TY - JOUR A1 - Yildirim, Arda A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Sentker, K. A1 - Butschies, M. A1 - Bühlmeyer, A. A1 - Huber, P. A1 - Laschat, S. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Dynamics and ionic conductivity of ionic liquid crystals forming a hexagonal columnar mesophase N2 - For the first time, the molecular mobility of two linear-shaped tetramethylated guanidinium triflate ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) having different length of alkyl chains were investigated by a combination of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and specific heat spectroscopy (SHS). By self-assembly, these ILCs can form a hexagonal ordered mesophase besides plastic crystalline phases and the isotropic state. Three dielectric active processes were found by BDS for both samples. At low temperatures, a γ-process in the plastic crystalline state is observed which is assigned to localized fluctuations of methyl groups including nitrogen atoms in the guanidinium head. At higher temperatures but still in the plastic crystalline state, an α1-process takes place. An α2 process was detected by SHS but with a completely different temperature dependence of the relaxation times than that of the α1-relaxation. This result is discussed in detail, and different molecular assignments of the processes are suggested. At even higher temperatures, electrical conductivity is detected and an increase in the DC conductivity by four orders of magnitude at the phase transition from the plastic crystalline to the hexagonal columnar mesophase is found. This result is traced to a change in the charge transport mechanism from a delocalized electron hopping in the stacked aromatic systems (in the plastic phase) to one dominated by an ionic conduction in the quasi-1D ion channels formed along the supermolecular columns in the ILCs hexagonal mesophases. KW - Ionic liquid crystalls PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cp08186c SN - 1463-9084 SN - 1463-9076 VL - 20 IS - 8 SP - 5626 EP - 5635 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-44254 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stajanca, Pavol A1 - Topolniak, Ievgeniia A1 - Pötschke, Samuel A1 - Krebber, Katerina T1 - Solution-mediated cladding doping of commercial polymer optical fibers N2 - Solution doping of commercial polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer optical fibers (POFs) is presented as a novel approach for preparation of custom cladding-doped POFs (CD-POFs). The presented method is based on a solution-mediated diffusion of dopant molecules into the fiber cladding upon soaking of POFs in a methanol-dopant solution. The method was tested on three different commercial POFs using Rhodamine B as a fluorescent dopant. The dynamics of the diffusion process was studied in order to optimize the doping procedure in terms of selection of the most suitable POF, doping time and conditions. Using the optimized procedure, longer segment of fluorescent CD-POF was prepared and its performance was characterized. Fiber’s potential for sensing and illumination applications was demonstrated and discussed. The proposed method represents a simple and cheap way for fabrication of custom, short to medium length CD-POFs with various dopants. KW - Polymer optical fiber KW - Solution doping KW - Polymethyl methacrylate KW - Rhodamine B KW - Dye-doped fiber KW - Fluorescent optical fiber PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-441045 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2018.02.008 SN - 1068-5200 SN - 1095-9912 VL - 41 SP - 227 EP - 234 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-44104 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sentker, K. A1 - Zantop, A. W. A1 - Lippmann, M. A1 - Hofmann, T. A1 - Seeck, O. H. A1 - Kityk, A. V. A1 - Yildirim, Arda A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Mazza, M. G. A1 - Huber, P. T1 - Quantized self-assembly of discotic rings in a liquid crystal confined in nanopores N2 - Disklike molecules with aromatic cores spontaneously stack up in linear columns with high, onedimensional charge carrier mobilities along the columnar axes, making them prominent model systems for functional, self-organized matter.We show by high-resolution optical birefringence and synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction that confining a thermotropic discotic liquid crystal in cylindrical nanopores induces a quantized formation of annular layers consisting of concentric circular bent columns, unknown in the bulk state. Starting from the walls this ring self-assembly propagates layer by layer towards the pore center in the supercooled domain of the bulk isotropic-columnar transition and thus allows one to switch on and off reversibly single, nanosized rings through small temperature variations. By establishing a Gibbs free energy phase diagram we trace the phase transition quantization to the discreteness of the layers’ excess bend deformation energies in comparison to the thermal energy, even for this near room-temperature system. Monte Carlo simulations yielding spatially resolved nematic order parameters, density maps, and bondorientational order parameters corroborate the universality and robustness of the confinement-induced columnar ring formation as well as its quantized nature. KW - Discotic liquid crystals KW - Nanopores PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-440253 DO - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.067801 SN - ‎0031-9007 SN - 1079-7114 VL - 120 IS - 6 SP - 067801-1 EP - 067801-7 PB - American Physical Society AN - OPUS4-44025 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Asadujjaman, Asad A1 - Espinosa de Oliveira, T. A1 - Mukherji, D. A1 - Bertin, Annabelle T1 - Polyacrylamide ‘‘revisited’’: UCST-type reversible thermoresponsive properties in aqueous alcoholic solutions N2 - Combining experiments and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we study the conformational behavior of polyacrylamide (PAM) in aqueous