Partial oxidation of ethane to syngas over nickel-based catalysts modified by alkali metal oxide and rare earth metal oxide

The catalytic activity, thermal stability and carbon deposition of various modified NiO/gamma-Al2O3 and unmodified NiO/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts were investigated with a flow reactor, XRD, TG and UVRRS analysis. The activity and selectivity of the NiO/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst showed little difference from those of the modified nickel-based catalysts. However, modification with alkali metal oxide (Li, Na, K) and rare earth metal oxide (La, Ce, Y, Sm) can improve the thermal stability of the NiO/gamma-Al2O3 and enhance its ability to suppress carbon deposition during the partial oxidation of ethane (POE). The carbon deposition contains graphite-like species that were detected by UVRRS. The nickel-based catalysts modified by alkali metal oxide and rare earth metal oxide have excellent catalytic activities (C2H6 conversion of similar to 100%, CO selectivity of similar to 94%, 7x 10(4) l/(kg h), 1123 K), good thermal stability and carbon-deposition resistance.

Controllable synthesis of metal hydroxide and oxide nanostructures by ionic liquids assisted electrochemical corrosion method

Cu(OH)(2) nanowires have been synthesized by anodic oxidation of copper through a simple electrolysis process employing ionic liquid as an electrolyte. Controlling the electrochemical conditions can qualitatively modulate the lengths, amounts, and shapes of Cu(OH)(2) nanostructures. A rational mechanism based on coordination self-assembly and oriented attachment is proposed for the selective formation of the polycrystalline Cu(OH)(2) nanowires. In addition, the FeOOH nanoribbons, Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets, and ZnO nanospheres were also synthesized by this route, indicative of the universality of the electrochemical route presented herein. The morphologies and structures of the synthesized nanostructures have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), and thermogravimetric (TG). (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved

Frequency upconversion properties of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped lead-germanium-bismuth oxide glasses

The frequency upconversion properties of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped heavy metal oxide lead-germanium-bismuth oxide glasses under 975 mn excitation are investigated. Intense green and red emission bands centered at 536, 556 and 672 run, corresponding to the H-2(1/2) --> I-4(15/2), S-4(3/2) --> I-4(15/2) and F-4(9/2) -->I-4(15/2) transitions of Er3+, respectively, were simultaneously observed at room temperature. The influences of PbO on upconversion intensity for the green (536 and 556 nm) and red (672 nm) emissions were compared and discussed. The optimized rare earth doping ratio of Er3+ and Yb3+, is 1:5 for these glasses, which results in the stronger upconversion fluorescence intensities. The dependence of intensities of upconversion emission on excitation power and possible upconversion mechanisms were evaluated and analyzed. The structure of glass has been investigated by means of infrared (IR) spectral analysis. The results indicate that the Er3+/Yb3+-codoped heavy metal oxide lead-germanium-bismuth oxide glasses may be a potential materials for developing upconversion fiber optic devices. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of techniques of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the characteristics of partially depleted SOIPMOSFET

Effects of techniques of implanting nitrogen into buried oxide on the characteristics of the partially depleted silicon-on-insulator (SOI) p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (PMOSFETs) have been studied with three different nitrogen implantation doses, 8 x 10(15), 2 x 10(16), and 1 x 10(17) cm(-2). The experimental results show that this technology can affect the threshold voltage, channel hole mobility and output characteristics of the partially depleted SOI PMOSFETs fabricated with the given material and process. For each type of the partially depleted SOI PMOSFET with nitrided buried oxide, the absolute value of the average threshold voltage increases due to the nitrogen implantation. At the same time, the average channel hole mobility decreases because of the nitrogen implantation. In particular, with the high nitrogen implantation doses, the output characteristic curves of the tested transistors present a distinct kink effect, which normally exists in the characteristic output curves of only partially depleted SOI NMOSFETs.

