Large-area silver-coated silicon nanowire arrays for molecular sensing using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

A new and facile method to prepare large-area silver-coated silicon nanowire arrays for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based sensing is introduced. High-quality silicon nanowire arrays are prepared by a chemical etching method and used as a template for the generation of SERS-active silver-coated silicon nanowire arrays. The morphologies of the silicon nanowire arrays and the type of silver-plating solution are two key factors determining the magnitude of SERS signal enhancement and the sensitivity of detection; they are investigated in detail for the purpose of optimization.

Effect of interfacial roughness on dewetting behavior of polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) bilayer film

The dewetting behavior of polystyrene (PS) film on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) sublayer was investigated by changing the short-range roughness of the PMMA sublayer systemically. When the bilayer film was heated to the temperature above both Tgs, the protuberances formed in both layers to reduce the system energy. By tracing the dewetting process of the PS up-layer, the dewetting velocity was found to increase with the roughness of the sublayer.

Type I collagen-mediated synthesis of noble metallic nanoparticles networks and the applications in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering and electrochemistry

In this paper, we demonstrated an effective enviromentally friendly synthesis route to prepare noble metallic (Au, Ag, Pt and Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) networks mediated by type I collagen in the absence of any seeds or surfactants. In the reactions, type I collagen served as stabilizing agent and assembly template for the synthesized metallic NPs. The hydrophobic interaction between collagen and mica interface as well as the hydrogen bonds between inter- and intra-collagen molecules play important roles in the formation of collagen-metallic NPs networks. The noble metallic NPs networks have many advantages in the applications of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and electrochemistry detection. Typically, the as-prepared Ag NPs networks reveal great Raman enhancement activity for 4-ATP, and can even be used to detect low concentration of DNA base, adenine.

Red-Emitting Polyfluorenes Grafted with Quinoline-Based Iridium Complex: "Simple Polymeric Chain, Unexpected High Efficiency"

A series of red-light emitting electrophosphorescent polyfluorenes (PFs) with varying content of a quinoline-based iridium complex, (PPQ)(2)Ir(acac) (bis(2,4-diphenylquinolyl-N,C-2') iridium(acetylacetonate)), in the side chain are synthesized by Suzuki polycondensation. Because of the efficient Forster energy transfer from the PF main chain to (PPQ)(2)Ir(acac) and direct charge trapping on the complex, the electroluminescent emission from PF is nearly completely quenched, even though the amount of iridium complex I incorporated into the polymers is as low as 1 mol %. Based on a single-layer device configuration, a luminous efficiency of up to 5.0 cd A(-1) with a luminance of 2000 cd m(-2) and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage coordinates of (0.63, 0.35) (x, y) is realized, which is far superior to that of previously reported red-light emitting PFs containing benzothiazole- and isoquinoline-based iridium complexes.

Monitoring catalytic degradation of dye molecules on silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Catalytic degradation of organic dye molecules has attracted extensive attention due to their high toxicity to water resources. In this paper, we propose a novel method for the fabrication of uniform silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays. The degradation of typical dye molecule rhodamine 6G (R6G), as an example, is investigated in the presence of the as-prepared silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays. The experimental results show that such composite nanostructures exhibit high catalytic activity, and the reaction follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. Furthermore, these nanowire arrays are desirable SERS substrates for monitoring the catalytic degradation of dye molecules. Compared with traditional UV-visible spectroscopy, SERS technology can reflect more truly the catalytic degradation process occurring on the surface of the catalysts.

Solution-Processable Carbazole-Based Conjugated Dendritic Hosts for Power-Efficient Blue-Electrophosphorescent Devices

A novel class of hosts suitable for solution processing has been developed based on a conjugated dendritic scaffold. By increasing the dendron generation, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level can be tuned to facilitate hole injection, while the triplet energy remains at a high level, sufficient to host high-energy-triplet emitters. A power-efficient blue-electrophosphorescent device based on H2 (see figure) is presented.

Performance Enhancement of Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes by Using Ultrathin Fluorinated Polyimide Modifying the Surface of Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate)

Herein, an insulating fluorinated polyimide (F-PI) is utilized as an ultrathin buffer layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in polymer light-emitting diodes to enhance the device performance. The selective solubility of F-PI in common solvents avoids typical intermixing interfacial problems during the sequential multilayer spin-coating process. Compared to the control device, the F-PI modification causes the luminous and power efficiencies of the devices to be increased by a factor of 1.1 and 4.7, respectively, along with almost 3-fold device lifetime enhancement. Photovoltaic measurement, single-hole devices, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, are utilized to investigate the underlying, mechanisms, and it is found that the hole injection barrier is lowered owing to the interactions between the PEDOT:PSS and F-PI. The F-PI modified PEDOT:PSS layer demonstrates step-up ionization potential profiles from the intrinsic bulk PEDOT:PSS side toward the F-PI-modified PEDOT:PSS surface, which facilitate the hole injection.

