Materials Archive

Surface Immobilization and Modification on Gold Electrode Using Carbon Nanotubes

In this paper, carbon nanotubes were immobilizated on the surface of gold electrode oriently. The surface was then modificated by conductive polymer further and finally came into a rough hairlike one with one-dimension nanowire structure.Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were used in this research, different parameters(time, temperature, treatment methods, etc.) were discussed, so as to determine their effects on purification, cutting and debundling of SWNTs and choose the optimal experimental conditions(mixed concentrated acid, low temperature and ultrasonication) to prepare a stable suspension in a short time. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) was added to enhance the stabilization of the aqueous suspension. A surface condensation reaction between amino and carboxylic groups was then performed by immersing an amino self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-modified gold eletrode into the aqueous suspension of SWNTs with the aid of N-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-N’-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC.HC1) and sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimide (s-NHS), thereafter SWNTs has been immobilized on gold oriently. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films were prepared on the SWNT-immoblized electrode by potentiostatic electropolymerization from EDOT aqueous solution, with p-toluene sulfonic acid sodium salt (TsONa) as the supporting electrolytes.Field Emission-scanning electron microscopy (FSEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectrometry and raman spectrometry were used to characterize the structure and modality of SWNTs before and after acid treatment. Raman spectrometry could also testify the immobilization of SWNTs on gold while atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the perpendicular standing state of SWNTs on gold surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for observing the rough surface after polymerization of EDOT on modified gold andthe results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that all the modified electrodeshave remarkable improvements in electrochemistry properties.

Surface Immobilization and Modification on Gold Electrode Using Carbon Nanotubes

In this paper, carbon nanotubes were immobilizated on the surface of gold electrode oriently. The surface was then modificated by conductive polymer further and finally came into a rough hairlike one with one-dimension nanowire structure.Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were used in this research, different parameters(time, temperature, treatment methods, etc.) were discussed, so as to determine their effects on purification, cutting and debundling of SWNTs and choose the optimal experimental conditions(mixed concentrated acid, low temperature and ultrasonication) to prepare a stable suspension in a short time. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) was added to enhance the stabilization of the aqueous suspension. A surface condensation reaction between amino and carboxylic groups was then performed by immersing an amino self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-modified gold eletrode into the aqueous suspension of SWNTs with the aid of N-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-N’-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC.HC1) and sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimide (s-NHS), thereafter SWNTs has been immobilized on gold oriently. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films were prepared on the SWNT-immoblized electrode by potentiostatic electropolymerization from EDOT aqueous solution, with p-toluene sulfonic acid sodium salt (TsONa) as the supporting electrolytes.Field Emission-scanning electron microscopy (FSEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectrometry and raman spectrometry were used to characterize the structure and modality of SWNTs before and after acid treatment. Raman spectrometry could also testify the immobilization of SWNTs on gold while atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the perpendicular standing state of SWNTs on gold surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for observing the rough surface after polymerization of EDOT on modified gold andthe results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that all the modified electrodeshave remarkable improvements in electrochemistry properties.

Experimental Investigation on the Performance of Devices for Heat Dispersing of Chips and Enclosure

This paper designs and establishes the experimental setup to determine the performance in metal foam heat sink for chips cooling. Forced convection heat transfer of air in metal foam heat sink was investigated experimentally. Experiments were conducted on aluminum foams of 90 percent porosity and pore size corresponding to 10 PPI and 30 PPI. According to the problems in the practical application of chips, a standard method was established to test and evaluate the performance of metal foam heat sink. In this work, the effects of pore density (PPI) , air velocity and input power on the heat-transfer characteristics of metal foam heat sinks were studied. The steady state and transient processes of sudden jump heating and cooling were analysized.The results show that as air velocity increases, The average heat transfer coefficient increases and the thermal resistance reduces. The effect of input power is small on convection heat transfer capability. The thermal performance of 30PPI heat sink in the steady state and transient processes excelled 10PPI heat sink due to the fact that aluminum foam with a larger pore density has a larger heat-transfer area. However, due to larger pore sizes, the pressure drop encountered of 10PPI heat sink is much lower at a particular air velocity. As a result, for a given pressure drop, the heat transfer coefficient of 10PPI heat sink is higher compared to the 30 PPI heat sink. To compare with a conventional parallel-plate heat sink of the same size, the metal foam heat sink provides higher thermal performance.This paper also introduces the working principle of plate heat exchanger for keeping the temperature in enclosure normal. A testing system was established to test the characteristics of plate heat exchanger for enclosure, and it accords with the demand of flow capacity for the heat exchanger completely in real work, and tests the parameters accurately in every condition. A standard method was established to test and calculate the heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics of plate heat exchanger. The experimental results compare well with the computer simulation values that cooperated company computed.

Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Encapsulated with Polyurethane and Its Nanpcomposites

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were first acid treated with concentrated HNO3/H2SO4 (1:1, v/v) to generate hydroxyl. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) were used to confirm the formation of hydroxyl groups on the surface of MWCNTs.Poly (acryloyl chloride) (PAC1) was employed to enhance the surface of MWCNTs. PAC1 was esterified by hydroxyl groups on the surface of MWCNTs to obtain an encapsulation of MWCNTs. The numerous acryloyl chloride groups on the outer layer were esterified with a proper amount of ethylene glycol, thus multi-hydroxyl functionalized MWCNTs were obtained. The chemical structure of multi-hydroxyl functionalized MWCNTs was identified by FTIR, the morphology was observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM).In the presence of multi-hydroxyl functionalized MWCNTs, a polyurethane layer was formed in situ by condensation polymerization of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenylisocyanate) and 1,4-butanediol. The formation of polyurethane layer on MWCNTs was confirmed by FTIR and XPS. The morphology of encapsulated MWCNTs was observed by TEM and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Thermo gravimetric analysis showed the grafted polymer fraction was up to 90%.MWCNTs/PU nanocomposite films were prepared through solvent evaporation method. In an attempt to examine the reinforcing effect of PU encapsulated MWCNTs in PU matrix, mechanical properties of nanocomposites were measured by stress-strain test and Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). An increase in tensile strength by 60.6% and improvement in modulus by 6.3% over neat PU was observed.

Preparation of Nano-Sized BaTiO3 Powders

BaTiO3 powders of particle size ranged from 14160nm and cubic phase structure were prepared by a two-step precipitation route, a sonochemical method and a solvothermal process, respectively, in which TiCl4, Ba(OH)2·8H2O and NH3·H2O were used as raw materials, and ethanol、water and the mixture of them as reactive medium. The as-prepared powders were characterized.A two-step precipitation route was employed to synthesize BaTiO3 powders and~17nm powders were obtained at 75℃. The experimental results showed that the crystallization temperature should be higher than 60℃; within the range of 60~80℃, reaction temperature affected hardly the particle size; higher reactant concentration was benifit to obtain finer powders; BaTiO3 particles can be obtained at the reaction time of longer than 0.5h, and the prolonged time has a tend of increasing the particle size of the powders.Nano-sized spherical BaTiO3 particles with particle size ranged from 1460nm were synthesized by a sonochemical method at 75℃. It was found that particle size of the powders increased with the increase of ultrasonic irradiation intensity; compared with conventional stir, ultrasonic irradiation introduced was benifit to synthesis BaTiO3 powders with smaller particle size, uniformy distribution and few aggregates.About 70nm BaTiO3 particles with cubical morphology were prepared at 200℃by a solvothermal process, under the staring conditions of Ti4+ concentration of 0.1mol/L, Ba/Tl molar ratio of 1.6:1, 90% ethanol-water aqueous medium, NaOH concentration of 2mol/L. The results showed longer reaction time and higher reactants concentration were in favor of increasing the particle size.The characteristics of sintering behavior of BaTiO3 ceramic were obtained by means of a method of thermal anlysis. It was found that sintering temperature of BaTiO3 ceramics was confirm in 1150-1250℃. The powders obtained by three methods as mentioned above were sintered according to same sintering conditions by a. two-step pressureless sintering, and the maximal relative density reached 98.9%, dielectric constant at room temperature of 3834, the delectric loss of 0.037.

