Performance Improvement of Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Using a ZnMgO Electron Transport Layer with a Core/Shell Structure.

Highly efficient and all-solution processed quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) with high performance are demonstrated by employing ZnMgO nanoparticles (NPs) with core/shell structure used as an electron transport layer (ETL). Mg-doping in ZnO NPs exhibits a different electronic structure and degree of electron mobility. A key processing step for synthesizing ZnMgO NPs with core/shell structure is adding Mg in the solution in addition to the remaining Mg and Zn ions after the core formation process. This enhanced Mg content in the shell layer compared with that of the core X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed a higher number of oxygen vacancies for the ZnMgO core/shell structure, thereby enhancing the charge balance in the emitting layer and improving device efficiency. The QLED incorporating the as synthesized ZnMgO NP core/shell A exhibited a maximum luminance of 55,137.3 cd/m2, maximum current efficiency of 58.0 cd/A and power efficiency of 23.3 lm/W. The maximum current efficiency and power efficiency of the QLED with ZnMgO NP core/shell A improved by as much as 156.3% and 113.8%, respectively, compared to the QLED with a Zn0.9Mg0.1O NP ETL, thus demonstrating the benefits of ZnMgO NPs with the specified core/shell structure.

High Performance Top-Emission Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes with Mg-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Used as an Electron Transport Layer.

In this paper, we reported superior performance of solution-processed top-emission quantum dot light-emitting diodes (TE-QLEDs) with Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticle (NP) electron transport layer (ETL). The Mg-doped ZnO NPs were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the Mg-doped ZnO NPs with 0 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt% Mg-doping concentrations revealed average diameters of 5.86 nm, 5.33 nm, 4.52 nm, and 4.37 nm, respectively. The maximum luminance, the current efficiency, and external quantum efficiency (EQE) were 178,561.8 cd/m², 56.0 cd/A, and 14.43%, respectively. However, for the best performance of TE-QLED without Mg-doping in the ZnO NPs, the maximum luminance was only 101,523.4 cd/m², the luminous efficiency was 27.8 cd/A, and the EQE was 6.91%. The improvement of the performance is attributed to the suppression of electron transfer by an increase in the energy barrier between the cathode and Mg-doped ZnO NP ETL and the reduction in the Hall mobility of electron with increasing the Mg-doping in the ZnO NPs, resulting in the enhanced charge balance in the quantum dot (QD) emitting layer (EML).

The Effect of Particle Size on the Charge Balance Property of Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Devices Using Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been widely used as an inorganic electron transport layer (ETL) in quantum dot light-emitting devices (QLEDs) due to their excellent electrical properties. Here, we report the effect of ZnO NPs inorganic ETL of different particle sizes on the electrical and optical properties of QLEDs. We synthesized ZnO NPs into the size of 3 nm and 8 nm respectively and used them as an inorganic ETL of QLEDs. The particle size and crystal structure of the synthesized ZnO NPs were verified by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and X-ray pattern analysis. The device with 8 nm ZnO NPs ETL exhibited higher efficiency than the 3 nm ZnO NPs ETL device in the single hole transport layer (HTL) QLEDs. The maximum current efficiency of 19.0 cd/A was achieved in the device with 8 nm ZnO NPs layer. We obtained the maximum current efficiency of 17.5 cd/A in 3 nm ZnO NPs device by optimizing bilayer HTL and ZnO NPs ETL.

High Efficiency Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode by Solution Printing of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles.

Quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) have attracted considerable attention owing to the narrow emission spectra, wide color gamut, high quantum yield and size-controlled emission wavelength. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been widely used as an electron transport layer (ETL) in QLEDs due to their excellent electrical properties. In this study, we compared the efficiency of QLEDs with organic and zinc oxide ETLs in viewpoint of the charge balance. The QLEDs were constructed using ZnO nanoparticles with an average particle size of 3 nm or 3TPYMB as the ETL materials. CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and poly-TPD were used as a light-emitting elements and hole transporting material, respectively. The QLED with 3TPYMB ETL exhibited current efficiency of 7.71 cd/A, while the efficiency of the QLED using ZnO nanoparticles was significantly improved to 38.76 cd/A. Such a substantial improvement of emission efficiency in the QLEDs with ZnO ETL was attributed to the much better charge balance by the ZnO.

Reliable Identification of Bacillus cereus Group Species Using Low Mass Biomarkers by MALDI-TOF MS.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based pathogen identification relies on the ribosomal protein spectra provided in the proprietary database. Although these mass spectra can discern various pathogens at species level, the spectra-based method still has limitations in identifying closely-related microbial species. In this study, to overcome the limits of the current MALDI-TOF MS identification method using ribosomal protein spectra, we applied MALDI-TOF MS of low-mass profiling to the identification of two genetically related Bacillus species, the food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus, and the insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis. The mass spectra of small molecules from 17 type strains of two bacilli were compared to the morphological, biochemical, and genetic identification methods of pathogens. The specific mass peaks in the low-mass range (m/z 500- 3,000) successfully identified various closely-related strains belonging to these two reference species. The intensity profiles of the MALDI-TOF mass spectra clearly revealed the differences between the two genetically-related species at strain level. We suggest that small molecules with low molecular weight, 714.2 and 906.5 m/z can be potential mass biomarkers used for reliable identification of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis.

