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Polypyrrole nanowires (PPy-NWs) are synthesized by a novel templateless approach based on non-static solution-surface (NSSS) electropolymerization. The mechanism responsible for PPy-NW formation is the simultaneous oxidation of pyrrole and water, with concomitant formation of hydroxyl radicals and dioxygen nanobubbles. In particular, a localized PPy-NW deposition at the solution-air interface is enabled by solution-surface electropolymerization due to the surface excess of the monomer at the interface favored by the large surface tension of the solvent. In the proposed approach, solution-surface electropolymerization is performed in non-static conditions (NSSS), as the solution-air interface is shifted by flowing the electrolyte solution over the electrode surface. This allows a PPy-NW homogeneous deposition on whatever large area electrode to be rapidly achieved. Parameters influencing the morphology of PPy-NWs are studied, particularly focusing on flow rate, pH of the electrolyte solution, and electropolymerization time. The growth process of PPy-NWs is examined and the way of tuning their resulting morphology is discussed. Morphological investigation by scanning electron microscopy and chemical/electrochemical characterization of PPy-NWs by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, respectively, further support the proposed nanowire formation mechanism. Nanowires with diameter in the range of 40–300 nm are obtained, and the possibility of depositing differently sized nanowires with a predetermined spatial distribution on the same substrate is also demonstrated.

Ultralow-noise microwave amplification and detection play a central role in different applications, going from fundamental physics experiments to the deployment of quantum technologies. In many applications the necessity of reading multiple detectors, or cavities or qubits, calls for large bandwidth amplifiers with the lowest possible noise. Current technologies are based on High Electron Mobility Transistors and Josephson Parametric Amplifiers. Both have limitations, the former in terms of the minimum noise, the latter in terms of bandwidth. Superconducting Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (TWPAs) have the potential of offering quantum limited noise and large bandwidth. These amplifiers are based on the parametric amplification of microwaves traveling along a transmission line with embedded nonlinear elements. We are developing superconducting TWPAs based both on Josephson junction arrays (Traveling Wave Josephson Parametric mplifiers) and on nonlinear kinetic inductance (Dispersion Engineered Traveling Wave Kinetic Inductance Amplifiers). Our goal is to achieve large bandwidth (in the 5 to 10 GHz range), large gain (more than 20 dB), large saturation power (more than -50 dBm), and near quantum limited noise (noise temperature less than 600 mK). Current achievements in the design and development of the high performance TWPAs are here reported and discussed, together with current limitations and possible future developments.

The development of highly sensitive, portable and low-cost sensors for the evaluation of ethanol content in liquid is particularly important in several monitoring processes, from the food industry to the pharmaceutical industry. In this respect, we report the optimization of two sensing approaches based on electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and complementary double split ring resonators (CDSRRs) for the detection of ethanol in water. Miniaturized EIS sensors were realized with interdigitated electrodes, and the ethanol sensing was carried out in liquid solutions without any functionalization of the electrodes. Impedance fitting analysis, with an equivalent circuit over a frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 MHz, was performed to estimate the electric parameters, which allowed us to evaluate the amount of ethanol in water solutions. On the other hand, complementary double split ring resonators (CDSRRs) were optimized by adjusting the device geometry to achieve higher quality factors while operating at a low fundamental frequency despite the small size (useful for compact electronic packaging). Both sensors were found to be efficient for the detection of low amounts of ethanol in water, even in the presence of salts. In particular, EIS sensors proved to be effective in performing a broadband evaluation of ethanol concentration and are convenient when low cost is the priority. On the other end, the employment of split ring resonators allowed us to achieve a very low limit of detection of 0.2 v/v%, and provides specific advantages in the case of known environments where they can enable fast real-time single-frequency measurements.

