Precious‐Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts for Activation of Hydrogen Evolution with Nonmetallic Electron Donor: Chemical Composition Controllable Phosphorous Doped Vanadium Carbide MXene

The insufficient strategies to improve electronic transport, the poor intrinsic chemical activities, and limited active site densities are all factors inhibiting MXenes from their electrocatalytic applications in terms of hydrogen production. Herein, these limitations are overcome by tunable interfacial chemical doping with a nonmetallic electron donor, i.e., phosphorization through simple heat‐treatment with triphenyl phosphine (TPP) as a phosphorous source in 2D vanadium carbide MXene. Through this process, substitution, and/or doping of phosphorous occurs at the basal plane with controllable chemical compositions (3.83–4.84 at%). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the P? C bonding shows the lowest surface formation energy (ΔG_Surf) of 0.027 eV Å^?2 and Gibbs free energy (ΔG_H) of –0.02 eV, whereas others such as P‐oxide and P? V (phosphide) show highly positive ΔG_H. The P3–V₂CT_x treated at 500 °C shows the highest concentration of P? C bonds, and exhibits the lowest onset overpotential of –28 mV, Tafel slope of 74 mV dec^?1, and the smallest overpotential of ‐163 mV at 10 mA cm^?2 in 0.5 m H₂SO₄. The first strategy for electrocatalytically accelerating hydrogen evolution activity of V₂CT_x MXene by simple interfacial doping will open the possibility of manipulating the catalytic performance of various MXenes.     

Pure‐Red Dye for Organic Electroluminescent Devices: Bis‐Condensed DCM Derivatives

In this paper, the bis‐condensed 4‐(dicyanomethylene)‐2‐methyl‐6‐[p‐(dimethylamino)styryl]‐4H‐pyran ( DCM) derivatives are introduced as a new class of red dye for organic light‐emitting devices (OLEDs). They showed more red‐shifted emission than the mono‐substituted DCM derivatives and the emission maxima increased as the electron‐donating ability of the aromatic donor group increased. On the basis of these results, red light‐emitting devices were fabricated with bis‐condensed DCM derivatives as red dopants. For a device of configuration ITO/TPD/Alq₃ + DADB (5.2 wt.‐%)/Alq₃/Al (where ITO is indium tin oxide, TPD is N,N′‐diphenyl‐N,N′‐bis(3‐methylphenyl)‐1,1′‐biphenyl‐4,4′‐diamine, Alq₃ is tris(8‐hydroxyquinoline) aluminum, and DADB is [2,6‐bis[2‐[5‐(dibutylamino)phenyl]vinyl]‐4H‐pyran‐4‐ylidene]propanedinitrile), pure red emission was observed with Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE 1931) coordinates of (0.658, 0.337) at 25 mA/cm².     

Structure and CO gas sensing properties of electrospun TiO2 nanofibers

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning a hybrid solution, which is a mixture of the TiO₂ sol precursor, polymer, and solvent. The structure and gas sensing properties of TiO₂ nanofibers were investigated. By calcining at 600 °C, the polymeric components were decomposed and a multi-layered random network structure of TiO₂ nanofibers was obtained. Polycrystalline TiO₂ nanofibers consist of tetragonal anatase and rutile TiO₂ phases. The diameter ranged from 400 nm to 500 nm and the grain size was about 15 nm. The TiO₂ nanofibers-based sensor exhibited response to CO concentration as low as 1 ppm at 200 °C.     

Wireless Energy Transfer System with Multiple Coils via Coupled Magnetic Resonances

A general equivalent circuit model is developed for a wireless energy transfer system composed of multiple coils via coupled magnetic resonances. To verify the developed model, four types of wireless energy transfer systems are fabricated, measured, and compared with simulation results. To model a system composed of n‐coils, node equations are built in the form of an n‐by‐n matrix, and the equivalent circuit model is established using an electric design automation tool. Using the model, we can simulate systems with multiple coils, power sources, and loads. Moreover, coupling constants are extracted as a function of the distance between two coils, and we can predict the characteristics of a system having coils at an arbitrary location. We fabricate four types of systems with relay coils, two operating frequencies, two power sources, and the function of characteristic impedance conversion. We measure the characteristics of all systems and compare them with the simulation results. The flexibility of the developed model enables us to design and optimize a complicated system consisting of many coils.     

