Fluorescence and sensitization performance of phenylene-vinylene-substituted polythiophene

A new kind of polythiophene derivative, Poly(3-{2-[4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-phenyl]-vinyl}-2,2′-bithiophene) (PTh), was applied in dye-sensitized solar cell to extend the light response of nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode. UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectra were employed to investigate the interaction of PTh with nanocrystalline TiO2. The absorption coefficient of the PTh was high in visible part of spec- trum, and the fluorescence emission of the PTh can be efficiently quenched by TiO2 nanoparticles ow- i...     

Synthesis and characterization of nano/micro-structured crystalline germanium dioxide with novel morphology

Nano/micro-structured germanium oxide （GeO2） was prepared using GeCl4 and KOH by a simple solution method in alkalic alcoholic solution. Different morphologies of GeO2 were obtained by changing the reaction conditions. The effects of the reaction time, the concentration of the reactants, the reaction temperature and the dispersant upon the morphology of the deposited GeO2 have been investigated. The products were detected by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, atomic force microscope （AFM）, scanning electron microscope （SEM） and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. Novel cross-like structures were obtained by using n-butylamine as the dispersant. The formation of the cross-like structures has been discussed and a solution-liquid-solid （SLS） mechanism was proposed.     

Detection of infrared photons with a superconductor

A superconductor single photon detector based on NbN nanowire was fabricated using electron beam lithography （EBL） and reactive ion etching （RIE） for infrared photon detection. When biased well below its critical current at 4.2 K, NbN nanowire is very sensitive to the incident photons. Typical telecommunication photons with a wavelength of 1550 nm were detected by this detector. Data analysis indicates the repeating rate of the device with 200 nm NbN nanowire may be up to 100 MHz, and the quantum efficiency is about 0,01% when biased at 0.95/c.     

Fabrication of the 19-filament Fe/Cu clad MgB2 wire via in situ powder-in-tube method

Using commercial amorphous B powder (92% in purity) and Mg powder (99% in purity) as starting materials, 19-filament Fe/Cu clad MgB2 wires were fabricated by an in situ powder-in-tube method. Heat treatment was performed at 700℃ for 1 h under an argon gas atmosphere. The influence of Mg/B ratio on the microstructure and superconducting properties of the wires was investigated. It was found that the major phases of MgB2 wires were MgB2 accompanied with relatively small amounts of MgO and Fe2B impurities. With 5% excess Mg addition, the onset TC slightly decreased. However, the transport JC at 4.2 K and 4 T reached 1.07×104 A·cm-2, increasing by a factor of 1.4 compared to the stoichiometric sample. Moreover, the Mg1.05B2 sample showed an improved field dependence of JC, suggesting that less voids and smaller grain size of the Mg1.05B2 core lead to better grain connectivity and stronger flux pinning.     

Rate constants for the reaction of ozone with <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butyl, <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-butyl and <Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>-butyl methyl sulfides

The rate constants for the ozone reactions with n-butyl methyl sulfide （n-BMS, CHaCH2CH2CH2SCH3）, sec-butyl methyl sulfide （s-BMS, CH3CH2（CH3）CHSCHa） and tert-butyl methyl sulfide （t-BMS, （CH3）3CSCH3） were measured using our smog chamber under supposedly pseudo-first-order conditions at 30002 K and 760 Torr. The experimental determined rate constants for n-butyl, s-butyl and t-butyl methyl sulfide are （1.23 ± 0.06）×10-19, （5.08 ± 0.19）×10-20 and （2.26 ± 0.14）×10-20 cm3 molecule-1· s-1, respectively. The reactivity-structure relationship of the reactions was discussed and used to illustrate the mechanism of the ozone reaction with thioethers. The results enrich the kinetics data of atmospheric chemistry.     

High pressure effects on the crystal structure and electric conductivity of perovskite like（Ca/Sr）2CuO2Cl2 compounds

The crystal structure stability as well as electric conductance of （Sr/Ca）2CuO2Cl2 compound with K2NiF4 structure was investigated up to 31 GPa using diamond anvil technique. It seems that （Sr/Ca）2CuO2Cl2 is quite stable under pressure but with obvious anisotropic compressibility. The equation of state （EOS） obtained shows relative large bulk modulus.     

