Semiconductor photocatalysis has been intensively studied in recent decades for a wide variety of application such as hydrogen production from water splitting and water and air treatment. The majority of photocatalysts are, however, wide band-gap semiconductors which are active only under UV irradiation. In order to effectively utilize visible solar radiation, this thesis investigates various t...

A theory that takes into account effects of retardation is developed for calculating the effective dielectric constant and magnetic permeability of metal-dielectric composites and photonic crystals containing a metallic component. The effective parameters depend, in general, on the local microgeometry of composites and electromagnetic crystals. For example, in metal-wire crystals the effective ...

We report the preparation of a new type of nanocomposite containing cobalt and silver nanoparticles organized in parallel layers with a well controlled separation. This arrangement allows the observation of an enhanced low-frequency Raman signal at the vibration frequency of cobalt nanoparticles excited through the surface plasmons of silver nanoparticles. Numerical simulations of the electric ...

High-energy-density storage devices play a major role in modern electronics from traditional lithium-ion batteries to supercapacitors for variety of applications rechargeable advanced military equipment. Despite the mass adoption polymer capacitors, their application is limited by low energy densities and low-temperature tolerance. Polymer nanocomposites based on 2D nanomaterials have superior ...

Heat transfer across metal-dielectric interfaces involves transport of electrons and phonons accomplished either by coupling between phonons in metal and dielectric or by coupling between electrons in metal and phonons in dielectric. In this work, we investigate heat transfer across metal-dielectric interfaces during ultrafast-laser heating of thin metal films coated on dielectric substrates. B...

The analytic asymptotic expressions for the Casimir free energy, pressure and entropy at low temperature in the configuration of one metal and one dielectric plate are obtained. For this purpose we develop the perturbation theory in a small parameter proportional to the product of the separation between the plates and the temperature. This is done using both the simplified model of an ideal met...

The properties of CaCu3.1Ti4O12.1 [CC3.1TO] ceramics with the addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles, prepared via a solid-state reaction technique, were investigated. The nanoparticle additive was found to inhibit grain growth with the average grain size decreasing from approximately 7.5 μm for CC3.1TO to approximately 2.0 μm for the unmodified samples, while the Knoop hardness value was found to imp...

Ferromagnetic nanoparticles are covalently modified in order to enhance the dispersion stability as well as the antifouling properties. Insertion of an azide moiety allows "click"-reaction of a relevant tag molecule. This and the high saturation magnetization of the presented nanocomposite offer a promising platform for magnetic biosensors.

Complex transition-metal oxides are important functional materials in areas such as energy and information storage. The cubic ABO3 perovskite is an archetypal example of this class, formed by the occupation of small octahedral B-sites within an AO3 network defined by larger A cations. We show that introduction of chemically mismatched octahedral cations into a cubic perovskite oxide parent phas...