National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

The growth of electrical transportation is crucially important to mitigate rising climate change concerns regarding materials supply. Supercapacitors are high-power devices, particularly suitable for public transportation since they can easily store breaking energy due to their high-rate charging ability. Additionally, they can function with two carbon electrodes, which is an advantage due to the abundance of carbon in biomass and other waste materials (i.e., plastic waste). Newly developed supercapacitive nanocarbons display extremely narrow micropores (0.8 nm), as it increases drastically the capacitance in aqueous electrolytes. Here, we present a strategy to produce low-cost flexible microporous electrodes with extremely high power density (100 kW kg(-1)), using fourty times less activating agent than traditionnal chemically activated carbons. We also demonstrate that the affinity between the carbon and the electrolyte is of paramount importance to maintain rapid ionic diffusion in narrow micropores. Finally, this facile synthesis method shows that low-cost and bio-based free-standing electrode materials with reliable supercapacitive performances can be used in electrochemistry. (C) 2020 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

The discovery of ferroelectricity in doped HfO2 represents an excellent opportunity to overcome the obstacles in manufacturing reliable ferroelectric field effect transistors (FeFET) for nonvolatile memory applications, considering that HfO2 is compatible with Si and Ge and it is already used in semiconductor industry. The presence of interface defects may have detrimental effects on the operation of FeFETs, so their role is systematically investigated in this study in correlation with the substrate doping. Metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) structures are fabricated by depositing Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) layers on n-type Ge substrate. Their electric properties are compared with those of MFS structures obtained by depositing HZO on p-type Ge, to study the influence of the doping. It is found that, although the ferroelectric properties of HZO are similar, the capacitance and impedance of the MFS structures behave differently. For n-Ge, the occupation probability of a large number of low-lying interface defect acceptor states, charges the interface negatively which adversely affects the C-V response of the MFS, albeit without harming the ferroelectric (P-V) hysteresis. Although the interface defects do not harm ferroelectricity, they could inhibit inversion in p-type Ge or accumulation in n-type Ge so they should be taken into account when designing Ge FeFET devices.

A novel hybrid composite of conductive poly(methylene blue) (PMB) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) was prepared for the detection of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA). Electrosynthesis of PMB with glassy carbon electrode (GCE) or with carbon nanotube modified GCE was done in ethaline deep eutectic solvent of choline chloride mixed with ethylene glycol and a 10% v/v aqueous solution. Different sensor architectures were evaluated in a broad range of pH values in a Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer using electrochemical techniques, chronoamperometry (CA), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), to determine the optimum sensor configuration for 5-ASA sensing. Under optimal conditions, the best analytical performance was obtained with CNT/PMBDES/GCE in 0.04 M BR buffer pH 7.0 in the range 5-100 mu M 5-ASA using the DPV method, with an excellent sensitivity of 9.84 mu A cm(-2) mu M-1 (4.9 % RSD, n = 5) and a detection limit (LOD) (3 sigma/slope) of 7.7 nM, outclassing most similar sensors found in the literature. The sensitivity of the same sensor obtained in CA (1.33 mu A cm(-2) mu M-1) under optimal conditions (pH 7.0, E-app = +0.40 V) was lower than that obtained by DPV. Simultaneous detection of 5-ASA and its analogue, acetaminophen (APAP), was successfully realized, showing a catalytic effect towards the electro-oxidation of both analytes, lowering their oxidation overpotential, and enhancing the oxidation peak currents and peak-to-peak separation as compared with the unmodified electrode. The proposed method is simple, sensitive, easy to apply, and economical for routine analysis.

It is known that iron is found as a trace element in bone tissue, the main inorganic constituent of which is hydroxyapatite. Therefore, iron-doped hydroxyapatite (HApFe) materials could be new alternatives for many biomedical applications. A facile dip coating process was used to elaborate the iron-doped hydroxyapatite (HApFe) nanocomposite coatings. The HApFe suspension used to prepare the coatings was achieved using a co-precipitation method, which was adapted in the laboratory. The quality of the HApFe suspension was assessed through dynamic light scattering (DLS), ultrasonic measurements, and zeta potential values. The hydroxyapatite XRD patterns were observed in the HApFe nanocomposite with no significant shifting of peak positions, thus suggesting that the incorporation of iron did not significantly modify the hydroxyapatite structure. The morphology of the HApFe nanoparticles was evaluated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used in order to investigate the morphologies of HApFe particles and coatings, while their chemical compositions were assessed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The SEM results suggested that the HApFe consists mainly of spherical nanometric particles and that the surfaces of the coatings are continuous and homogeneous. Additionally, the EDS spectra highlighted the purity of the samples and confirmed the presence of calcium, phosphorous, and iron in the analyzed sample. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the HApFe suspensions and coatings was evidenced using osteoblast cells. The MTT assay showed that both the HApFe suspensions and coatings exhibited biocompatible properties.

A new method to obtain poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) spheres, which consists of an interaction between commercial PVC grains and hexyl ethyl cellulose and lauroyl peroxide at a temperature of 60 degrees C, is reported. The addition of the graphene oxide (GO) sheets dispersed in dimethylformamide to the reaction mixture leads to the generation of composites made of PVC spheres coated with GO sheets. Scanning electron microscopy studies have demonstrated that this method allows for the transformation of PVC grains with sizes between 75 and 227 mu m into spheres with sizes varying from 0.7 to 3.5 mu m when the GO concentration in the PVC/GO composite mass increases from 0.5 to 5 wt.%. Our studies of Raman scattering and FTIR spectroscopy highlight a series of changes that indicate the appearance of ClCH=CH-, CH2=CCl-, and/or -CH=CCl- units as a result of PVC partial dehydrogenation. New -COO- and C-OH bonds on the GO sheet surfaces are induced during the preparation of PVC spheres coated with GO sheets. A photoluminescence (PL) band with a maximum at 325 nm is reported to characterize the PVC spheres. A PVC PL quenching process is demonstrated to be induced by the increase in the concentration of the GO sheets in the PVC/GO composite mass. The perspectives regarding the use of this composite as a flame-retardant material are also reported.

