Liquefied Petroleum Gas Sensing of Polyaniline-Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites

Polyaniline/titaniurn dioxide nanocomposites were prepared using alpha-dextrose as surfactant and ammonium persulphate as an oxidant. The PANI/TiO2 nanocomposite is characterized by FTIR, XRD and TEM. The FTIR spectra revel that the presence of characteristic peaks of benzenoid, qunoide rings and metal-oxygen stretching. The XRD studies show the monoclinic structure of the nanocomposites. The TEM study shows that the size of TiO2 is in the order of 9 nm where as the composite size is of the order of 13 nm and further it was observed that the TiO2 particles are intercalated to form a core shell of PANI. The maximum sensing response for LPG is found to be 90% for 30 wt.% of PANI/TiO2 nanocomposites at 400 ppm whereas for Benzene and Toluene it is negligibly small (<= 20%) and for the cyclohexane sensing response it is around 30% for different wt.%.

Ethylenediamine assisted synthesis of wurtzite zinc sulphide nanosheets and porous zinc oxide nanostructures: near white light photoluminescence emission and photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Porous fungus-like ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized by simple thermal annealing of the hydrothermally synthesized sheet-like ZnS(en)(0.5) complex precursor in air at 600 degrees C. Structural and morphological changes occurring during ZnS(en)(0.5) -> ZnS -> ZnO transformations have been observed closely by annealing the as-synthesized precursor at 100-600 degrees C. Wurtzite ZnS nanosheets and ZnS-ZnO composites are obtained at temperatures of 400 degrees C and 500 degrees C, respectively. Thermal decomposition and oxidation of the ZnS(en) 0.5 nanosheets have been confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and thermo-gravimetric analysis. The visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye has been demonstrated in the synthesized samples. ZnS-ZnO composite shows the highest dye degradation efficiency of 74% due to the formation of surface complex as well as higher visible light absorption as a result of band-gap narrowing effect. The porous ZnO nanostructures show efficient visible photoluminescence (PL) emission with a colour coordinate of (0.29, 0.35), which is close to that of white light (0.33, 0.33). The efficient visible PL emission as well as visible light driven photocatalytic activity of the materials synthesized in the present work might be very attractive for their applications in future optoelectronic devices, including in white light emitting devices.

FIELD EMISSION EFFICIENCY OF A CARBON NANOTUBE ARRAY UNDER PARASITIC NONLINEARITIES

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) grown on substrates are potential electron sources in field emission applications. Several studies have reported the use of CNTs in field emission devices, including field emission displays, X-ray tube, electron microscopes, cathode-ray lamps, etc. Also, in recent years, conventional cold field emission cathodes have been realized in micro-fabricated arrays for medical X-ray imaging. CNTbased field emission cathode devices have potential applications in a variety of industrial and medical applications, including cancer treatment. Field emission performance of a single isolated CNT is found to be remarkable, but the situation becomes complex when an array of CNTs is used. At the same time, use of arrays of CNTs is practical and economical. Indeed, such arrays on cathode substrates can be grown easily and their collective dynamics can be utilized in a statistical sense such that the average emission intensity is high enough and the collective dynamics lead to longer emission life. The authors in their previous publications had proposed a novel approach to obtain stabilized field emission current from a stacked CNT array of pointed height distribution. A mesoscopic modeling technique was employed, which took into account electro-mechanical forces in the CNTs, as well as transport of conduction electron coupled with electron phonon induced heat generation from the CNT tips. The reported analysis of pointed arrangements of the array showed that the current density distribution was greatly localized in the middle of the array, the scatter due to electrodynamic force field was minimized, and the temperature transients were much smaller compared to those in an array with random height distribution. In the present paper we develop a method to compute the emission efficiency of the CNT array in terms of the amount of electrons hitting the anode surface using trajectory calculations. Effects of secondary electron emission and parasitic capacitive nonlinearity on the current-voltage signals are accounted. Field emission efficiency of a stacked CNT array with various pointed height distributions are compared to that of arrays with random and uniform height distributions. Effect of this parasitic nonlinearity on the emission switch-on voltage is estimated by model based simulation and Monte Carlo method.

Molecular flexibility tuned emission in ``V'' shaped naphthalimides: Hg(II) detection and aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE)

Four ``V'' shaped 1,8-naphthalimides (1-4) have been synthesized and their fluorescence quantum-yields correlated to their molecular flexibility. The correlation was used for detection of Hg(II) via a chemodosimetric approach. 4 was found to be an AIE active molecule with the formation of fluorescent nanoaggregates.

