| 1. |
- Hohn, Nuri, et al.
(författare)
-
Impact of Catalytic Additive on Spray Deposited and Nanoporous Titania in Films Observed via in Situ X-ray Scattering : Implications for hanced Photovoltaics
- 2018
-
Ingår i: ACS Applied Nano Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2574-0970. ; 1:8, s. 4227-4235
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the aim of obtaining nanostructured titania thin films for the tential use in hybrid or dye sensitized solar cells, the amphiphilic block copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) is employed as a ructure directing template in combination with solgel chemistry. For sy upscaling, spraying is used as a deposition technique. In situ azing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) measurements are rformed during spraying and show that most titania structures are ready formed within the solution prior to deposition. However, ructural rearrangement is enabled during the deposition period when all amounts of hydrochloric acid (HCl) are used as a catalytic ditive to the spray solution. This behavior is ascribed to an altering the reaction dynamics and phase separation in the presence of HCl, ich significantly improves the templating effect of the employed block copolymer. With HCl as an additive the final nanoscale rphologies exhibit smaller pore sizes and strongly enhanced order as mpared to thin films sprayed from solutions that do not contain HCl as antified with atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, d GISAXS.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ohm, Wiebke, et al.
(författare)
-
Morphological properties of airbrush spray-deposited enzymatic cellulose thin films
- 2018
-
Ingår i: JOURNAL OF COATINGS TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH. - : Springer. - 1945-9645 .- 1547-0091 .- 1935-3804. ; 15:4, s. 759-769
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the layer formation of enzymatic cellulose by airbrush spray coating on silicon oxide surfaces. The layer structure and morphology of enzymatic cellulose films in the thickness range between 86 nm and 2.1 A mu m is determined as a function of the spray coating procedures. For each spray coating step, layer buildup, surface topography, crystallinity as well as the nanoscale structure are probed with atomic force microscopy and surface-sensitive X-ray scattering methods. Without intermittent drying, the film thickness saturates; with intermittent drying, a linear increase in layer thickness with the number of spray pulses is observed. A closed cellulose layer was always observed. The crystallinity remains unchanged; the nanoscale structures show three distinct sizes. Our results indicate that the smallest building blocks increasingly contribute to the morphology inside the cellulose network for thicker films, showing the importance of tailoring the cellulose nanofibrils. For a layer-by-layer coating, intermittent drying is mandatory.
|
|
| 3. |
- Wang, Kun, et al.
(författare)
-
Comparison of UV Irradiation and Sintering on Mesoporous Spongelike ZnO lms Prepared from PS-b-P4VP Templated Sol-Gel Synthesis
- 2018
-
Ingår i: ACS Applied Nano Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2574-0970. ; 1:12, s. 7139-7148
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mesoporous ZnO films with large surface-area-to-volume ratio show great omise in multiple applications, among which solid-state dye-sensitized lar cells (ssDSSCs) have attracted great attention in the field of otovoltaics. An appropriate mesopore size in the nanostructured ZnO lms significantly plays an indispensable role in improving the device ficiency that resulted from an efficient penetration of dye molecules d solid hole transport material. In the present work, mesoporous ongelike ZnO films are prepared using sol-gel synthesis templated by a block copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine). Two different mplate removal techniques, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and gh-temperature sintering, are used to compare their respective impact the pore sizes of the final ZnO thin films. Both the surface rphology and the inner morphology show that mesopores obtained via UV radiation are smaller as compared to their sintered counterparts. reover, increasing the template-to-ZnO precursor ratio is found to rther enlarge present mesopores. Accordingly, a strong correlation tween the pore sizes of sol-gel synthesized ZnO films and photovoltaic rformance of fabricated ssDSSCs is demonstrated. In contrast with the vices fabricated from the UV-irradiated ZnO films, those obtained from ntered samples show >2 times higher efficiency.
|
|
| 4. |
- Wang, Kun, et al.
