ABSTRACT
This work presents a H2S selective resistive gas sensor design based on a chemical field effect transistor (ChemFET) with open gate formed by hundreds of high temperature chemical vapour deposition (CVD) grown zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NW). The sensing ability of pristine ZnO NWs and surface functionalized ZnO NWs for H2S is analysed systematically. ZnO NWs are functionalized by deposition of discontinuous gold (Au) nanoparticle films of different thicknesses of catalyst layer ranging from 1 to 10 nm and are compared in their gas sensing properties. All experiments were performed in a temperature stabilized small volume compartment with adjustable gas mixture at room temperature. The results allow for a well-founded understanding of signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced response, and improved limit of detection due to the Au functionalisation. Comprehension and controlled application of the beneficial effects of Au catalyst on ZnO NWs allow for the detection of very low H2S concentrations down to 10 ppb, and a theoretically estimated 500 ppt in synthetic air at room temperature.
ABSTRACT
The magnetic properties of Ni nanoparticles (Ni-NPs) embedded in an antiferromagnetic IrMn matrix were investigated. The Ni-NPs of 8.4 nm mean diameter were synthesized by inert gas aggregation. In a second processing step, the Ni-NPs were in situ embedded in IrMn films or SiOx films under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. Findings showed that Ni-NPs embedded in IrMn have an exchange bias field HEB = 821 Oe at 10 K, and 50 Oe at 300 K. The extracted value of the exchange energy density is 0.06 mJ m(-2) at 10 K, which is in good accordance with the results from multilayered thin film systems. The Ni-NPs embedded in SiOx did not show exchange bias. As expected for this particle size, they are superparamagnetic at T = 300 K. A direct comparison of the Ni-NPs embedded in IrMn or SiOx reveals an increase of the blocking temperature from 210 K to around 400 K. The coercivity of the Ni-NPs exchange coupled to the IrMn matrix at 10 K is 8 times larger than the value for Ni-NPs embedded in SiOx. We studied time-dependent remanent magnetization at different temperatures. The relaxation behavior is described by a magnetic viscosity model which reflects a rather flat distribution of energy barriers. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of different field cooling processes on the magnetic properties of the embedded Ni-NPs. Exchange bias values fit to model calculations which correlate the contribution of the antiferromagnetic IrMn matrix to its grain size.
ABSTRACT
One of the big challenges of the 21st century is the utilization of nanotechnology for energy technology. Nanoscale structures may provide novel functionality, which has been demonstrated most convincingly by successful applications such as dye-sensitized solar cells introduced by M. Grätzel. Applications in energy technology are based on the transfer and conversion of energy. Following the example of photosynthesis, this requires a combination of light harvesting, transfer of energy to a reaction center, and conversion to other forms of energy by charge separation and transfer. This may be achieved by utilizing hybrid nanostructures, which combine metallic and nonmetallic components. Metallic nanostructures can interact strongly with light. Plasmonic excitations of such structures can cause local enhancement of the electrical field, which has been utilized in spectroscopy for many years. On the other hand, the excited states in metallic structures decay over very short lifetimes. Longer lifetimes of excited states occur in nonmetallic nanostructures, which makes them attractive for further energy transfer before recombination or relaxation sets in. Therefore, the combination of metallic nanostructures with nonmetallic materials is of great interest. We report investigations of hybrid nanostructured model systems that consist of a combination of metallic nanoantennas (fabricated by nanosphere lithography, NSL) and oxide nanoparticles. The oxide particles were doped with rare-earth (RE) ions, which show a large shift between absorption and emission wavelengths, allowing us to investigate the energy-transfer processes in detail. The main focus is on TiO2 nanoparticles doped with Eu(3+), since the material is interesting for applications such as the generation of hydrogen by photocatalytic splitting of water molecules. We use high-resolution techniques such as confocal fluorescence microscopy for the investigation of energy-transfer processes. The experiments are supported by simulations of the electromagnetic field enhancement in the vicinity of well-defined nanoantennas. The results show that the presence of the nanoparticle layer can modify the field enhancement significantly. In addition, we find that the fluorescent intensities observed in the experiments are affected by agglomeration of the nanoparticles. In order to further elucidate the possible influence of agglomeration and quenching effects in the vicinity of the nanoantennas, we have used a commercial organic pigment containing Eu, which exhibits an extremely narrow particle size distribution and no significant agglomeration. We demonstrate that quenching of the Eu fluorescence can be suppressed by covering the nanoantennas with a 10 nm thick SiO x layer.
ABSTRACT
Magnetic nanoparticles are promising candidates for next generation high density magnetic data storage devices. Data storage requires precise control of the magnetic properties of materials, in which the magnetic anisotropy plays a dominant role. Since the total magneto-crystalline anisotropy energy scales with the particle volume, the storage density in media composed of individual nanoparticles is limited by the onset of superparamagnetism. One solution to overcome this limitation is the use of materials with extremely large magneto-crystalline anisotropy. In this article, we follow an alternative approach by using magneto-elastic interactions to tailor the total effective magnetic anisotropy of the nanoparticles. By applying large biaxial stress to nanoparticles embedded in a non-magnetic film, it is demonstrated that a significant modification of the magnetic properties can be achieved. The stress is applied to the nanoparticles through expansion of the substrate during hydrogen loading. Experimental evidence for stress induced magnetic effects is presented based on temperature-dependent magnetization curves of superparamagnetic Fe particles. The results show the potential of the approach for adjusting the magnetic properties of nanoparticles, which is essential for application in future data storage media.
ABSTRACT
Surface structure of implants influences bone response and interfacial shear strength between implants and bone. The aim of this study was to find topographical parameters that correlate with the interfacial shear strength. Two groups of sand-blasted titanium screws were implanted in 17 sheep tibia, each for 2-52 weeks: (A) acid pickled with HF/HNO(3); (B) acid etched with HCl/H(2)SO(4). Screw removal torque was measured and surface topography of both implant groups was studied by scanning electron microscopy, optical profilometry, and scanning probe microscopy. The roughness as well as the surface area of type A surface was higher in the scan region of 100 microm, but the microroughness and surface area of type B surface was higher in the scan region of 10 microm. A significantly higher removal torque (interfacial shear strength) of the surface treatment type B (412 +/- 60 Ncm) compared to surface treatment type A (157 +/- 33 Ncm) was found after 52 weeks of implantation in sheep due to differences in microroughness of both types of screws. It was also shown that the specification of the parameters Delta(a), R(a) and R(q) was not sufficient to characterize the properties of the implant surfaces. The analysis of R(q) parameter over wavelengths was required to characterize the size, shape and distribution of the implant surface structures.