Microcracking and fracture process in cement mortar and concrete: a comparative study using acoustic emission technique

This article reports the acoustic emission (AE) study of precursory micro-cracking activity and fracture behaviour of quasi-brittle materials such as concrete and cement mortar. In the present study, notched three-point bend specimens (TPB) were tested under crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control at a rate of 0.0004 mm/sec and the accompanying AE were recorded using a 8 channel AE monitoring system. The various AE statistical parameters including AE event rate , AE energy release rate , amplitude distribution for computing the AE based b-value, cumulative energy (I E) pound and ring down count (RDC) were used for the analysis. The results show that the micro-cracks initiated and grew at an early stage in mortar in the pre peak regime. While in the case of concrete, the micro-crack growth occurred during the peak load regime. However, both concrete and mortar showed three distinct stages of micro-cracking activity, namely initiation, stable growth and nucleation prior to the final failure. The AE statistical behavior of each individual stage is dependent on the number and size distribution of micro-cracks. The results obtained in the laboratory are useful to understand the various stages of micro-cracking activity during the fracture process in quasi-brittle materials such as concrete & mortar and extend them for field applications.

A borane-bithiophene-BODIPY triad: intriguing tricolor emission and selective fluorescence response towards fluoride ions

The structure and photophysical properties of a new triad (borane-bithiophene-BODIPY) 1 have been investigated. Triad 1 exhibits unprecedented tricolour emission when excited at the borane centred high energy absorption band and also acts as a selective fluorescent and colorimetric sensor for fluoride ions with ratiometric response. The experimental results are supported by computational studies.

Tuning the solid state emission of meso-Me3SiC6H4 BODIPYs by tuning their solid state structure

A series of new BODIPYs (4-9) with bulky meso-trimethylsilylphenyl substitution were synthesized. The effect of the substituent's position on the emission properties of the BODIPYs was investigated in detail both in solution and solid state. The new BODIPYs exhibit emission in single crystals and in thin films. The logical increment of steric crowding in the compounds resulted in a periodic change in their conformational flexibility as evident from their F-19 NMR spectra, which in turn led to an increase of fluorescence in solution, thin films and single crystals.

Information content of molecular graph and prediction of gas phase thermal entropy of organic compounds

Entropy is a fundamental thermodynamic property that has attracted a wide attention across domains, including chemistry. Inference of entropy of chemical compounds using various approaches has been a widely studied topic. However, many aspects of entropy in chemical compounds remain unexplained. In the present work, we propose two new information-theoretical molecular descriptors for the prediction of gas phase thermal entropy of organic compounds. The descriptors reflect the bulk and size of the compounds as well as the gross topological symmetry in their structures, all of which are believed to determine entropy. A high correlation () between the entropy values and our information-theoretical indices have been found and the predicted entropy values, obtained from the corresponding statistically significant regression model, have been found to be within acceptable approximation. We provide additional mathematical result in the form of a theorem and proof that might further help in assessing changes in gas phase thermal entropy values with the changes in molecular structures. The proposed information-theoretical molecular descriptors, regression model and the mathematical result are expected to augment predictions of gas phase thermal entropy for a large number of chemical compounds.

Role of substrate temperature on the properties of Na-doped ZnO thin film nanorods and performance of ammonia gas sensors using nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique

Sodium doped zinc oxide (Na:ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates at substrate temperatures 300,400 and 500 degrees C by a novel nebulizer spray method. X-ray diffraction shows that all the films are polycrystalline in nature having hexagonal structure with high preferential orientation along (0 0 2) plane. High resolution SEM studies reveal the formation of Na-doped ZnO films having uniformly distributed nano-rods over the entire surface of the substrates at 400 degrees C. The complex impedance of the ZnO nano-rods shows two distinguished semicircles and the diameter of the arcs got decreased in diameter as the temperature increases from 170 to 270 degrees C and thereafter slightly increased. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gas Phase Oxygen Quenching Studies of Ketone Tracers for Laser-Induced Fluorescence Applications in Nitrogen Bath Gas

In this paper we report the quantitative oxygen quenching effect on laser-induced fluorescence of acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and 3-pentanone at low pressures (approximate to 700torr) with oxygen partial pressures up to 450torr. Nitrogen was used as a bath gas in which these molecular tracers were added in different quantities according to their vapor pressure at room temperature. These tracers were excited by using a frequency-quadrupled, Q-switched, Nd:YAG laser (266nm). Stern-Volmer plots were found to be linear for all the tracers, suggesting that quenching is collisional in nature. Stern-Volmer coefficients (k(sv)) and quenching rate constants (k(q)) were calculated from Stern-Volmer plots. The effects of oxygen on the laser-induced fluorescence of acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and 3-pentanone were compared with each other. Further, the Smoluchowski theory was used to calculate the quenching parameters and compared with the experimental results.

Magneto acoustical emission in nanocrystalline Mn-Zn ferrites

Mn0.4Zn0.6Fe2O4 powders were prepared by microwave hydrothermal method. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope. The powders were sintered at different temperatures 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 degrees C/30 min using microwave sintering method. The grain size was estimated by scanning electron microscope. The room temperature dielectric and magnetic properties were studied in the frequency range (100 kHz-1.8 GHz). The magnetization properties were measured upto 1.5 T. The acoustic emission has been measured along the hysteresis loops from 80 K to Curie temperature. It is found that the magneto-acoustic emission (MAE) activity along hysteresis loop is proportional to the hysteresis losses during the same loop. This law has been verified on series of polycrystalline ferrites and found that the law is valid whatever the composition, the grain size and temperature. It is also found that the domain wall creation/or annihilation processes are the origin of the MAE. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.