Effects of niobium doping on lead zirconate titanate films deposited by a sol–gel route

Niobium (Nb)-doped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films have been prepared on platinized silicon substrates using a sol–gel method. The Zr/Ti ratios of the films are 53/47 and 40/60, and the Nb doping level ranges from 0 mol% to 3 mol%. Similar to the cases in bulk ceramics, after the doping with Nb, the remanent polarization P_r, effective transverse piezoelectric coefficients e_31,c and pyroelectric coefficient p of the PZT films increase; but the longitudinal effective piezoelectric coefficient d_33,c remains roughly unchanged. At the optimum Nb doping levels, the observed P_r, −e_31,c and p reach a maximum value of 30 μC/cm², 18 C/m² and 350 μC/m² K, respectively, for the PZT (53/47) films, and 37 μC/cm², 7.9 c/m² and 370 μC/m² K for the PZT (40/60) films. Our results also reveal that there exist linear relations between p, e_31,c/ε_r and P_r.     

Electrochemical and piezoelectric DNA biosensors for hybridisation detection

DNA biosensors (or genosensors) are analytical devices that result from the integration of a sequence-specific probe and a signal transducer. Among other techniques, electrochemical and piezoelectric methods have recently emerged as the most attractive due to their simplicity, low instrumentation costs, possibility for real-time and label-free detection and generally high sensitivity.Focusing on the most recent activity of worldwide researchers, the aim of the present review is to give the readers a critical overview of some important aspects that contribute in creating successful genosensing devices. Advantages and disadvantages of different sensing materials, probe immobilisation chemistries, hybridisation conditions, transducing principles and amplification strategies will be discussed in detail. Dedicated sections will also address the issues of probe design and real samples pre-treatment. Special emphasis will be finally given to those protocols that, being implemented into an array format, are already penetrating the molecular diagnostics market.     

Dynamic modeling and experimental verification of a piezoelectric part feeder in a structure with parallel bimorph beams

The study is aimed to perform dynamic modeling of a part feeder powered by piezoelectric actuation. This part feeder consists mainly of a horizontal platform vibrated by a pair of parallel piezoelectric bimorph beams. Owing to intermittent impacts with the platform, the transported part on the platform is able to march forward from one end to another. Dynamic modeling of the feeder is accomplished by essentially using the Rayleigh-Ritz decomposition method. The process of modeling first incorporates material properties and constitutive equations of the piezoelectric materials, and then captures the complex dynamics of the parallel-beam piezo-feeder by three low-order assumed-modes in the transverse direction of the vibrating beams. Applying Lagrange’s equations on the kinetic and strain energies formulated in terms of generalized coordinates associated with the first three modes, the system dynamics is then represented by three coupled discrete equations of motion. Based on these equations, motions of the platform can be obtained. With platform motion in hand, the intermittent impacts between the parts and the platform are modeled, rendering the marching speed of the part. Numerical simulations are conducted along with the experiments. The closeness found between the theoretical predicted transporting speed of the part and the experimental counterparts verify the effectiveness of the models established.     

Light-Responsive Oligothiophenes Incorporating Photochromic Torsional Switches

We present a quaterthiophene and sexithiophene that can reversibly change their effective π-conjugation length through photoexcitation. The reported compounds make use of light-responsive molecular actuators consisting of an azobenzene attached to a bithiophene unit by both direct and linker-assisted bonding. Upon exposure to 350 nm light, the azobenzene undergoes trans-to-cis isomerization, thus mechanically inducing the oligothiophene to assume a planar conformation (extended π-conjugation). Exposure to 254 nm wavelength promotes azobenzene cis-to-trans isomerization, forcing the thiophenic backbones to twist out of planarity (confined π-conjugation). Twisted conformations are also reached by cis-to-trans thermal relaxation at a rate that increases proportionally with the conjugation length of the oligothiophene moiety. The molecular conformations of quaterthiophene and sexithiophene were characterized by using steady-state UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and quantum-chemical modeling. Finally, we tested the proposed light-responsive oligothiophenes in field-effect transistors to probe the photo-induced tuning of their electronic properties.     

Pulse width modulation (PWM) control of the bending displacement and force generation of ionomer‐based polymer actuators

This paper discusses results of the pulse width modulation (PWM) control of the bending displacement and force generation of ionomer‐based polymer actuators. The idea of PWM control for polymer actuators is based on the frequency dependence on relaxation processes of the bending motion of the actuator. The actuators were fabricated by electroless plating of platinum on a perfluorinated sulfonated polymer (i.e. Nafion). It was noted that the duty cycles of PWM can smoothly control both the displacement and force generated by the actuator. The performance of the actuator was evaluated under 40%RH and 90%RH conditions because of the moisture sensitivity of the actuators. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Micro squeeze flow rheometer for high frequency analysis of nano-litre volumes of viscoelastic fluid

In this paper, the design, fabrication and experimental analysis of a piezoelectrically actuated micro squeeze flow rheometer is presented. Being only 30 × 30 × 0.5 mm in size, the micro rheometer is sensitive to very small volumes of the order of 1-10 nL of liquid and light enough to operate at frequencies in the kHz regime, an order of magnitude higher than normally attainable with conventional cone and plate rheometry. Initial experiments show that the response of the rheometer is dependent on the viscoelasticity of the fluid being tested. The prototype was used to measure the moduli of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) of viscosity 10 Pa s, a non-volatile viscoelastic fluid, over the frequency range of 10-1000 Hz. Results show good agreement between with the moduli measured using conventional rheometry up to 100 Hz and with values extrapolated up to 1 kHz.     

Piezoelectric Immunosensors for Environmental Monitoring

This article is a tutorial review of piezoelectric immunosensors and their application to environmental monitoring.

The basic theory and historical developments of piezoelectricity are introduced. The development of piezoelectric sensors and eventually immunosensors for the specific detection of analytes of environmental importance are mentioned. The various assay formats and their advantages as well as examples of the different approaches taken by different analysers are also mentioned. Current developments within this laboratory on the development of piezoelectric immunosensors for the detection of okadaic acid and microcystin-LR are briefly introduced. The major drawbacks of piezoelectric immunosensors and their potential future are also discussed.