Solution-based metal induced crystallization of a-Si

This paper investigates a simplified metal induced crystallization （MIC） of a-Si, named solution-based MIC （SMIC）. The nickel inducing source was formed on a-Si from salt solution dissolved in de-ionized water or ethanol, a-Si thin film was deposited with low pressure chemical vapour deposition or plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition as precursor material for MIC. It finds that the content of nickel source formed on a-Si can be controlled by solution concentration and dipping time. The dependence of crystallization rate of a-Si on annealing time illustrated that the linear density of nickel source was another critical factor that affects the crystallization of a-Si, besides the diffusion of nickel disilicide. The highest electron Hall mobility of thus prepared S-MIC poly-Si is 45.6 cm^2/（V· s）. By using this S-MIC poly-Si, thin film transistors and display scan drivers were made, and their characteristics are presented.

Water softening by induced crystallization in fluidized bed

Fluidized bed and induced crystallization technology were combined to design a new type of induced crystallization fluidized bed reactor. The added particulate matter served as crystal nucleus to induce crystallization so that the insoluble material, which was in a saturated state, could precipitate on its surface. In this study, by filling the fluidized bed with quartz sand and by adjusting water pH, precipitation of calcium carbonate was induced on the surface of quartz sand, and the removal of water hardness was achieved. With a reactor influent flow of 60 L/hr, a fixed-bed height of 0.5 m, pH value of 9.5, quartz sand nuclear diameter of 0.2-0.4 mm, and a reflux ratio of 60%, the effluent concentration of calcium hardness was reduced to 60 mg/L and 86.6% removal efficiency was achieved. The resulting effluent reached the quality standard set for circulating cooling water. Majority of the material on the surface of quartz sand was calculated to be calcium carbonate based on energy spectrum analysis and moisture content was around 15.994%. With the low moisture content, dewatering treatment is no longer required and this results to cost savings on total water treatment process.

Recovery of Cu(Ⅱ) from aqueous solution by induced crystallization in a long-term operation

The feasibility of copper recovery by induced crystallization in a long period（174 days） was investigated in a seeded fluidized bed reactor（FBR）. The process was divided into 3 periods according to different influent conditions, and the period Ⅲ was separated into Ⅲ-a and Ⅲb due to the adjustment of the molar ratio of CO3^2- concentration to copper concentration（[CT]/[Cu^2＋]）. The removal efficiency could exceed 95% and the average effluent copper concentration decreased to 3.0 mg/L. The mean particle size of seed grains with copper crystals coating on, raised to 0.36 mm from initial 0.18 mm. During period Ⅲ-a, the supersaturation exceeded 2.88 × 104, the removal efficiency decreased to 60%–80% and the particle size dropped to 0.30 mm, due to the generation of fines by homogeneous crystallization and seeds breaking. And the morphology of the crystals on the seed grains changed from rod-like to spherical which lead to the particle size decreasing. In period Ⅲ-b,the supersaturation was modified by adjusting the molar ratio of [CT]/[Cu^2＋] to 1.2 from 2.The efficiency was back to 95% and the mean particle size grew to 0.36 mm at the end of Ⅲb, the crystals coating on the seeds turned back to rod-like products of good stability. This study illustrated that the copper salt crystal could keep on growing on the seed grains for over 150 days, the feasibility and controllability of copper recovery by induced crystallization process in FBR were satisfactory, even under the dramatic changes in influent conditions.

Aluminum induced crystallization of strongly (111) oriented polycrystalline silicon thin film and nucleation analysis

A polycrystalline silicon thin film was fabricated on glass substrate by means of aluminum induced crystallization (AIC). Al and α-Si layers were deposited by magnetron sputtering respectively and annealed at 480°C for 1 h to realize layer exchange. The polycrystalline silicon thin film was continuous and strongly (111) oriented. By analyzing the structure variation of the oxidation membrane and lattice mismatch between γ-Al2O3 and Si, it was concluded that aluminum promoted the formation of (111) oriented silicon nucleus by controlling the orientation of γ-Al2O3, which was formed at the early stage of annealing.

