Functionalization of Indium Oxide for Empowered Detection of CO2 over an Extra-Wide Range of Concentrations

Carbon capture, storage, and utilization have becomefamiliar termswhen discussing climate change mitigation actions. Such endeavorsdemand the availability of smart and inexpensive devices for CO2 monitoring. To date, CO2 detection relies on opticalproperties and there is a lack of devices based on solid-state gassensors, which can be miniaturized and easily made compatible withInternet of Things platforms. With this purpose, we present an innovativesemiconductor as a functional material for CO2 detection.A nanostructured In2O3 film, functionalizedby Na, proves to enhance the surface reactivity of pristine oxideand promote the chemisorption of even rather an inert molecule asCO(2). An advanced operando equipment basedon surface-sensitive diffuse infrared Fourier transform is used toinvestigate its improved surface reactivity. The role of sodium isto increase the concentration of active sites such as oxygen vacanciesand, in turn, to strengthen CO2 adsorption and reactionat the surface. It results in a change in film conductivity, i.e.,in transduction of a concentration of CO2. The films exhibitexcellent sensitivity and selectivity to CO2 over an extra-widerange of concentrations (250-5000 ppm), which covers most indoorand outdoor applications due to the marginal influence by environmentalhumidity

Registration of ‘BIOINTA 2004’ Wheat

'BIOINTA 2004' (Reg. No. CV-1030, PI 655312) is a hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) developed and released by the Marcos Juárez Experimental Station from the National Wheat Breeding Program of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology, Argentina. BIOINTA 2004, previously designated R4001, was selected for its excellent grain yield potential, resistance to leaf rust (caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks.) conferred mainly by the Lr47 gene selected by marker assisted selection (MAS), and its good bread-making quality. © Crop Science Society of America

A New Way to Link Development to Institutions, Policies and Geography

The paper aims to examine the role of institutions relative to economic policy and geography in explaining the differential level of development across countries over time. To that end, it attempts to construct a Development Quality Index (DQI) and an Institutional Quality Index (IQI) by using multivariate statistical method of principal components. It shows that (i) higher level of IQI along with economic policy and geography factors lead to a positive improvement in the level of DQI; and (ii) results remain robust for IQI and relatively robust for economic policy and geography even when it is compared across cross-section and panel data estimation for a set of 102 countries over 1980 to 2004. The results strongly indicate that institutions matter in the context of specific economic policy mixes and geography related factors illustrated by disease burden, etc. It demonstrates that relative influence of institutions varies across stages of development

XPS and SIMS investigation on the role of Nitrogen in Si nanocrystals formation

Since the demonstration of optical gain in silicon nanocrystals, in the last few years several papers appeared in the literature reporting gain measurements in silicon nanocrystals embedded in a silica matrix produced by different techniques. However, it is still unclear which are the structural, physical and chemical factors that contribute to enhance photoluminescence and gain in this type of samples. In particular, the presence and the role of nitrogen in the SiO2 matrix are in fact supposed to be essential factors in understanding the gain mechanism. In fact it is possible to obtain similar samples with very different nitrogen content in the silica matrix changing one of the precursor gases used in the deposition process, thus evidencing the structural and chemical differences introduced by the presence of nitrogen. In this paper SIMS and XPS analysis of two series of similar samples, but with a very different nitrogen content, will be presented and compared. The data collected at different annealing temperatures, together with ellipsometric measurements, give important information on the role played by the nitrogen present in the matrix in the process of silicon nanocrystal formation. Moreover, we demostrate that the annealing process causes always some oxidation of the sample surface and that nitrogen is incorporated in the material from the annealing atmosphere in nitrogen free sample

Columnar nano-void formation on Germanium under Sn+ ion implantation: Ge1-xSnx walls

As it is well known, Ge undergoes a peculiar surface nanostructuration under heavy ion implantation at room temperature [1,2]. In fact, once a threshold dose (~5-10x1014 at/cm2) is reached, the formation of a relatively regular nanostructured network of columnar voids with ~20 nm diameter and ~100 nm depth occurs. The formation mechanism of these structures seems to be strongly dependent on the different vacancy and interstitial mobility in Ge and clustering of vacancy [2]. In this work, Ge (1.5 µm thick film epitaxial on Si(100) or bulk) was implanted with 5-100x1014 Sn+/cm2. A protective layer (SiNx) with different thickness (0, 10 nm, 20 nm) was deposited on Ge to prevent contamination of the nanostructures and to act on voids formation, to modify their size, dimension and symmetries [3]. The implantation energies were tuned in order to obtain the same Sn distribution in samples with the same dose but different protective layer thickness. Our goal is the formation of nanostructures with Ge1-xSnx walls through thermal treatment of our samples, in order to combine the peculiar properties of Ge1-xSnx alloy (tunable bandgap[4], high electron and hole mobility[5]) with the Ge nanostructures. Electronic microscopy (TEM cross sections and SEM plan views) and AFM measurements allowed the morphologic characterization of our samples. SAD measurements gave information on the crystallization degree. Moreover SIMS and RBS measurements provided information on Sn distribution and damaged layer thickness. XPS characterization was used to investigate the Ge oxidation degree as a function of the air exposition time and the identification of other contaminants. [1] I. Wilson, J. Appl. Phys. 53(3), 1698, 1982 [2] N.G. Rudawski and K.C. Jones, J. Mater. Res. 28(13), 1633, 2013 [3] T. Janssens et al, J. Vac. Sci. technol. B 24(1), 2006, 510 [4] G. He and H.A. Atwater, Phys. Rev. Lett., 79, (2007), 1937. [5] J.D. Sau and M.L. Cohen, Phys. Rev. B, 75, (2007), 045208

