Self-assembly of ionic liquids-stabilized Pt nanoparticles into two-dimensional patterned nanostructures at the air-water interface

In this paper, we demonstrate the self-assembly of ionic liquids (ILs)-stabilized Pt nanoparticles into two-dimensional (2D) patterned nanostructures at the air-water interface under ambient conditions. Here, ILs are not used as solvents but as mediators by virtue of their pronounced self-organization ability in synthesis of self-assembled, highly organized hybrid Pt nanostructures. It is also found that the morphologies of the 2D patterned nanostructures are directly connected with the quantities of ILs. Due to the special structures of ILs-stabilized Pt nanoparticles, 2D patterned Pt nanostructures can be formed through the pi-pi stack interactions and hydrogen bonds. The resulting 2D patterned Pt nanostructures exhibit good electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction.

Photochemical formation of silver and gold nanostructures at the air-water interface and their electrocatalytic properties

In this paper, we report a simple method of fabricating silver and gold nanostructures at the air - water interface, which can be spontaneously assembled through the reduction of AgNO3 and HAuCl4 with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in the presence of polyacrylic acid (PAA), respectively. It was found that the building blocks in the silver nanostructure are mainly interwoven silver nanofilaments, while those of the gold nanostructure are mainly different sizes of gold nanoparticles and some truncated gold nanoplates, and even coalescence into networks. At the air - water interface, these silver and gold nanostructures can be easily transferred onto the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) slides and used for electrochemical measurements. After a replacement reaction with H2PdCl4, the silver nanostructure is transformed into a Ag - Pd bimetallic nanostructure, with good electrocatalytic activity for O-2 reduction. The gold nanostructure can also show high electrocatalytic activity to the oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) with a detection limit of about 10 mu M NaNO2 at S/N = 3.

Effects of doped dye on the charge carrier injection, transport, and electroluminescent performance in polymeric light-emitting diodes

The effects of doped fluorescent dye 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-i-propyl-6-(1, 1, 7, 7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTI) on the charge carrier injection, transport and electroluminescence (EL) performance in polyfluorene (PFO)-based polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were investigated by steady-state current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and transient EL measurements. A red EL from DCJTI was observed and the EL performance depended strongly on the DCJTI concentration. The analysis of the steady-state I-V characteristics at different DCJTI concentrations found that three regions was shown in the I-V characteristics, and each region was controlled by different processes depending on the applied electric field. The effect of the dopant concentration on the potential-barrier height of the interface is estimated using the Fowler-Nordheim model. The dopant concentration dependence of the current-voltage relationship indicated clearly the carrier trapping by the DCJTI molecules. The mobility in DCJTI: PFO changed significantly with the DCJTI concentration, and showed a nontrivial dependence on the doping level. The behavior may be understood in terms of the formation of an additional energy disorder due to potential fluctuation caused by the Coulomb interaction of the randomly distributed doping molecules.

Improved electron injection in organic light-emitting devices with a lithium acetylacetonate [Li(acac)]/aluminium bilayer cathode

Lithium acetylacetonate [Li(acac)] covered with aluminium was used as an efficient electron injection layer in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) consisting of NPB as the hole transport layer and Alq(3) as the electron transport and light emitting layer, resulting in lower turn- on voltage and increased current efficiency. The turn- on voltage (the voltage at a luminance of 1 cd m(-2)) was decreased from 5.5 V for the LiF/Al and 4.4 V for Ca/Al to 4.0 V for Li(acac)/Al, and the device current efficiency was enhanced from 4.71 and 5.2 to 7.0 cd A(-1). The performance tolerance to the layer thickness of Li(acac) is also better than that of the device with LiF. LiF can only be used when deposited as an ultra- thin layer because of its highly insulating nature, while the Li(acac) can be as thick as 5 nm without significantly affecting the EL performance. We suppose that the free lithium released from Li(acac) improves the electron injection when Li(acac) is covered with an Al cathode.

Polyelectrolyte-functionalized ionic liquid for electrochemistry in supporting electrolyte-free aqueous solutions and application in amperometric flow injection analysis

As a green process, electrochemistry in aqueous solution without a supporting electrolyte has been described based on a simple polyelectrolyte-functionalized ionic liquid (PFIL)-modified electrode. The studied PFIL material combines features of ionic liquids and traditional polyelectrolytes. The ionic liquid part provides a high ionic conductivity and affinity to many different compounds. The polyelectrolyte part has a good stability in aqueous solution and a capability of being immobilized on different substrates. The electrochemical properties of such a PFIL-modified electrode assembly in a supporting electrolyte-free solution have been investigated by using an electrically neutral electroactive species, hydroquinone ( HQ) as the model compound. The partition coefficient and diffusion coefficient of HQ in the PFIL film were calculated to be 0.346 and 4.74 X 10(-6) cm(2) s(-1), respectively. Electrochemistry in PFIL is similar to electrochemistry in a solution of traditional supporting electrolytes, except that the electrochemical reaction takes place in a thin film on the surface of the electrode. PFILs are easily immobilized on solid substrates, are inexpensive and electrochemically stable. A PFIL-modified electrode assembly is successfully used in the flow analysis of HQ by amperometric detection in solution without a supporting electrolyte.

