A Novel, Fast-Responding, Indicator Ink for Thin Film Photocatalytic Surfaces

A new photocatalyst indicator ink based on methylene blue (MB) is described that allows the presence and activity of a thin (15 nm) photocatalytic film to be assessed in seconds. The ink is very stable (shelf life > 6 months) and the color change (blue to colorless) striking. The ink utilizes a sacrificial electron donor, glycerol, to trap the photogenerated holes, leaving the photogenerated electrons to react with MB to produce its. reduced, leuco, form (LMB). The efficacy of the MB ink is due to the presence of acid in its formulation, which curtails significantly. the otherwise usual, rapid reoxidation of LMB by ambient O-2.

FLUORESCENCE PLASTIC THIN-FILM SENSOR FOR CARBON-DIOXIDE

The method of preparation of a novel plastic thin-film sensor that incorporates the fluorescent dye 8-hydroxypryrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid is described; the shelf-life of the film is over 6 months. The results of a study on the equilibrium response of the sensor towards different levels of gaseous CO2 fit a model there is a 1 + 1 equilibrium reaction between the deprotonated form of the dye (present in the film as an ion pair) and the concentration of gaseous CO2 present. In contrast to the situation in aqueous solution, in the plastic film the pK(a) of the excited form of the dye appears close to that of the ground-state form, although this does not interfere with its use as 8 CO2 sensor. The 0 to 90% response and recovery times of the film when exposed to an alternating atmosphere of air and 5% CO2 are typically 4.3 and 7.1 s, respectively.

Use of a random phase plate as a KrF laser beam homogenizer for thin film deposition applications

Fabrication of devices based on thin film structures deposited using the pulsed laser deposition technique relies on reproducibility and control of deposition rates over substrate areas as large as possible. Here we present an application of the random phase plate technique to smooth and homogenize the intensity distribution of a KrF laser footprint on the surface of a target which is to be ablated. It is demonstrated that intensity distributions over millimeter-sized spots on the target can be made insensitive to the typical changes that occur in the near-field intensity distribution of the ultraviolet output from a KrF laser. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)02504-6].

Simulations of magnetic microstructure in thin film elements used for programmable motion of magnetic particles

The results of two-dimensional micromagnetic modeling of magnetization patterns in Permalloy ellipses under the influence of rotating constant-amplitude magnetic fields are discussed. Ellipses of two different lateral sizes have been studied, 0.5m x 1.5m and 1m x 3m. The amplitude of the rotating magnetic field was varied between simulations with the condition that it must be large enough to saturate or nearly saturate the ellipse with the field applied along the long axis of the ellipse. For the smaller ellipse size it is found that the magnetization pattern forms an S state and the direction of the net magnetization lags behind the direction of the applied field. At a critical angle of the rotating magnetic field the direction of the magnetization switches by a large angle to a new S state. Both the critical angle and the angle interval of the switch depend on field amplitude. For this new state, it is instead the applied field direction that lags behind the magnetization direction. The transient magnetization patterns correspond to multi-domain patterns including two vortices, but this state never exists for the equilibrated magnetization patterns. The behavior of the larger ellipse in rotating field is different. With the field applied along the long-axis of the ellipse, the magnetization of the ellipse is nearly saturated with a vortex close to each apex of the ellipse. As the field is rotated, this magnetization pattern remains and the net-magnetization direction lags behind the direction of the field until for a certain angle of the applied field an equilibrium multi-domain state is created. Comparisons are made with corresponding experimental results obtained by performing in-field magnetic force microscopy on Permalloy ellipses.

Unusual photoresponse of indium doped ZnO/organic thin film heterojunction

Photoresponse of n-type indium-doped ZnO and a p-type polymer (PEDOT:PSS) heterojunction devices are studied, juxtaposed with the photoluminescence of the In-ZnO samples. In addition to the expected photoresponse in the ultraviolet, the heterojunctions exhibit significant photoresponse to the visible (532 nm). However, neither the doped ZnO nor PEDOT: PSS individually show any photoresponse to visible light. The sub-bandgap photoresponse of the heterojunction originates from visible photon mediated e-h generation between the In-ZnO valence band and localized states lying within the band gap. Though increased doping of In-ZnO has limited effect on the photoluminescence, it significantly diminishes the photoresponse. The study indicates that optimally doped devices are promising for the detection of wavelengths in selected windows in the visible. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4704655]

Influence of test methodology and probe geometry on nanoscale fatigue mechanisms of diamond-like carbon thin film

The aim of this paper is to investigate the mechanism of nanoscale fatigue using nano-impact and multiple-loading cycle nanoindentation tests, and compare it to previously reported findings of nanoscale fatigue using integrated stiffness and depth sensing approach. Two different film loading mechanism, loading history and indenter shapes are compared to comprehend the influence of test methodology on the nanoscale fatigue failure mechanisms of DLC film. An amorphous 100 nm thick DLC film was deposited on a 500 μm silicon substrate using sputtering of graphite target in pure argon atmosphere. Nano-impact and multiple-load cycle indentations were performed in the load range of 100 μN to 1000 μN and 0.1 mN to 100 mN, respectively. Both test types were conducted using conical and Berkovich indenters. Results indicate that for the case of conical indenter, the combination of nano-impact and multiple-loading cycle nanoindentation tests provide information on the life and failure mechanism of DLC film, which is comparable to the previously reported findings using the integrated stiffness and depth sensing approach. However, the comparison of results is sensitive to the applied load, loading mechanism, test-type and probe geometry. The loading mechanism and load history is therefore critical which also leads to two different definitions of film failure. The choice of exact test methodology, load and probe geometry should therefore be dictated by the in-service tribological conditions, and where necessary both test methodologies can be used to provide better insights of failure mechanism. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the elastic response of nanoindentation is reported, which indicates that the elastic modulus of the film measured using MD simulation was higher than that experimentally measured. This difference is attributed to the factors related to the presence of material defects, crystal structure, residual stress, indenter geometry and loading/unloading rate differences between the MD and experimental results.

