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    Optical, electrical and chemical properties of PEO:I2 complex composite films
    (Heidelberg [u.a.] : Springer, 2022) Telfah, Ahmad; Al-Bataineh, Qais M.; Tolstik, Elen; Ahmad, Ahmad A.; Alsaad, Ahmad M.; Ababneh, Riad; Tavares, Carlos J.; Hergenröder, Roland
    Synthesized PEO:I2 complex composite films with different I2 concentrations were deposited onto fused silica substrates using a dip-coating method. Incorporation of PEO films with I2 increases the electrical conductivity of the composite, reaching a maximum of 46 mS/cm for 7 wt% I2. The optical and optoelectronic properties of the complex composite films were studied using the transmittance and reflectance spectra in the UV-Vis region. The transmittance of PEO decreases with increasing I2 content. From this study, the optical bandgap energy decreases from 4.42 to 3.28 eV as I2 content increases from 0 to 7 wt%. In addition, the refractive index for PEO films are in the range of 1.66 and 2.00.1H NMR spectra of pure PEO film shows two major peaks at 3.224 ppm and 1.038 ppm, with different widths assigned to the mobile polymer chains in the amorphous phase, whereas the broad component is assigned to the more rigid molecules in the crystalline phase, respectively. By adding I2 to the PEO, both peaks (amorphous and crystal) are shifted to lower NMR frequencies indicating that I2 is acting as a Lewis acid, and PEO is acting as Lewis base. Hence, molecular iodine reacts favorably with PEO molecules through a charge transfer mechanism, and the formation of triiodide (I3-), the iodite (IO2-) anion, I 2· · · PEO and I2+···PEO complexes. PEO:I2 complex composite films are expected to be suitable for optical, electrical, and optoelectronic applications.
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    A discussion of the cell voltage during discharge of an intercalation electrode for various C-rates based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics and numerical simulations
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020) Landstorfer, Manuel
    In this work we discuss the modeling procedure and validation of a non-porous intercalation half-cell during galvanostatic discharge. The modeling is based on continuum thermodynamics with non-equilibrium processes in the active intercalation particle, the electrolyte, and the common interface where the intercalation reaction Li+ + e- ↔ Li occurs. The model is in detail investigated and discussed in terms of scalings of the non-equilibrium parameters, i.e. the diffusion coefficients DA and DE of the active phase and the electrolyte, conductivity sA and sE of both phases, and the exchange current density e0L, with numerical solutions of the underlying PDE system. The current density i as well as all non-equilibrium parameters are scaled s with respect to the 1-C current density iC A of the intercalation electrode. We compute then numerically the cell voltage E as function of the capacity Q and the C-rate Ch. Within a hierarchy of approximations we provide computations of E(Q) for various scalings of the diffusion coefficients, the conductivities and the exchange current density. For the later we provide finally a discussion for possible concentration dependencies. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by ECS.
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    Primarily tests of a optoelectronic in-canopy sensor for evaluation of vertical disease infection in cereals
    (New York, NY : Wiley, 2022) Dammer, Karl-Heinz; Schirrmann, Michael
    BACKGROUND: Health scouting of crops by satellite, airplanes, unmanned aerial (UAV) and ground vehicles can only evaluate the crop from above. The visible leaves may show no disease symptoms, but lower, older leaves not visible from above can do. A mobile in-canopy sensor was developed, carried by a tractor to detect diseases in cereal crops. Photodiodes measure the reflected light in the red and infrared wavelength range at 10 different vertical heights in lateral directions. RESULTS: Significant differences occurred in the vegetation index NDVI of sensor levels operated inside and near the winter wheat canopy between infected (stripe rust: 2018, 2019 / leaf rust: 2020) and control plots. The differences were not significant at those sensor levels operated far above the canopy. CONCLUSIONS: Lateral reflectance measurements inside the crop canopy are able to distinguish between disease-infected and healthy crops. In future mobile in-canopy scouting could be an extension to the common above-canopy scouting praxis for making spraying decisions by the farmer or decision support systems. © 2021 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
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    Graphene transfer methods: A review
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer, 2021) Ullah, Sami; Yang, Xiaoqin; Ta, Huy Q.; Hasan, Maria; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Tokarska, Klaudia; Trzebicka, Barbara; Fu, Lei; Rummeli, Mark H.
