785 research outputs found
Bundling up carbon nanotubes through Wigner defects
We show, using ab initio total energy density functional theory, that the
so-called Wigner defects, an interstitial carbon atom right besides a vacancy,
which are present in irradiated graphite can also exist in bundles of carbon
nanotubes. Due to the geometrical structure of a nanotube, however, this defect
has a rather low formation energy, lower than the vacancy itself, suggesting
that it may be one of the most important defects that are created after
electron or ion irradiation. Moreover, they form a strong link between the
nanotubes in bundles, increasing their shear modulus by a sizeable amount,
clearly indicating its importance for the mechanical properties of nanotube
bundles.Comment: 5 pages and 4 figure
Optical and photoluminescent properties of nanostructured hybrid films based on functional fullerenes and metal nanoparticles
The chemically cross-linked C₆₀ thin films, capable of binding Ag or Au
nanoparticles, were prepared by the gas-phase treatment with diamine for one set of
samples and dithiol for another one and decoration with Ag or Au nanoparticles,
respectively. The optical and photoluminescent properties of the obtained nanostructured
hybrid films in comparison with the undecorated films were studied. The low
temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra demonstrate significant changes of the band
intensity and appearance of fine structure for bands connected with radiative transitions
of self-trapped and localized excitons. The decoration of pristine and treated C₆₀ films
with Ag nanoparticles leads to a decrease of PL intensity and to slight bandgap reduction.
These phenomena can be explained by the increase of the surface recombination velocity
at the fullerene-nanoparticle interface. At the same time, the nanoparticles insignificantly
decrease the transmittance of light into the fullerene and Si layers, and have almost no
influence on photoelectric properties of metal/fullerene/Si barrier structures
Measurements of DT alpha particle loss near the outer midplane of TFTR
Measurements of DT alpha particle loss to the outer midplane region of TFTR have been made using a radially movable scintillator detector. The conclusion from this data is that mechanisms determining the DT alpha loss to the outer midplane are not substantially different from those for DD fusion products. Some of these results are compared with a simplified theoretical model for TF ripple-induced alpha loss, which is expected to be the dominant classical alpha loss mechanism near the outer midplane. An example of plasma-driven MHD-induced alpha particle loss is shown, but no signs of any ``collective`` alpha instability-induced alpha loss have yet been observed
Zinc Phthalocyanine−Graphene Hybrid Material for Energy Conversion: Synthesis, Characterization, Photophysics and Photoelectrochemical Cell Preparation
Graphene exfoliation upon tip sonication in o-‐DCB was accomplished. Then, covalent grafting of (2-‐ aminoethoxy)(tri-‐tert-‐butyl) zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), to exfoliated graphene sheets was achieved. The newly formed ZnPc-‐graphene hybrid material was found soluble in common organic solvents without any precipitation for several weeks. Application of diverse spectroscopic techniques verified the successful formation of ZnPc-‐graphene hybrid materi-‐ al, while thermogravimetric analysis revealed the amount of ZnPc loading onto graphene. Microscopy analysis based on AFM and TEM was applied to probe the morphological characteristics and to investigate the exfoliation of graphene sheets. Efficient fluorescence quenching of ZnPc in the ZnPc-‐graphene hybrid material suggested that photoinduced events occur from the photoexcited ZnPc to exfoliated graphene. The dynamics of the photoinduced electron transfer was
evaluated by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, thus, revealing the formation of transient species such as ZnPc+ yielding the charge-‐separated state ZnPc•+–graphene•–. Finally, the ZnPc-‐graphene hybrid material was integrated into a photoactive electrode of an optical transparent electrode (OTE) cast with nanostructured SnO2 films (OTE/SnO2), which exhibited sta le and reproducible photocurrent responses and the incident photon-‐to-‐current conversion efficien-‐ cy was determine
Model for screening of resonant magnetic perturbations by plasma in a realistic tokamak geometry and its impact on divertor strike points
This work addresses the question of the relation between strike-point
splitting and magnetic stochasticity at the edge of a poloidally diverted
tokamak in the presence of externally imposed magnetic perturbations. More
specifically, ad-hoc helical current sheets are introduced in order to mimic a
hypothetical screening of the external resonant magnetic perturbations by the
plasma. These current sheets, which suppress magnetic islands, are found to
reduce the amount of splitting expected at the target, which suggests that
screening effects should be observable experimentally. Multiple screening
current sheets reinforce each other, i.e. less current relative to the case of
only one current sheet is required to screen the perturbation.Comment: Accepted in the Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on
Plasma Surface Interactions, to be published in Journal of Nuclear Materials.
Version 2: minor formatting and text improvements, more results mentioned in
the conclusion and abstrac
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