High-conductivity flexible Ag films formed by low-temperature and short-time sintering of PVP-modified silver oxalate composite ink

Attaining low-temperature sintering and high electrical conductivity is vital in the field of flexible electronics. Inks with silver oxalate as the precursor have recently received significant attention in this field; however, the high sintering temperature and long sintering time limit commercial applicability. High sintering temperature can shorten the sintering timereducing the conductivity. but lead to porous and uneven filmOn the other hand, morphology;low sintering temperature prolongthus,s thesintering time; thus, reducing the production efficiency. To solve the abovementionedproblems, a silver composite conductive ink modified by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)was prepared in this study. The ink used silver oxalate as the precursor, methanol and acetone as the solvent, and 1, 2-diaminopropane as the complexing agent, and could reduce the sintering temperature and time to 160℃ and 20 min, respectively. After sintering, the silver film showed good electrical conductivity, and low resistivity (4.56 μΩ·cm). Furthermore, the impact of sintering temperature on the surface morphology and electrical conductivity were also studied, and the results showed that PVP had a positive influence on the nucleation of silver and the microstructure of the sintered silver film.

A NEW METHOD OF THE STOICHIOMETRY INCREASE OF THE LITHIUM NIOBATE NONLINEAR-OPTICAL CRYSTAL

Experimental and theoretical data on the influence of В2О3 flux on the crystal-melt system, the structural features, and the optical properties of a crystal of lithium niobate are summarized. The Gibbs energies of the borate impurities formation (Al4B2O9, CaB2O4, CaB4O7, Ca2B2O5, Ca3B2O6, PbB2O4) in a congruent composition charge of lithium niobate are calculated. It was found that the element boron, as an active complexing agent, in the composition of the В2О3 flux aligns the distribution coefficients of lithium (KLi) and niobium (KNb). Also, the element boron is able to prevent the transition of trace amounts of impurity metals into the structure of a lithium niobate crystal. Boron increases the ordering of structural units of the cation sublattice and distorts the anionic framework of the crystal. This is due to the fact that boron is embedded in the tetrahedral voids faces of the crystal structure in trace amounts (4∙10-4 mol.%). This leads to changes in bond lengths O-O of the oxygen octahedra O6, thereby changing polarizability oxygen-octahedral cluster NbO6, determining nonlinear optical and ferroelectric properties of the crystal.

Agricultural utilization of lignosulfonates

Lignosulfonates (LSs) are by-products of the pulp and paper industry from pulping of lignocellulosic biomass according to the sulfite process. This renewable material already plays a role in low-value applications, such as binding agents for fuel, pellets, as a feed additive, or as a dispersant. Another possible field of application of this technical lignin type is agriculture. It is known that this eco-friendly and cheap material can improve soil quality, fertilizer efficacy and replace or decrease the use of potentially (eco)toxic organic or inorganic substances. The use of LS in agriculture and five main strategies for the implementation of LS in soil are discussed in this review: LS as a complexing agent with micronutrients, co-pelleting of LS with (macro)nutrients, capsule formation with LS for coating of fertilizers or pesticides, LS as a biostimulant, and ammonoxidation of LS. All five ways can be beneficial in fertilizer-related applications, either to slow down the release of nutrients or pesticides, to substitute harmful chemicals, or to inhibit nitrification and modify fertilizer behaviour. Nevertheless, application and long-time studies are often missing, and more research is required for generating products that are economically competitive to commercial bulk products.

Influence of the complexing ability of b3+ cations in the composition of B2O3 flux on the characteristics of LiNbO3:b crystals

The Gibbs energy of the borates formation of trace amounts of metallic impurities (Al4B2O9, CaB2O4, CaB4O7, Ca2B2O5, Ca3B2O6, PbB2O4) in the lithium niobate charge is calculated. It is shown that the element boron, as an active complexing agent, in the composition of the B2O3 flux can prevent the transition of impurity metals, inevitably present in trace amounts in the charge of lithium niobate, into the structure of the lithium niobate crystal.

