of high‐performance gas sensors based on p‐type oxide semiconductors.     

Non-nearest-neighbor jumps in 2D diffusion: Pd on W(110)

A variety of jumps has in the past been identified in diffusion of atoms on 1D channeled surfaces. To establish the jump processes important in diffusion on a 2D surface, the movement of individual Pd atoms has been examined on W(110). From the distribution of displacements of Pd at high temperatures, double jumps are found along the close-packed <111>. For the first time, sizable differences are also observed between the mean-square displacements along x and y, which demonstrate unexpected contributions from jumps along <110>, but not along <001>. These jumps proceed over activation barriers higher than for single jumps, under conditions predicted from previous work with Pd on the channeled W(211).     

Experimental observation of stable bound solitons in a figure-eight fiber laser

Temporal bound solitons are observed experimentally in a passively mode-locked figure-eight fiber laser with a dispersion-imbalanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (DI-NOLM). Soliton interactions are suppressed by use of a spectral bandpass filter, and Gordon-Haus timing jitter is eliminated with a DI-NOLM, which removes the cw light component in the laser cavity. The bound solitons are found to be stable for several hours in the laser cavity when no external perturbation is applied.     

Nanomanipulator-assisted fabrication and characterization of carbon nanotubes inside scanning electron microscope

We have installed two nanomanipulators, which can travel about 20mm with a minimum increment of 1 nm, for manipulation of nanostructured materials inside field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Both manipulators render motions in x, y, and z directions, providing various manipulation freedoms such as moving, bending, cutting, and biasing. In addition, we have conducted in situ characterization of the electrical breakdown of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Our results demonstrate the possibility that MWCNTs can be used as a gas sensor.