Search results for "interfaces"
showing 10 items of 1258 documents
High Fluorescence of Thioflavin T Confined in Mesoporous Silica Xerogels
2013
Trapping of organic molecules and dyes within nanoporous matrices is of great interest for the potential creation of new materials with tailored features and, thus, different possible applications ranging from nanomedicine to material science. The understanding of the physical basis of entrapment and the spectral properties of the guest molecules within the host matrix is an essential prerequisite for the design and control of the properties of these materials. In this work, we show that a mesoporous silica xerogel can efficiently trap the dye thioflavin T (ThT, a molecule used as a marker of amyloid fibrils and with potential drug benefits), sequestering it from an aqueous solution and pro…
Advanced fragmentation stage of oxide coating on polymer substrate under biaxial tension
2005
Crack patterns of 100-nm-thick silicon oxide coating on polypropylene film subjected to equibiaxial stress loading are studied experimentally. The loading is achieved by means of a bulging cell mounted under an optical microscope with stepwise pressurization of film specimens. The evolution of the coating fragment area distribution at relatively high strains is modeled using Weibull statistics to describe the coating strength. The fragment area distribution at an advanced fragmentation stage is shown to scale with the average fragment area, the latter being a power function of the applied biaxial strain.
Molecular dynamics simulation of epitaxial growth of the Si(001) surface
1988
Abstract Molecular beam epitaxy on a Si(100) substrate has been studied using a molecular dynamics method with the Stillinger-Weber model potential. At high substrate temperature, 800 K, well ordered crystalline layers are found to grow underneath an amorphous overlayer of approximately 5 A thick. A limiting temperature for epitaxial growth is found to be 480 K, below which the growth does not produce ordered layers. When the sample deposited below 480 K is heated up to 800 K and the deposition is started again the original adatoms start to form ordered atomic layers. Thus the collisions of the deposited atoms in addition to the substrate temperature seem to play an essential role in the gr…
The spatial distribution of non-linear effects in multi-photon photoemission from metallic adsorbates on Si(1 1 1)
2001
Multi-photon excitations from thin metallic films on silicon substrates have been observed utilising photoemission electron microscopy. The photoelectrons have been excited by means of high power femtosecond laser pulses with a photon energy below the work function threshold. The strong spatial variations of the non-linear effects became directly visible in electron emission from the adsorbed thin films. Centres of enhanced photoelectron yield, so-called hot spots, were observed on the surfaces of various samples. The multi-photon electron yield of the metallic films (permalloy and lead) depends strongly on the sample topography and the photon polarisation.
Photoelectron lifetime determination of Ag(1 1 1) films at the Fermi surface
2001
The electronic properties of 10 monolayers Ag(111) films deposited onto Si(111)-7 x 7 substrates at room temperature have been studied by scanning the photoelectron intensity at the Fermi level in different symmetry directions. The main features observed in these profiles correspond to Lorentzian-like peaks produced by the pass of the sp band through the Fermi level. A simple model has been developed, which connects the photoemission peak linewidth with the lifetime of photoelectrons excited from the Fermi level. The obtained inverse photoelectron lifetime values have been found to be in excellent agreement with the typical values of the Ag single crystals. These results support the fact th…
Structural and in situ vibrational study of luminescent cluster assembled silicon thin films
2006
A Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition apparatus is employed to produce cluster assembled silicon thin films (1-500 nm thick) by using a laser vaporization source. The generated clusters are studied since their formation through time of flight mass spectra and the calculated size in the gas phase are compared with those of the deposited aggregates obtained through Dynamic Scanning Force Microscopy. The deposited material is also studied "in situ" by Raman and infrared spectroscopy. The spectra reveal that the as deposited clusters are hydrogenated with negligible amount of oxide. A comparison of the film properties before and after their air exposure shows that the exposition induces a consis…
Changes in surface stress, morphology and chemical composition of silica and silicon nitride surfaces during the etching by gaseous HF acid
2007
Abstract HF acid attack of SiO2 and Si3N4 substrates is analyzed to improve the sensitivity of a sensor based on microcantilever. Ex situ analysis of the etching using XPS, SIMS and AFM show significant changes in the anisotropy and the rate of the etching of the oxides on SiO2 and Si3N4 surface. Those differences influence the kinetic evolution of the plastic bending deflection of the cantilever coated with SiO2 and Si3N4 layer, respectively. The linear dependence between the HF concentration and the Si3N4 cantilever bending corresponds to a deep attack of the layer whereas the non-linear behavior observed for SiO2 layer can be explained by a combination of deep and lateral etching. The ca…
Organic Monolayers by B(C6F5)3-Catalyzed Siloxanation of Oxidized Silicon Surfaces
2017
Inspired by the homogeneous catalyst tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane [B(C6F5)3], which acts as a promotor of Si-H bond activation, we developed and studied a method of modifying silicon oxide surfaces using hydrosilanes with B(C6F5)3 as the catalyst. This dedihydrosiloxanation reaction yields complete surface coverage within 10 min at room temperature. Organic monolayers derived from hydrosilanes with varying carbon chain lengths (C8-C18) were prepared on oxidized Si(111) surfaces, and the thermal and hydrolytic stabilities of the obtained monolayers were investigated in acidic (pH 3) medium, basic (pH 11) medium, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and deionized water (neutral conditions) for …
Multiarm cyclam-grafted mesoporous silica: a strategy to improve the chemical stability of silica materials functionalized with amine ligands
2009
We have explored in this work the stability and the reactivity of multiarm cyclam-grafted mesoporous silica samples in aqueous solution. A series of hybrid materials have been prepared by grafting silylated cyclam molecules bearing one, two, or four silyl groups onto both amorphous silica gel (K60) and ordered mesoporous silica (SBA15). Under these conditions, cyclam moieties are attached to the silica walls via one, two, or four arms. Various physicochemical techniques have been applied to characterize the functionalized solids (elemental analysis, 1H-29Si and 1H-13C CPMAS NMR, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms). The interest in two and four arms for improving the chemical stability i…
Protein delivery based on uncoated and chitosan-coated mesoporous silicon microparticles
2011
Mesoporous silicon is a biocompatible, biodegradable material that is receiving increased attention for pharmaceutical applications due to its extensive specific surface. This feature enables to load a variety of drugs in mesoporous silicon devices by simple adsorption-based procedures. In this work, we have addressed the fabrication and characterization of two new mesoporous silicon devices prepared by electrochemistry and intended for protein delivery, namely: (i) mesoporous silicon microparticles and (ii) chitosan-coated mesoporous silicon microparticles. Both carriers were investigated for their capacity to load a therapeutic protein (insulin) and a model antigen (bovine serum albumin) …