TiO2-based building materials: Above and beyond traditional applications

In the 1910s, TiO₂ began to be used in building materials as pigments and opacifier due to its excellent optical property. Since the photocatalytic property of TiO₂ was observed in 1972, its application field was expanded to air cleaning and sterilization. Thereafter, people added TiO₂ into building materials to develop novel and facile building materials. These materials were widely used for air cleaning, sterilization, self-cleaning, anti-fogging, decoration, and building cooling. The combination of building and other functions can serve simultaneously. Although TiO₂-based building materials have bright prospects, some aspects such as improving the stability and enhancing photoactive performance of the materials are of importance for future research. Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (“863” Program) of China (Grant No. 2007AA061402), Chinese Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Eleventh Five-year Plan (Grant No. 2006BAJ02A08), Hangzhou Science & Technology Development Program (Grant No. 20061133B27) and Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20070335197)     

Ionic liquids based on S-alkylthiolanium cations and TFSI anion as potential electrolytes

New ionic liquids based on S-alkylthiolanium cations with TFSI anions were synthesized and charac-terized.The physical and electrochemical properties,including melting point,thermal stability,solubility,viscosity,conductivity and electrochemical window,were reported.Relation between these properties and the structure of the cations was discussed.In this series,T4TFSI and T5TFSI have melting points below -60℃,and their conductivities are 2.10 mS/cm and 1.46 mS/cm;their electrochemical windows are 4.1 V and 4...     

Structural dependences of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">η</Emphasis><Superscript>6</Superscript> complexes of 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole with chromium tricarbonyl fragment on third-order optical nonlinearities

Degenerate four-wave mixing measurements, using the 35 ps pulses at 532 nm, have been employed to investigate the third-order nonlinear optical parameters of two chromium tricarbonyl complexes η6-bonded to 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole at either the NH2-substituted aryl ring （1） or the unsubstituted ring （2） and their precursor 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole （AECz）. The second-order hyperpolarizability y of the compounds 1 and 2 were found to be 42.9×10^-31 and 35.9×10^-31 esu, respectively, approximately one order of magnitude greater than AECz. The relation between the molecular structure and second-order hyperpolarizability of the compounds I and 2 was explored in detail based on the three-level model and the density functional theory （DFT） calculation. The theoretical results indicate that the spatial distribution of electron density has the profound role in the third-order nonlinear optical properties.     

Superconductivity in Ba1−xSmxFFeAs and Eu1−xSmxFFeAs systems

We synthesized the samples Ba1-xSmxFFeAs and Eu1-xSmxFFeAs with ZrCuSiAs-type structure. These samples were characterized by resistivity and susceptibility. It is found that the substitution of rare earth metal for alkaline earth metal in the two systems suppresses the anomaly in resistivity and induces superconductivity. Superconductivity at 54 K in nominal composition Ba0.5Sm0.5FFeAs and at 51 K for Eu0.5Sm0.5FFeAs is realized, indicating that the superconducting transition temperatures in the iron arsenide fluorides is the same as that in oxypnictides with the same structure.     

A novel heteroseneous reaction for generating gaseous nitrous acid

The short-lived reactive specimen nitrous acid HONO was generated in the gas phase by the heterogeneous reaction of gaseous HCl with AgNO2 which can generate higher concentration of HONO than other methods. We investigated the process from generation to dissociation in the gas phase under different controlled temperatures, and discussed the ionization and reaction on the solid surface by combination of the photoelectron spectroscopy and photoionization mass spectroscopy （PES-PIMS） and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy （DRIFTS）.     

