Inverted organic solar cells with solvothermal synthesized vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films as efficient electron transport layer

We investigated the effects of using different thicknesses of pure and vanadium-doped thin films of TiO_2 as the electron transport layer in the inverted configuration of organic photovoltaic cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) P3HT:[6-6] phenyl-(6) butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM). 1% vanadium-doped TiO_2nanoparticles were synthesized via the solvothermal method. Crystalline structure, morphology, and optical properties of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films were studied by different techniques such as x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmittance electron microscopy, and UV–visible transmission spectrum. The doctor blade method which is compatible with roll-2-roll printing was used for deposition of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films with thicknesses of 30 nm and 60 nm. The final results revealed that the best thickness of TiO_2 thin films for our fabricated cells was 30 nm. The cell with vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film showed slightly higher power conversion efficiency and great J_(sc) of 10.7 mA/cm~2 compared with its pure counterpart. In the cells using 60 nm pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 layers, the cell using the doped layer showed much higher efficiency. It is remarkable that the external quantum efficiency of vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film was better in all wavelengths.     

Electrochemical determination of captopril in the presence of acetaminophen,tryptophan, folic acid,and l-cysteine at the surface of modified carbon nanotube paste electrode

Ionics - A novel carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with 2,2′-[1,7–heptanediylbis(nitrilomethylidene)]-bis(4-hydroxyphenol) (DHB) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was prepared. At first,...     

Add/drop filter using in-plane slanted gratings in azo polymers

We have fabricated in-plane slanted gratings on azo-functionalized polymeric films using a fast, direct-writing method. By properly adjusting the resonance, these gratings can be used as 90 degrees integrated reflectors and add/drop filters in the plane of the film. We have produced an attenuation of 14.8 dB at 1560.2 nm with a FWHM of 6.47 nm. Also, a signal of 1548 nm wavelength was added to the output from a different direction. Any light shifted from the resonance will pass through the filter undisturbed.     

Supercontinuum generation with femtosecond optical pulse compression in silicon photonic crystal fibers at 2500 nm

In this paper, femtosecond optical pulses compression and supercontinuum generation in a triangular silicon photonic crystal fiber at 2500 nm are investigated. A region of large minimum anomalous group velocity dispersion, negligible higher order dispersions and unique nonlinearity of silicon are used to demonstrate compression of 100 fs initial input optical pulses to 2.5 fs and ultra-broadband supercontinuum generation with very low input pulse energy over short distances of the fiber.     

Localization of elastic waves in heterogeneous media with off-diagonal disorder and long-range correlations

Using the Martin-Siggia-Rose method, we study propagation of acoustic waves in strongly heterogeneous media which are characterized by a broad distribution of the elastic constants. Gaussian-white distributed elastic constants, as well as those with long-range correlations with nondecaying power-law correlation functions, are considered. The study is motivated in part by a recent discovery that the elastic moduli of rock at large length scales may be characterized by long-range power-law correlation functions. Depending on the disorder, the renormalization group (RG) flows exhibit a transition to localized regime in any dimension. We have numerically checked the RG results using the transfer-matrix method and direct numerical simulations for one- and two-dimensional systems, respectively.     

Complex network analysis of water distribution systems

This paper explores a variety of strategies for understanding the formation, structure, efficiency, and vulnerability of water distribution networks. Water supply systems are studied as spatially organized networks for which the practical applications of abstract evaluation methods are critically evaluated. Empirical data from benchmark networks are used to study the interplay between network structure and operational efficiency, reliability, and robustness. Structural measurements are undertaken to quantify properties such as redundancy and optimal-connectivity, herein proposed as constraints in network design optimization problems. The role of the supply demand structure toward system efficiency is studied, and an assessment of the vulnerability to failures based on the disconnection of nodes from the source(s) is undertaken. The absence of conventional degree-based hubs (observed through uncorrelated nonheterogeneous sparse topologies) prompts an alternative approach to studying structural vulnerability based on the identification of network cut-sets and optimal-connectivity invariants. A discussion on the scope, limitations, and possible future directions of this research is provided.     

Pyrophosphate Selective Recognition in Aqueous Solution Based on Fluorescence Enhancement of a New Aluminium Complex

A novel and simple fluorescence enhancement method for selective pyrophosphate(PPi) sensing was proposed based on a 1:1 metal complex formation between bis(8-hydroxy quinoline-5-solphonat) chloride aluminum(III) (Al(QS)₂Cl), (L) and PPi in aqueous solution. The linear response range covers a concentration range of 1.6 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol/L of PPi and the detection limit of 2.3 × 10⁻⁸ mol/L. The association constant of L-PPi complex was calculated 2.6 × 10⁵ L/mol. L was found to show selectively and sensitively fluorescence enhancement toward PPi over than I₃^-, NO₃^-, CN⁻, CO₃²⁻, Br⁻, Cl⁻, F⁻, H₂PO4⁻ and SO₄²⁻, which was attributed to higher stability of inorganic complex between pyrophosphate and L.     

Toward a practical and waste-free synthesis of thioureas in water

An operationally simple and entirely green protocol for the synthesis of thiourea derivatives by the reaction of carbon disulfide with primary amines in pure water is developed. This reaction is a highly atom-economic process for production of highly pure, hindered thioureas without any catalyst and tedious work-up.     

An all-optical switch of Mach－Zehnder interferometer type using an active fibre ring resonator

We propose an all-optical switch of the Mach－Zehnder interferometer type using an active nonlinear ring resonator and analyse the significance of the parameter A, a product of gain and total loss, for performing an ideal 1 by 2 switch. We found that in the range of 1-κ≤A≤\sqrt{1-κ}, the increment of A can compensate the losses inside the ring, therefore increase the finesse of the ring and enhance the nonlinearity contribution to reduce the switching power threshold effectively. We also emphasize the importance of the initial switching point and discuss the feasibility of utilizing a high-nonlinear fibre in the ring.     

A non-adapted sparse approximation of PDEs with stochastic inputs

We propose a method for the approximation of solutions of PDEs with stochastic coefficients based on the direct, i.e., non-adapted, sampling of solutions. This sampling can be done by using any legacy code for the deterministic problem as a black box. The method converges in probability (with probabilistic error bounds) as a consequence of sparsity and a concentration of measure phenomenon on the empirical correlation between samples. We show that the method is well suited for truly high-dimensional problems.