Two wireless, passive remote query magnetism-based glucose sensors, which operate in combination with a mass and volume changing glucose responsive polymer, are presented. One sensor design is based upon the magnetostatic coupling of magnetically soft thin-film elements; as the polymer volume changes in response to glucose concentration so does the magnetostatic coupling between elements. In re...

Mesoscopic patterns have been observed to form in thin polymer films undergoing a fast dip-coating process. Though several mechanisms for creating of mesoscopic patterns have been proposed, the mechanism of the evaporation-induced mesoscopic self-organization is not yet fully understood. The paper aims to explain this phenomenon by studying the stability of a thin evaporating film. The analysis...

Z. Naturforsch. 58a, 392 – 396 (2003); received May 24, 2003 We report on the formation of self-assembled rings of CoPt3 nanoparticles in ultrathin polymer films (ring diameter about 1 μm, particle diameter 6 nm). The polymer thin film was formed by wetting a polymer solution on the surface of water. The process of self-assembling turns out to result from phase separation of the binary polymer ...

We have investigated the effects of illumination, both broadband and monochromatic, on the electrical performance of organic polymer thin-film transistors (OP-TFTs). In each case, providing the illumination is sufficiently absorbed by the organic polymer, the drain current of a device biased in the OFF-state is significantly increased. We have observed increases in the OFF-state drain current a...

Large-area graphene thin films are prized in flexible and transparent devices. We report on a type of glassy graphene that is in an intermediate state between glassy carbon and graphene and that has high crystallinity but curly lattice planes. A polymer-assisted approach is introduced to grow an ultra-smooth (roughness, <0.7 nm) glassy graphene thin film at the inch scale. Owing to the advantag...

The first report on the fabrication and application of a nanocomposite containing poly-N-vinyl carbazole (PVK) polymer and graphene oxide (GO) as an antimicrobial film was demonstrated. The antimicrobial film was 90% more effective in preventing bacterial colonization relative to the unmodified surface. More importantly, the nanocomposite thin film showed higher bacterial toxicity than pure GO-...

Under tension, a freestanding thin metal film usually ruptures at a smaller strain than its bulk counterpart. Often this apparent brittleness does not result from cleavage, but from strain localization, such as necking. By volume conservation, necking causes local elongation. This elongation is much smaller than the film length, and adds little to the overall strain. The film ruptures when the ...

A thin-film transistor: An n-type polymer semiconductor, poly(2,3-bis(perfluorohexyl)thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine), was synthesized through a Pd-catalyzed polycondensation employing a perfluorinated multiphase solvent system. This is the first example of an n-type polymer semiconductor with exclusive solubility in fluorinated solvents. The fabrication of organic field effect transistors containing thi...

We present an optical experiment which permits us to evaluate the information exchange necessary to self-induce cooperatively a well-organized pattern in a randomly activated molecular assembly. A low-power coherent beam carrying polarization and wavelength information is used to organize a surface relief grating on a photochromic polymer thin film which is photoactivated by a powerful incohere...

The recent development in oil and gas industry increases the production and consumption of oil. The enormous amount of oily wastewater produced is urged to be treated to prevent humanity and environment from being threatened. Membrane technology is an appealing alternative for oily wastewater treatment due to its design simplicity, energy efficiency and environmentally benign approach. In this ...