Aerosol particulate matter (PM) is a known risk factor for lung and liver cancer. In particular, PM under 1 μm in diameter (PM1) is very dangerous for health, affecting the respiratory system with several heavy outcomes and reaching other human districts like liver, where foreign substances are processed. Today PM1 is still difficult to be detected on-field with standard techniques and this paper reports a comparison between two sensing approaches for environmental particulate monitoring, which are suitable for miniaturization and integration into portable and low-cost devices. Specifically, transducers based on surface acoustic waves (SAW) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were comparatively investigated as alternatives to more common but also expensive optical methods. Moreover, their performances were evaluated for the detection of nanoparticles of different dimensions (1 μm, 200 nm and 40 nm) to mimic different compositions of PM1 and reach a size scale which is an order of magnitude below present literature. Notably, both transduction methods were able to detect the presence of PM1 particulate. The SAW-based approach showed better performances in terms of sensitivity and detection of nanoscale particles, although the EIS strategy has a competitive sensitivity considering also its even lower cost.

The dielectric properties of YCTO bulk capacitors were investigated as a function of temperature from 25 degrees C to 150 degrees C and at microwave frequencies in comparison to a SiO2 bulk sample. The results confirm the high-k character of the YCTO ceramic, in addition to the low AC conductivity, namely epsilon' = 40.1 and sigma = 6 x 10(-8) S cm(-1) at 1 MHz, and show a weak frequency and temperature (25 degrees C-150 degrees C) dependence. A temperature coefficient value of -601 ppm degrees C-1 for the dielectric constant (TC epsilon') was estimated at 100 kHz. In the GHz regime, a comparison with bulk SiO2 confirms the higher YCTO dielectric permittivity. These results demonstrate high-k YCTO ceramic as a very promising material with high potentiality for electronic applications.

The increasing constraints in the miniaturization of modern electronic devices is driving the search for new high-k dielectric materials. Rare-earth transition metal oxides are very interesting because of the large values of dielectric constant observed in bulk samples. Here, we report on a comparison among the dielectric properties of yttrium copper titanate (YCTO) thin films and those of commonly used dielectrics such as SiO2 and MgO, grown in similar device structures. The YCTO permittivity was found to depend strongly on the oxygen pressure during deposition and can reach values even higher than those reported in bulk YCTO with good performances in terms of losses.

In the present study, a composite material consisting of polypyrrole nanowires (PPyNWs) and platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) has been developed by an all-electrochemical approach and proved to be highly effective for electrochemical determination of dopamine (DA). PPyNWs are electropolymerized by a template-free method, and PtNPs are subsequently electrodeposited by cyclic voltammetry. Chemical characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the effective PtNP immobilization on polymer nanowires discriminating at the same time Pt species deposited and revealing the occurrence of polypyrrole-PtNP interaction. The morphology of the composite material was characterized using scanning electron microscopy that showed spherical Pt nanoparticles well distributed within PPy-NW network. DA detection was performed by differential pulse voltammetry technique obtaining satisfactory performances in terms of linear range (1-77 ?M), sensitivity, reproducibility (RSD 2.7%), and detection limit (0.6 ?M). The electrocatalytic role of PtNPs in DA electroxidation process is clearly demonstrated by the comparison with PPyNWs only. Moreover, no significant response is observed in the presence of common interference as ascorbic acid and uric acid, which may coexist with DA in biological fluids, demonstrating a good selectivity toward DA. Moreover, DA was detected in human serum samples spiked obtaining a satisfactory recovery of 94%. A synergistic effect involving both PtNPs and PPyNWs is invoked for explaining the observed electrocatalytic activity.

Sustainable growth, environmental preservation, and improvement of life quality are strategic fields of worldwide interest and cornerstones of international policies. Humanity health and prosperity are closely related to our present choices on sustainable development. The main sources of pollution concern industry, including mining, chemical companies, and refineries, wastewater treatment; and consumers themselves. In order to guide and evaluate the effects of environmental policies, diffuse monitoring campaigns and detailed (big) data analyses are needed. In this respect, the development and availability of innovative sensor platforms for field analysis and remote sensing are of crucial relevance. In this review, we provide an overview of the area, analyzing the major needs, available technologies, novel approaches, and perspectives. Among environmental pollutants that threaten the biosphere, we focus on inorganic and organic contaminants, which affect air and water quality. We describe the technologies for their assessment in the environment and then draw some conclusions and mention future perspectives opened by the integration of sensing technologies with robotics and the Internet of Things. Without the ambition to be exhaustive in such a rapidly growing field, this review is intended as a support for researchers and stakeholders looking for current, state-of-the-art, and key enabling technologies for environmental monitoring.