Electrical characterization of n/p-type nickel silicide/silicon junctions by Sb segregation

In this paper, n/p-type nickel-silicided Schottky diodes were fabricated by incorporating antimony atoms near the nickel silicide/Si junction interface and the electrical characteristics were studied through measurements and simulations. The effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) for electron, extracted from the thermionic emission model, drastically decreased from 0.68 to less than 0.1 eV while that for hole slightly increased from 0.43 to 0.53 eV. In order to identify the current conduction mechanisms, the experimental current-temperature-voltage characteristics for the n-type diode were fitted based on various models for transport of charge carrier in Schottky diodes. As the result, the large change in effective SBH for electron is ascribed to trap-assisted tunneling rather than barrier height inhomogeneity.     

Impedance Spectroscopy of π‐Conjugated Organic Materials

AC electrical properties of organic light‐emitting diodes with poly(2‐methoxy‐5‐(2'‐ethyl‐hexyloxy)‐1,4‐phenylenevinylene) (MEH‐PPV), poly[2,5‐bia(dimethyloctylsilyl)‐1,4‐phenylene‐vinylene] (BDMOS‐PPV), and tris‐(8‐hydroxyquinolate)‐aluminum (AlQ₃) as light‐emitting materials are studied. The frequency‐dependent real and imaginary parts of impedance were fitted using an equivalent circuit. We found that the conduction mechanism is a space‐charge limited current with exponential trap distribution.     

Photobleaching for the formation of nonlinear optical polymer waveguide devices

A simple but realistic kinetic model has been developed to delineate the refractive index profiles formed by photochemical reaction in nonlinear optical polymers. The effects of the absorption due to the unconverted reactant and the photoproduct are included in the model. The parameters required in the model are obtained from simple transmission experiments. The experimental results are consistent with the model. The refractive index profile is steeper when nonlinear optical polymeric materials are bleached by light with higher absorption. The rate of the bleach depth change becomes slower as the bleaching proceeds. Small absorption of bleaching light due to the photoproduct has significant effect on the resulting refractive index profiles. The photobleaching process is shown to be accelerated by the addition of a photosensitizer. Photobleaching time has been effectively reduced by a factor of 3–5. Linear and nonlinear optical properties of the polymer were little affected by the addition of the photosensitizer. It has also been demonstrated that the photobleaching technique can be utilized to tune the initial state of a directional coupler switch after completing the fabrication of the device. It was shown that successive cross states are passed from the initial cross state by selective bleaching of the gap region. The evolution of the refractive index profiles is successfully applied to predict the evolution of output state.     

The Characteristics of Seebeck Coefficient in Silicon Nanowires Manufactured by CMOS Compatible Process

Silicon nanowires are patterned down to 30 nm using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible process. The electrical conductivities of n-/p-leg nanowires are extracted with the variation of width. Using this structure, Seebeck coefficients are measured. The obtained maximum Seebeck coefficient values are 122 μV/K for p-leg and −94 μV/K for n-leg. The maximum attainable power factor is 0.74 mW/m K² at room temperature.     

Semiconducting ZnO Nanofibers as Gas Sensors and Gas Response Improvement by SnO2 Coating

ZnO nanofibers were electro‐spun from a solution containing poly 4‐vinyl phenol and Zn acetate dihydrate. The calcination process of the ZnO/PVP composite nanofibers brought forth a random network of polycrystalline würtzite ZnO nanofibers of 30 nm to 70 nm in diameter. The electrical properties of the ZnO nanofibers were governed by the grain boundaries. To investigate possible applications of the ZnO nanofibers, their CO and NO₂ gas sensing responses are demonstrated. In particular, the SnO2‐deposited ZnO nanofibers exhibit a remarkable gas sensing response to NO2 gas as low as 400 ppb. Oxide nanofibers emerge as a new proposition for oxide‐based gas sensors.     

TE-TM mode converter in a poled-polymer waveguide

A novel active TE-TM mode converter in a poled electrooptic polymer waveguide is demonstrated. The mode converter utilizes a 45°-off poling configuration, which can be obtained by arranging upper- and lower-stripe poling electrodes with a proper lateral displacement. The mode-conversion properties and electrooptic effect are demonstrated by using a vector-beam propagation method in a buried channel-type waveguide. Applications to integrated polymer-waveguide devices are also suggested