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- ja (21) (entfernen)
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- SAXS (5)
- Small-angle X-ray scattering (4)
- Ellipsometry (3)
- Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (2)
- Discotic Liquid Crystals (2)
- Discotic liquid crystals (2)
- Gas sensing (2)
- Nanoparticle (2)
- Neutron scattering (2)
- SPR effect (2)
- Activation (1)
- Advanced calorimetry (1)
- Boson peak (1)
- Chemical sensor (1)
- Confinement (1)
- Differential scanning calorimetry (1)
- Dust explosions (1)
- Flash DSC (1)
- Gas explosions (1)
- Gas sensor (1)
- Gold layer (1)
- Holz (1)
- Iron doped tin oxide (1)
- LaF3 (1)
- Nanoparticles (1)
- Nanopatricle (1)
- Protein (1)
- Pt (1)
- SPR (1)
- Sensitive layer (1)
- Silver nanoparticles (1)
- Small-angle x-ray scattering (1)
- Specific heat spectroscopy (1)
- Thermal treatment (1)
- TiO2 (1)
- Turbulence (1)
- Ultraschallecho (1)
- Venting (1)
- X-ray scattering (1)
- Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (1)
- ZrO2 (1)
- a-C:H (1)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
In this work, thin iron doped tin oxide layers (3–6 nm) were investigated with regard to gas sensitivity by means of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect with ellipsometric readout. The experimental set-up was a Kretschmann configuration with gold as metal layer. The sensor system was exposed to different concentrations of methane in the low ppm range and the sensor response of an uncoated gold layer compared to a gold layer coated with iron doped tin oxide. The additional layer effects stability with regard to drift behavior of the sensor and an increase in sensitivity. Furthermore, the sensor is able to detect the toxic gas carbon monoxide in low concentration range (down to 0.5 ppm). The thin layers were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary electron microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The possible mechanisms taking place on the surface are discussed.
A gas sensor system based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect in a 44 nm Au layer was studied. The usability of this sensor system was investigated for several analyte gases and gas mixtures which are interesting due to their flammability, toxicity or greenhouse effect. The SPR effect of gold was measured in nitrogen and compared with the gaseous alkane series which caused a shift of the position of the SPR effect. For in situ measurements, the phase shift Δ at the SPR angle (ψ minimum) in the analyte gas mixtures was measured for investigated gases in comparison with nitrogen. With this method, detection limits of different gases could be determined, which lie in a range interesting for safety engineering. Furthermore the aging effect of the gold layers which leads to loss in sensitivity of the sensor was investigated.
The molecular dynamics of the discotic liquid crystal pyrene-1,3,6,8-tetracarboxylic tetra(2-ethylhexyl)ester is studied by dielectric relaxation and specific heat spectroscopy. Dielectric spectroscopy shows 3 processes: a β-relaxation at low temperatures and an α-relaxation in the temperature range of the mesophases followed by conductivity. The dielectric α-relaxation is assigned to a restricted glassy dynamics in the plastic crystal as well as in the liquid crystalline phase. The obtained different Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann laws (different Vogel temperatures and fragility) are related to the different restrictions of the dipolar fluctuations in the corresponding phases. By means of specific heat spectroscopy glassy dynamics is also detected in the plastic crystalline phase but with quite a different temperature dependence of the relaxation times. This is discussed considering the different probes involved and how they are influenced by the structure. In the frame of the fluctuation approach a correlation length of glassy dynamics is calculated to 0.78 nm which corresponds to the core–core distance estimated by X-ray scattering.
An ellipsometric gas sensor based on the surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of ~ 43 nm thick gold layers was investigated. To protect the gold layer from contamination and to improve the detection limits, the gold layers were top-coated with 5–6 nm thick layers of organic a-C:H or with inorganic metal oxides TiO2 or ZrO2. The additional layers increased the long-term stability, whereas the metal oxide layers protect better than a-C:H. Furthermore, the additional layers decreased the detection limits by one order of magnitude in case of a-C:H and two orders of magnitude in case of the oxides. It could be shown that the detection limits also depend on the kind of preparation (sol–gel process or physical vapour deposition) of the additional layers.
The silicon based semiconductor structure Si/SiO2/Si3N4/LaF3/Pt can be used as a potentiometric oxygen sensor working at room temperature. A thermal re-activation can be applied to overcome the earlier disadvantage of an increase in response time with continuous use. Using the Pt gate electrode as a resistive heater, very short electrical high-power pulses can be applied. A heating time as short as 300 ns was sufficient for the re-activation of the sensor. This way, only the sensitive thin layer system LaF3/Pt was heated, and the whole sensor was at room temperature immediately after heating. Impedance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and quadruple mass spectrometric (QMS)thermogravimetry (TG) were used to investigate the mechanism of deterioration in dynamic sensor behaviour and re-activation. The formation of hydrated carbonate and the desorption of CO2 and H2O have been shown to be the causes.
Experiments were performed on the influence of pre-ignition turbulence on the course of vented gas and dust explosions. A vertical cylindrical explosion chamber of approximately 100 l volume and a length-to-diameter ratio (l/d) of 4.7 consisting of a steel bottom segment and three glass sections connected by steel flanges was used to perform the experiments. Sixteen small fans evenly distributed within the chamber produced turbulent fluctuations from 0 to 0.45 m/s. A Laser-Doppler-anemometer (LDA) was used to measure the flow and turbulence fields. During the experiments the pressure and in the case of dust explosions the dust concentration were measured. In addition, the flame propagation was observed by a high-speed video camera. A propane/nitrogen/oxygen mixture was used for the gas explosion experiments, while the dust explosions were produced by a cornstarch/air mixture.
