The Role of the Ferroelectric Polarization in the Enhancement of the Photocatalytic Response of Copper-Doped Graphene Oxide-TiO2 Nanotubes through the Addition of Strontium.

To evaluate the potential role of in situ formed Sr-Ti-O species as a ferroelectric component able to enhance the photocatalytic properties of an adjacent TiO2 semiconductor, Cu-doped/graphene oxide (GO)/TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) composites (with 0.5 wt % Cu and 1.0 wt % GO) have been synthesized while progressive amounts of strontium (up to 1.0 wt %) were incorporated at the surface of the composite through incipient wetness impregnation followed by post-thermal treatment at 400 °C. The different resulting photocatalytic systems were then first deeply characterized by means of N2 adsorption-desorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (UV-vis DR), Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and Z-mapping). In a second step, optimization of the kinetic response of the Sr-containing composites was performed for the formic acid photodegradation under UV irradiation. The Sr-containing Cu/GO/TiNT composites were then fully characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for their dielectric properties showing clearly the implication of polarization induced by the Sr addition onto the stabilization of photogenerated charges. Finally, a perfect correlation between the photocatalytic kinetic evaluation and dielectric properties undoubtedly emphasizes the role of ferroelectric polarization as a very valuable approach to enhance the photocatalytic properties in an adjacent semiconductor.

Viscoelastic and dielectric properties of 5CB nematic liquid crystal doped by magnetic and nonmagnetic nanoparticles.

In this article we show how spherical nanoparticles (NPs) imposing planar anchoring can strongly impact the viscoelastic, dielectric, and electro-optical properties of a nematic liquid crystal when they are not aggregated. We also demonstrate that when the NPs are magnetic, most nematic properties are more impacted than when they are nonmagnetic. With magnetic NPs a molecular disorder is induced that decreases the nematic order parameter, this decrease impacting the values of elastic constants, viscosity, and response time. The impact on 5CB liquid crystal (LC) has been investigated with spherical nanoparticles (NPs) of identical size around 6 nm, magnetic (γFe_{2}O_{3}), and nonmagnetic (CeO_{2}) ones that are both surface functionalized by poly(aminopropylmethylsiloxane-b-dimethylsiloxane) (PAPMS-b-PDMS) block copolymer ligands to promote planar anchoring. In the presence of nonmagnetic NPs, despite an almost constant nematic order parameter, a significant decrease of elastic constants (25.4%), viscosity (22%), and response time (23%) is measured. It suggests a dilution effect for the intermolecular interactions in the presence of NPs. This hypothesis is supported by the observation of an enhanced decrease of the same nematic parameters in the presence of magnetic NPs that can be fully explained by the corresponding order parameter decrease. This finally leads to a remarkable decrease of the splay elastic constant by 51% in the presence of magnetic NPs. The decrease of the nematic order parameter by 18% in the presence of magnetic NPs demonstrates that the NP magnetic moments are only weakly coupled to the nematic director and consequently only induce a disorder in the composite system. A significant influence of the expected large LC structural modifications in the presence of magnetic NPs is, however, shown by a particularly large increase of the diffusion coefficient 43% and large decrease of the dielectric anisotropy (43%). We believe that the observed impact of NPs with planar anchoring on nematic properties could be extended to most spherical NPs if their aggregation can be avoided. In particular, the difference between magnetic and nonmagnetic NPs could be extended to ferroelectric and nonferroelectric NPs.

Dielectric and Conduction Mechanisms of Parylene N at High Temperature: Phase-Transition Effect.

Dielectric and electrical properties correlated with the structure analysis have been studied on 27% semicrystalline parylene-N (-H2C-C6H4-CH2-)n thin films. Transition-phase, AC- and DC-conduction mechanisms, and the MW-interfacial polarization were identified in parylene N at high temperature by experimental and theoretical investigations. The dielectric analysis based on the dc conductivity highlights a temperature of 230 °C as a transition temperature from the α-form to the ß1-form. This structure transition is accompanied by a modification on the DC-conduction mechanisms from ionic to electronic conduction in the α-form and the ß1-form, respectively. The AC conduction mechanism is governed by the small polaron tunneling mechanism (SPTM) with WH,α = 0.23 eV and a tunneling distance of 7.71 Å in the α-form, while it becomes a correlated barrier-hopping (CBH) mechanism with a WM,ß 1 = 0.52 eV in the ß1-form. The imaginary part of the electrical modulus formalism obeys the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watt (KWW) model and shows the presence of the interfacial polarization effect. The theoretical Kohlrausch exponent (ßKWW) confirms the existence of the transition phase on the parylene N in the vicinity of the 230 °C as deduced by the DC- and the AC-conduction parameters. The correlations between the experimental results and the theoretical models are very useful knowledge and tools for diverse parylene N applications at high temperature.