Search

Large-scale ordered ultralong silver nanobelts, which built a beautiful chrysanthemum-like structure, are prepared on the interface between dibutyl sebacate (DBS) and silver nitrate solution by a chemical electro-deposition technique. The influences of chemical circumvent of interface, concentration of silver nitrate solution and applied voltage on the formation of silver nanobelts are investigated. It is shown that the silver nanobelts possess a perfect single crystal structure and well-defined nanobelt-like morphology with a length of 5 mm, width 80–150 nm, and thickness 20 nm, respectively. The growth mechanism of the nanobelts is discussed. Furthermore, UV–vis spectra of the silver nanobelts show similar surface plasmon resonance properties to silver nanowires.

Chlorophyll and xanthophyll were extracted from different plants for use as sensitizer colorants; cells were sensitized using chlorophyll, xanthophyll and a mixture of the two pigments. It was found that energy conversion efficiency ( η ) and maximum output power ( P max ) were 15.16% and 8.31% higher than that achieved by the linear superposition of the cells sensitized by individual pigments. This indicates that the mixed pigment co-sensitization entails a synergistic effect in the energy transfer of the pigment-sensitized mesoporous TiO 2 solar cells. Fluorescence analysis revealed that the electron transfer between chlorophyll and xanthophyll in the mixed pigment co-sensitized mesoporous TiO 2 solar cells was similar to that in ‘zigzag chains’ of photosynthesis.

A method for the determination of trace amounts of water in high-purity silane, arsine and phosphine by gas chromatography (GC) is described. Samples are first passed through a transfer tube packed with calcium carbide to convert the water into acetylene, then through a liquid film packed column to eliminate the main hydride constituent. The analysis is performed by GC with flame-ionization detection. This method avoids contamination of the GC system.