(författare)
-
Tuning of the Morphology and Optoelectronic Properties of ZnO/P3HT/P3HT-b-PEO Hybrid Films via Spray Deposition Method
- 2018
-
Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 10:24, s. 20569-20577
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The self-assembly of amphiphilic diblock copolymers yields the possibility of using them as a template for tailoring the film morphologies of solgel chemistry-derived inorganic electron transport materials, such as mesoporous ZnO and TiO2. However, additional steps including etching and backfilling are required for the common bulk heterojunction fabrication process when using insulating diblock copolymers. Here, we use the conducting diblock copolymer poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (P3HT-b-PEO) in which P3HT acts as charge carrier transport material and light absorber, whereas PEO serves as a template for ZnO synthesis. The initial solution is subsequently spray-coated to obtain the hybrid film. Scanning electron microscopy and grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal a significant change in the morphology of the hybrid films during deposition. Optoelectronic properties illustrate the improved charge separation and charge transfer process. Both the amount of the diblock copolymer and the annealing temperature play an important role in tuning the morphology and the optoelectronic properties. Hybrid films being sprayed from a solution with the ratio of omega(ZnO), omega(P3HT), and omega(P3HT-b-PEO) of 2:1:1 and subsequent annealing at 80 degrees C show the most promising morphology combined with an optimal photoluminescence quenching. Thus, the presented simple, reagent- and energy-saving fabrication method provides a promising approach for a large-scale preparation of bulk heterojunction P3HT/ZnO films on flexible substrates.
|
|
| 5. |
- Xia, Senlin, et al.
(författare)
-
Magnetic nanoparticle-containing soft-hard diblock copolymer films with high order
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Nanoscale. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 2040-3364 .- 2040-3372. ; 10:25, s. 11930-11941
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For sensor applications, superparamagnetic anisotropy is an indispensable property, which is typically achieved by employing an external field to guide the arrangement of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs). In the present investigation, the diblock copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PS-b-PNIPAM) is printed as a template to localize magnetic iron oxide NPs without any external field. Via microphase separation, cylindrical nanostructures of PS in a PNIPAM matrix are obtained, aligned perpendicular to the substrate. Since the magnetite NPs (Fe3O4) are functionalized with hydrophobic organic chains showing affinity to the PS blocks, they can selectively aggregate inside the PS cylinders. Moreover, solvent vapor annealing allows the achievement of nanostructures inside the hybrid system with a very high order, even at a high NP loading. Therefore, NPs can accumulate within PS domains to form perpendicularly aligned aggregates with high periodicity. The magnetic properties of the hybrid films are determined at various temperatures in two orthogonal directions (with PS cylinders vertical and parallel to the applied magnetic field). All hybrid films show superparamagnetism and a remarkable magnetic anisotropy is achieved at certain NP concentrations. This investigation shows a facile route to prepare superparamagnetic films with magnetic anisotropy and offers a novel possibility to future magnetic sensor fabrication.
|
|
| 6. |
- Zhong, Qi, et al.
(författare)
-
Effect of chain architecture on the swelling and thermal response of star-shaped thermo-responsive (poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-polystyrene)(3) block copolymer films
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Soft Matter. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1744-683X .- 1744-6848. ; 14:31, s. 6582-6594
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of chain architecture on the swelling and thermal response of thin films obtained from an amphiphilic three-arm star-shaped thermo-responsive block copolymer poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-polystyrene ((PMDEGA-b-PS)(3)) is investigated by in situ neutron reflectivity (NR) measurements. The PMDEGA and PS blocks are micro-phase separated with randomly distributed PS nanodomains. The (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films show a transition temperature (TT) at 33 degrees C in white light interferometry. The swelling capability of the (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films in a D2O vapor atmosphere is better than that of films from linear PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS triblock copolymers, which can be attributed to the hydrophilic end groups and limited size of the PS blocks in (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3). However, the swelling kinetics of the as-prepared (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films and the response of the swollen film to a temperature change above the TT are significantly slower than that in the PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS films, which may be related to the conformation restriction by the star-shape. Unlike in the PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS films, the amount of residual D2O in the collapsed (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films depends on the final temperature. It decreases from (9.7 +/- 0.3)% to (7.0 +/- 0.3)% or (6.0 +/- 0.3)% when the final temperatures are set to 35 degrees C, 45 degrees C and 50 degrees C, respectively. This temperature-dependent reduction of embedded D2O originates from the hindrance of chain conformation from the star-shaped chain architecture.
|
|
