"Alginate/silica hybrid materials for immobilization of green microalgae Chlorella vulgaris for cellbased sensor arrays" (2014). Thin layers and patterned dot arrays of sodium alginate containing living microalgal cells were deposited onto glass carriers which were subsequently gelled using amino-functionalized silica sol to obtain reinforced alginate hydrogels. The resulting alginate/silica hy...

Archean microfossils provide some of the earliest physical evidence for life on Earth, yet there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding which micro-organisms were actually preserved. Because of the limited cellular detail remaining, interpretation of those microfossils has been based solely on size and morphology. This has led to significant controversy surrounding the presence or absenc...

A novel generic method of silica supported catalyst system generation from a fluid state is presented. The technique is based on the combined flow and radiation (such as microwave, thermal or UV) induced co-assembly of the support and catalyst precursors forming nano-reactors, followed by catalyst precursor decomposition. The transformation from the precursor to supported catalyst oxide state c...

Very smooth thin films of iridium have been deposited on super polished fused silica (SiO2) substrates using dc magnetron sputtering in argon plasma. The influence of deposition process parameters on film micro roughness has been investigated. In addition, film optical constants have been determined using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometery, over the spectra range from vacuum ultraviolet...

This work reveals a cost-efficient and flexible approach to various microlens arrays on polymers, which is essential to micro-optics elements. An 800-nm femtosecond laser is employed to control the hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching process on silica glasses, and concave microstructures with smooth curved surfaces are produced by this method. Then, the micro-structured glass templates can serve as ...

Concrete is the most commonly used building material due to its high strength, moldability, weather-resistant, and fire resistance, among other benefits. In recent years, there has been a growth in usage of Micro Silica fume. Through Ore sand Bridge building, records show that was concrete. These fabrics are not only environmentally sustainable, but they also have technological advantages on bo...

We present high average power picosecond and nanosecond pulse delivery at 1030 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths respectively through a novel hollow-core Negative Curvature Fiber (NCF) for high-precision micro-machining applications. Picosecond pulses with an average power above 36 W and energies of 92 µJ, corresponding to a peak power density of 1.5 TWcm⁻² have been transmitted through the fiber with...

In this thesis multi-component mass transport in thin supported amorphous silica membranes is discussed. These membranes are micro-porous, with pore diameters smaller than 4Å and show high fluxes for small molecules (such as hydrogen) combined with high selectivities for these molecules with respect to larger ones. The chemical and thermal stability of silica membranes are favourable compared t...

Porous materials in general have received great attention from the last century. The development of new porous materials and the preparation of new composites based on porous materials is a subject of interest. The development of porous silicon based optical composite materials opened up new ways of incorporating optically active sol-gel materials into porous silicon. High purity silica optical...