National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Significant differences are reported for the IR spectra of poly[(2,5-bisoctyloy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene] (BO-PPV) recorded onto the KBr, Ag and Au supports. In this work, a decrease in the absorbance of the IR spectra of the BO-PPV films deposited onto Au and Ag supports as increasing the macromolecular compound film thickness is reported. A preferential orientation of the BO-PPV molecules and its composite with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) versus metallic supports of Ag and Au is assessed using the IR absorption spectroscopy under s and p polarized light. An anti-Stokes photoluminescence (ASPL) is reported to characterize the BO-PPV macromolecular compound. The BO-PPV ASPL spectra intensity dependent both of the thickness of the macromolecular compound layer deposited onto the metallic supports and the SWNTs weight in the BO-PPV/SWNTs composite mass. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This paper relates to a method for the preparation of lead acetate film and its use as precursor for twostep solution deposition of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite film. For the preparation of perovskite film, lead acetate was used both in the form of trihydrate and dehydrated. The effects of lead acetate trihydrate dehydration on the structure of the resulted perovskite films were studied. The prepared perovskite films which consist of cuboid grains, show high surface coverage both on FTO and TiO2 substrates. XRD measurements have not revealed the presence of the PbI2 contaminant in perovskite film. Solvent vapor annealing method was employed to prepare perovskite film that contains lead iodide. Using impedance spectroscopy measurements, we further evaluated the influence of the prepared perovskite films on the performance of the photovoltaic devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The enhancement of the Raman scattering in Cs3Bi2I9 is evaluated by the ratio I-T/I-300K between the relative intensities of the Raman line peaked at 146cm(-1), when the spectra are recorded in the temperature range of 88-300K, as a signature of exciton-phonon interactions. In the resonant and nonresonant conditions, excitation wavelengths 476, 561, and 660nm, respectively, are used in order to overlap with great accuracy the bands disclosed by diffuse reflection, photoconductivity (PC), photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra. Based on the experimental analyses, the strength of exciton-phonon interaction is dependent on the defects in the crystal and the type-range interaction of the excitations in an independent Bi2I93- cluster. The noticeable PL band, attributed to excitons trapped on different stacking faults, manifests some defects in crystal that diminish the movement of excitons. This effect significantly decreases the overlaps of excitons with the phonons, resulting in a reduced exciton-phonon coupling.

In this paper the influence of the heat treatment on the structural and optical properties of oxide single layer and multilayer transparent thin film structures of ITO/Au/ITO, AZO/Au/AZO, TiO2/Au/TiO2 and Bi2O3/Au/Bi2O3 type is studied. The single-layer oxides and respective multilayer structures have been deposited on glass substrates by successive DC magnetron sputtering using metallic targets ln:Sn, Zn:Al, Ti and Bi, in reactive (for the oxide films) or inert (for the metallic Au interlayer films) atmosphere. Good quality transparent conducting thin film structures have been obtained, with resistivity similar to 10(-4) Omega cm and transmittance similar to 75%. The wetting surface properties in function of time exposure at UV radiation (254 nm) have been also studied before and after heat treatment performed at 450 degrees C. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We present a comparative study between the properties of Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped LiYF4 thin films obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and matrix-assisted pulsed evaporation (MAPLE) growth techniques, respectively. We performed structural, morphological, and optical analyses in order to draw a conclusion about the potential of MAPLE as a growth technique used for the obtaining of RE-doped fluoride thin films having up-conversion properties. For both techniques the surface morphology is typical for laser processed thin films of RE-doped fluorides, with roughness values of the order of few hundreds of nanometers and a higher density of defects in the sample obtained by MAPLE. Up-conversion properties do not exhibit major differences between the thin film samples and the pressed target. Under 980 nm laser light pumping, both Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped LiYF4 thin film samples, obtained by PLD and MAPLE, show green ((H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2)) -> I-4(15/2)) and red (F-4(9/2) -> I-4(15/2)) up-conversion luminescence explained by a two-photon processes. Therefore MAPLE is a viable growth technique for the fundamental study of RE-doped fluoride thin films and their respective functional properties. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New composite materials based on single-walled carbon nanotubes effectively separated into semiconducting (S-SWNTs) and metallic tubes (M-SWNTs) and poly(ortho-phenylenevinylene) (POPV) were synthesized by the electrochemical polymerization of the alpha,alpha,alpha',alpha',-tetrabromo-o-xylene monomer onto the surface of Au supports covered with carbon nanotubes films. Using FTIR spectroscopy, an increase of the quinoid structure weight is highlighted when a charge transfer is induced to take place between the two constituents of the POPV/S-SWNT composite material. In addition, a down-shift of the Raman line belonging to POPV (from 530 cm-(1) to 515 cm(-1)), which was accoinpanied by an increase in relative peak intensity, is reported as a result of steric hindrance effects induced by the covalent bonding of POPV onto the S-SWNT surface. The non-covalent functionalization of M-SWNTs with POPV is demonstrated to occur by Raman scattering and FTIR spectroscopy. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of POPV exhibits two bands at 2.82 and 2.25 eV, which were assigned to the electronic emission transitions of macromolecular chains having 3 and 7-10 repeating units, respectively. We demonstrate that POPV photoluminescence quenching in the presence of M + S-SWNTs, M-SWNTs and S-SWNTs is achieved by tubes with chirality (14,7), (12,10) and (11,9), respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The performance of the poly(2, 2'-bithiophene-co-pyrene) copolymer doped with bis(2-ethyl hexyl) sulfosuccinate sodium (AOT) anions [(PBTh-Py)(+)AOT(-)] and its composite with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) [(PBTh-Py)(+)AOT(-)/SWNTs] as active materials for the electrodes of symmetrical supercapacitors is demonstrated in this work. Using cyclic voltammetry, the influence of the electrolyte concentration and the different cations on the oxidation and reduction processes at the electrolyte/electrode interface is reported. Using charge-discharge galvanostatic measurements in the case of the symmetrical-supercapacitors having as electrode active materials, the (PBTh-Py)(+)AOT(-) copolymer and the (PBTh-Py)(+)AOT(-)/SWNTs composite, values of the specific capacitance equal with 11.5 and 59 F g(-1), respectively, for current densities of 100 mA g(-1), were reported.

In this paper, the interaction of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) highly separated in metallic (M) and semiconducting (S) tubes is studied by resonant Raman scattering and FTIR spectroscopy. In this order, the PVDF/SWNTs membranes were prepared by the evaporation of dimethylformamide (DMF) from PVDF solutions containing i) the as-prepared SWNTs samples, i.e., as mixtures of metallic (33%) and semiconducting (66%) tubes (M + S-SWNTs), ii) SWNTs highly separated in metallic tubes (98%, M-SWNTs), and iii) SWNTs highly separated in semiconducting tubes (99%, S-SWNTs). An increase in the PVDF beta phase weight, highlighted by the increase in the absorbance of IR band at 843 cm(-1), is reported to take place in the presence of M + S-SWNTs and S-SWNTs. An increase of the PVDF gamma crystalline phase weight is reported for the PVDF/M + S-SWNTs, PVDF/M-SWNTs and PVDF/S-SWNTs membranes. Using Raman scattering, a donor-acceptor interaction is invoked to take place at the interface PVDF/M + S-SWNTs and PVDF/S-SWNTs. In the case of the membranes based on PVDF and M-SWNTs, the changes reported in Raman spectra of the two constituents are explained on the base induction-interaction forces between the permanent dipole of PVDF and induced dipole of M-SWNTs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Raman enhancement in a layered structure of Bib was studied under optical excitation near the edge of the fundamental absorption band. This phenomenon simultaneously appears at a low temperature with the generation of the excitonic photoluminescence (PL) band, unequally across the Raman spectrum, i.e. in the Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman branches, being dependent on the superposition of the excitation laser line to the excitonic emission band. Performed with the use of different resonant laser light excitations, this effect is regarded as a signature of the exciton-phonon interaction, which is interpreted in terms of a stimulated Raman scattering process (SRS), resulting from the mixing inside of the sample to two optical fields, the pump laser light and the excitonic PL light. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Un-doped and Tb3+-doped calcium and strontium aluminates (CaAl2O4, CaAl2O4:Tb3+, SrAl2O4, SrAl2O4: Tb3+) were synthesized by a new soft chemical method the precursor route via the thermal decomposition of tartarate compounds. The complex precursors have been characterized by elemental chemical analysis, infrared spectroScopy (IR), luminescence spectroscopy and thermal analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), IR and Raman spectroscopy (RS) were used for the structural and morphological characterization of un-doped and doped alkaline-earth aluminate powders. Photoluminescence (PL) and Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of the aluminates were also investigated. The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of low-temperature structures: hexagonal structure for CaAl2O4 and monoclinic structure for SrAl2O4, with average crystallite size of 64 nm and 46 nm for CaAl2O4 and SrAl2O4, respectively. Microstructural analysis by SEM showed the homogeneous microstructure and fine particle size of the powder obtained by precursor method. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.