Metabolite Profiling of the Response of Burdock Roots to Copper Stress.

Arctium lappa L. (Asteraceae), also known as burdock, has a long history of cultivation as a dietary vegetable worldwide. Stress in plants disrupts metabolic homeostasis and requires adjustment of metabolic pathways. Exposure to heavy metals is one of the most prevalent environmental stresses encountered by plants. In this study, metabolite profiling based on 1H NMR and GC-MS was used to obtain a holistic view of the response of burdock roots to copper stress. The principal component analysis model generated from the NMR data showed significant separation between groups. Copper-treated burdock roots were characterized by increased levels of phenols and decreased levels of primary metabolites. These results suggest that copper stress leads to activation of the phenylpropanoid pathway and growth inhibition. GC-MS analyses revealed increased levels of unsaturated fatty acids and decreased levels of sterols in the copper-treated group. Changes in metabolite concentrations were analyzed by UPLC/QTRAP-MS, and the significances were confirmed by two-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni's test. Interestingly, linoleic acid was increased about 2.7-fold, from 316 ± 64.5 to 855 ± 111 ppm, in the group treated with copper for 6 days. This study demonstrates that metabolomic profiling is an effective analytical approach to understanding the metabolic pathway(s) associated with copper stress in burdock roots.

Measurements of diacylglycerols in skeletal muscle by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry.

Diacylglycerol (DAG) is an intermediate lipid involved in the synthesis of phospholipids and triglycerides. As signaling regulators, DAG activate novel protein kinase C leading to decreased response to insulin in skeletal muscle. Alteration of DAG contents correlates with development of metabolic dysregulation in obese and diabetic conditions. Recent advances in lipidomics using mass spectrometry allow expanded measurements of various lipid species. This study describes a rapid measurement of DAG species using the triple quadrupole mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in a positive ion mode. DAG in the cells and muscle tissues were separated depending on differences in chain lengths and degree of unsaturation. The limit of detection and quantification for DAG was 0.2 to 17 pmol for this method. When C2C12 cells were treated with palmitate or oleate, we found a 12-fold and 2-fold DAG increase respectively compared to the no-treatment control. In the muscles of obese db/db mice, DAG levels were elevated by 6-fold compared to those of wild-type skeletal muscles. The present analytical method provides a rapid and sensitive quantification of DAG molecular species from various biological samples and can be used to correlate the degree of metabolic dysregulation with lipotoxic metabolites.

High-throughput small molecule identification using MALDI-TOF and a nanolayered substrate.

Encoderless combinatorial chemistry requires high-throughput product identification without the use of chemical or other tags. We developed a novel nanolayered substrate plate and combined it with a microarraying robot, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry, and custom software to produce a high-throughput small molecule identification system. To optimize system performance, we spotted 5 different chemical entities, spanning a m/z range of 195 to 1338, in 20,304 spots for a total of 101,520 molecules. The initial spot identification rate was 99.85% (20,273 spots), and after a proofreading algorithm was added, 100% of 20,304 spots and 101,520 molecules were identified. An internal recalibration algorithm also significantly improved mass accuracy to as low as 45 ppm. Using this optimized system, 47 different chemical entities, spanning a m/z range of 138 to 1,592, were spotted over 5,076 spots and could be identified with 100% accuracy. Our study lays the foundation for improved encoderless combinatorial chemistry.

Kinetics analysis of growth and lactic acid production in pH-controlled batch cultures of Lactobacillus casei KH-1 using yeast extract/corn steep liquor/glucose medium.

This study was performed to determine the optimal conditions of yeast extract, corn steep liquor and glucose concentration for the growth and lactic acid production of Lactobacillus casei KH-1 and to assess the effect of these conditions using a response surface methodology. A Box-Behnken design was used as an experimental design for the allocation of treatment combination as 17 pH-controlled batch cultures. The growth and product parameters were estimated by Gombertz, Leudeking and Piret models from experimental data, and analyzed statistically with response surfaces. The effects of yeast extract, corn steep liquor and glucose were significant for the maximum specific growth rate, mu(max) and the maximum biomass concentration, X(ma). The interaction of corn steep liquor and glucose indicated that the positive or negative effect of glucose on mu(max) in corn steep liquor below or above 2.1% could be explained by the glucose-dependent availability of a nutrient on mu(max) Although the experiment was achieved in pH-controlled batch culture for L. casei KH-1, the growth- and non-growth-associated production rate parameters, a and b, were significant in the response surface model. The growth and lactic acid production of L. casei KH-1 were strongly affected by glucose and the importance of the media composition was demonstrated. The estimated optimal conditions of the growth and lactic acid production of L. casei KH-1 were 1.276% and 0.697% for yeast extract, 3.505% and 1.708% for corn steep liquor, and 2.390% and 2.215% for glucose, respectively.