Interface energy and its influence on interface fracture between metal and ceramic thin films in nanoscale

A theoretical model about the size-dependent interface energy between two thin films with different materials is developed by considering the chemical bonding contribution based on the thermodynamic expressions and the structure strain contribution based on the mechanical characteristics. The interface energy decreases with reducing thickness of thin films, and is determined by such available thermodynamic and mechanical parameters as the melting entropy, the melting enthalpy, the shear modulus of two materials, etc. The predicted interface energies of some metal/MgO and metal/Al2O3 interfaces based on the model are consistent with the results based on the molecular mechanics calculation. Furthermore, the interface fracture properties of Ag/MgO and Ni/Al2O3 based on the atomistic simulation are further compared with each other. The fracture strength and the toughness of the interface with the smaller structure interface energy are both found to be lower. The intrinsic relations among the interface energy, the interface strength, and the fracture toughness are discussed by introducing the related interface potential and the interface stress. The microscopic interface fracture toughness is found to equal the structure interface energy in nanoscale, and the microscopic fracture strength is proportional to the fracture toughness. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3501090]

Investigations on the promoting effect of metal oxides on La-V-O catalyst in propane oxidative dehydrogenation

The addition of reducible metal oxides as promoters shows a positive effect on the catalytic behavior of lanthanum vanadate (LaVO4). A C3H6 yield increase of 6.5% is observed at 500 degreesC on molybdenum-promoted LaVO4, which can be attributed to the change of the redox properties, the blocking of the strong oxidation sites of the catalysts and to an increase of the accessibility of the labile oxygen toward the reactant. The influence of the catalyst preparation method and of the Mo loading as well as the additional promoting effect of CO2 in the gas feed was also examined.

Structure-change-dependent transmittance of PtOx thin film in super-resolution near-field structure: Diffraction effect analysis

To study working mechanism of super-resolution near-field structure (super-RENS) optical disk from a far-field optics view is very necessary because of the actual far-field writing/readout process in the optical disk system. A Gaussian diffraction model based on Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction theory of PtOx-type super-RENS has been set up in this Letter. The relationship between micro-structural deformation (change of bubble structure and refractive index profile) with far-field optical response of PtOx thin film has been studied with it in detail. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results reported in literatures with a designed configuration. These results may provide more quantitative information for better understanding of the working mechanism of metal-oxide-type super-RENS. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantum Mechanical Study on Tunnelling and Ballistic Transport of Nanometer Si MOSFETs

Using self-consistent calculations of million-atom Schrodinger-Poisson equations, we investigate the I-V characteristics of tunnelling and ballistic transport of nanometer metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) based on a full 3-D quantum mechanical simulation under nonequilibtium condition. Atomistic empirical pseudopotentials are used to describe the device Hamiltonian and the underlying bulk band structure. We find that the ballistic transport dominates the I-V characteristics, whereas the effects of tunnelling cannot be neglected with the maximal value up to 0.8mA/mu m when the channel length of MOSFET scales down to 25 nm. The effects of tunnelling transport lower the threshold voltage V-t. The ballistic current based on fully 3-D quantum mechanical simulation is relatively large and has small on-off ratio compared with results derived from the calculation methods of Luo et al.

Sub-nanosecond silicon-on-insulator optical micro-ring switch with low crosstalk

We demonstrate a sub-nanosecond electro-optical switch with low crosstalk in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) dual-coupled micro-ring embedded with p-i-n diodes. A crosstalk of -23 dB is obtained in the 20-mu m-radius micro-ring with the well-designing asymmetric dual-coupling structure. By optimizations of the doping profiles and the fabrication processes, the sub-nanosecond switch-on/off time of < 400 ps is finally realized under an electrical pre-emphasized driving signal. This compact and fast-response micro-ring switch, which can be fabricated by complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible technologies, have enormous potential in optical interconnects of multicore networks-on-chip.

A fully three-dimensional atomistic quantum mechanical study on random dopant-induced effects in 25-nm MOSFETs

A fully 3-D atomistic quantum mechanical simulation is presented to study the random dopant-induced effects in nanometer metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. The empirical pseudopotential is used to represent the single particle Hamiltonian, and the linear combination of bulk band method is used to solve the million atom Schrodinger equation. The gate threshold fluctuation and lowering due to the discrete dopant configurations are studied. It is found that quantum mechanical effects increase the threshold fluctuation while decreasing the threshold lowering. The increase of threshold fluctuation is in agreement with the researchers' early study based on an approximated density gradient approach. However, the decrease in threshold lowering is in contrast with the density gradient calculations.