Synthesis and Photophysical Study of Naphthalimides Doped Polysiloxane Fluorescent Materials

The polymerizable naphthalimides materials were synthesized with 4- substituted -1, 8-naphthalic anhydride (XNA). The structure of the compound was determined by 1D (1H and 13C NMR) and 2D NMR techniques including 1H-1H COSY, HMBC and HSQC. By using the upper polymerizable naphthalimides, a series of novel fluorescent polysiloxane material containing XNA groups was designed and prepared by sol-gel process. In this way, XNA was introduced into the polysiloxane system via chemical linkage. The obtained samples can form homogeneous and transparent membranes on glass or some plastic substrates. High green fluorescence emission from the samples was observed.The photophysical properties of the samples were studied. The factors, such as the linkage, the concentration, the electronic effects, and the aggregation configuration of XNA in the samples, which influenced the fluorescent properties, were also studied. The results show that fluorescent intensities of chemical linked samples are much higher than their physically doped counterparts and the dilute solution of XNA. The fluorescence intensity of chemically bridged samples showed a dramatic increase followed with decrease when the XNA concentration increased, the maximum reached at about 0.06% molar concentration. It is intriguing to note that in this case, the electronic effect of the substitute became non-important. Samples with different substituent show very similar maximum fluorescence intensity. According to the results of UV-vis spectra and fluorescence spectra, we consider that J-aggregation was formed in the XNA-contained polysiloxane system. This may be the main reason of the fluorescent intensity increasing.

Synthesis and Photophysical Study of Naphthalimides Doped Polysiloxane Fluorescent Materials

The polymerizable naphthalimides materials were synthesized with 4- substituted -1, 8-naphthalic anhydride (XNA). The structure of the compound was determined by 1D (1H and 13C NMR) and 2D NMR techniques including 1H-1H COSY, HMBC and HSQC. By using the upper polymerizable naphthalimides, a series of novel fluorescent polysiloxane material containing XNA groups was designed and prepared by sol-gel process. In this way, XNA was introduced into the polysiloxane system via chemical linkage. The obtained samples can form homogeneous and transparent membranes on glass or some plastic substrates. High green fluorescence emission from the samples was observed.The photophysical properties of the samples were studied. The factors, such as the linkage, the concentration, the electronic effects, and the aggregation configuration of XNA in the samples, which influenced the fluorescent properties, were also studied. The results show that fluorescent intensities of chemical linked samples are much higher than their physically doped counterparts and the dilute solution of XNA. The fluorescence intensity of chemically bridged samples showed a dramatic increase followed with decrease when the XNA concentration increased, the maximum reached at about 0.06% molar concentration. It is intriguing to note that in this case, the electronic effect of the substitute became non-important. Samples with different substituent show very similar maximum fluorescence intensity. According to the results of UV-vis spectra and fluorescence spectra, we consider that J-aggregation was formed in the XNA-contained polysiloxane system. This may be the main reason of the fluorescent intensity increasing.

Preparation, Characterization and Study of Properties on Conductive Nanocomposite Powders

ATO (antimony-doped tin oxide), which is a n-type semiconductor, has excellent optic and conductive properties. It is widely used in dope, fiber, paper making, package, and architectural material et al. fields as anti-static material. It has more advantages rather than other anti-static material, such as graphite, surfactant, and metal powder. Additionally, it is used in optoelectronic display device, transparent electrolyte, solar cell, heat-able window, catalysis. Nano-composie materials are the tendency of composite materials. Among them, Core-shell structured composite materials are intensively interested due to their multi-function and ability to fine-tune properties. We have done some research about ATO composite material based on substrates such asα-Fe2O3, SiO2 and NiFe2O4 on the properties of conductivity, optics and magnetism. The results are shown as below:Firstly, FeCl3, as reaction materials were used to prepare monodispersed hematite nanoparticles. Then they were coated with ATO nanoparticles using precipitating method with CO(NH22 as a precipitant. The optimal preparing condition in our experiment is: .n(Sb)/n(Sn)=10%, SnO2/α-Fe2O3=70w%,calcined at 700℃for 1 h.. The resistance of composite powder is 86.7Ω·cm under this condition.Secondly, after the preparation of 250nm silica microspheres with St(o|¨)bber method, we prepared core-shell structured SiO2/ATO light colored monodispersed conductive particles using the same method above, and we also studied the optic properties of the composite particles. The experiment results show that the composite material has good transmittance in visible region and owes photoluminescence properties. It also has good conductivity of 17.5Ω·cm. An emission peak at 396nm is observed.Thirdly, NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were initially prepared in a sol-gel route. As prepared nanoparticles were then coated by ATO conductive layer via sol-gel method. The magnetic and electric properties of composite material were studied. The results indicated that the saturation magnetization of multi-functional material is 12.5emu/g and the resistance is decreased 2 orders compared to pure nickel ferrite to 174Ω·cm.

