Effects of In, Al and Sn dopants on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films

Effect of In, Al and Sn dopants on the optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction technique and optical characterization method. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that the films have polycrystalline nature. The thin films have (002) as the preferred orientation. This (002) preferred orientation is due to the minimal surface energy which the hexagonal structure, c-plane to the ZnO crystallites, corresponds to the densest packed plane. The grain size values of the films are found to be 29.0, 35.2 and 39.5 nm for In, Al and Sn doped ZnO thin films, respectively. The optical band gaps of the films were calculated. The absorption edge shifts to the lower wavelengths with In, Al and Sn dopants. The inclusion of dopant into films expands also width of localized states as E(UIn)>E(UAl)>E(USn). The refractive index dispersion curves obey the single oscillator model. The dispersion parameters and optical constants of the films were determined. These parameters changed with In, Al and Sn dopants.     

Swelling studies of copolymeric acrylamide/crotonic acid hydrogels as carriers for agricultural uses

In this study, highly swollen acrylamide/crotonic acid hydrogels (in a rod form) containing some inorganic salts such as ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and ammonium sulphate used as fertilizer, an agricultural drug such as Dalapon (sodium 2,2‐dichloropropionate) and two crosslinkers such as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and 1,4‐butandiol dimethacrylate were prepared by copolymerization of acrylamide and crotonic acid with γ‐radiation. As a result of swelling tests, the influence of γ‐ray dose and relative content of crotonic acid on the swelling properties, the diffusional behavior of water, diffusion coefficients and network properties of the hydrogel systems were examined. Acrylamide/crotonic acid hydrogels containing these salts and agricultural drug were swollen in the range 2045–400% in water, while polyacrylamide hydrogels swelled in the range 660–700%. Water intake of hydrogels followed a nonFickian‐type diffusion. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystalline structure and morphological properties of undoped and Sn doped ZnO thin films

Undoped and tin (Sn) doped ZnO thin films have been prepared by spray pyrolysis method. Effect of Sn dopant on the crystalline structure and morphological properties of ZnO thin films has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) method. XRD patterns confirm that the films have polycrystalline nature. While undoped ZnO film has (101) as the preferred orientation, Sn doped ZnO thin films have (002) as the preferred orientation. Grain sizes, lattice parameters and texture coefficient values of the films were determined. Microstructure was analyzed by SEM and the influence of the doping concentration in the microstructure of the films is investigated.     

4,4′‐Butane‐1,4‐diylbis[3‐ethyl‐1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐5(4H)‐one] and 4‐hydr­oxy‐3‐n‐prop­yl‐1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐5(4H)‐one

The title compounds, C₁₂H₂₀N₆O₂, (I), and C₅H₉N₃O₂, (II), display the characteristic features of 1,2,4‐triazole derivatives. Compound (I) lies about an inversion centre which is at the mid‐point of the central C—C bond. Compound (II) also contains a planar 1,2,4‐triazole ring but differs from (I) in that it has a hydr­oxy group attached to the ring. Mol­ecules of (I) are held together in the crystal structure by inter­molecular N—H⋯O contacts and by weak π–π stacking inter­actions between the 1,2,4‐triazole moieties. Compound (II) contains inter­molecular O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.     

Performance enhanced down-stream signalling for next generation long-reach 10 Gbit/s passive optical networks

In this paper, we have analyzed the signal processing methods both in digital and optical domain to enhance the transmission performance of downstream signalling in long reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs). The impact of non-linear (NL) equalization through signal processing, i.e. Volterra Equalization (VE), Digital Backpropagation (BP) and Optical Phase Conjugation with Non-linearity Module (OPC-NM) is investigated, in 10 Gbit/s (XG) DP-QPSK long-reach wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) PONs without midspan repeaters over 120 km standard single mode fibre (SMF) link for down-stream signals. Due to the compensation of optical Kerr effects, the sensitivity penalty is reduced to 2 dB by BP algorithm, 1.5 dB by VE algorithm and 2.69 dB by OPC-NM. Moreover, with the implementation of NL equalization technique we are able to get the transmission distance of 126.6 km SMF for the 1:1024 split-ratio at 5 GHz channel spacing in the non-linear region. Furthermore, the concept of super passive optical network (S-PON) is also evaluated, which involves a repeater stage consisting of optical amplifiers, to study the feasibility for receiver side signal processing and simplification.     

