Electrochemical, morphological and microstructural characterization of carbon film resistor electrodes for application in electrochemical sensors

The electrochemical and microstructural properties of carbon film electrodes made from carbon film electrical resistors of 1.5, 15, 140 Ω and 2.0 kΩ nominal resistance have been investigated before and after electrochemical pre-treatment at +0.9 V vs SCE, in order to assess the potential use of these carbon film electrodes as electrochemical sensors and as substrates for sensors and biosensors. The results obtained are compared with those at electrodes made from previously investigated 2 Ω carbon film resistors. Cyclic voltammetry was performed in acetate buffer and phosphate buffer saline electrolytes and the kinetic parameters of the model redox system Fe(CN)₆^3−/4− obtained. The 1.5 Ω resistor electrodes show the best properties for sensor development with wide potential windows, similar electrochemical behaviour to those of 2 Ω and close-to-reversible kinetic parameters after electrochemical pre-treatment. The 15 and 140 Ω resistor electrodes show wide potential windows although with slower kinetics, whereas the 2.0 kΩ resistor electrodes show poor cyclic voltammetric profiles even after pre-treatment. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy related these findings to the interfacial properties of the electrodes. Microstructural and morphological studies were carried out using contact mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Confocal Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. AFM showed more homogeneity of the films with lower nominal resistances, related to better electrochemical characteristics. X-ray diffraction and Confocal Raman spectroscopy indicate the existence of a graphitic structure in the carbon films.     

Transparent carbon nanotube coatings

Thin networks of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are sprayed onto glass or plastic substrates in order to obtain conductive transparent coatings. Transparency and conductivity at room temperature of different CNT material are evaluated. CNT coatings maintain their properties under mechanical stress, even after folding the substrate. At a transparency of 90% for visible light we observe a surface resistivity of 1 kΩ/sq which is already a promising value for various applications.     

CO adsorption on Cu(1 1 1) and Cu(0 0 1) surfaces: Improving site preference in DFT calculations

CO adsorption on Cu(1 1 1) and Cu(0 0 1) surfaces has been studied within ab initio density functional theory (DFT). The structural, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of the adsorbate–substrate complex have been calculated. Calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) predict adsorption in the threefold hollow on Cu(1 1 1) and in the bridge-site on Cu(0 0 1), instead of on-top as found experimentally. It is demonstrated that the correct site preference is achieved if the underestimation of the HOMO–LUMO gap of CO characteristic for DFT is corrected by applying a molecular DFT + U approach. The DFT + U approach also produces good agreement with the experimentally measured adsorption energies, while introducing only small changes in the calculated geometrical and vibrational properties further improving agreement with experiment which is fair already at the GGA level.     

Electronic structure, energetics and geometric structure of carbon nanotubes: A density-functional study

Based on the local density approximation (LDA) in the framework of the density-functional theory, we study the details of electronic structure, energetics and geometric structure of the chiral carbon nanotubes. For the electronic structure, we study all the chiral nanotubes with the diameters between 0.8 and 2.0 nm (154 nanotubes). This LDA result should give the important database to be compared with the experimental studies in the future. We plot the peak-to-peak energy separations of the density of states (DOS) as a function of the nanotube diameter (D). For the semiconducting nanotubes, we find the peak-to-peak separations can be classified into two types according to the chirality. This chirality dependence of the LDA result is opposite to that of the simple π tight-binding result. We also perform the geometry optimization of chiral carbon nanotubes with different chiral-angle series. From the total energy as a function of D, it is found that chiral nanotubes are less stable than zigzag nanotubes. We also find that the distribution of bond lengths depends on the chirality.     

Magneto-optical spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes

We review our recent optical experiments on single-walled carbon nanotubes in high magnetic fields. The data revealed magnetic-field-induced optical anisotropy as well as broadening, splittings, and shifts of interband absorption and photoluminescence peaks. Quantitative comparison with theoretical predictions based on the Aharonov–Bohm effect is presented.     

CO2-broadened water in the pure rotation and ν2 fundamental regions

The CO₂-broadened water coefficients (half-widths, line shifts, and temperature dependence of the widths) are predicted using a fully complex Robert-Bonamy formulation for the 937 allowed and forbidden perpendicular type transitions of (000)-(000) between 200 and 900 cm⁻¹ in order to facilitate atmospheric remote sensing of Mars and Venus. In addition, empirical Lorentz line widths and pressure-induced frequency-shifts of CO₂-broadened H₂¹⁶O are obtained at room temperature for 257 perpendicular transitions of the (010)-(000) fundamental. For this, calibrated spectra recorded at 0.0054 cm⁻¹ resolution are measured assuming Voigt line shapes. For transitions between 1287 and 1988 cm⁻¹ with rotational quanta up to J = 13 and K_a = 6, the widths vary from 0.045 to 0.212 cm⁻¹ atm⁻¹ at 300 K; the pressure-shifts are quite large and range from −0.0386 to +0.0436 cm⁻¹ atm⁻¹. For the (010)-(000) band, the RMS and mean observed and calculated differences for CO₂-broadened H₂O half-widths are 12% and −1.9%, respectively, while the RMS and mean ratios of the observed and calculated pressure-induced shift coefficients are 1.6 and 0.79, respectively. For pairs of transitions involving K_a = 0 and 1, such as 2_0 2 ← 3_1 3 and 3_1 3 ← 2_0 2, both the calculated and observed pressure induced shifts in positions are opposite in sign and often similar in magnitude. The data are too limited to characterize vibrational dependencies of the widths, however.     

碳纳米纤维吸附储氢性能分析

文中综合碳纳米纤维微观结构的表征结果以及氢吸脱附等温线的实验测量结果,对碳纳米纤维的吸附储氢性能进行了综合分析,分析发现:比表面积和中孔容积均与氢吸附量成线性关系;微孔容积对材料吸附性能影响较大,微孔容积与氢吸附量成抛物线关系;氢在常温左右以及77K下的吸附等温线呈现超临界气体的吸附特征,氢在273K和353K下的吸脱附等温线也基本重合,呈现的是物理吸附的特征。实验结果还说明:常温左右,甚至是77K下,碳纳米纤维均不适合于氢的吸附储存。     

Electrochemical impedance study of lithium-ion insertion into rice husk carbon

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to study electrochemical behaviors during Li-ion insertion into rice husk carbon. The impedance spectra consist of two depressed semicircles in the high and middle range frequency and an incline line at low frequency. The impedance spectra, obtained in the potential range 2.0 to 0.005 V were analyzed with an equivalent circuit model. Kinetic parameters such as the charge-transfer resistance and surface film resistance were evaluated and discussed. Paper presented at the International Conference on Solid State Science and Technology 2006, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, September 4–6, 2006.     

Absolute line intensities of CO2 in the 3090-3920 cm region

Absolute line intensities of ¹³C¹⁶O₂ were retrieved from high-resolution Fourier transform spectra recorded in the region 3090-3920 cm⁻¹. The uncertainty of the line intensity determination is estimated to be between 3 and 5% for the strong lines. The global fittings of the observed line intensities within the framework of the effective operators approach have been performed, reaching the experimental accuracy. A comparison of newly measured line intensities with those found in the HITRAN database is presented.