Electrooxidative polymerization of phenothiazine derivatives on screen-printed carbon electrode and its application to determine NADH in flow injection analysis system

The electrooxidation polymerization of phenothiazine derivatives, including azure A and toluidine blue 0, has been studied at screen-printed carbon electrodes in neutral phosphate buffer. Both compounds yield strongly adsorbed electroactive polymer with reversible behavior and formal potentials closed to 0.04 V at pH 6.9. The modified electrodes exhibited good stability and electrocatalysis for NADH oxidation in phosphate buffer (pH 6.9), with an overpotential of more than 500 mV lower than that of the bare electrodes. Further, the modified screen-printed carbon electrodes were found to be promising as an amperometric detector for the flow injection analysis (FIA) of NADH, typically with a dynamic range of 0.5-100 muM.

Electropolymerization of azure B on a screen-printed carbon electrode and its application to the determination of NADH in a flow injection analysis system

The electrooxidation polymerization of azure B on screen-printed carbon electrodes in neutral phosphate buffer was studied. The poly(azure B) modified electrodes exhibited excellent electrocatalysis and stability for dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) oxidation in phosphate buffer (pH 6.9), with an overpotential of more than 400 mV lower than that at the bare electrodes. Different techniques, including cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have been employed to characterize the poly (azure B) film. Furthermore, the modified screen-printed carbon electrodes were found to be promising as an amperometric detector for the flow injection analysis (FIA) of NADH, typically with a dynamic range of 0.5 muM to 100 muM.

Naphthyl end-capped quarterthiophene: A simple organic semiconductor with high mobility and air stability

An organic semiconductor that can be mass produced is synthesized by end-capping quaterthiophene with naphthyl units (NaT4). An organic thin-film transistor (OTFT, see figure) has been fabricated using this organic semiconductor, and exhibits stability under ambient conditions with a mobility of up to 0.40 cm(2) V-1 s(-1).

Determination of total calcium in plasma by flow injection analysis with tris(2,2 '-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) electrochemiluminescent detection

We described here a new method for the determination of total calcium in plasma. The method is based on the precipitation of calcium with excess oxalate and the measurement of residual oxalate by flow injection analysis with Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) electrochemiluminescent detection. It has the advantages of extremely stable reagent, user-friendly instrument, high selectivity, good analytical recovery, wide dynamic range, and nice correlation with atomic absorption spectroscopy. The calibration plot for calcium is linear over a concentration range from 0.5 mmol L-1 to 4.8 mmol L-1, which is wider than those obtained by most other methods. The analytical recoveries for plasma calcium are 98.4-101.2% with coefficients of variation (CVs) of 1.96-2.52%. The within-day CVs range from 0.76% to 0.95%, and between-day CVs were from 1.12% to 1.46%. The time for each injection is one minute. Because the proposed method can be readily carried out on increasingly popular instruments for Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) ECL immunoassays and DNA probe assays, Ru(bpy)32+ ECL method is suitable for routine clinical analysis of calcium.

Investigation of charge-carrier injection characteristics in NPB/Alq3 heterojunction devices

The effect of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and LiF interfacial layers on the charge-carrier injection in NN'-di(naphthalene-l-yl)N,N'-diphenyl-benzidine (NPB)/tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq(3)) organic heterojunction devices have been studied through the analysis of current-voltage characteristics. The investigation clearly demonstrated that the hole injection into NPB from anode is Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling and the electron injection into Alq3 from cathode is Richardson-Schottky (RS) thermionic emission. The barrier heights obtained from the FN and RS models proved that the band alignments for charge-carrier injection are greatly improved by the CuPc and LiF interfacial layers, which should fully clarify the role of the interfacial layer on the improvement of device performance.

An investigation on air stability of copper phthalocyanine-based organic thin-film transistors and device encapsulation

The device performances of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)-based organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) in main components of air were studied. We found that the device stored in O-2 humidified by water exhibited the changes of electric characteristics including positive-shifted threshold voltage and lower I-on/I-off but unchanged mobility, which was similar to the device exposed to room air. These changes are attributed to O-2 doping to copper phthalocyanine thin film assisted by water. Furthermore, a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol film was used as encapsulation layer to prevent the permeation of O-2 and water, which resulted in excellent stability even when devices were placed in air for over a year. Therefore, current studies will push the development of OTFTs for practical applications.

Highly efficient red electroluminescence induced by efficient electron injection and exciton confinement

HigWy efficient DCJTB-doped device was realized by enhanced electron injection and exciton confinement. A fluorine end-capped linear phenylene/oxadiazole oligomer 2,5-bis(4-fluorobiphenyl-4'-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (1) and a trifluoromethyl end-capped oligomer 2,5-bis(4-trifluoromethylbiphenyl-4'-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (2) were designed and incorporated as an electron transporting/hole blocking material in the device structure ITO/NPB (60 mn)/DCJTB:Alq(3) (0.5%, 10 nm)/1 or 2 (20 nm)/Alq(3) (30 mn)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm). The devices showed highly efficient red luminescence. In particular, the device based on 1 achieved pure red luminescence at 620 run originating from DCJTB, with a narrow FWHI of 65 nm, maximal brightness of 13,300 cd/m(2) at voltage of 20.8 V and current density of ca. 355 mA/cm(2). High current and power efficiencies (> 3.6 cd/A. 1.01m/W) were retained within a wide range of current densities. Our results show efficient and stable DCJTB-doped red electroluminescence could be anticipated for practical applications by taking advantage of the present approaches. The control experiments using BCP were also studied.