Rapid initiation of reactions in Al/Ni multilayers with nanoscale layering

Research into nanoenergetic materials is enabling new capabilities for controlling exothermic reaction rates and energy output, as well as new methods for integrating these materials with conventional electronics fabrication techniques. Many reactions produce primarily heat, and in some cases it is desirable to increase the rate of heat release beyond what is typically observed. Here we investigate the Al-Ni intermetallic reaction, which normally propagates across films or foils at rates lower than 10 m/s. However, models and experiments indicate that local heating rates can be very high (10⁷ K/s), and uniform heating of such a multilayer film can lead to a rapid, thermally explosive type of reaction. With the hopes of using a device to transduce electrical energy to kinetic energy of a flyer plate in the timescale of 100's of nanoseconds, we have incorporated a Ni/Al nanolayer film that locally heats upon application of a large electrical current. We observed flyer plate velocities in the 2-6 km/s range, corresponding to 4-36 kJ/g in terms of specific kinetic energy. Several samples containing Ni/Al films with different bilayer thicknesses were tested, and many produced additional kinetic energy in the 1.1-2.3 kJ/g range, as would be expected from the Ni-Al intermetallic reaction. These results provide evidence that nanoscale Ni/Al layers reacted in the timescale necessary to contribute to device output.     

P-coumaric acid-zinc basic salt nanohybrid for controlled release and sustained antioxidant activity

P-coumaric acid (pCA) has been intercalated in zinc basic salt (ZBS) to design an organic-inorganic nanohybrid material with controlled release and sustained antioxidant activity. According to the powder X-ray diffraction patterns and FT-IR spectra, pCA molecules were intercalated into ZBS without any noticeable alterations in their structural integrity. In vitro release test showed a biphasic discharge of pCA out of the interlayer space of two-dimensional ZBS lattice consisting of an initial burst release followed by a slow and sustained release. The pCA-ZBS nanohybrid exhibited comparable antioxidant activity to that of the free pCA.     

Structural deformation monitored by vibrational properties and orbital modeling in (Pb,Sm)TiO3 systems

Pb_1−xSm_xTiO₃ (PST) powders with x varying from 0 to 0.1 were obtained by the polymeric precursor method, a soft chemical route. The vibrational properties relating tetragonal to pseudo-cubic phase transition were studied by Raman spectroscopy. The results obtained showed that the phase transition is extremely dependent upon the samarium content and presents a diffuse behavior. Monitoring of the oxygen 2p and titanium 3d orbitals was performed by the periodic mechanical quantum method, revealing the changes that occur with the distribution and contribution of the hybrid orbitals due to the samarium influence.     

Exact controllability and continuous dependence of fractional neutral integro-differential equations with state-dependent delay

In the present paper, with the help of the resolvent operator and some analytic methods, the exact controllability and continuous dependence are investigated for a fractional neutral integro-differential equations with state-dependent delay. As an application, we also give one example to demonstrate our results.     

Fabrication and transformation of dense SnO2 via laser ablation condensation

Dense SnO₂ nanocondensates with fluorite-type-related structures have been synthesized via severe heating-cooling under energetic Nd-YAG laser pulse irradiation of the Sn target in oxygen ambient. Transmission electron microscopic observations indicated that the fluorite type transformed in a martensitic manner into a baddeleyite-type structure with accompanied dislocations, twinning, commensurate shearing and shape change. The Pa3¯-modified fluorite-type structure was hardly observed possibly due to its transformation into α-PbO₂ type and then rutile-type structures in the dynamic process.     

Study of structural stabilities and optical properties of HgTe under high pressure

A theoretical investigation on the structural stabilities and electronic properties of HgTe under high pressure was conducted using first principles based on density functional theory. Our results demonstrate that the sequence of the pressure-induced phase transitions of HgTe is from the zinc blende, to cinnabar, rocksalt, orthorhombic, and CsCl-type structures. The pressure effects on the optical properties were discussed and compared with previous calculations and experimental data whenever available.     

Nitrogen containing barium titanate: Preparation and characterisation

The purpose of this work is to study the incorporation of nitrogen into barium titanate at oxygen sites by ammonolysis. The nitrogen content of the resulting barium titanate powders strongly depends on the flow rate of ammonia and the ratio Ba/Ti. The amount of resulting oxygen vacancies is lowered by co-doping with fluoride and tantalum.By avoiding an excess of BaO and exchanging 10 mol% Ti by Ta it is possible to produce powders with nitrogen content of more than 1 wt%. Partial substitution of barium oxide by barium fluoride also increases the nitrogen content. The nitrogen containing powders are colored and show an additional absorption at 500 nm measured in the UV/vis reflectance spectrum. The concentrations of nitrogen and fluorine in the samples were determined using ion-sensitive electrodes. X-ray powder diffraction shows the composition of the powders. The thermal stability was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, and in order to calculate the specific surface area the three-point BET method was used.     

Solvent and temperature-dependent conductive behavior of poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Impedance characterization at different temperatures has been used to investigate the conductive behavior of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), prepared in different solvents, as the semiconductor layer in organic multilayer capacitor. It has been found that the P3HT films using chloroform and toluene solvents exhibit an enhancement in conductivity by heating following an Arrhenius law with an activation energy transition from 0.004 to 0.026 eV and from 0.002 to 0.015 eV at ~313 K, respectively, which originates from band tail hopping that occurs around the Fermi edge. The boiling point of the used solvents can affect P3HT crystallization process, which causes the difference in conduction and activation energy.     

Pyrolysis synthesis of magnetic - and -MnO2 nanostructures and the polymorph discrimination

The concentration of the Mn(NO₃)₂ solution has significant influence on the morphologies and the phases of the MnO₂ products. A large number of ε- MnO₂ nanowires were prepared via a simple pyrolysis under lower reaction concentration. The nanowires have lengths up to tens of micrometers and diameters in the range of 20–100 nm. The β- MnO₂ nanobundles and nanoflowers were prepared by increasing the concentration of Mn(NO₃)₂ solution. The superparamagnetism of ε- MnO₂ nanowires and paramagnetism of β- MnO₂ nanoflowers indicate their potential applications in magnetic materials.     

Multi-carrier transport properties in p-type ZnO thin films

By the aid of temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent Hall effect measurements, we have extracted the multi-carrier transport information in N-doped and N–In codoped p- ZnO thin films grown on Si substrates through mobility spectrum analysis. It is found that owing to the compensation between free electrons and holes, the two-dimensional hole gas from ZnO/Si interface layers becomes determinant and results in the high p-type conductivity and high hole mobility in the ZnO samples. Compared with N-doping, the N–In codoping introduces many In donors and increases acceptor incorporation, as well as enhancing the free hole mobility due to the short-range dipole-like scattering.