Columnar nano-void formation on Germanium under Sn+ ion implantation: Ge1-xSnx walls

As it is well known, Ge undergoes a peculiar surface nanostructuration under heavy ion implantation at room temperature [1,2]. In fact, once a threshold dose (~5-10x1014 at/cm2) is reached, the formation of a relatively regular nanostructured network of columnar voids with ~20 nm diameter and ~100 nm depth occurs. The formation mechanism of these structures seems to be strongly dependent on the different vacancy and interstitial mobility in Ge and clustering of vacancy [2]. In this work, Ge (1.5 µm thick film epitaxial on Si(100) or bulk) was implanted with 5-100x1014 Sn+/cm2. A protective layer (SiNx) with different thickness (0, 10 nm, 20 nm) was deposited on Ge to prevent contamination of the nanostructures and to act on voids formation, to modify their size, dimension and symmetries [3]. The implantation energies were tuned in order to obtain the same Sn distribution in samples with the same dose but different protective layer thickness. Our goal is the formation of nanostructures with Ge1-xSnx walls through thermal treatment of our samples, in order to combine the peculiar properties of Ge1-xSnx alloy (tunable bandgap[4], high electron and hole mobility[5]) with the Ge nanostructures. Electronic microscopy (TEM cross sections and SEM plan views) and AFM measurements allowed the morphologic characterization of our samples. SAD measurements gave information on the crystallization degree. Moreover SIMS and RBS measurements provided information on Sn distribution and damaged layer thickness. XPS characterization was used to investigate the Ge oxidation degree as a function of the air exposition time and the identification of other contaminants. [1] I. Wilson, J. Appl. Phys. 53(3), 1698, 1982 [2] N.G. Rudawski and K.C. Jones, J. Mater. Res. 28(13), 1633, 2013 [3] T. Janssens et al, J. Vac. Sci. technol. B 24(1), 2006, 510 [4] G. He and H.A. Atwater, Phys. Rev. Lett., 79, (2007), 1937. [5] J.D. Sau and M.L. Cohen, Phys. Rev. B, 75, (2007), 045208

Quality management system and accreditation of measurements on scientific high-level technological laboratory. The case study of MiNALab.

With the continuously increasing demand of traceable and often accredited measurements presented by the main actors in the scientific community (hi-tech companies, health-related infrastructures,...), laboratories should not disregard the requirements of a quality management of the proper activity. The accreditation is a quite challenging process as it requires the scientist to adapt their attitude, normally turned to the novelty of their works, towards the standardisation of procedures and analytical work. This paper presents the case study of the laboratory MiNALab operating within the Centre of Materials and Microsystems (CMM) of the Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK)

D-shaped plastic optical fibre aptasensor for fast thrombin detection in nanomolar range

The development of optical biosensors for the rapid and costless determination of clinical biomarkers is of paramount importance in medicine. Here we report a fast and low-cost biosensor based on a plasmonic D-shaped plastic optical fibre (POF) sensor derivatized with an aptamer specific for the recognition of thrombin, the target marker of blood homeostasis and coagulation cascade. In particular, we designed a functional interface based on a Self Assembled Monolayer (SAM) composed of short Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) chains and biotin-modified PEG thiol in ratio 8:2 mol:mol, these latter serving as baits for the binding of the aptamer through streptavidin-chemistry. The SAM was studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, static contact angle (CA), Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) in POFs, and fluorescence microscopy on gold surface. The optimized SAM composition enabled the immobilization of about 112 ng/cm2 of aptamer. The thrombin detection exploiting POF-Aptasensor occurred in short times (5–10 minutes), the reached Limit of Detection (LOD) was about 1 nM, and the detection range was 1.6–60 nM, indicating the POF-Aptasensor well addresses the needs for a low-cost, simple to use and to realize, rapid, small size and portable diagnostic platform

Visita ispettiva annuale di sorveglianza Accredia

ispettiva di sorveglianza 2-3 marzo 2010. L'accreditamento dura 4 anni ma deve essere rinnovato ogni anno