Origin of improvement in device performance via the modification role of cesium hydroxide doped tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum interfacial layer on ITO cathode in inverted bottom-emission organic light-emitting diodes

It has been found that cesium hydroxide (CsOH) doped tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) as an interfacial modification layer on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) is an effective cathode structure in inverted bottom-emission organic light-emitting diodes (IBOLEDs). The efficiency and high temperature stability of IBOLEDs with CsOH:Alq(3) interfacial layer are greatly improved with respect to the IBOLEDs with the case of Cs2CO3:Alq(3). Herein, we have studied the origin of the improvement in efficiency and high temperature stability via the modification role of CsOH:Alq(3) interfacial layer on ITO cathode in IBOLEDs by various characterization methods, including atomic force microscopy (AFM), ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and capacitance versus voltage (C-V). The results clearly demonstrate that the CsOH:Alq(3) interfacial modification layer on ITO cathode not only enhances the stability of the cathode interface and electron-transporting layer above it. which are in favor of the improvement in device stability, but also reduces the electron injection barrier and increases the carrier density for current conduction, leading to higher efficiency.

Efficient multilayer white polymer light-emitting diodes with aluminum cathodes

Efficient multilayer white polymer light-emitting diodes (WPLEDs) with aluminum cathodes are fabricated. The multilayer structure is composed of a water soluble hole-injection layer, a toluene-soluble emissive layer, and an alcohol-soluble emissive layer. The polarity difference of the solvents used for spin coating these polymers allows for realization of the multilayer polymer structure. The recombination zone confined at the interface of the two emissive polymers avoids exciton quenching by electrodes, and white emission is realized by harvesting photons emitted from the two emissive polymers. A maximum luminous efficiency of 16.9 cd/A and a power efficiency of 11.1 lm/W are achieved for this WPLED.

Synthesis and properties of novel fluorinated poly(phenylene-co-imide)s

A new class of high-performance materials, fluorinated poly(phenylene-co-imide)s, were prepared by Ni(0)-catalytic coupling of 2,5-dichlorobenzophenone with fluorinated dichlorophthalimide. The synthesized copolymers have high molecular weights ((M) over bar (W)= 5.74 x 10(4)-17.3 x 10(4) g center dot mol(-1)), and a combination of desirable properties such as high solubility in common organic solvent, film-forming ability, and excellent mechanical properties. The glass transition temperature (T(g)s) of the copolymers was readily tuned to be between 219 and 354 degrees C via systematic variation of the ratio of the two comonomers. The tough polymer films, obtained by casting from solution, had tensile strength, elongation at break, and tensile modulus values in the range of 66.7-266 MPa, 2.7-13.5%, and 3.13-4.09 GPa, respectively. The oxygen permeability coefficients (P-O2) and permeability selectivity of oxygen to nitrogen (P-O2/P-N2) of these copolymer membranes were in the range of 0.78-3.01 barrer [1 barrer = 10(-10) cm(3) (STP) cm/(cm(2) center dot s center dot cmHg)] and 5.09-6.2 5, respectively. Consequently, these materials have shown promise as engineering plastics and gas-separation membrane materials.

Comparison for DNA primary sequence

In this article, two schemes are suggested based on three exons of beta-globin gene belonging to 10 species for comparison of DNA primary sequences. At first, the positions of four nucleic acid bases were extracted, and then based on the information, as the numerical characterization of DNA sequences, the sequence invariants were derived. Sequences comparisons of 10 species selected in this work by using these invariants were performed. The results, especially with scheme 2, are quite satisfactory.

A novel invariant and sequence comparison for DNA

We consider numerical characterization of DNA primary sequence based on the positions of bases (a, t, c, g) and the pairs of bases X, Y in DNA (X, Y=a, t, c, g). This leads to a representation of DNA by a numerical sequence. Then, we extract a novel invariant (molecular connectivity index) from the derived numerical sequences. The suitable invariant can offer a characterization of DNA primary sequence. Finally, we provide an illustration of its utility by making a comparison between ten DNA sequences belonging to beta-globin gene in different species. The evolutionary relationships of ten species we have revealed in this contribution accord with phylogenetic tree properly.