alcohol mixtures over a wide range of temperatures. This study Shows that even when the microscopic interaction is dictated by hydrogen bonding, unlike its counterparts that present a lower critical solution temperature (LCST), PAM shows a counterintuitive tunable upper critical solution temperature (UCST)-type phase transition in water/alcohol mixtures that was not reported before. The Phase transition temperature was found to be tunable between 4 and 60 1C by the type and concentration of alcohol in the mixture as well as by the solution concentration and molecular weight of the polymer. In addition, molecular dynamics simulations confirmed a UCST-like behaviour of the PAM in aqueous alcoholic solutions. Additionally, it was observed that the PAM is more swollen in pure alcohol solutions than in 80% alcoholic solutions due to y-like behaviour. Additionally, in the globular state, the size of the aggregates was found to increase with increasing solvent hydrophobicity and polymer concentration of the solutions. Above ist Phase transition temperature, PAM might be present as individual polymer chains in the coil state (r10 nm). As PAM is a widespread polymer in many biomedical applications (gel electrophoresis, etc.), this finding could be of high relevance for many more practical applications in high performance pharmaceuticals and/or sensors. KW - Thermoresponsive polymer KW - UCST-type polymer KW - Polyacrylamide KW - Water/alcohol mixtures PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7sm02424j SN - 1744-6848 SN - 1744-683X VL - 14 IS - 8 SP - 1336 EP - 1343 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-44002 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heidmann, B. A1 - Andree, Stefan A1 - Levcenko, S. A1 - Unold, T. A1 - Abou-Ras, D. A1 - Schäfer, N. A1 - Bonse, Jörn A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Schmid, M. T1 - Fabrication of regularly arranged chalcopyrite micro solar cells via femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer for concentrator application N2 - A laser-based bottom-up technique for the fabrication of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) micro solar cells is presented. We use femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) to transport a metallic precursor composed of copper, indium, and gallium onto a molybdenum back contact layer on a glass substrate. A CIGSe absorber forms by subsequent selenization. An array of micro absorbers with defined spacing is fabricated to solar cells and characterized under concentrated light illumination. The solar cell array exhibited a conversion efficiency of 1.4‰ at 1 sun as well as a significant efficiency enhancement of 68% rel. under 20-fold concentration. This work demonstrates the possibility of directly grown micrometer-sized solar cells based on chalcogenide absorber layers, enabling effective material usage. KW - Micro solar cells KW - Light concentration KW - LIFT KW - Chalcopyrite KW - Femtosecond laser PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.7b00028 SN - 2574-0962 VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - 27 EP - 31 PB - ACS CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-43999 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Czarnecki, Sebastian A1 - Bertin, Annabelle T1 - Hybrid silicon-based organic/inorganic block copolymers with sol-gel active moieties: Synthetic advances, self-assembly and applications in biomedicine and material science N2 - Abstract: Hybrid silicon-based organic/inorganic (multi)block copolymers are promising polymeric precursors to create robust nano-objects and nanomaterials due to their sol–gel active moieties via self-assembly in solution or in bulk. Such nano-objects and nanomaterials have great potential in bio-medicine as nanocarriers or scaffolds for bone regeneration as well as in materials science as Pickering emulsifiers, pho- tonic crystals or coatings/films with antibiofouling, antibac- terial or water- and oil-repellent properties. Thus, this Review outlines recent synthetic efforts in the preparation of these hybrid inorganic/organic block copolymers, gives an overview of their self-assembled structures and finally presents recent examples of their use in the biomedical field and material science. KW - Organic/inorganic block copolymer KW - Robust nano objects KW - Self-assembly KW - Synthesis KW - Biomedical application KW - Material science PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201705286 SN - 1521-3765 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 24 IS - 14 SP - 3354 EP - 3373 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-43953 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seeburg, Dominik A1 - Liu, Dongjing A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Atia, Hanan A1 - Pohl, Marga-Martina A1 - Schneider, Matthias A1 - Martin, Andreas A1 - Wohlrab, Sebastian T1 - Structural changes of highly active Pd/MeOx (Me = Fe, Co, Ni) during catalytic methane combustion N2 - Fe2O3, Co3O4 and NiO nanoparticles were prepared via a citrate method and further functionalized with Pd by impregnation. The pure oxides as well as Pd/Fe2O3, Pd/Co3O4, and Pd/NiO (1, 5 and 10 wt % Pd) were employed for catalytic methane combustion under methane lean (1 vol %)/oxygen rich (18 vol %, balanced with nitrogen) conditions. Already, the pure metal oxides showed a high catalytic activity leading to complete conversion temperature of T100 ≤ 500 °C. H2-TPR (Temperature-programmed reduction) experiments revealed that Pd-functionalized metal oxides exhibited enhanced redox activity compared to the pure oxides leading to improved catalytic combustion activity at lower temperatures. At a loading of 1 wt % Pd, 1Pd/Co3O4 (T100 = 360 °C) outperforms 1Pd/Fe2O3 (T100 = 410 °C) as well as 1Pd/NiO (T100 = 380 °C). At a loading of 10 wt % Pd, T100 could only be slightly reduced in all cases. 