Simulating Research of Nano-structure’s Properties Based on Atomistix ToolKit (ATK)

This paper adopts the way of computer simulation to simulate nano-structure, and further studies the physical properties of nano-structure.The software used by this paper is ATK and VNL which are developed by Atomistix company,and according to the first principle simulates nano-systems,electrical properties and quantum transport properties of nano-device.This paper introduces basic knowledge of nano-system and effects and properties of material in nano-scale fielde,and then describes the advantage of computer simulation,unique features of ATK and basic knowledge of VNL.Finally, it introduces NanoLanguage,especially Python’s features,functions and editting script.By running script with different function which is editted by user,ATK simulates nano-structure.The key of editting script is to define parameter,test and select proper value,and to save the input file in format of atk(filename.atk),at the same time marking the output file–NetCDF format(filename.nc)in input file. Calculated results of ATK can be visualized in any proper graphical program,here useing VNL.However,VNL is not only a visualized program,but also is a numerical calculation program to execute simulation,and VNL can simulate calculation directly.In visualizion and calculation,combining ATK and VNL,structures of molecular system,crystal system and two-probe system are simulated,and molecular orbits,electronic density,Bloch function and bands structure are analyzed.By testing and simulating,the paper calcalates bond length and bond energy of H2,and comparing with results of other method and theoretic value;in order to verify applicability of DFT,the paper calculates bond length of some molecules of double atoms:F2,HF,Cl2 and O2.By analysing a series of simple molecular structures,simulation of ATK and VNL on H2 molecule is not good,but on other molecules(except H2)well.The reason is that DFT method is not suitable to discribe the weak interaction system as force of van der Waals,and gradient modification method just considers pure exclusive interaction,and for hydrogen bond,force is mainly electrostatic force,so simulation of DFT method is impossibly very accurate.

The Research of Carbon Nanotubes-reinforced AM60 Magnesium Matrix Composites

Ni-coated carbon nanotubes(Ni-CCNTs)/AM60 composites and Ni-CCNTs/Mg-1 Zn-0.25Mn-xAl(0,1,3,5,8,10)composites were fabricated by stirring casting method under the protection of Ar.The mechanical properties of the composites which were under the state of as-cast and high temperature were tested.The microstructure was investigated with optical microscopy and tested by x-ray diffraction.The fractography characteristics of the composites were observed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and energy spectrum analysis(EDS).The effect rules of room-temperature mechanical properties and elevated temperature properties of composites when enhancing the mass fraction of Ni-coated CNTs addition were investigated emphatically. At the same time, the change of microstructure was studied.The results showed that: the addition of Ni-coated CNTs could significantly enha- nce the mechanical properties of Ni-CCNTs/AM60 composites, the rules of which were always enhancing, then reaching the maximum, and dropping at last.Under the state of as-cast, when the addition of Ni-coated CNTs was 1.0wt%, the tensile strength, micro- hardness and the ductility reached the maximum,while the addition of Ni-coated CNTs were 1.2wt%, the elastic modulus reached the peak value respectively.Under the state of high temperature, the tensile strength declined remarkably, and the ductility enhanced. When the addition of Ni-coated CNTs were 1.2wt% and 0.8%, the tensile strength and the ductility all reached the maximum, which is 34.90% and 76.73% more than the value of the matrix respectively. Ni-coated CNTs could not only refine the grains of the composites, but also overlap the grains and bear the load of resistance to deformation. The fracture mode of composites mainly consisted of the dimple and the tear edge, which showed the feature of gliding fracture. When the addition of Ni-coated CNTs and Zn was 1.0%, At ordinary temperature, the tensile strength of the Ni-CCNTs/Mg -1Zn-xAl composites increased with the increase of the content of Al first, then reaching the maximum, and dropping at last, but the microhardness increased all the time. At high temperature the rule of tensile strength to the aluminum addition are similar to that of room-temperature, while the ductility declined all the time.With the increase of Al content, the Initial Phaseα-Mg declined, while the strengthening phase Al12Mg17 incr- eased and distributed more continuously, and also, the grain size decreeases obviously.