A hybrid direct current magnetron sputtering/high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (DCMS/HiPIMS) technique was used to improve the structural and electrical properties of single-crystal titanium carbide (TiC) thin films. The hetero-epitaxial TiC films, similar to 60 nm thick, were grown on MgO (001) substrates at temperatures ranging from 200 degrees C to 800 degrees C, by co-sputtering of Ti and C targets powered by DCMS and HiPIMS, respectively. Films' composition and the structural, morphological, and electrical properties were comparatively investigated to those of a set of samples deposited at same temperatures by reactive-DCMS (R-DCMS) in Ar/CH4 atmosphere. The composition and the FWHM of rocking curves of the films deposited by R-DCMS varied from TiC0.84 to TiC0.94 and from 1.38 degrees to 0.64 degrees, respectively, as the growth temperature increased. TiC0.94 - TiC0.96 layers were deposited by hybrid DCMS/HiPIMS method at temperatures higher than 400 degrees C, fully strained over their full thickness, with FWHM of rocking curves of about 0.13 degrees. Electrical resistivity values measured for these films were of about 155 mu Omega cm, significantly close to those corresponding to bulk TiC0.95 single crystals. The resistivity of R-DCMS films is higher by 6% to 23% in comparison with that of the DCMS/HiPIMS grown samples, depending on the growth temperature.

The investigation of the effect of carbon nanomaterials and lipids on the aggregation particularities of the amyloid beta/A beta(1-42) layers is important for understanding the generation mechanism of neuronal disorder and how it can be inhibited. Additionally, amyloids are nanomaterials with a wide area of potential applications from nanotechnology to biotechnology. This paper presents a study about the preparation of A beta(1-42) layer by two different methods, Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) and drop cast (DC), on Si and Si covered by a layer of Buckminster fullerene, C-60, and on the effect of fullerene layer or/and cholesterol (Ch) on the generation of A beta(1-42) secondary structure forms, relevant for specific applications. AFM, SEM FTIR and Raman analysis offered details about the layer surface topography, morphology and particularities of the secondary structure generated in the process of A beta(1-42) molecules aggregation. This study showed that the presence of Ch inhibited the formation of fibrils in A beta(1-42) film deposited by L-B on Si covered by C-60 The structures developed during aggregation were correlated with the topography and roughness of the films. The presence of Ch determined a decrease in roughness for L-B film and increase in roughness for DC film deposited on Si covered by C-60 layer.

We investigate topological and disorder effects in non-Hermitian systems with chiral symmetry. The system under consideration consists in a finite Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain to which two semi-infinite leads are attached. The system lacks the parity-time and time-reversal symmetries and is appropriate for the study of quantum transport properties. The complex energy spectrum is analyzed in terms of the chain-lead coupling and chiral disorder strength, and shows substantial differences between chains with even and odd number of sites. The mid-gap edge states acquire a finite lifetime and are both of topological origin or generated by a strong coupling to the leads. The disorder induces coalescence of the topological eigenvalues, associated with exceptional points and vanishing of the eigenfunction rigidity. The electron transmission coefficient is approached in the Landauer formalism, and an analytical expression for the transmission in the range of topological states is obtained. Notably, the chiral disorder in this non-Hermitian system induces unitary conductance enhancement in the topological phase. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Despite extensive studies on lanthanide (Ln) doped TiO2 nanoparticles, there is still considerable uncertainty as to whether Ln reside in the bulk (either as substitutional or interstitial dopant) or on the surface. Herein, new Ln (Eu, Sm, Nd and Er) discrete substitutional centers are identified in the anatase phase using low temperature, site selective time-gated luminescence spectroscopy. The excitation wavelength spanned UV (TiO2 host absorption) to visible excitation range into Ln f-f absorption transitions. The Ln multisite distribution is described in terms of fingerprint emission/excitation spectra and emission decays. The emission of Ln centers cover the visible (Eu, Sm) to near-infrared range (Nd, Er) and display narrow emission with full width at half maximum (FWHM) as small as 0.2 nm. The role of TiO2 host in sensitization of Ln emission is emphasized for each center. We have also found that besides discrete distribution, Ln distribute continuously on closely related anatase lattice sites. In this case, the Ln emission is significantly broader, with FWHM around 20 nm and change continuously in spectral shape and intensity with the excitation wavelength. The challenges encountered while identifying the Ln centers in TiO2 and comparison with case of CeO2 and SnO2 are also discussed. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Operation of a magnetron sputtering gas aggregation cluster source in a plasma jet regime is presented. In specific experimental conditions, the plasma extends from the inside of the cluster source in the deposition chamber as a plasma jet, transporting also the nanoparticles (NPs) produced in the cluster source. The chemistry of the NP surface is modified in-flight by injecting a chemical precursor in the plasma jet, resulting in core-shell NPs. Also, the plasma jet presents a low gas temperature, safely interacting with materials sensitive to thermal degradation (like polymers). These findings prove the potential of the presented plasma jet for applications in nanotechnology.