The effects of a controlled aquaregia treatment of indium–tin–oxide (ITO) substrates on the behavior of highly efficient vacuum evaporated double layered 8-tris-hydroxyquinoline Al (Alq3)-based light-emitting diodes are described. It is found that in suitably treated devices, both current injection and the electroluminescence (EL) are significantly enhanced. The enhancement is believed to result from the greater ITO/hole transporting layer contact areas and the contact conditions. The observed dependence of I(V), the EL output, and the EL efficiency on the ITO surface morphology indicates that space-charge-limited currents dominate the behavior of the devices.

A Prussian Blue (PB) sol−gel composite thin film was prepared via post-chemical derivatization of a functionalizable sol−gel thin film. Bis[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl] tetrasulfide (SIS) forms tough and crack-free films by sol−gel process with excellent adhesion on various solid surfaces. The sulfur chain (−S4−) can be chemically oxidized to sulfonic groups (−SO3 -). After oxidation, PB sol−gel composite thin films were prepared by ion-exchange with ferrous ion followed by complexation with ferricyanide. The PB sol−gel composite thin films were characterized by electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and microscopy. Applications in the development of a potassium ion-selective electrode and an optical pH indicator are demonstrated.

We report for the first time the fabrication of single-crystal metastable manganese sulfide nanowires (γ-MnS NWs) conformally coated with graphitic carbon via chemical vapor deposition technique using a single-step route. Advanced spectroscopy and electron microscopy techniques were applied to elucidate the composition and structure of these NWs at the nanoscale, including Raman, XRD, SEM, HRTEM, EELS, EDS, and SAED. No evidence of α-MnS and β-MnS allotropes was found. The γ-MnS/C NWs have hexagonal cross-section and high aspect ratio (∼1000) on a large scale. The mechanical properties of individual γ-MnS/C NWs were examined via in situ uniaxial compression tests in a TEM-AFM. The results show that γ-MnS/C NWs are brittle with a Young's modulus of 65 GPa. The growth mechanism proposed suggests that the bottom-up fabrication of γ-MnS/C NWs is governed by vapor-liquid-solid mechanism catalyzed by bimetallic Au-Ni nanoparticles. The electrochemical performance of γ-MnS/C NWs as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries indicates that they outperform the cycling stability of stable micro-sized α-MnS, with an initial capacity of 1036 mAh g(-1) and a reversible capacity exceeding 503 mAh g(-1) after 25 cycles. This research advances the integration of carbon materials and metal sulfide nanostructures, bringing forth new avenues for potential miniaturization strategies to fabricate 1D core/shell heterostructures with intriguing bifunctional properties that can be used as building blocks in nanodevices.

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Reverse micelles prepared in the system water, sodium bis-(2-ethylhexyl) sulfoccinate (AOT), and isooctane were investigated as a templating system for the production of gold nanoparticles from Au(III) and the reducing agent sulfite. A core-shell Mie model was used to describe the optical properties of gold nanoparticles in the reverse micelles. Dynamic light scattering of gold colloids in aqueous media and in reverse micelle solution indicated agglomeration of micelles containing particles. This was verified theoretically with an analysis of the total interaction energy between pairs of particles as a function of particle size. The analysis indicated that particles larger than about 8 nm in diameter should reversibly flocculate. Transmission electron microscopy measurements of gold nanoparticles produced in our reverse micelles showed diameters of 8-10 nm. Evidence of cluster formation was also observed. Time-correlated UV-vis absorption measurements showed a red shift for the peak wavelength. This was interpreted as the result of multiple scattering and plasmon interaction between particles due to agglomeration of micelles with particles larger than 8 nm.

Hydrogen sensors built with individual palladium nanowires (Pd NWs) have been achieved by integrating Pd NWs across microelectromechanical system (MEMS) electrodes, followed by assembling and bonding them to a chip carrier platform. The sensing measurements reveal that the sensors with individual Pd NWs show reverse sensing behaviors between the temperature zones of (370-263 K) and (263-120 K).

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Epitaxial strain is one of the major factors influencing physical properties of artificial superlattice (SL) structures. One way to control the local stress in epitaxial films is altering the lattice parameters by doping. Superlattices of BT/Ba(1−x)SrxTiO3 (BT/BST) with x = (0, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 1) with a modulation period of about 80–90 Å were grown on La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 coated (100) MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The modulated structure of the thin films was confirmed by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The increase in Sr concentration in BST layers of the SLs results in an increase in in-plane (a) and out-plane (c) compressive/tensile misfit strains in the BT/BST layers, respectively. The highest value of the dielectric constant was obtained for BT/Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 (BT/BST3070) and BT/Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 (BT/BST7030) SLs. Slim, asymmetric, but well-saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops were observed in all SLs. Additionally, BT/BST SLs exhibited exceptionally high electric field stress sustainability over a wide range of frequency (10 kHz) and temperature (80–350 K). Temperature-dependent dielectric and ferroelectric properties show a ferroelectric relaxor behavior when the Sr content is increased in the BST layer of the SLs. Analysis of polarization versus temperature data using Landau-Devonshire theory suggests a second-order ferroelectric phase transition in these SLs. This structure can therefore be attractive in the design of a new kind of dielectric device capable in both high power and high energy density applications.