Preparation of polystyrene spheres in different particle sizes and assembly of the PS colloidal crystals

Monodisperse polystyrene (PS) colloidal spheres were successfully prepared through emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization by controlling the polymerization reaction time, ionic strength of the system, concentration of the ionic copolymer (sodium p-styrenesulfonate) and other factors. The PS colloidal spheres were assembled into colloidal crystals whose structures were mainly face-centered cubic (fcc) close-packed. Then FDTD method was used to calculate the color-rendering characteristics of the colloidal crystals surface. The calculated results were consistent with the experimental results.

Fabrication of grating-like polystyrene latex monolayer structure as three-dimensional calibration standards for scanning probe microscope

This paper illuminates the preparation of grating-like polystyrene latex monolayer structure, which can minimize the effects of the size deviation of spheres and the defect transfer on the accuracy as calibration samples for micro-scopes. The latex films are grown on freshly cleaved mica substrates by vertical deposition method. The concentration dependence of the structure and the topography of latex films is characterized by optical microscope, ultraviolet- visible transmission spectrum and scanning probe microscope. The origination of such a grating-like structure is also discussed.

Improving self-assembly quality of colloidal crystal guided by statistical design of experiments

A versatile and reliable approach is created to fabricate wafer-scale colloidal crystal that consists of a monolayer of hexagonally close-packed polystyrene （PS） spheres. Making wafer-scale colloidal crystal is usually challenging, and it lacks a general theoretical guidance for experimental approaches. To obtain the optimal conditions for self-assembly, a systematic statistical design and analysis method is utilized here, which applies the pick-the-winner rule. This new method combines spin-coating and thermal treatment, and introduces a mixture of glycol and ethanol as a dispersion system to assist self-assembly. By controlling the parameters of self-assembly, we improve the quality of colloidal crystal and reduce the effect of noise on the experiment. To our best knowledge, we are first to pave this path to harvest colloidal crystals. Importantly, a theoretical analysis using an energy landscape base on our process is also developed to provide insights into the PS spheres＇ self-assembly.

Chelating Properties of Salicylhydroxamic Acid-functionalized Polystyrene Resins and Its Application to Efficient Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Aqueous Solutions

Salicylhydroxamic acid（SHA） was covalently bound onto crosslinked polystyrene spheres（CPSs） via the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction between chloromethylated CPSs and SHA in the presence of SnCI4 as the Lewis acid catalyst. The resulted SHA-CPSs possessed very strong chelating ability for heavy metal ions. In particular, the saturated adsorption amount of SHA-CPSs for Cu2＋ ions could reach as high as 34.2 mg/g at 318 K. The chelating capability of SHA-CPSs towards heavy metal ions was pH and temperature dependent. SHA-CPSs also showed se- lective metal coordination with the chelating capacity decreasing in the order of Cu2＋ 〉Zn2＋〉〉Pb2＋. The adsorption isotherms conformed well to the Langmuir model, and the adsorption process was found to be entropy-driven and endothermic. Besides, SHA-CPSs possessed the excellent reusability.

Preparation of Porous NiO-Ce_(0.8)Sm_(0.2)O_(1.9) Ceramics for Anode-supported Low-temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Porous NiO-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9（NiO-SDC） ceramics with homogeneous pore distribution were prepared using polystyrene （PS） spheres as pore templates. NiO-SDC powders were synthesized by a glycine-nitrate method, ultrasonically mixed with PS spheres in ethanol, dried and then pressed into green pellets. The pellets were sintered to yield porous NiO-SDC ceramics. The effects of the sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical strength of the ceramics were investigated. NiO-SDC ceramics sintered at 1200 and 1350℃ have interconnected pore structures and high compression strength. When single cells were fabricated using porous NiO-SDC ceramics as anode-supported layers, the peak power density of the cells at 600℃ was 333 and 353 mW.cm-2 for ceramics sintered at 1200 and 1350℃, respectively. The results indicated that these porous ceramic materials are promising for anode substrates for solid oxide fuel cells.

Polymer nanowire vertical transistors

By utilizing poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） polymer nanowires with diameters of -15 nm as the vertical channel material, a polymer nanowire vertical transistor has been demonstrated for the first time. The P3HT nanowires were characterized by absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A saturated output current was created by increasing the thickness of the polymer layers between the electrodes through several spin-coating cycles of the polymer nanowires prepared in a marginal solvent. The carrier mobility was also increased through utilization of polymer nanowires with strong interchain interactions. By introducing a small hole injection barrier between the emitter and semiconducting polymer, an on/off current ratio of 1,500 was obtained. The operating voltage is less than 2 V.

Photocatalytic activity of ZnO films with micro-grid structure

A layer of zinc oxide(ZnO)micro-grid was deposited on the surface of ZnO film using the DC reactive magnetron sputtering method and the micro-sphere lithography technique on glass substrates.Samples of this layer were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),atomic force microscopy(AFM),and ultraviolet-visible light spectroscopy.X-ray diffraction showed the high crystallinity of ZnO film and the regular arrangement of the micro-grid.The microgrid ZnO has a lower specular reflection and a higher diffuse reflection,allowing incident light to reflect two or three times to enhance the usage of light.Photocatalytic degradation experiments on methylene blue using both ZnO micro-grid and ordinary film showed that the ZnO micro-grid has better photocatalytic properties than ordinary film.The ZnO micro-grid enhanced the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO film by 28%with a degradation time of 300 min.