N-Doped Graphene-like Film/Silicon Structures as Micro-Capacitor Electrodes.

Currently, the miniaturization of portable and autonomous devices is challenging for modern electronics. Graphene-based materials have recently emerged as one of the ideal candidates for supercapacitor electrodes, while Si is a common platform for direct component-on-chip integration. We have proposed the direct liquid-based CVD of N-doped graphene-like films (N-GLFs) on Si as a promising way to achieve solid-state on-chip micro-capacitor performance. Synthesis temperatures in the range from 800 °C to 1000 °C are investigated. Capacitances and electrochemical stability of the films are evaluated using cyclic voltammetry, as well as galvanostatic measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 0.5 M Na2SO4. We have shown that N-doping is an efficient way to improve the N-GLF capacitance. 900 °C is the optimal temperature for the N-GLF synthesis with the best electrochemical properties. The capacitance rises with increasing film thickness which also has an optimum (about 50 nm). The transfer-free acetonitrile-based CVD on Si yields a perfect material for microcapacitor electrodes. Our best value of the area-normalized capacitance (960 mF/cm2) exceeds the world's achievements among thin graphene-based films. The main advantages of the proposed approach are the direct on-chip performance of the energy storage component and high cyclic stability.

Spin-Induced Switching of Electronic State Populations in Transition Metal Polyphthalocyanines.

Polyphthalocyanines (PPCs) are a new and promising class of two dimensional materials offering versatile avenues for next generation electronic devices. For organic spintronic devices, PPCs can be engineered to tailor the electric and magnetic properties. In this work, we investigate PPC's monolayers with embedded transition metal atoms (TM = Fe, Ni, Cu), utilizing first principle calculations based on spin-polarized generalized gradient approximation (SGGA). PPC sheets with central TM atoms are simulated for the dispersion curves, electronic density of states (DOS), and projected density of states (PDOS) using quantum atomistic toolkit (Quantum ATK) software. According to simulations, the FePPC supercell with four magnetic moments of Fe, aligned in a parallel ferromagnetic (FM) configuration, show the conductive FM state, while in the case of the anti-parallel antiferromagnetic (AFM) order of the magnetic moments, the material exhibits semiconducting non-magnetic behavior. FM-ordered NiPPC displays a metallic state, which is partly suppressed for AFM-ordered NiPPC. In contrast, non-magnetic CuPPC is found to be the best conductor due to its larger PDOS at the Fermi level among all considered systems.

Nanoporous Silicon with Graphene-like Coating for Pseudocapacitor Application.

This paper presents the results of studies of the nanoporous silicon structure, both with different pore depths (up to 180 µm) and with layers in which a graphene-like coating was synthesized on the inner surface of the pores. The nanoporous layers were characterized by SEM as well as IR and Raman spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge data in 3 M H2SO4 are presented as well as the results of the cyclic stability of these characteristics for the nanoporous structure. It was found that the degree of electrolyte pre-impregnation significantly affected the electrochemical processes, and the capacitance values depended on the depth (thickness) of the nanoporous layer. Increasing the thickness of the porous layer led to an increase in area-normalized pseudocapacity and was limited only by the mechanical strength of the structure. Performance improvement was also achieved by synthesis of the graphene-like layer in the volume of the nanoporous structure. The electrodes (composite materials) proposed in the work showed one of the best capacitive characteristics (87 mF/cm2 with 100% capacity retention after 15,000 cycles) in comparison with the data reported in the literature at present.

Interaction of Various Variants of the Nanostructured Surface of Titanium with MSCs Isolated from Adipose Tissue.

Titanium has been successfully used in dental implantology for a long time. Due to the osseointegration process, titanium implants are able to withstand the chewing load. This article is devoted to the study of surface treatment methods of titanium alloys and the study of their interaction with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The surface microrelief can influence MSC differentiation in different ways, which subsequently gives it osteogenic potential. The paper proposes modes of surface modification of titanium alloys on Grade 4 and Grade 1 by chemical and electrochemical (anodizing) etching. The possibility of modifying the surface of titanium alloys using the synthesis of graphene layers has been proposed in this paper for the first time. The osteogenic potential of a particular surface was assessed by the number of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on them under identical conditions.

An asymmetric fitting function for condensed-phase Raman spectroscopy.

Asymmetric lineshapes are experimentally observed in the Raman spectra of different classes of condensed matter. Determination of the peak parameters, typically done with symmetric pseudo-Voigt functions, in such situations yields unreliable results. While a wide choice of asymmetric fitting functions is possible, for the function to be practically useful, it should satisfy several criteria: simple analytic form, minimum parameters, description of the symmetric shape as "zero case", estimation of the desired peak parameters in a straightforward way and, above all, adequate description of the experimental data. In this work we formulate the asymmetric pseudo-Voigt function by damped perturbation of the original symmetric shapes with one asymmetry-related parameter. The damped character of the perturbation ensures by construction consistent behavior of the line tails. We test the asymmetric function by fitting the experimental Raman spectra. The results show that the function is able to describe a wide range of experimentally observed asymmetries for different natures of asymmetric broadening, including 3D and 2D crystals, nanoparticles, polymers, and molecular solids and liquids.