Silver decorated on cobalt ferrite nanoparticles as a reusable multifunctional catalyst for water treatment applications in non-radiation conditions.

In this investigation, cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFO NPs) were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. Then, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were decorated on CFO NPs to form Ag/CFO NPs using jasmine extract as a reducing agent of Ag+ ions. The properties of Ag/CFO NPs were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and catalytic tests in non-radiation conditions. The catalytic results indicated that the Ag/CFO NPs could activate peroxymonosulfate to generate sulfate radicals for the decomposition of different dyes such as methylene blue, methyl orange, and rhodamine B. For the Ag/CFO sample, Ag NPs validated the roles in dye adsorption, reduction of 4-nitrophenol, and improvement of antibacterial behavior. The growth inhibition activity of Ag/CFO NPs was observed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.18 ± 2.48 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (10.14 ± 0.72 mm). Furthermore, Ag/CFO NPs displayed good reusability after three consecutive runs. Therefore, Ag/CFO material is shown to be a potential multifunctional catalyst in wastewater treatment.

Functionalized silver nanoparticles for SERS amplification with enhanced reproducibility and for ultrasensitive optical fiber sensing in environmental and biochemical assays.

Plasmonic sensors have broad application potential in many fields and are promising to replace most bulky sensors in the future. There are various method-based chemical reduction processes for silver nanoparticle production with flexible structural shapes due to their simplicity and rapidity in nanoparticle fabrication. In this study, self-assembled silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with a plasmon peak at 424 nm were successfully coated onto -NH2-functionalized glass and optical fiber sensors. These coatings were rapidly produced via two denaturation reactions in plasma oxygen, respectively, and an APTES ((3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane) solution was shown to have high strength and uniformity. With the use of Ag NPs for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), excellent results and good stability with the detection limit up to 10-10 M for rhodamine B and 10-8 M for methylene blue, and a signal degradation of only ∼20% after storing for 30 days were achieved. In addition, the optical fiber sensor with Ag NP coatings exhibited a higher sensitivity value of 250 times than without coatings to the glycerol solution. Therefore, significant enhancement of these ultrasensitive sensors demonstrates promising alternatives to cumbersome tests of dye chemicals and biomolecules without any complicated process.

Optimization of optical properties of photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with carbon tetrachloride for supercontinuum generation with subnanojoule femtosecond pulses.

A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) made of fused silica glass, infiltrated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), is proposed as a new source of supercontinuum (SC) light. Guiding properties in terms of effective refractive index, attenuation, and dispersion of the fundamental mode are studied numerically. As a result, two optimized structures are selected and verified against SC generation in detail. The dispersion characteristic of the first structure has the zero-dispersion wavelength at 1.252 µm, while the dispersion characteristic of the second structure is all-normal and equals -4.37 ps·nm-1·km-1 at 1.55 µm. SC generation was demonstrated for the wavelengths 1.064 µm, 1.35 µm, and 1.55 µm. We prove the possibility of coherent, octave-spanning SC generation with 300 fs pulses with only 0.8 nJ of energy in-coupled into the core with each of the studied structures. Proposed fibers are fully compatible with all-silica fiber systems and PCFs with wide mode area, and can also be used for all-fiber SC sources. The proposed solution may lead to new low-cost all-fiber optical systems.

Dispersion engineering in nonlinear soft glass photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquids.

We present a numerical study of the dispersion characteristic modification of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquids. A photonic crystal fiber based on the soft glass PBG-08, infiltrated with 17 different organic solvents, is proposed. The glass has a light transmission window in the visible-mid-IR range of 0.4-5 µm and has a higher refractive index than fused silica, which provides high contrast between the fiber structure and the liquids. A fiber with air holes is designed and then developed in the stack-and-draw process. Analyzing SEM images of the real fiber, we calculate numerically the refractive index, effective mode area, and dispersion of the fundamental mode for the case when the air holes are filled with liquids. The influence of the liquids on the fiber properties is discussed. Numerical simulations of supercontinuum generation for the fiber with air holes only and infiltrated with toluene are presented.