The self-cleaning of glasses can be realized by coating the photoinduced super-hydrophilic nanoporous thin films based on TiO2 photocatalysts via sol–gel route. In this study, a new method to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin films direct coated on the glass was developed by doping SiO2 in the films. The effects of post-annealing and the SiO2 content of TiO2 film on the photocata...

New proton exchange membrane (PEM) materials with high proton conductivities at elevated temperatures (ca. > 150 °C) offer the promise of improving PEM fuel cell operation. Higher operating temperatures would provide several benefits including: (i) improved resistance to carbon monoxide poisoning of the platinum (Pt) electrocatalyst at the anode, (ii) reduced need for feed-stream heat and humid...

This study focuses on the preparation and modification of a thin-film composite (TFC) hollow fiber polyamide membrane fabricated by the interfacial polymerization of Piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on a porous polysulfone substrate. The effects of triethylenetetramine (TETA) and silica nanoparticles (SiO2) contents in the aqueous phase (as the additives) on the morphology and perf...

Titanium dioxide has been widely used for photo-catalytic and self-cleaning activities. In this study, TiO2 /SiO2 /Co nanocomposite was prepared by sol-gel method in the presence of Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP), and Hydroxyl Propyl Cellulose (HPC) as additives, and characterized by IR spectra, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Analytical X-Ray (EDAX), and X-Ray Diffraction (X...

Nanocrystalline silicon thin films doped with erbium were produced by reactive magnetron RF sputtering. Their structural and chemical properties were studied by X-ray diffractometry at grazing incidence, micro-Raman, spectroscopic ellipsometry and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, respectively. Films with different crystalline fraction and crystallite size were deposited. Since the lumine...

Important progress is being made in the development of a Si based waveguide laser operating at 1.5 μm. The gain medium responsible for the recent progress is Er-doped Si nanocrystal co-doped SiO2, a composite material that can potentially be fabricated using a VLSI compatible process. The material combines the broad absorption spectrum of Si nanocrystals with the efficient narrow linewidth emis...

The present paper reports the near infrared (NIR) emission spectra of Er: Yb co-doped SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 sol-gel glasses. Upon optical pumping either with 980nm(Diode Laser) or 488nm (Ar ion laser), the NIR emission transition (I13/2→I15/2) at 1550nm of (Er:Yb) glasses have revealed an improved intensity by many times compared with the Er singly doped sol-gel glass. The dependence of the emission ...

This nanorheological study addresses the water transport hindrance in perfluorinated ionomer membranes (Nafion® H+ form) in conjunction with structural relaxation properties of the polymer matrix. A low-temperature relaxation of the “dry” Nafion® matrix at 79 ◦C, about 35 ◦C below the glass transition temperature, was found to be responsible for a steady improvement of the water transport above...