It turned out that the reduced explosion pressure increased with increasing turbulence intensity. This effect was most pronounced for small vents with low activation pressures, e.g. for bursting disks made from polyethylene foil. In this case, the overpressure at an initial turbulence of 0.45 m/s was twice that for zero initial turbulence.
Phase transitions and molecular mobility of a discotic liquid crystal under nanoscale confinement
(2013)
The phase behavior and the molecular dynamics of a pyrene-based discotic liquid crystal when confined in nanoporous aluminum membranes with different pore sizes is studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. In confinement the two phase transitions between plastic crystalline and hexagonal ordered phase at lower and from the latter to an isotropic state at higher temperatures are also observed, but two different phase structures close to the wall and in the pore center are evidenced by two peaks in the heat flow for the first time. While the former peak is independent of the pore size, the depression of the phase transition temperatures of the latter ones can be described by the GibbsThomson equation. With decreasing pore size for both phase transitions the transition enthalpies decrease. A critical pore size for phase transformation of about 20 nm is estimated from the pore size dependence of the transition enthalpies. Like for the bulk, an a-relaxation is also observed in confinement. At the phase transition its relaxation rates show a discontinuity from which a dielectric phase transition temperature can be extracted. For temperatures above and below the phase transition the temperature of the relaxation rate can be approximated by an Arrhenius equation. The pore size dependence of the estimated apparent activation energies is ascribed to the interplay between pore size and interaction effects. The cooperative nature of the underlying molecular dynamics is indicated by the occurrence of the well-known compensation law.
Hexakis(n-alkyloxy)triphenylene) (HATn) consisting of an aromatic triphenylene core and alkyl side chains are model discotic liquid crystal (DLC) systems forming a columnar mesophase. In the mesophase, the molecules of HATn self-assemble in columns, which has one-dimensional high charge carrier mobility along the columns. Here, a homologous series of HATn with different length of the alkyl chain (n = 5,6,8,10,12) is investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and advanced calorimetric techniques including fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) and specific heat spectroscopy (SHS). The investigation of the phase behavior was done utilizing DSC experiments and the influence of the alkyl chain length on the phase behavior was revealed. By the dielectric investigations probing the molecular mobility, a c-relaxation due to localized fluctuations as well as two glassy dynamics, the acore- and aalkyl-relaxation, were observed in the temperature range of the plastic crystalline phase. Moreover, the observed glassy dynamics were further studied employing advanced calorimetry. All observed relaxation processes are attributed to the possible specific molecular fluctuations and discussed in detail. From the results a transition at around n = 8 from a rigid constrained (n = 5,6) to a softer system (n = 10,12) was revealed with increasing alkyl chain length. A counterbalance of two competing effects of a polyethylene-like behavior of the alkyl chains in the intercolumnar domains and self-organized confinement is discussed in the context of a hindered glass transition.
The vibrational density of states of a series of homologous triphenylene-based discotic liquid crystals HATn (n = 5, 6, 8, 10, 12) depending on the length of the aliphatic side chain is investigated by means of inelastic neutron scattering. All studied materials have a plastic crystalline phase at low temperatures, followed by a hexagonally ordered liquid crystalline phase at higher temperatures and a quasi isotropic phase at the highest temperatures. The X-ray scattering pattern for the plastic crystalline phase of all materials shows a sharp Bragg reflection corresponding to the intercolumnar distance in the lower q-range and a peak at circa 17 nm-1 related to intracolumnar distances between the cores perpendicular to the columns as well as a broad amorphous halo related to the disordered structure of the methylene groups in the side chains in the higher q-range. The intercolumnar distance increases linearly with increasing chain length for the hexagonal columnar ordered liquid crystalline phase. A similar behaviour is assumed for the plastic crystalline phase. Besides n = 8 all materials under study exhibit a Boson peak. With increasing chain length, the frequency of the Boson peak decreases and its intensity increases. This can be explained by a self-organized confinement model. The peaks for n = 10, 12 are much narrower than for n = 5, 6 which might imply the transformation from a rigid system to a softer one with increasing chain length. Moreover the results can also be discussed in the framework of a transition from an uncorrelated to a correlated disorder with increasing n where n = 8 might be speculatively considered as a transitional state.
Thermal properties and vibrational density of states of a nanoconfined discotic liquid crystal
(2014)
Neutron scattering is employed to investigate the vibrational density of states (VDOS) of the discotic liquid crystal 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis[hexyloxy] triphenylene (HAT6) confined to the pores of alumina oxide membranes with different pore sizes. Additionally, the phase transitions were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The transitions were observed down to the smallest pore size. The decrease of the transition enthalpies versus inverse pore size for both transitions implies an increase of the amount of disordered amorphous material. By extrapolation of its pore size dependence, a critical pore diameter for structure formation of 17 nm is estimated. Similar to the bulk, excess contributions to the VDOS (Boson peak) are also observed for confined HAT6. The Boson peak gains in intensity and shifts to lower frequencies with decreasing pore diameter. This is discussed in the framework of a softening of HAT6 induced by the confinement due to a less-developed plastic crystalline state inside the pores compared to the bulk.