Structural Control of Charge Storage Capacity to Achieve 100% Doping in Vapor Phase-Polymerized PEDOT/Tosylate.

Vapor phase polymerization (VPP) is used to fabricate a series of tosylate-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) electrodes on carbon paper. The series of VPP PEDOT/tosylate coatings has varying levels of crystallinity and electrical conductivity because of the use (or not) of nonionic triblock copolymers in the oxidant solution during synthesis. As a result, the impact of the structure on charge storage capacity is investigated using tetra--butylammonium hexafluorophosphate (0.

Decoupling the effects of confinement and passivation on semiconductor quantum dots.

Semiconductor (SC) quantum dots (QDs) have recently been fabricated by both chemical and plasma techniques for specific absorption and emission of light. Their optical properties are governed by the size of the QD and the chemistry of any passivation at their surface. Here, we decouple the effects of confinement and passivation by utilising DC magnetron sputtering to fabricate SC QDs in a perfluorinated polyether oil.

Boundary flow on end-grafted PEG brushes.

We investigated the boundary conditions for flow of a Newtonian liquid over soft interfaces by measuring hydrodynamic drainage forces with colloid probe atomic force microscopy in a viscous liquid. The investigated soft surfaces are end-grafted brushes of thiolated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), of molecular weight 1k and 30k, grafted-to gold. The conditions for brush preparation were optimized as to meet the stringent conditions required for surface force measurements, namely reproducible and uniform surface composition and roughness.

Hydrophilic Organic Electrodes on Flexible Hydrogels.

Prompted by the rapidly developing field of wearable electronics, research into biocompatible substrates and coatings is intensifying. Acrylate-based hydrogel polymers have gained widespread use as biocompatible articles in applications such as contact and intraocular lenses. Surface treatments and/or coatings present one strategy to further enhance the performance of these hydrogels or even realize novel functionality.

Interfacial slip on rough, patterned and soft surfaces: a review of experiments and simulations.

Advancements in the fabrication of microfluidic and nanofluidic devices and the study of liquids in confined geometries rely on understanding the boundary conditions for the flow of liquids at solid surfaces. Over the past ten years, a large number of research groups have turned to investigating flow boundary conditions, and the occurrence of interfacial slip has become increasingly well-accepted and understood. While the dependence of slip on surface wettability is fairly well understood, the effect of other surface modifications that affect surface roughness, structure and compliance, on interfacial slip is still under intense investigation.

Normal and lateral interactions between thermosensitive nanoparticle monolayers in water.

Static and dynamic interaction forces between two thermosensitive polymeric nanoparticle monolayers grafted onto mica surfaces and immersed in water were studied using a surface forces apparatus. The polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) were made of N,N-diethylacrylamide and had a hydrodynamic diameter of ca. 780 nm at 20 degrees C in aqueous suspension.

A facile route to homogeneous high density networks of metal nanoparticles.

In this communication, we report an inexpensive and simple-to-implement method using self-assembly properties of surfactants onto solid substrates for patterning square centimeter surfaces with a high density of catalyst metal nanoparticles with narrow size distributions. This method, which uses patterns of hemimicelles of partially fluorinated alkanes as masks and over metal evaporation, leads to typical particle sizes and spacings of 2 and 25 nm, respectively, arranged in a hexagonal network with a density of about 10(11) particles/cm2. Using gold as the metal, we show the ability of such material to catalyze the oxidation reaction of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide at low temperature.