Two-dimensional images of dissolved sulfide and metals in anoxic sediments by a novel diffusive gradients in thin film probe and optical scanning techniques

A novel diffusive gradients in thin film probe developed comprises diffusive gel layer of silver iodide (AgI) and a back-up Microchelex resin gel layer. 2D high-resolution images of sulfide and trace metals were determined respectively on the AgI gel by densitometric analysis and on the Microchelex resin layer with laser-ablation-inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS).We investigated the validity of the analytical procedures used for the determination of sulfide and trace metals. We found low relative standard deviations on replicate measurements, linear trace-metal calibration curves between the LA-ICP-MS signal and the true trace-metal concentration in the resin gel, and a good agreement of the sulfide results obtained with the AgI resin gel and with other analytical methods. The method was applied on anoxic sediment pore waters in an estuarine and marine system. Simultaneous remobilization of sulfide and trace metals was observed in the marine sediment.

Development of a doped titania immobilised thin film multi tubular photoreactor

This paper describes a novel doped titania immobilised thin film multi tubular photoreactor which has been developed for use with liquid, vapour or gas phase media. In designing photocatalytic reactors measuring active surface area of photocatalyst within the unit is one of the critical design parameters. This dictate greatly limits the applicability of any semi-conductor photocatalyst in industrial applications, as a large surface area equates to a powder catalyst. This demonstration of a thin film coating, doped with a rare earth element, novel photoreactor design produces a photocatalytic degradation of a model pollutant (methyl orange) which displayed a comparable degradation achieved with P25 TiO2. The use of lanthanide doping is reported here in the titania sol gel as it is thought to increase the electron hole separation therefore widening the potential useful wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum. Increasing doping from 0.5% to 1.0% increased photocatalytic degradation by ∼17% under visible irradiation. A linear relationship has been seen between increasing reactor volume and degradation which would not normally be observed in a typical suspended reactor system. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Epitaxially Grown Strained Pentacene Thin Film on Graphene Membrane

Organic-graphene system has emerged as a new platform for various applications such as flexible organic photovoltaics and organic light emitting diodes. Due to its important implication in charge transport, the study and reliable control of molecular packing structures at the graphene-molecule interface are of great importance for successful incorporation of graphene in related organic devices. Here, an ideal membrane of suspended graphene as a molecular assembly template is utilized to investigate thin-film epitaxial behaviors. Using transmission electron microscopy, two distinct molecular packing structures of pentacene on graphene are found. One observed packing structure is similar to the well-known bulk-phase, which adapts a face-on molecular orientation on graphene substrate. On the other hand, a rare polymorph of pentacene crystal, which shows significant strain along the c-axis, is identified. In particular, the strained film exhibits a specific molecular orientation and a strong azimuthal correlation with underlying graphene. Through ab initio electronic structure calculations, including van der Waals interactions, the unusual polymorph is attributed to the strong graphene-pentacene interaction. The observed strained organic film growth on graphene demonstrates the possibility to tune molecular packing via graphene-molecule interactions.

An investigation into the effect of thickness of titanium dioxide and gold-silver nanoparticle titanium dioxide composite thin-films on photocatalytic activity and photo-induced oxygen production in a sacrificial system

Thin films of titanium dioxide and titanium dioxide with incorporated gold and silver nanoparticles were deposited onto glass microscope slides, steel and titanium foil coupons by two sol-gel dip-coating methods. The film's photocatalytic activity and ability to evolve oxygen in a sacrificial solution were assessed. It was found that photocatalytic activity increased with film thickness (from 50 to 500 nm thick samples) for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in solution and resazurin redox dye in an intelligent ink dye deposited on the surface. Contrastingly, an optimum film thickness of similar to 200 nm for both composite and pure films of titanium dioxide was found for water oxidation, using persulfate (S2O82-) as a sacrificial electron acceptor. The nanoparticle composite films showed significantly higher activity in oxygen evolution studies compared with plain TiO2 films.

Monodomain strained ferroelectric PbTiO(3) thin films: Phase transition and critical thickness study

This work demonstrates that instead of paraelectric PbTiO(3), completely c-oriented ferroelectric PbTiO(3) thin films were directly grown on (001)-SrTiO(3) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition with thickness up to 340 nm at a temperature well above the Curie temperature of bulk PbTiO(3). The influence of laser-pulse frequency, substrate-surface termination on growth, and functional properties were studied using x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and piezoresponse force microscopy. At low growth rates (frequency 8 Hz) a domains were formed for film thickness above 20-100 nm. Due to coherency strains the Curie temperature (T(c)) of the monodomain films was increased approximately by 350 degrees C with respect to the T(c) of bulk PbTiO(3) even for 280-nm-thick films. Nonetheless, up to now this type of growth mode has been considered unlikely to occur since the Matthews-Blakeslee (MB) model already predicts strain relaxation for films having a thickness of only similar to 10 nm. However, the present work disputes the applicability of the MB model. It clarifies the physical reasons for the large increase in T(c) for thick films, and it is shown that the experimental results are in good agreement with the predictions based on the monodomain model of Pertsev et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1988 (1998)].