Search results for "electrolyte"

ChemInform Abstract: Photoelectrochemical Characterization of Thin Anodic Oxide Films on Zirconium Metal.

2010

Abstract The effect of metal surface preparation on the properties of thin oxide films grown on zirconium in different electrolytes was investigated by photocurrent spectroscopy. Both passive layers grown by free corrosion of the samples in a solution and thin oxides grown anodically at a constant rate were investigated. The photoelectrochemical results give a complex picture of the interface, being influenced by the metal surface preparation, the solution pH and the electrode potential. A duplex structure of the films has been suggested on the basis of the photocurrent spectra, with an external hydrous layer (amorphous or strongly defective) having an optical gap ( E g 2 ~ 3 eV) lower resp…

Amorphous semiconductor-electrolyte junction

1987

Abstract The photoelectrochemical behaviour of amorphous anodic films on niobium (a-Nb 2 O 5 ) grown in a wide range of thicknesses (20 ⩽ d ox ⩽ 25 nm) is presented. The influence of the wavelength, light intensity and film thickness on the photocharacteristics of the a-Nb 2 O 5 /electrolyte junction is investigated. Expressions for the photocurrent curves under steady-state conditions are derived by assuming a variable efficiency of photocarrier generation and different distributions of the electrical potential inside the amorphous films. The influence of the light intensity on the photocharacteristics and the existence of a sub-band-gap photoresponse are explained by assuming a finite den…

Electrochemical Growth and Physico-Chemical Characterization in Organic Medium of Nb2O5 Thin Films

2008

Investigations about the energetics and the electrical properties of niobium thin film, electrochemically grown, were performed in an organic solution of acetonitrile and lithium perchlorate. The study of the energetics of the Nb2O5/organic solution interface was performed by means of a non-destructive optical technique, photocurrent spectroscopy. By means of this technique, it was possible estimating the value of the flat band potential and locating conduction and valence band. A more cathodic value of flat band potential in respect with acidic solution was found in organic medium. From impedance spectra, the electrical circuit that gives best fitting values is constituted by two resistanc…

Computer simulations of single particles in external electric fields

2015

Applying electric fields is an attractive way to control and manipulate single particles or molecules, e.g., in lab-on-a-chip devices. However, the response of nanosize objects in electrolyte solution to external fields is far from trivial. It is the result of a variety of dynamical processes taking place in the ion cloud surrounding charged particles and in the bulk electrolyte, and it is governed by an intricate interplay of electrostatic and hydrodynamic interactions. Already systems composed of one single particle in electrolyte solution exhibit a complex dynamical behaviour. In this review, we discuss recent coarse-grained simulations that have been performed to obtain a molecular-leve…

2017

Micro-fluidic pumps as well as artificial micro-swimmers are conveniently realized exploiting phoretic solvent flows based on local gradients of temperature, electrolyte concentration or pH. We here present a facile micro-photometric method for monitoring pH gradients and demonstrate its performance and scope on different experimental situations including an electro-osmotic pump and modular micro-swimmers assembled from ion exchange resin beads and polystyrene colloids. In combination with the present microscope and DSLR camera our method offers a 2 \mu m spatial resolution at video frame rate over a field of view of 3920x2602 \mu m^2. Under optimal conditions we achieve a pH-resolution of …

Elucidation of constant current density molecular plating

2012

Abstract The production of thin layers by means of constant current or constant voltage electrolysis in organic media is commonly known as molecular plating. Despite the fact that this method has been applied for decades and is known to be among the most efficient ones for obtaining quantitative deposition, a full elucidation of the molecular plating is still lacking. In order to get a general understanding of the process and hence set the basis for further improvements of the method, constant current density electrolysis experiments were carried out in a mixture of isopropanol and isobutanol containing millimolar amounts of HNO 3 together with [Nd(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O] used as a model electrol…

Converting external potential fluctuations into nonzero time-average electric currents using a single nanopore

2015

The possibility of taking advantage of a fluctuating environment for energy and information transduction is a significant challenge in biological and artificial nanostructures. We demonstrate here directional electrical transduction from fluctuating external signals using a single nanopore of conical shape immersed in an ionic aqueous solution. To this end, we characterize experimentally the average output currents obtained by the electrical rectification of zero time-average input potentials. The transformation of external potential fluctuations into nonzero time-average responses using a single nanopore in liquid state is of fundamental significance for biology and nanophysics. This energ…

Micelles of polyisobutylene-block-poly(methacrylic acid) diblock copolymers and their water-soluble interpolyelectrolyte complexes formed with quater…

2004

The micellization of ionic amphiphilic diblock copolymers, polyisobutylene-block-poly(methacrylic acid) (PIB-b-PMAA), with a constant degree of polymerization of the non-ionic block ðDPn ¼ 20Þ and various degrees of polymerization of the polyelectrolyte block ðDPn ¼ 100 – 425Þ was examined in aqueous media by means of fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene as a polarity probe. The molar values of the critical micellization concentration (cmc) were found to be around 2 £ 10 26 mol/l, being nearly independent of the length of the polyelectrolyte block as well as pH (in the range 6 – 9) and ionic strength (# 0.5 M NaCl) while the specific cmc values varied from 20 to 100 mg/l. Small-angle neut…

1990

It is shown that the block-like structure of the polyampholyte poly(methacrylic acid)-block-poly(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium chloride) considerably influences its conformational behaviour. This specific behaviour is explained by the formation of intra-macromolecular polyelectrolyte complexes stabilized by cooperative ionic contacts between acidic and basic units near the isoelectric point (i. e. p.). The structure of the block-polyampholyte at the i. e. p. is suggested to be close to the structure of non-stoichiometric polyelectrolyte complexes. The complex formation ability of the block-polyampholyte with respect to anionic, cationic, and nonionic polymers is also studied. By means of poten…

Hyperbranched polyethylenimines as versatile precursors for the preparation of different type of unimolecular micelles

2007

Abstract Hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) was successfully employed as precursor for the preparation of unimolecular inverted and aqueous micelles. The unimolecular inverted micelles (UIMs) obtained by the amidation of HPEI with 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) activated palmitic acid exhibited high encapsulation efficiency for hydrophilic anionic dyes and the efficiency could be enhanced significantly by decreasing the degree of amidation or quaternizing the residual amines. The weight ratio of loaded guests to the amidated HPEIs was not dependent on the molecular weight of HPEI core when the degree of amidation was kept constant. Decreasing the length of the aliphatic chain from 16 to …