Estimation of emissions from field burning of crop straw in China

Emissions resulting from crop straw field burning in China, which have caused serious environmental problems in China, are estimated in this paper. From the county-level data of crop production in 2000-2003 from the government statistics, taking into account the ratio of residue and grain, the total amount of crop straw production is estimated to be about 600 Tg per year, 76% of which are rice, wheat and corn straw. With reference to the data of living standards, the percentage of crop straw burnt in fields for counties are obtained and consequently the total amount of burnt straws is approximately 140 Tg/year. With the emission factors from literature and experiments, appropriate emission factors have been obtained. The total amounts of PM, SO2, NOx3, NH3, CH4, BC, OC, VOC, CO, CO2 emissions from field burning of crop straw in China are estimated. All emissions are presented at county level. Some pollutants, such as BC, VOC, OC, CO and CO2, are contributing a major portion to the total emissions of China. This paper uses a map with resolution of 0.2°×0.2°to present the PM emissions distribution from crop straw burnt in 2003. The results show a significant regional unevenness of emissions, with larger amounts of pollutions coming from the provinces in eastern and northeast China. The regions with higher emissions per unit area are located as a belt stretching from northeast China to eastern China.     

Decay of geometry for unimodal maps: The C2 case

We prove that a C2 unimodal interval map with critical order not greater than 2 has the decay of geometry property, by showing that all the cross-ratio estimates needed in the previous proof for the C3 case remain true.     

Influence of O2/Ar ratio on the properties of transparent conductive niobium-doped ZnO films

Niobium-doped ZnO transparent conductive films are deposited on glass substrates by radio frequency sputtering at 300℃. The influence of O2/Ar ratio on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-deposited films is investigated by X-ray diffraction, Hall measurement and optical transmission spectroscopy. The lowest resistivity of 4.0×10^-4Ω· cm is obtained from the film deposited at the O2/Ar ratio of 1/12. The average optical transmittance of the films is over 90%.     

Applications of radiotracer techniques for the pharmacology and toxicology studies of nanomaterials

With the rapid development of nanosciences and nanotechnology, a wide variety of manufactured nanomaterials are now used in commodities, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, biomedical products, and industries. While nanomaterials possess more novel and unique physicochemical properties than bulk materials, they also have an unpredictable impact on human health. In the pharmacology and toxicology studies of nanomaterials, it is essential to know the basic behavior in vivo, i.e. absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of these newly designed materials. Radiotracer techniques are especially well suited to such studies and have got the chance to demonstrate their enchantment. In this paper, radiolabeling methods for carbon nanomaterials, metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles, etc. are summarized and the applications of the radiolabeled nanomaterials in pharmacology and toxicology studies are outlined. Supported by the National Basic Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2006CB705605 and 2006CB932505), Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KJCX3.SYW.N3), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10525524, 10505024 and 20707027)     

Design and fabrication of superconducting HEB mixer

This paper describes the design and fabrication of superconducting hot electron bolometer （HEB） mixer based on ultra-thin superconducting NbN films. The high quality films were epitaxially grown on high resistance Si substrates. The device was fabricated by magnetron sputtering, electron beam lithography （EBL）, reactive ion etching （RIE）, lithography, and so on. The device＇s resistance-temperature （R-T） curves and current-voltage （I-V） curves were studied. The results of THz response of the device are presented. Y-factor technique was used to measure the device＇s noise temperature. When the device was irradiated with a laser radiation of 2.5 THz, the obtained lowest noise temperature of the device was 2213 K.     

Fabrication and superconducting properties of nano-SiC doped MgB2 tapes

Nano-SiC doped MgB2 tapes were prepared by the in situ powder-in-tube method. Heat treatment was performed at 650℃ for 1 h. XRD data indicate that SiC particles had reacted with the MgB2 during sintering process. MgB2 core seemed to be denser after SiC doping, and the critical temperature was slightly depressed. The critical current density Jc of the SiC doped tapes was significantly enhanced in magnetic fields up to 14 T compared to the undoped ones. For the 5% SiC doped samples, Jc was in- creased by a factor of 32 at 4.2 K, 10 T. The enhancement of Jc-B properties in SiC doped MgB2 tapes is considered to be due to the enhancement of grain linkages and the introduction of effective flux pining centers. The substitution of B by C in MgB2 grains is thought to be the main reason for the improve- ment of the flux pinning ability in SiC doped MgB2 tapes.