Colloidal lithography is an innovative fabrication technique employing spherical, nanoscale crystals as a lithographic mask for the low cost realization of nanoscale patterning. The features of the resulting nanostructures are related to the particle size, deposition conditions and interactions involved. In this work, we studied the absorption of polystyrene spheres onto a substrate and discuss the effect of particle–substrate and particle–particle interactions on their organization. Depending on the nature and the strength of the interactions acting in the colloidal film formation, two different strategies were developed in order to control the number of particles on the surface and the interparticle distance, namely changing the salt concentration and absorption time in the particle solution. These approaches enabled the realization of large area (≈cm2) patterning of nanoscale holes (nanoholes) and nanoscale disks (nanodisks) of different sizes and materials.

The surface of a detector grade CVD polycrystalline diamond sample (5 × 5 × 0.05 mm3) was irradiated by an ArF excimer laser (? = 193 nm, ? = 20 ns) to produce graphitic conductive layers. In particular, two sets of four parallel graphitic strip-like contacts, with 1 mm pitch, were created along the whole sample on the top and on the rear surfaces of the sample respectively. The two series of stripes lie normally to each other. Such a grid allows to obtain a segmented all-carbon device capable of giving bi-dimensional information on particle detection processes in nuclear applications. Afterwards, an extensive characterization of the samples was performed: SEM and micro-Raman investigations to study the morphological and structural evolution of the irradiated areas, EDS measurements to individuate any absorption phenomena from environment associated to laser treatment, and nanoindentation mapping to understand how the hard-soft transformation occurred depending on the locally transferred energy. Finally, current-voltage analyses were carried out checking the ohmic behavior of the diamond-graphite contact. By comparing the results of the different characterization analyses, a strong periodicity of the modified surface properties was found, confirming the reliability and reproducibility of the laser-induced graphitization process. The results demonstrate that the laser-writing technique is a good and fast solution to produce graphitic contacts on diamond surface and therefore represents a promising way to fabricate segmented all-carbon devices. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

In this work, we demonstrate the excitation of surface acoustic waves (SAW) harmonics up to GHz regime in photolitographed devices fabricated on gallium arsenide (GaAs) by acting on the IDT metallization ratio among the finger width and pitch. Specifically, we observed up to the 13th harmonic, which corresponds to a frequency of about 1.7 GHz. Moreover, we employed time-resolved spectroscopy for isolating the shape of the SAW bandpass-filter response (for each harmonic) eliminating the interference between acoustic and electromagnetic waves. Notably, the extracted SAW spectra are characterized by a bandwidth which remains constant for the different harmonic modes, unlike the case of traditional SAW filters (having a 0.5 metallization ratio) where the pass band Delta f = f(0)/n(p) np increases with the working frequency. These results are relevant for applications where high frequencies and multiple harmonics excitation are desirable, or where quantitative measurements of the direct SAW signal are required.

The structural, dielectric, and ferroelectric characterization of multiphase Bi‐Fe‐O prepared with an excess of Bi up to 20% is reported. It is found that the dominant phase in all samples is the BiFeO3 perovskite in addition to an increasing amount of the Bi‐rich sillenite phases (Bi12.5Fe0.5O19.48/Bi25FeO39) with the Bi excess content. At room temperature, the multiphase Bi‐Fe‐O results in advanced electrical properties, with higher dielectric constant (161 at 1 MHz) and low losses (tanδ = 0.032 at 1 MHz). The ferroelectric character of multiphase ceramics is confirmed by PUND measurements, which shows increased polarization values and coercive field with respect to the single phase ceramics.