Structural characterization, stability and electrical properties of strontium niobate ceramic

The double perovskite oxide Sr2CrNbO6 has a cubic structure according to powder X-ray diffraction. After reducing in CO, Sr2CrNbO6 still exhibited a cubic structure refined by Rietveld technique. The TG analysis indicated that Sr2CrNbO6 loses 0.127 oxygen per formula unit from 400 to 700 degrees C in H-2. The morphology and compositions of this ceramic did not significantly change on reduction

[Ru(bpy)(3)](2+)-doped silica nanoparticles within layer-by-layer biomolecular coatings and their application as a biocompatible electrochemiluminescent tag material

[Ru(bpy)(3)](2+)-doped silica (RuSi) nanoparticles were synthesized by using a water/oil microemulsion method. Stable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was obtained when the RuSi nanoparticles were immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode by using tripropylamine (TPA) as a coreactant. Furthermore, the ECL of the RuSi nanoparticles with layer-by-layer biomolecular coatings was investigated. Squential self-assembly of the polyelectrolytes and biomolecules on the RuSi nanoparticles gave nanocomposite suspensions, the ECL of which decreased on increasing the number of bilayers.

Tin (IV) phthalocyanine oxide: An air-stable semiconductor with high electron mobility

Air-stable n-type field effect transistors were fabricated with an axially oxygen substituted metal phthalocyanine, tin (IV) phthalocyanine oxide (SnOPc), as active layers. The SnOPc thin films showed highly crystallinity on modified dielectric layer, and the electron field-effect mobility reached 0.44 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). After storage in air for 32 days, the mobility and on/off ratio did not obviously change. The above results also indicated that it is an effective approach of seeking n-type semiconductor by incorporating the appropriate metal connected with electron-withdrawing group into pi-pi conjugated system.

Nanoporous In2O3 nanocrystal clusters: One-step synthesis, thermal stability and optical property

Nanoporous In2O3 nanocrystal clusters with high surface areas have been synthesized by a one-step solvent-thermal method at a relatively low temperature. On the basis of our experimental data and nanomaterial growth mechanism, a template-assistant dehydration accompanied by aggregation mechanism was proposed to explain their formation. Besides, the influence of the high-temperature treatment on their porous structure and optical properties were studied and compared by various technologies.

Cesium hydroxide doped tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum as an effective electron injection layer in inverted bottom-emission organic light emitting diodes

We demonstrate highly efficient inverted bottom-emission organic light-emitting diodes (IBOLEDs) by using cesium hydroxide (CsOH) doped tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) as the electron injection layer on indium tin oxide cathode, which could significantly enhance the electron injection, resulting in a large increase in luminance and efficiency. The maximum luminance, current efficiency, and power efficiency reach 21 000 cd/cm(2), 6.5 cd/A, and 3.5 lm/W, respectively, which are 40%-50% higher in efficiency than that of IBOLEDs with cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) doped Alq(3) as the electron injection layer, where the efficiencies are only 4.5 cd/A and 2.2 lm/W.

Al/WO3/Au as the interconnecting layer for efficient tandem white organic light-emitting diodes

White light emission from tandem organic light-emitting diodes consisting of blue and red light units separated by a transparent interconnecting layer of Al/WO3/Au has been realized. The devices have a structure of indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/molybdenum oxide (MoO3) (8 nm)/N, N'-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N, N'-diphenyl-benzidine (NPB)(100 nm)/p-bis(p-N, N-diphenyl-aminostyryl) benzene) (DSA-ph): 2-methyl-9,10-di(2-naphthyl) anthracene (MADN)(40 nm)/tris(8-hydroxylquinoline) aluminium (Alq(3)) (10 nm)/LiF(1 nm)/Al(2 nm)/WO3(3 nm)/Au(16 nm)/MoO3(5 nm)/NPB(60 nm)/Alq(3): 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB)(30 nm)/Alq3(30 nm)/LiF(1 nm)/Al(150 nm).

Organic photovoltaic cell employing organic heterojunction as buffer layer

Hexadecafluorophthalocyaninatocopper (F16CuPc)/zine phthalocyanine (ZnPc) heterojunction layer has been used as buffer layer in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells based on ZnPc and C-60. The F16CuPc/ZnPc heterojunction with highly conductive property decreased the contact resistance between the indium-tin-oxide anode and the organic layer. As a result, the short-circuit current density and fill factor were increased, and the power-conversion efficiency was improved by over 60%. Therefore, the method provides an effective path to improve the performance of OPV cells.

Effects of thermal annealing on polymer photovoltaic cells with buffer layers and in situ formation of interfacial layer for enhancing power conversion efficiency

We have investigated the effects of thermal annealing before and after cathode deposition on poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)/[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend photovoltaic cells with different cathode buffer layers. The introduction of cathode buffer layer such as lithium fluoride (LiF) and calcium oxide (CaO) in pre-annealing cells can increase the open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Post thermal annealing after cathode deposition further enhanced the PCE of the cells with LiF/Al cathode.