Low Temperature Solvent Evaporation-induced Crystallization Synthesis of Nanocrystalline TiO_2 Photocatalyst

A novel and efficient methodology for obtaining highly active photocatalyst of bi phase TiO 2 with small particle size and high specific surface area was developed by solvent evaporation induced crystallization (SEIC) method at low temperature. The prepared TiO 2 powder was characterized with X ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and BET surface areas. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation of acetone in air. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 powder prepared by this method approached that of Degussa P25. This may be attributed to the fact that the prepared TiO 2 powder had larger specific surface areas (265 m 2·g -1 ) and smaller crystallite size (about 5 nm), but relatively low crystallinity, as compared with Degussa P25.

H-plasma-assisted aluminum induced crystallization of amorphous silicon

A technique to improve and accelerate aluminum induced crystallization（AIC） by using hydrogen plasma is proposed.Raman spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry of crystallized poly-Si thin films show that hydrogen plasma radicals reduce the crystallization time of AIC.This technique shortens the annealing time from 10 to 4 h and increases the Hall mobility from 22.1 to 42.5 cm^2/（V·s）.The possible mechanism of AIC assisted by hydrogen radicals is also discussed.

Transverse Optical Properties of the Eu3+:Y2SiO5 Crystal in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

According to density matrix equations of the interaction between light and matter, the expression for the suscep- tibility of the Eu^3＋ ：Y2SiO5 crystal is obtained. When the control field is a Gaussian beam, we investigate and analyze the influence of probe detuning, the Rabi frequency of the control field and the laser line width on the transverse optical properties. We also analyze the influence of the dope-ion concentration on electromagnetieally induced transparency （EIT）. The analysis result indicates that the transmission is not a monotonic function of the dope-ion concentration. Based on the influences of various parameters on the transverse optical properties, we choose the appropriate parameters to realize the desired EIT and gradient refractive index, which has applications in focusing and imaging.

Dynamic Ni gettered by PSG from S-MIC poly-Si and its TFTs

A dynamic phosphor-silicate glass （PSG） gettering method is proposed in which the processes of the gettering of Ni by PSC and the crystallizing of α-Si into poly-Si by Ni take place simultaneously. The effects of PSC gettering process on the performances of solution-based metal induced crystallized （S-MIC） poly-Si materials and their thin film transistors （TFTs） are discussed. The crystallization rate is much reduced due to the fact that the Ni as a medium source of crystallization is extracted by the PSC during crystallization at the same time. The boundary between two neighbouring grains in S-MIC poly-Si with PSG looks blurrier than without PSG. Compared with the TFTs made from S-MIC poly-Si without PSC gettering, the TFTs made with PSC gettering has a reduced gate induced leakage current.

STRUCTURE AND THERMAL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ORIENTED POLYIMIDE (PEI-E)

The strain induced crystallization behaviour in polyimide from 1,4-bis (3', 4'- dicarboxyphenoxy)benzene and 4,4'-oxydianiline (PEI-E)has been investigated by WAXD, DSC and FTIR. The results obtained show that crystallization in PEI-E did take place just after tensile yielding. Meanwhile, the effect of strain induced crystallization on the thermomechanical properties was studied by DMA and TMA, the results of which indicate that the crystallization and hot stretching have a certain influence on the dynamic mechanical properties, such as weakening the β relaxation and decreasing the glass transition temperature. The TMA results confirm the shifting of glass transition temperature to lower temperature region after hot stretching. This phenomenon could be well explained by the effect of residual stress according to Eyring's theory.

Crystallization induced micellization of poly(p-dioxanone)-block-polyethylene glycol diblock copolymer functionalized with pyrene moiety

Poly（p-dioxanone）-block-polyethylene glycol diblock copolymers functionalized with pyrene moieties（Py-PPDO-b-PEG） at the chain ends of PPDO blocks were synthesized for preparing anisotropic micelles with improved stability.The micellization and crystallization of the copolymers were investigated by nano differential scanning calorimetry（Nano DSC）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,UV-vis spectrophotometery,fluorophotometer,and dynamic light scattering（DLS）,respectively.The results indicated that the aggregation of pyrene induced by intermolecular interaction lead to micellization of Py-PPDO-b-PEG at much lower concentrations than those of PPDO-b-PEG copolymers without pyrene moieties.The aggregation of pyrene moieties may also serve as nucleation agent and therefore enhance the crystallization rate of PPDO blocks.Fluorescence measurements by using Nile Red as the fluorescent agent indicated that the micelles of Py-PPDO-b-PEG have high stability and load capacity for hydrophobic molecules.