Effect of ultrasound on the kinetics of cation exchange in NaX zeolite

In this study, we focused on the effect of ultrasound on ion exchange kinetics to obtain the Li-, Ca- and Ce-rich NaX zeolite. The results were compared to those obtained from the traditional batch exchange method under similar conditions. Contact time and initial cation concentration (fold equivalent excess) were studied. Ultrasound enhanced the replacement of Na⁺ ion with Li⁺, Ca²⁺ and Ce³⁺ ions in the extra-framework of zeolite up to 76%, 72% and 66%, respectively. The intraparticle diffusion is the rate limiting step in the ion exchange for both exchange methods. As compared to the traditional exchange method, the ultrasonic method applied in this study was found to be very effective on the exchange amount at equilibrium.     

Phthalocyanine-based fluorescent chemosensor for the sensing of Zn (II) in dimethyl sulfoxide-acetonitrile

A tetra-substituted phthalocyanine based on 4-[2-(4-nitrophenoxy)ethoxy]phthalonitrile carrying nitrophenyl group for the sensing of Zn²⁺ has been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and MS spectral data. The sensing of Zn²⁺ is based on the fluorescence quenching of Pc. Both absorbance and fluorescence spectra of ZnPc exhibit distinct changes in visible region in response to treatment with Zn²⁺ ion in dimethyl sulfoxide. The fluorescence spectrum of the ligand showed quenching in the intensity of the signal at 688?nm for Zn²⁺. The complex composition of ZnPc was found 1:1 by means of spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titration data. The spectrofluorimetric method showed good sensitivity for Zn²⁺ with linear range and detection limit of 4.0?×?10^?6–4.4?×?10^?5 and 2.4×10^?7?M, respectively.     

Long Distance Electron Transfer Across >100 nm Thick Au Nanoparticle/Polyion Films to a Surface Redox Protein

Glutathione‐decorated 5 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and oppositely charged poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) were assembled into {PAH/AuNP}_n films fabricated layer‐by‐layer (LbL) on pyrolytic graphite (PG) electrodes. These AuNP/polyion films utilized the AuNPs as electron hopping relays to achieve direct electron transfer between underlying electrodes and redox proteins on the outer film surface across unprecedented distances >100 nm for the first time. As film thickness increased, voltammetric peak currents for surface myoglobin (Mb) on these films decreased but the electron transfer rate was relatively constant, consistent with a AuNP‐mediated electron hopping mechanism.     

Successive heterolytic cleavages of H2 achieve N2 splitting on silica-supported tantalum hydrides: a DFT proposed mechanism

DFT(B3PW91) calculations have been carried out to propose a pathway for the N(2) cleavage by H(2) in the presence of silica-supported tantalum hydride complexes [(≡SiO)(2)TaH(x)] that forms [(≡SiO)(2)Ta(NH)(NH(2))] (Science 2007, 317, 1056). The calculations, performed on the cluster models {μ-O[(HO)(2)SiO](2)}TaH(1) and {μ-O[(HO)(2)SiO](2)}TaH(3), labelled as (≡SiO)(2)TaH(x) (x = 1, 3), show that the direct hydride transfers to coordinated N-based ligands in (≡SiO)(2)TaH(η(2)-N(2)) and (≡SiO)(2)TaH(η(2)-HNNH) have high energy barrier barriers. These high energy barriers are due in part to a lack of energetically accessible empty orbitals in the negatively charged N-based ligands. It is shown that a succession of proton transfers and reduction steps (hydride transfer or 2 electron reduction by way of dihydride reductive coupling) to the nitrogen-based ligands leads to more energetically accessible pathways. These proton transfers, which occur by way of heterolytic activation of H(2), increase the electrophilicity of the resulting ligand (diazenido, N(2)H(-), and hydrazido, NHNH(2)(-), respectively) that can thus accept a hydride with a moderate energy barrier. In the case of (≡SiO)(2)TaH(η(2)-HNNH), the H(2) molecule that is adding across the Ta-N bond is released after the hydride transfer step by heterolytic elimination from (≡SiO)(2)TaH(NH(2))(2), suggesting that dihydrogen has a key role in assisting the final steps of the reaction without itself being consumed in the process. This partly accounts for the experimental observation that the addition of H(2) is needed to convert an intermediate, identified as a diazenido complex [(≡SiO)(2)TaH(η(2)-HNNH)] from its ν(N-H) stretching frequency of 3400 cm(-1), to the final product. Throughout the proposed mechanism, the tantalum remains in its preferred high oxidation state and avoids redox-type reactions, which are more energetically demanding.     

The effect of pressure on the elastic constants of Cu, Ag and Au: a molecular dynamics study

This paper describes the effect of pressure on some the mechanical properties of transition metals Cu, Ag, and Au, such as elastic constants and bulk modulus. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, the present study was carried out using the modified many-body Morse potential function expression in the framework of the Embedded Atom Method (EAM). The effect of pressure on equilibrium volume, elastic constants, and bulk modulus were determined, and found to be in agreement with other theoretical calculations and experimental data.