[A Detection Technique for Gas Concentration Based on the Spectral Line Shape Function].

The methods that can rapidly and precisely measure concentrations of various gases have extensive applications in the fields such as air quality analysis, environmental pollution detection, and so on. The gas detection method based on the tunable laser absorption spectroscopy is considered a promising technique. For the infrared spectrum detection techniques, the line shape function of an absorption spectrum of a gas is an important parameter in qualitative and quantitative analysis of a gas. Specifically, how to obtain the line shape function of an absorption spectrum of a gas quickly and accurately is a key problem in the gas detection fields. In this paper we analyzed several existing line shape functions and proposed a method to calculate precisely the line shape function of a gas, and investigated the relation between the gas concentration and the peak value of a line shape function. Then we experimentally measured the absorption spectra of an acetylene gas in the wavelength range of 1,515-1,545 nm with a tunable laser source and a built-in spectrometer. With Lambert-Beer law we calculated the peak values of the line shape function of the gas at the given frequencies, and obtained a fitting curve for the line shape function in the whole waveband by using a computer program. Comparing the measured results with the calculated results of the Voigt function, we found that there was a deviation-between the experimental results and the calculated results. And we found that the measured concentration of the acetylene gas by using the fitting curve of the line shape function was more accurate and compatible with the actual situation. Hence, the empirical formula for the line shape function obtained from the experimental results would be more suitable for the concentration measurement of a gas. As the fitting curve for the line shape function of the acetylene gas has been deduced from the experiment, the corresponding peak values of the spectral lines can be immediately calculated out from the curve and used for the measurements of different concentrations of acetylene gases. Therefore, the calculation for the line shape function values is greatly simplified. The obtained data of the line shape function of the acetylene gas can be used for remote sensing of the gas, and the proposed method can also be applied for the measurements of line shape functions of other gases.

[Gas Concentration Measurement Based on the Integral Value of Absorptance Spectrum].

The absorptance spectrum of a gas is the basis for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the gas by the law of the Lambert-Beer. The integral value of the absorptance spectrum is an important parameter to describe the characteristics of the gas absorption. Based on the measured absorptance spectrum of a gas, we collected the required data from the database of HIT-RAN, and chose one of the spectral lines and calculated the integral value of the absorptance spectrum in the frequency domain, and then substituted the integral value into Lambert-Beer's law to obtain the concentration of the detected gas. By calculating the integral value of the absorptance spectrum we can avoid the more complicated calculation of the spectral line function and a series of standard gases for calibration, so the gas concentration measurement will be simpler and faster. We studied the changing trends of the integral values of the absorptance spectrums versus temperature. Since temperature variation would cause the corresponding variation in pressure, we studied the changing trends of the integral values of the absorptance spectrums versus both the pressure not changed with temperature and changed with the temperature variation. Based on the two cases, we found that the integral values of the absorptance spectrums both would firstly increase, then decrease, and finally stabilize with temperature increasing, but the ranges of specific changing trend were different in the two cases. In the experiments, we found that the relative errors of the integrated values of the absorptance spectrum were much higher than 1% and still increased with temperature when we only considered the change of temperature and completely ignored the pressure affected by the temperature variation, and the relative errors of the integrated values of the absorptance spectrum were almost constant at about only 1% when we considered that the pressure were affected by the temperature variation. As the integral value of the absorptance spectrum varied with temperature and the calculating error for the integral value fluctuates with ranges of temperature, in the gas measurement when we usd integral values of the absoptance spectrum, we should select a suitable temperature variation and obtain a more accurate measurement result.

Effect of poly (ethylene glycol) on coarsening dynamics of titanium dioxide nanocrystallites in hydrothermal reaction and the application in dye sensitized solar cells.

Titanium dioxide sols were synthesized by hydrothermal reactions with addition of poly (ethylene glycol) (Mw=20,000). Using techniques of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and scanning electron microscopy, effect of PEG on the crystallographic properties, particle size, aggregating behavior, and the morphological properties of nanoparticles in the sols were studied. It was found that growth of anatase nanocrystallites was retarded by PEG. Average crystallite size of anatase nanocrystallites first decreased from 20.7 nm to 10.5 nm as the polymer concentration increased from 1 g/L to 3 g/L, and then changed little. Meanwhile, small amount of rutile phases like rutile nanowires, twin crystallites, and the "flowers" appeared continuously when the concentration increased from 3 g/L to 5 g/L. Mono-dispersion was obtained with relatively lower PEG concentration. The observed evolvement was discussed based on the interaction between the polymers and the nanocrystallites with assistance of FTIR. The coverage of polymer chains on surface of nanocrystallites leads to isolated reactors, which benefits the uniform coarsening rate of the nanocrystallites. The synthesized TiO(2) sols were utilized in dye sensitized solar cells. Performance parameters of the solar cells were discussed with assistance of dye desorption experiments. The improved dispersion in sols was found to benefit the photovoltaic performance of the cells.

[Influence of nitrogen doping on electron structure and optical properties of amorphous carbon thin films].

Nitrogen doped amorphous carbon (a-C : N) thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering. The films were investigated by AES, UV-Vis and ellipsometer. A parameter 'D' defined as the distance between the maximum of positive going excursion and the minimum of negative going excursion was calculated in the derivative AES spectra. The values of 'D' were used to calculate the percentage of sp2 hybrid bonds. The optical transmission and the optical band gap of the films were characterized by an UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that the optical band gap decreased and then increased with the increase of N2 gas source. The transmission and refractive index changed in reverse order. It was demonstrated that the thin film with low percentage of nitrogen was beneficial to the formation of sp3 hybrid bonds and caused the optical band gap of the thin film to increase. As a result, the thin film should be prepared under low percentage of nitrogen pressure to ensure that it possesses fine optical properties.