Blue-green Phosporescent Iridium Complex with Terdentate Ligand

An ionic iridium（Ⅲ） complex[Ir（F2dpyb）（bzdpp）2Cl][OTf]with 1,3-difluoro-4,6-di（2-pyridinyl） benzene（F2dpybH） terdentate ligand and benzyldiphenylphosphine（bzdpp）ligand was synthesized and characterized.The structure of iridium complex was verified by single-crystal X-ray crystallography.It crystallizes in monoclinic,space group P21/n with a =14.3654（7）,b = 23.0026（10）,c = 15.7964（7） A°,β = 97.6029（11）,V= 5173.9（4） A°3,Z = 4,F（000） =2552,Dc = 1.645 Mg/m^3,Mr = 1281.49 and μ = 0.071 mm^-1.The UV-vis absorption and phosphorescence of the complex were discussed.The complex was ＇aggregation induced emission（AIE）＇ active.It exhibited no emission in CH2Cl2 solution but strong blue-green emission in solid state under ultraviolet light excitation.The complex emitted a strong phosphorescence centered at493 nm when doped in PMMA.Its lifetime is 0.755 μs and quantum yield is approximately 0.134.

Mechanistic Insights into the Shear Effects on Isotactic Polypropylene Crystallization Containingβ-Nucleating Agent

The crystalline structures and crystallization behaviors of iPP containing β nucleation agent TMB-5 （iPP/TMB-5） were investigated by synchrotron radiation wide angel X-ray diffraction （SR-WAXD）, differential scanning calorimeter （DSC） and polarized light microscope （PLM）. It was found that α-crystallization lagged behind β-crystallization at normal temperatures, but the discrepancy reduced with increasing temperature. TMB-5 could not induce β-iPP when the nucleation agent is wrapped up with α-crystal that crystallized at high temperatures. The polymorphic composition of iPP/TMB-5 was susceptible to the introductory moment of shear. New crystallization process of β-nucleated iPP was proposed to understand the experimental phenomena which could not be explained by those reported in the literature. It was supposed that polymer crystallization initiated from mesophase, and the formations of iPP crystals involved the organization of helical conformation ordering within rnesophase. It was proposed that the iPP melt contained mesophases with stereocomplex-type ordering of right-handed and left-handed helical chains which could be disturbed by shear or TMB-5, leading to different polymorphic structures.

CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF POLYLACTIDE ON HIGHLY ORIENTED POLYETHYLENE THIN FILMS

The crystalline structure and morphology of the PLA crystallized isothermally from the glassy state on highly oriented PE substrates at 130℃ were investigated by means of optical microscopy, AFM and X-ray diffraction. The results indicate that the PE substrate influences the crystallization behavior of PLA remarkably, which leads to the growth of PLA crystals on PE substrate always in edge-on form rather than the twisted lamellar crystals from edge-on to flat-on when crystallizing the PLA on glass surface under the same condition. The edge-on PLA lamellae on the PE substrate are preferentially arranged with their long axes in the chain direction of the PE substrate crystals. It is further demonstrated that except for the different crystal orientation, the PE does not influence the crystalline modification and crystallinity of the PLA.

Refractive Index Change and Color Center Formation in LiYF_4 Crystal Induced by a Femtosecond Laser

The refractive index change and color centers formation in LiYF4 crystal at room temperature are induced by a femtosecond laser irradiation. A mechanism for refractive index change and color centers formation is proposed.

Hexagonal trumpet-like flowers growth induced by a colloidal crystal composite film

Hexagonal trumpet-like sodium hexafluorosilicate （SFS） flowers, grown on an ordered porous polystyrene film （OPPF）, were prepared via a synchronous dissolution/regrowth process. Their formation process can be divided into several steps： first, the dissolution of the silica spheres induced the crystallization of SFS onto the OPPF; second, some pores emerged on the closely packed bumps when being blown by the SiF4 gas; third, when the crystal was blown by continuous gas from the pores, the span of the top became larger than that of the bottom.