Integration of a nanoporous platinum thin film into a microfluidic system for non-enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensing.

In this paper, we describe an amperometric-type enzymeless glucose sensing system based on a nanoporous platinum (Pt) electrode embedded in a microfluidic chip. This microchip system is comprised of a microfluidic transport channel network and a miniaturized electrochemical cell for nonenzymatic glucose sensing. Sample and buffer solutions were transferred to the cell by programmed electroosmotic flow (EOF). A nanoporous Pt electrode with the roughness factor of 200.6 was utilized to determine glucose concentrations in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) by the direct oxidation of glucose, without any separation process. The sensitivity of the developed system is 1.65 microA cm-2 mM-1 in the glucose concentration range from 1-10 mM in PBS.     

Rapid anisotropic diffusion of lithium in electrochromic thin films based on the hexagonal tungsten bronze structure

The chemical diffusion coefficient of lithium in oxidized potassium hexatungstate and reduced hexagonal potassium tungsten bronze films was measured by the galvanostatic transient method. Two-dimensional anisotropic diffusion was found in the hexagonal hexatungstates, while no appreciable anisotropy was observed in samples with the potassium hexagonal tungsten bronze structure. The chemical diffusion coefficients along the c-axis in thin films of the tungstates K_0.33WO_3.165 and K_0.3WO_3.15 (about 6000 Å thick) are about 10^?10 cm²/s, while those along the a-axis are about 10^?7 cm²/s. This latter value is about the same to those measured in a potassium hexagonal tungsten bronze single crystal of composition K_0.28WO₃ which was grown electrochemically. It is most likely that the presence of the additional oxygen atoms in the tunnels within the hexatungstate structure is responsible for the large decrease in the rate of motion of lithium along the c-axis that leads to the anisotropy in the macroscopic diffusion coefficient in this crystal structure.     

Interaction between cationic surfactants and montmorillonites under nonequilibrium condition

Surfactant adsorption by two different montmorillonites was characterized by examining the time dependence of surfactant behavior on clay surfaces. Surfactants with different micelle concentrations were conducted in our experiment to observe a nonequilibrium activity of cationic surfactant on the clay over reaction periods ranging from 0.1 min to 11 days. Compared with Ca-montmorillonite (SAz), a more active intrusion of surfactant molecules into the interlayers was found in Na-montmorillonite (SWy). During a short "initiation" stage, the basal spacing of SWy montmorillonite increased rapidly with logarithmic time. For SAz montmorillonite, however, the abrupt basal spacing increase occurred at a later stage of the reaction. From the results, it is assumed that the difference in the adsorption behavior exhibited by the two montmorillonite types partly arises from their intrinsic nature; that is, inorganic cations originally existed on the clay surfaces. Additionally, the micelle concentration of the surfactants affects the development of organomontmorillonite, especially in the intercalant formation and stabilization under nonequilibrium.     

Photoluminescence of Cd1-xMnxS (x < or = 0.3) nanowires

Cd1-xMnxS (x = 0.1-0.3) nanowires were synthesized by using the chemical vapor deposition method. They all consist of a single-crystalline wurtzite CdS structure with a [010] or [011] growth direction. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the contraction of the lattice constants due to the incorporation of Mn. The Mn2+ emission at approximately 2.15 eV, originating from the d-d (4T1 --> 6A1) transition, appears below 50-80 K. Its decay time is in the range of 0.55-1 ms, showing a decrease with increasing Mn content. The Mn doping reduces significantly the decay time of band-edge emission from 590 ps to 20-30 ps. Upon applying magnetic field (up to 7 T), the Mn2+ emission is suppressed and donor-acceptor pair emission becomes dominant, suggesting the energy transfer from the band electrons to the Mn2+ ions.     

Characterization on titanium surfaces and its effect on photocatalytic bactericidal activity

Many studies have been published on the use of TiO₂ as a photocatalyst, which decomposes various organic compounds under UV illumination by generating various radicals. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the photocatalytic bactericidal effects of variously treated titanium surfaces on Escherichia coli K-12. The specimens were fabricated from grade 4 commercially pure titanium, 12 mm in diameter and 1 mm in thickness. Five different surfaces were prepared (MA: machined surface; AO: anodized at 300 V; NO: NaOH-treated; NW: NaOH- and water-treated; and HT: heat-treated). Surface analysis was performed using scanning electron microscopy, optical interferometer, and thin-film X-ray diffractometry. Photocatalytic activity of each group was confirmed by degradation of methylene blue (MB). The antibacterial activity was assessed by calculating the survival ratio in a drop of a culture of E. coli placed on the surface under UV illumination. Significant photocatalytic activity and bactericidal effects were observed on the titanium surfaces of AO and NW, regardless of the surface roughness (P < 0.01). The group with anatase was the most susceptible to the photocatalytic effect, while the surface without anatase showed the least susceptibility. Based on this in vitro study, the crystallography of the oxide layer on its titanium surfaces is an important factor affecting the photocatalytic bactericidal activity.     