    Graphene is a material with unique properties that can be exploited in electronics, catalysis, energy, and bio-related fields. Although, for maximal utilization of this material, high-quality graphene is required at both the growth process and after transfer of the graphene film to the application-compatible substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an important method for growing high-quality graphene on non-technological substrates (as, metal substrates, e.g., copper foil). Thus, there are also considerable efforts toward the efficient and non-damaging transfer of quality of graphene on to technologically relevant materials and systems. In this review article, a range of graphene current transfer techniques are reviewed from the standpoint of their impact on contamination control and structural integrity preservation of the as-produced graphene. In addition, their scalability, cost- and time-effectiveness are discussed. We summarize with a perspective on the transfer challenges, alternative options and future developments toward graphene technology.
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    Modeling Polycrystalline Electrode-electrolyte Interfaces: The Differential Capacitance
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020) Müller, Rüdiger; Fuhrmann, Jürgen; Landstorfer, Manuel
    We present and analyze a model for polycrystalline electrode surfaces based on an improved continuum model that takes finite ion size and solvation into account. The numerical simulation of finite size facet patterns allows to study two limiting cases: While for facet size diameter dfacet →0 we get the typical capacitance of a spatially homogeneous but possible amorphous or liquid surface, in the limit 1[nm] < dfacet, an ensemble of non-interacting single crystal surfaces is approached. Already for moderate size of the facet diameters, the capacitance is remarkably well approximated by the classical approach of adding the single crystal capacities of the contributing facets weighted by their respective surface fraction. As a consequence, the potential of zero charge is not necessarily attained at a local minimum of capacitance, but might be located at a local capacitance maximum instead. Moreover, the results show that surface roughness can be accurately taken into account by multiplication of the ideally flat polycrystalline surface capacitance with a single factor. In particular, we find that the influence of the actual geometry of the facet pattern in negligible and our theory opens the way to a stochastic description of complex real polycrystal surfaces. © 2020 The Author(s). Published on behalf of The Electrochemical Society by IOP Publishing Limited.
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    Determination of highly polar compounds in atmospheric aerosol particles at ultra-trace levels using ion chromatography Orbitrap mass spectrometry
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Kwiezinski, Carlo; Weller, Christian; van Pinxteren, Dominik; Brüggemann, Martin; Mertes, Stephan; Stratmann, Frank; Herrmann, Hartmut
    A method using ion chromatography coupled to high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry was developed to quantify highly-polar organic compounds in aqueous filter extracts of atmospheric particles. In total, 43 compounds, including short-chain carboxylic acids, terpene-derived acids, organosulfates, and inorganic anions were separated within 33 min by a KOH gradient. Ionization by electrospray was maximized by adding 100 µL min−1 isopropanol as post-column solvent and optimizing the ion source settings. Detection limits (S/N ≥ 3) were in the range of 0.075–25 μg L−1 and better than previously reported for 22 compounds. Recoveries of extraction typically range from 85 to 117%. The developed method was applied to three ambient samples, including two arctic flight samples, and one sample from Melpitz, a continental backround research site. A total of 32 different compounds were identified for all samples. From the arctic flight samples, organic tracers could be quantified for the first time with concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 17.8 ng m−3. Due to the minimal sample preparation, the beneficial figures of merit, and the broad range of accessible compounds, including very polar ones, the new method offers advantages over existing ones and enables a detailed analysis of organic marker compounds in atmospheric aerosol particles.
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    Supercritical fluid extraction-supercritical fluid chromatography of saliva: Single-quadrupole mass spectrometry monitoring of caffeine for gastric emptying studies†
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Hofstetter, Robert K.; Schulig, Lukas; Bethmann, Jonas; Grimm, Michael; Sager, Maximilian; Aude, Philipp; Keßler, Rebecca; Kim, Simon; Weitschies, Werner; Link, Andreas
    Saliva is an attractive sampling matrix for measuring various endogenous and exogeneous substances but requires sample treatment prior to chromatographic analysis. Exploiting supercritical CO2 for both extraction and chromatography simplifies sample preparation, reduces organic solvent consumption, and minimizes exposure to potentially infectious samples, but has not yet been applied to oral fluid. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of online supercritical fluid extraction coupled to supercritical fluid chromatography and single-quadrupole mass spectrometry for monitoring the model salivary tracer caffeine. A comparison of 13C- and 32S-labeled internal standards with external standard calibration confirmed the superiority of stable isotope-labeled caffeine over nonanalogous internal standards. As proof of concept, the validated method was applied to saliva from a magnetic resonance imaging study of gastric emptying. After administration of 35 mg caffeine via ice capsule, salivary levels correlated with magnetic resonance imaging data, corroborating caffeine's usefulness as tracer of gastric emptying (R2 = 0.945). In contrast to off-line methods, online quantification required only minute amounts of organic solvents and a single manual operation prior to online bioanalysis of saliva, thus demonstrating the usefulness of CO2-based extraction and separation techniques for potentially infective biomatrices.
