Silicon-Based Optoelectronic Tongue for Label-Free and Nonspecific Recognition of Vegetable Oils

International audienceA special electronic tongue system based on photoelectric measurements on Si-Si/SiN (X) sensitive structures is reported. The sensing approach is based on measuring of minority carrier lifetime in silicon-based substrates using microwave-detected photoconductance decay. This inexpensive and environmentally friendly combinatorial electronic sensing platform is able to create characteristic electronic fingerprints of liquids, detect, and recognize them. In particular, an application of the optoelectronic tongue for recognition of vegetable oils and their mixtures is described

Kinetics of Hydrogen Generation from Oxidation of Hydrogenated Silicon Nanocrystals in Aqueous Solutions

Hydrogen generation rate is one of the most important parameters which must be considered for the development of engineering solutions in the field of hydrogen energy applications. In this paper, the kinetics of hydrogen generation from oxidation of hydrogenated porous silicon nanopowders in water are analyzed in detail. The splitting of the Si-H bonds of the nanopowders and water molecules during the oxidation reaction results in powerful hydrogen generation. The described technology is shown to be perfectly tunable and allows us to manage the kinetics by: (i) varying size distribution and porosity of silicon nanoparticles; (ii) chemical composition of oxidizing solutions; (iii) ambient temperature. In particular, hydrogen release below 0 °C is one of the significant advantages of such a technological way of performing hydrogen generation