Water/alcohol soluble electron injection material containing azacrown ether groups: synthesis, characterization and application to enhancement of electroluminescence.

Using an environmentally stable metal as the cathode in a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED) is an essential requirement for its practical application. We present the preparation of a water/alcohol soluble copoly(p-phenylene) (P1) containing pendant azacrown ether and ethylene glycol ether groups as a highly efficient electron injection layer (EIL) for PLEDs, allowing the use of environmentally stable aluminum as the cathode. Multilayer PLEDs [ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PF-Green-B/EIL/Al] using P1 as EIL exhibit significantly enhanced device performance, particularly in the presence of K2CO3 or Cs2CO3.

Redox-active π-conjugated organometallic monolayers: pronounced Coulomb blockade characteristic at room temperature.

We report the electrical transport characteristics of a series of molecular wires, fc-C≡C-C6H4-SAc (fc = ferrocenyl; Ac = acetyl) and AcS-C6H4-C≡C-(fc)n-C≡C-C6H4-SAc (n = 2, 3), consisting of multiple redox-active ferrocenyl centers. The self-assembled monolayers of these molecular wires on Au surfaces were comprehensively characterized by electrochemistry and conductive atomic force microscopy techniques. Characterization of the wires revealed that electron transport is made extremely efficient by the organometallic redox states.

Quality of bread supplemented with mushroom mycelia.

Mushroom mycelia of Antrodia camphorata, Agaricus blazei, Hericium erinaceus and Phellinus linteus were used to substitute 5% of wheat flour to make bread. Bread quality, including specific volume, colour property, equivalent umami concentration (EUC), texture profile analysis, sensory evaluation and functional components, was analysed. Mycelium-supplemented bread was smaller in loaf volume and coloured, and had lower lightness and white index values.

Constructions of silver nanowires and copper oxide microrings by a surface-formation technique.

We demonstrate a simple method to synthesize silver wires by thermal reduction of aqueous AgNO(3) droplet with catalytic anatase TiO(2) nanoparticles which were spin-coated on Si wafer. Structural characterization of the silver wires shows that the nanowires grow primarily along the [011] direction. SEM image of the silver wires clearly shows the catalytic TiO(2) nano-cluster attached to the end of the each silver wire.

One-step synthesis of uniform silver nanoparticles capped by saturated decanoate: direct spray printing ink to form metallic silver films.

The one-step synthesis and spectroscopic characterizations of size-controlled silver nanoparticles are described. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric-mass analysis (TGA-MS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques were used to characterize the decanoate-protected silver nanoparticles. TEM analysis showed that spherical nanoclusters of 7.