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    Separation and quantification of imidazoles in atmospheric particles using LC-Orbitrap-MS
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Teich, Monique; Schmidtpott, Mechthild; van Pinxteren, Dominik; Chen, Jianmin; Herrmann, Hartmut
    A method using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometer was developed to identify and quantify imidazoles in aqueous extracts of aerosol particles. The aqueous particle extract was used without further enrichment or sample clean-up. Five columns were tested for efficient separation of ten imidazoles and the Acquity HSS T3 column was chosen for further optimization. Low limits of detection (<25 nM) and good intraday and interday repeatability (<1.6 and <6%, respectively) were achieved. Investigation of matrix effects showed that external calibration is applicable when the loading of organic carbon in the sample is below 10 Âµg m-3 . The developed method was applied to ten real samples, and six out of the ten test imidazoles were successfully quantified, while six further imidazoles were qualitatively identified, among them 4-imidazolecarboxaldehyde and 4-methyl-5-imidazolecarboxaldehyde. Advantages of the method are the minimal sample preparation, the short run time for each sample, and the low detection limits. These allow for a fast and reliable quantification of imidazoles even in a large number of aqueous particle extract samples.
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    Applications of MXenes in human-like sensors and actuators
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer, 2022) Pang, Jinbo; Peng, Songang; Hou, Chongyang; Wang, Xiao; Wang, Ting; Cao, Yu; Zhou, Weijia; Sun, Ding; Wang, Kai; Rümmeli, Mark H.; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio; Liu, Hong
    Human beings perceive the world through the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, space, and balance. The first five senses are prerequisites for people to live. The sensing organs upload information to the nervous systems, including the brain, for interpreting the surrounding environment. Then, the brain sends commands to muscles reflexively to react to stimuli, including light, gas, chemicals, sound, and pressure. MXene, as an emerging two-dimensional material, has been intensively adopted in the applications of various sensors and actuators. In this review, we update the sensors to mimic five primary senses and actuators for stimulating muscles, which employ MXene-based film, membrane, and composite with other functional materials. First, a brief introduction is delivered for the structure, properties, and synthesis methods of MXenes. Then, we feed the readers the recent reports on the MXene-derived image sensors as artificial retinas, gas sensors, chemical biosensors, acoustic devices, and tactile sensors for electronic skin. Besides, the actuators of MXene-based composite are introduced. Eventually, future opportunities are given to MXene research based on the requirements of artificial intelligence and humanoid robot, which may induce prospects in accompanying healthcare and biomedical engineering applications. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
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    Semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Networks Based on N-isopropylacrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane Sulfonic Acid for Intramolecular Force-Compensated Sensors
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2021) Binder, Simon; Zschoche, Stefan; Voit, Brigitte; Gerlach, Gerald
    Stimulus-responsive hydrogels are swellable polymers that take up a specific volume depending on a measured variable present in solution. Hydrogel-based chemical sensors make use of this ability by converting the resulting swelling pressure, which depends on the measured variable, into an electrical value. Due to the tedious swelling processes, the measuring method of intramolecular force compensation is used to suppress these swelling processes and, thus, significantly increase the sensor's response time. However, intramolecular force compensation requires a bisensitive hydrogel. In addition to the sensitivity of the measured variable the gel has to provide a second sensitivity for intrinsic compensation of the swelling pressure. At the same time, this hydrogel has to meet further requirements, e.g. high compressive strength. Until now, interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) have been used for such a force-compensatory effective hydrogel, which are complex to manufacture. In order to significantly simplify the sensor design and production, a simpler synthesis of the bisensitive hydrogel is desirable. This paper presents a new bisensitive hydrogel based on semi-interpenetrating polymer networks. It is based on a copolymer network consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide (NiPAAm) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and long PAMPS strands that permeate it. Measurements show, that this hydrogel meets all essential requirements for intramolecular force compensation and is at the same time much easier to synthesize than previously used IPN hydrogels. © 2021 The Author(s).