1Pd/Co3O4 and 1Pd/NiO show reasonable stability over 70 h on stream at T100. XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and STEM (Scanning transmission electron microscopy) investigations revealed strong interactions between Pd and NiO as well as Co3O4, respectively, leading to dynamic transformations and reoxidation of Pd due to solid state reactions, which leads to the high long-term stability. KW - Methane total oxidation KW - Methane removal KW - Carbon dioxide KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-439412 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8020042 SN - 2073-4344 VL - 8 IS - 2 SP - Article 42, 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-43941 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zorn, R. A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Lohstroh, W. A1 - Harrison, W. A1 - Budd, P.M. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Anomalies in the low frequency vibrational density of states for a polymer with intrinsic microporosity - the Boson peak of PIM-1 N2 - Polymers with intrinsic microporosity are promising candidates for the active separation layer in gas separation membranes. Here, the vibrational density of states (VDOS) for PIM-1, the prototypical polymer with intrinsic microporosity, is investigated by means of inelastic neutron scattering. The results are compared to data measured for a more conventional high-performance polyimide used in gas separation membranes (Matrimid). The measured data show the characteristic low frequency excess contribution to VDOS above the Debye sound wave level, generally known as the Boson peak in glass-forming materials. In comparison to the Boson peak of Matrimid, that of PIM-1 is shifted to lower frequencies. This shift is discussed considering the microporous, sponge-like structure of PIM-1 as providing a higher compressibility at the molecular scale than for conventional polymers. For an annealed PIM-1 sample, the Boson peak shifts to higher frequencies in comparison to the un-annealed sample. These changes in the VDOS of the annealed PIM-1 sample are related to changes in the microporous structure as confirmed by X-ray scattering. KW - Polymers KW - Boson peak KW - Neutron scattering KW - Physical aging KW - Polymer of intrinsic microporosity PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CP07141H SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 3 SP - 1355 EP - 1363 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-43808 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bonse, Jörn A1 - Seuthe, T. A1 - Grehn, M. A1 - Eberstein, M. A1 - Rosenfeld, A. A1 - Mermillod-Blondin, A. T1 - Time-resolved microscopy of fs-laser-induced heat flows in glasses N2 - Time-resolved phase-contrast microscopy is employed to visualize spatio-temporal thermal transients induced by tight focusing of a single Ti:sapphire fs-laser pulse into a solid dielectric sample. This method relies on the coupling of the refractive index change and the sample temperature through the thermo-optic coefficient dn/dT. The thermal transients are studied on a timescale ranging from 10 ns up to 0.1 ms after laser excitation. Beyond providing direct insights into the laser–matter interaction, analyzing the results obtained also enables quantifying the local thermal diffusivity of the sample on a micrometer scale. Studies conducted in different solid dielectrics, namely amorphous fused silica (a-SiO2), a commercial borosilicate glass (BO33, Schott), and a custom alkaline earth silicate glass (NaSi66), illustrate the applicability of this approach to the investigation of various glassy materials. KW - Femtosecond laser KW - Phase-contrast microscopy KW - Heat diffusion KW - Glasses PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-1465-5 SN - 0947-8396 SN - 1432-0630 VL - 124 IS - 1 SP - 60, 1 EP - 6 PB - Springer-Verlag AN - OPUS4-43739 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saloga, Patrick E. J. A1 - Kästner, Claudia A1 - Thünemann, Andreas T1 - High-speed but not magic: Microwave-assisted synthesis of ultra-small silver nanoparticles N2 - Reaction procedures have been improved to achieve higher yields and shorter reaction times: one possibility is the usage of microwave reactors. In the literature, this is under discussion, for example, nonthermal effects resulting from the microwave radiation are claimed. Especially for the synthesis of nanomaterials, it is of crucial importance to be aware of influences on the reaction pathway. Therefore, we compare the syntheses of ultra-small silver nanoparticles via conventional and microwave heating. We employed a versatile one-pot polyol synthesis of poly(acrylic acid)-stabilized silver nanoparticles, which display superior catalytic properties. No microwave-specific effects in terms of particle size distribution characteristics, as derived by small-angle X-ray scattering and dynamic light scattering, are revealed. Because of the characteristics of a closed system, microwave reactors give access to elevated temperatures and pressures. Therefore, the speed of particle formation can be increased by a factor of 30 when the reaction temperature is increased from 200 to 250 °C. The particle growth process follows a cluster coalescence mechanism. A postsynthetic incubation step at 250 °C induces a further growth of the particles while the size distribution broadens. Thus, utilization of microwave reactors enables an enormous decrease of the reaction time as well as the opportunity of tuning the particle size. Possibly, decomposition of the stabilizing ligand at elevated temperatures results in reduced yields. A compromise between short reaction times and high yields can be found at a temperature of 250 °C and a corresponding reaction time of 30 s. KW - Silver nanoparticles KW - SAXS KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - Microwave synthesis PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-437028 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b01541 SN - 0743-7463 SN - 1520-5827 VL - 34 IS - 1 SP - 147 EP - 153 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, D.C. AN - OPUS4-43702 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -