Permittivity enhancement of aluminum oxide thin films with the addition of silver nanoparticles

doi:10.1063/1.2425010Multilayer reactive electron-beam evaporation of thin aluminum oxide layers with embedded silver nanoparticles (Ag-nps) has been used to create a dielectric thin film with an enhanced permittivity. The results show a frequency dependent increase of the dielectric constant κ. Overall stack κ of the control sample was found to be 7.7-7.4 in the 1 kHz-1 MHz range. This is in comparison with κ = 16.7-13.0 over the same frequency range in the sample with Ag-nps. Capacitance-voltage and conductance-voltage measurements indicate the presence of charge capture resulting from the Ag-nps. The authors attribute this dielectric constant enhancement to dipole and space charge polarization mechanisms.The authors thank M. Othman for ellipsometry measurements. They are also grateful for the funding provided by the National Science Foundation Grant No. ECS0223

Optical absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy of the growth of silver nanoparticles

Results obtained from the optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy experiments have shown the formation of excitons in the silver-exchanged glass samples. These findings are reported here for the first time. Further, we investigate the dramatic changes in the photoemission properties of the silver-exchanged glass samples as a function of postannealing temperature. Observed changes are thought to be due to the structural rearrangements of silver and oxygen bonding during the heat treatments of the glass matrix. In fact, photoelectron spectroscopy does reveal these chemical transformations of silver-exchanged soda glass samples caused by the thermal effects of annealing in a high vacuum atmosphere. An important correlation between temperature-induced changes of the PL intensity and thermal growth of the silver nanoparticles has been established in this Letter through precise spectroscopic studies.Comment: 15 pages,4 figures,PDF fil

Structural and reactivity analyses of nitrofurantoin 4 dimethylaminopyridine salt using spectroscopic and density functional theory calculations

YesPharmaceutical salt, nitrofurantoin–4-dimethylaminopyridine (NF-DMAP), along with its native components NF and DMAP are scrutinized by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopy along with density functional theory so that an insight into the H-bond patterns in the respective crystalline lattices can be gained. Two different functionals, B3LYP and wB97X-D, have been used to compare the theoretical results. The FT-IR spectra obtained for NF-DMAP and NF clearly validate the presence of C33–H34⋅⋅⋅O4 and N23–H24⋅⋅⋅N9 hydrogen bonds by shifting in the stretching vibration of –NH and –CH group of DMAP+ towards the lower wavenumber side. To explore the significance of hydrogen bonding, quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) has been employed, and the findings suggest that the N23–H24⋅⋅⋅N9 bond is a strong intermolecular hydrogen bond. The decrement in the HOMO-LUMO gap, which is calculated from NF → NF-DMAP, reveals that the active pharmaceutical ingredient is chemically less reactive compared to the salt. The electrophilicity index (ω) profiles for NF and DMAP confirms that NF is acting as electron acceptor while DMAP acts as electron donor. The reactive sites of the salt are plotted by molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) surface and calculated using local reactivity descriptors.SERB, DST, India, for providing the National Post-doctoral Fellowship (Project File Number: PDF/2016/003162); Central Facility for Computational Research (CFCR), University of Lucknow; Newton-Bhabha Ph.D. placement award (2017); Royal Society seed corn research grant (2018-19

Brans of the roller-milled barley fractions rich in polyphenols and health-promoting lipophilic molecules

peer-reviewedThree different roller-milled fractions namely bran, middlings, and flour of five commonly grown Irish barley varieties were investigated for the presence of β-glucan, polyphenols, and health-promoting lipophilic molecules. β-glucan was predominantly located in barley middlings. Polyphenols, as indicated by total phenolic content and the antioxidant activities, were abundant in the outermost bran fractions of barley. Similarly the health-promoting lipophilic molecules including phytosterols, unsaturated fatty acids, and tocols were most abundant in the barley bran fraction. However, the distribution of individual polyphenols and lipophilic compounds varied within the grain; for example ferulic acid and procyainidin C were not detected in flour fraction. Principal component analysis (PCA) clearly indicated a higher distribution of most bioactive molecules in bran as compared to middlings and flour fractions. The PCA also established possible correlations between the five barley varieties and their fractions based on their clustering in the plot

Demonstration of the Effect of Stirring on Nucleation from Experiments on the International Space Station Using the ISS-EML Facility

The effect of fluid flow on crystal nucleation in supercooled liquids is not well understood. The variable density and temperature gradients in the liquid make it difficult to study this under terrestrial gravity conditions. Nucleation experiments were therefore made in a microgravity environment using the Electromagnetic Levitation Facility on the International Space Station on a bulk glass-forming Zr57Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10Nb5 (Vit106), as well as Cu50Zr50 and the quasicrystal-forming Ti39.5Zr39.5Ni21 liquids. The maximum supercooling temperatures for each alloy were measured as a function of controlled stirring by applying various combinations of radio-frequency positioner and heater voltages to the water-cooled copper coils. The flow patterns were simulated from the known parameters for the coil and the levitated samples. The maximum nucleation temperatures increased systematically with increased fluid flow in the liquids for Vit106, but stayed nearly unchanged for the other two. These results are consistent with the predictions from the Coupled-Flux model for nucleation

Demonstration of the effect of stirring on nucleation from experiments on the International Space Station using the ISS-EML facility

The effect of fluid flow on crystal nucleation in supercooled liquids is not well understood. The variable density and temperature gradients in the liquid make it difficult to study this under terrestrial gravity conditions. Nucleation experiments were therefore made in a microgravity environment using the Electromagnetic Levitation facility on the International Space Station on a bulk glass-forming Zr57Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10Nb5 (Vit106), as well as Cu50Zr50 and the quasicrystal-forming Ti39.5Zr39.5Ni21 liquids. The maximum supercooling temperatures for each alloy were measured as a function of controlled stirring by applying various combinations of radio frequency positioner and heater voltages to the water-cooled copper coils. The flow patterns were simulated from the known parameters for the coil and the levitated samples. The maximum nucleation temperatures increased systematically with increased fluid flow in the liquids for Vit106, but stayed nearly unchanged for the other two. These results are consistent with the predictions from the coupled-flux model for nucleation.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure

Harvesting triplet excitons for application in polymer solar cells

doi:10.1063/1.3082081Triplet enhanced ladder-type poly (para-phenylene) polymer (PhLPPP) with covalently bound trace amounts of palladium blended with a fullerene derivative [[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)] shows power conversion efficiencies (PCE) almost ten times greater than with pristine ladder-type polymer (with no palladium atom) blended with PCBM. The steady state optical properties of the triplet and nontriplet-enhanced polymers are comparable; the enhanced PCE and external quantum efficiency in PhLPPP photovoltaics are attributed to the presence of long-lived mobile triplet excitons. Furthermore, the luminescence from PhLPPP blends measured in a delayed setup correlates very well with the efficiency of the solar cells.This research was partially supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation Grant No. ECCS-0823563 and the U.S. Army

N-(n-Dec­yl)-4-nitro­aniline

N-(n-Dec­yl)-4-nitro­aniline, C16H26N2O2, crystallizes with two essentially planar mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit. The decyl chains are fully extended in an anti conformation. The mol­ecules pack in planar layers, within which mol­ecules are linked into chains by two approximately linear N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the amine N atom and one O atom of the nitro group of an adjacent mol­ecule. These mol­ecular chains propagate via inter­leaving of the decyl chains to form the two dimensional sheets. The sheets are associated exclusively via non-bonded contacts. The structure has features in common with those of other N-alkyl-4-nitro­anilines, but also subtle differences in packing