Exciton Regeneration at Polymeric Semiconductor Heterojunctions

Control of the band-edge offsets at heterojunctions between organic semiconductors allows efficient operation of either photovoltaic or light-emitting diodes. We investigate systems where the exciton is marginally stable against charge separation, and show via E-field-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy that excitons that have undergone charge separation at a heterojunction can be efficiently regenerated. This is because the charge transfer produces a geminate electron-hole pair (separation 2.2-3.1nm) which may collapse into an exciplex and then endothermically (E=100-200meV) back-transfer towards the exciton.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Manuscript in press in Phys. Rev. Let

Development and Characterization of Photoinduced Acrylamide-Grafted Polylactide Films for Biomedical Applications

Surface grafting of biodegradable/biocompatible polylactide (PLA) films by a UV-assisted reaction has been developed by employing a hydrophilic acrylamide (Am) monomer, an N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAm) cross-linker, and a camphorquinone (CQ)/N,N′-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate (DMAEMA) photoinitiator/coinitiator system. The accomplishment of the process is confirmed by FTIR and XPS analyses. Physicochemical changes of the grafted PLA films are evaluated in terms of chemical structures, radiation-induced degradation followed by crystallization, morphology, thermal properties, and mechanical behavior. The results reveal that a low degree of PLA degradation through chain scission is observed in both blank and grafted PLA films. This generates more polar chain ends that can further induce crystallization. Results from contact angle measurements indicate that the grafted films have higher hydrophilicity and pH-responsive behavior. The incorporation of PAm on the film’s surface and the induced crystallization lead to improvements in certain aspects of mechanical properties of the films. The materials have high potential for use in biomedical and environmental applications, such as cell culture substrates or scaffolds or pH-sensitive absorbents

Development of ammonia gas sensor based on Ni-doped reduce graphene oxide

The work aims to develop a simple and low cost ammonia gas sensor based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Reduced graphene oxide doped with nickel sulfate (NiSO4/rGO) was used as a sensing material. The sensor was fabricated by a simple drop-cast and spin-coat technique. The performance of the nickel-doped reduce graphene oxide were studied in terms of electrical changes as well as chemical interactions. It was found that after the fabricated sensor was exposed to ammonia vapour for 10 min, the average resistivity was increased to 43% from initial resistance and retained about 8% resistance change upon ammonia removal. The mechanism of the sensor reaction with the ammonia gas is also studied using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and is discussed. This preliminary work may help develop the highly sensitive ammonia gas sensor

Development of ammonia gas sensor based on Ni-doped reduce graphene oxide

The work aims to develop a simple and low cost ammonia gas sensor based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Reduced graphene oxide doped with nickel sulfate (NiSO4/rGO) was used as a sensing material. The sensor was fabricated by a simple drop-cast and spin-coat technique. The performance of the nickel-doped reduce graphene oxide were studied in terms of electrical changes as well as chemical interactions. It was found that after the fabricated sensor was exposed to ammonia vapour for 10 min, the average resistivity was increased to 43% from initial resistance and retained about 8% resistance change upon ammonia removal. The mechanism of the sensor reaction with the ammonia gas is also studied using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and is discussed. This preliminary work may help develop the highly sensitive ammonia gas sensor

Sudden, “Step” Electron Capture by Conjugated Polymers

Data showing significant time-resolution-limited “step” capture of electrons following radiolysis by 7 – 10 ps electron pulses in a series of different length and different concentration conjugated polyfluorene polymers in tetrahydrofuran (THF) are presented. At the highest concentration, ∼48 mM in repeat units for lengths from 20 to 133 fluorenes, ∼30% of the electrons formed during pulse radiolysis were captured in the step, with a constant efficiency per repeat unit. Step capture per repeat unit (<i>q</i> = 6.9 M^–1) is 60% of the presolvated electron capture efficiency previously reported for biphenyl in THF, giving capture per polymer molecule 12–80 times larger than that for biphenyl at the same concentration. This increase in capture efficiency is large compared to the rate constant per repeat unit for diffusion-limited electron attachment to the same molecules, which is 13% of that of a single unit of fluorene. Plausible mechanisms of this fast capture are explored. It is shown that both capture of quasi-free and localized presolvated electrons can adequately explain the observations. The large yield of radical anions at low concentration of polyfluorene enables observation of subsequent chemistry on the picosecond time scale in these systems, which would otherwise been limited by diffusional attachment to the nanosecond regime