Fabrication of Iron Oxide Core/Gold Shell Submicrometer Spheres with Nanoscale Surface Roughness for Efficient Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

A method to synthesize Fe3O4 core/Au shell submicrometer structures with very rough surfaces on the nanoscale is reported. The Fe3O4 particles were first modified with uniform polymers through the layer-by-layer technique and then adsorbed a lot of gold nanoseeds for further Au shell formation. The shell was composed of a large number of irregular nanoscale An particles arranged randomly, and there were well-defined boundaries between these Au nanoparticles. The Fe3O4 core/Au shell particles showed strong plasmon resonance absorption in the near-infrared range, and can be separated quickly from solution by an external magnet.

The study of novel Fe3O4@gamma-Fe2O3 core/shell nanomaterials with improved properties

The surface structure of the iron oxide nanoparticles obtained by the co-precipitation method has been investigated, and a thin layer of alpha-FeOOH absorbed on surface of the nanoparticle is confirmed by analyses of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS). After annealed at 400 degrees C, the alpha-FeOOH can be converted to gamma-Fe2O3. The simple-annealed procedure resulted in the formation of Fe3O4@gamma-Fe2O3 core/shell structure with improved stability and a higher magnetic saturation value, and also the simple method can be used to obtain core/shell structure in other similar system.

Investigation on internal electric field distribution of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with Eu2O3 buffer layer

We have found that organic light-emitting diode (OLED) performance was highly improved by using europium oxide (Eu2O3) as a buffer layer on indium tin oxide (ITO) in OLEDs based on tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq(3)), which showed low turn-on voltage, high luminance, and high electroluminescent (EL) efficiency. The thickness of Eu2O3 generally was 0.5-1.5 nm. We investigated the effects of Eu2O3 on internal electric field distributions in the device through the analysis of current-voltage characteristics, and found that the introduction of the buffer layer balanced the internal electric field distributions in hole transport layer (HTL) and electron transport layer (ETL), which should fully explain the role of the buffer layer in improving device performance. Our investigation demonstrates that the hole injection is Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunnelling and the electron injection is Richardson-Schottky (RS) thermionic emission, which are very significant in understanding the operational mechanism and improving the performance, of OLEDs.

Thermal barrier coating of lanthanum-zirconium-cerium composite oxide made by electron beam-physical vapor deposition

Lanthanum-zirconium-cerium composite oxide (La-2(Zr0.7Ce0.3)(2)O-7, LZ7C3) as a candidate material for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) was prepared by electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). The composition, crystal structure, thermophysical properties, surface and cross-sectional morphologies and cyclic oxidation behavior of the LZ7C3 coating were studied. The results indicated that LZ7C3 has a high phase stability between 298 K and 1573 K, and its linear thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) is similar to that of zirconia containing 8 wt% yttria (8YSZ). The thermal conductivity of LZ7C3 is 0.87 W m(-1) K-1 at 1273 K, which is almost 60% lower than that of 8YSZ. The deviation of coating composition from the ingot can be overcome by the addition of excess CeO2 and ZrO2 during ingot preparation or by adjusting the process parameters.

Tris(2,2 '-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) doped silica film modified indium tin oxide electrode and its electrochemiluminescent properties

An approach was reported to synthesize silica hybridized ruthenium bipyridyl complex through amidation reaction by covalent attachment of bis(bipyridyl)-4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridyl-ruthenium to (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane. The hybrid complex then was gelatinized through acid catalytic hydrolysis method and a sol-gel modified indium, tin oxide electrode was prepared via spin coating technique. As prepared indium tin oxide electrode possesses good stability therein with excellent electrochemiluminescence behavior.

Enhancement of stability of polymer light-emitting diodes by post annealing

We investigate the effect of thermal annealing before and after cathode deposition on the stability of polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) based on green fluorescent polyfluorene derivative. The annealed PLEDs exhibit improved charge transport and red-shift emission compared to the as-fabricated device. The stability of the PLEDs is largely enhanced by post-annealing before and after Ca deposition, which is attributed to the enhanced charge transport and the intimate contact between the cathode and the emissive layer.

High efficiency tandem organic light-emitting devices with Al/WO3/Au interconnecting layer

An interconnecting layer of Al (2 nm)/WO3 (3 nm)/Au (16 nm) was studied for application in tandem organic light-emitting devices. It can be seen that the Al/WO3/Au structure plays the role of an excellent interconnecting layer. The introduction of WO3 in the connection unit significantly improves the device efficiency as compared to the case of Al/Au. Thus, the current efficiency of the two-unit tandem devices is enhanced by two factors with respect to the one-unit devices. The green two-unit tandem device of indium tin oxide/MoO3/4,4(')-N,N-'-bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenyl-amino]biphenyl(NPB)/tris(8-hydroxylquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)):10-(2-benzothiazolyl)-1,1,7,7-tetramethyl-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H,5H,11H-[1]benzopyrano[6,7,8-ij]quinolizin-11-one (C545T)/Alq(3)/LiF/Al/WO3/Au/MoO3/NPB/Alq(3):C545T/Alq(3)/LiF/Al showed a maximum current efficiency of 33.9 cd/A and a power efficiency of 12.0 lm/W.