Metal filament growth in electrically conductive polymers for nonvolatile memory application

Solution processable polymers that can reproducibly form metal filament by applying voltage are investigated for nonvolatile memory application. Up to present, the understanding of materials enabling to make the metal filament has not been well-documented and the vacuum deposition methods were dominantly used in device fabrication. After screening various polymers, we found that only the polymers having two functionalities, the presence of strongly coordinating heteroatom (S or N) with metal ions and the electrical conductivity, showed the reproducible filament formation behavior. Among the polymers screened, the regiorandom poly(3-hexylthiophene) showed the best switching endurance over 30,000 write-read-erase-read cycles without any switching failure.     

Conformations and electronic structures of axially coordinated fullerene-porphyrin-fullerene triad (C60CHCOO)2-Sn(IV) porphyrin

The conformational (cis and trans) stability and electronic structures of (C(60)CHCOO)(2)-Sn(IV) porphyrin, recently synthesized as a novel fullerene-porphyrin-fullerene triad linked by metal axial coordination, have been studied by ab initio calculations. The cis conformer was found to be slightly more stable than the trans by 1.38 kcal/mol in the neutral compound. Upon the addition of an electron to the triad, the relative stability of the cis conformer was found to be higher (3.29 kcal/mol) than that in the neutral one. From the investigation of frontier molecular orbitals, for the cis conformer, it was found that the electrons are localized in HOMO of the porphyrin, while the electrons are localized in LUMO of the syn-fullerene. For the trans conformer, it was found that the electrons are localized in HOMO of the porphyrin, while the electrons are localized in LUMO of one of the two fullerene moieties, and the electrons are localized in LUMO2 of the other fullerene moiety, but the LUMO and LUMO2 have the same orbital energy. Thus, the PET may take place unidirectionally in the cis conformer from the porphyrin to the syn-fullerene, while it is bidirectional from the porphyrin to both of the fullerene moieties.     

High performance Zn–Sn–O thin film transistors with Cu source/drain electrode

Zn–Sn–O (ZTO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with a Cu source/drain electrode. Although a reasonably high mobility (μ_FE) of 13.2 cm²/Vs was obtained for the ZTO TFTs, the subthreshold gate swing (SS) and threshold voltage (V_th) of 1.1 V/decade and 9.1 V, respectively, were inferior. However, ZTO TFTs with Ta film inserted as a diffusion barrier, exhibited improved SS and V_th values of 0.48 V/decade and 3.0 V, respectively as well as a high μ_FE value of 18.7 cm²/Vs. The improvement in the Ta‐inserted device was attributed to the suppression of Cu lateral diffusion into the ZTO channel region. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of nano-sized lead(II) 3D coordination polymer: Precursor for the synthesis of lead(II) oxybromide nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of a three-dimensional coordination polymer, [Pb(L)(μ₂-Br)(H₂O)]_n (1), (L^? = 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxylate), have been synthesized by an ultrasonic method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. The thermal stability of compound 1 both its bulk and nano-size has been studied by thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal (DTA) analyses and compared each other. Concentration of initial reagents effects and the role of power ultrasound irradiation on size and morphology of nano-structured compound 1, have been studied. Calcination of the compound 1 at 500 °C under air atmosphere yields Pb₃O₂Br₂ nanoparticles.     

Acoustic behaviour and equation of state of amorphous ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer studied by means of high-pressure Brillouin scattering spectroscopy

The determination of the equation of state (EOS) of amorphous materials is very important for fundamental understanding of the glass transition and applications as well. Simultaneous observation of both longitudinal and transverse acoustic modes by Brillouin scattering spectroscopy has been one of the major methods to obtain EOS of amorphous materials. However, the transverse acoustic mode is hardly seen from some of the amorphous polymers, which makes it difficult to derive EOS. The temperature and pressure dependences of the acoustic properties of amorphous ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer were measured by using high-pressure Brillouin scattering spectroscopy. The temperature variation induced large changes in the frequency shift and linewidth of the longitudinal acoustic mode due to strong coupling between the structural relaxation process and the propagating density fluctuations. The residual linewidth in the glassy state was attributed to the remnant intramolecular motions of EVA, the activation energy of which was estimated to be ～3.30 ± 0.27 kcal/mol. The pressure–density relationship of EVA could be obtained for the first time by measuring the refractive index and using the Lorentz–Lorenz equation. The density and the refractive index exhibited monotonic increase up to approximately 12 GPa. The strong reduction of the acoustic damping at low pressures below ～3 GPa was attributed to the collapsing free volume in EVA. The present study clearly shows that measuring the refractive index by high-pressure Brillouin spectroscopy may be an alternative method to get the EOS of polymeric materials whose transverse acoustic mode is too weak to be observed.