Solvent Extraction of Lanthanides(III) in the Presence of the Acetate Ion Acting as a Complexing Agent Using Mixtures of Cyanex 272 and Caprylic Acid in Hexane

A new extraction system containing a mixture of Cyanex 272 and caprylic acid is proposed for the extraction and separation of lanthanides(III). It was shown that this system possesses a high level of extraction ability and capacity. The extraction of lanthanides(III) from chloride-acetate and nitrate-acetate media was investigated on an example of La(III). The composition of the extracted species was confirmed, based on the analysis of lanthanum(III) extraction isotherms. In the case of acetic-acetate aqueous solutions, a decrease in lanthanum(III) extraction efficiency was observed, due to the decreasing equilibrium pH of the aqueous phase in accordance with the cation-exchange mechanism. The composition of the synergistic mixture of Cyanex 272-caprylic acid established demonstrates highly efficient separation of rare-earth metal ions.

Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) Thin Films with Improved Morphology for Humidity Sensing by Chemical Bath Deposition at Lower pH

Cadmium sulfide (CdS), an II–VI group semiconductor material, is one of the most investigated semiconductors in thin film form. In this work, we synthesized CdS thin films with improved film morphology in the presence of ethylene diamine (EA) as the complexing agent by chemical bath deposition (CD) at lower pH. Detailed characterization reveals the presence of cubic phase CdS with a band gap of 2.39 eV with the resultant morphology significantly influenced by the composition of the growth solution. The resultant CdS films finds prospective application as a humidity sensor with a high sensor response of 2.61 corresponding to 80% relative humidity.

Porous Hexacyanometallate(III) Complexes as Catalysts in the Ring-Opening Copolymerization of CO2 and Propylene Oxide

In this work, six porous hexacyanometallate complexes (Ni3[Co(CN)6]2, Co3[Co(CN)6]2, Fe3[Co(CN)6]2, Ni3[Fe(CN)6]2, Co3[Fe(CN)6]2, Fe4[Fe(CN)6]2) were synthesized by a complexing agent assisted coprecipitation method and thoroughly characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD), elemental analysis (EA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 physisorption, and gas–solid phase titration with NH3. The thermal stability, chemical composition, pore size and volume, crystallite size and density of surface acid sites were strongly sensitive to both the transition metal and the cyanometallate anion employed. On that basis, transition metal hexacyanometallates must be perceived as an adaptable class of zeolite-like microporous materials. The catalytic properties of these compounds were tested by copolymerization of propylene oxide and CO2, a green route to obtain biodegradable aliphatic polycarbonates. All compounds under study showed moderate activity in the target reaction. The obtained copolymers were characterized by modest CO2 content (carbonate units ranging from 16 to 33%), random structure (RPEC ≈ 70%), and moderate molecular weight (Mw = 6000–85,400 g/mol) with broad dispersity values (ĐM = 4.1–15.8).

Electrodeposition of Cu2O thin Film Onto Copper Substrate by Linear Sweep Voltammetry at Low Duration: Effect of Bath pH

Copper (II) oxide (Cu2O) has attracted much interest as a semiconductor material for solar cell applications. Here we report the synthesis of Cu2O, thin films through an economical and simple electrodeposition method at low duration (10 min) by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) method at 50 °C bath temperature, with the use of citric acid as a complexing agent. The influence of pH value (pH = 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, and 12.5) on structural, morphological, and optical properties of the synthesized Cu2O thin films onto copper substrate was investigated. The synthesized Cu2O thin films have been characterized using various techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDX), UV-vis spectrophotometry. The X-ray diffraction showed that the deposited thin films at pH= 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 matched well with the cubic (Pn-3m) structure and showed an improvement of the crystallinity near the value pH=10.5. Raman spectroscopy confirms the cubic structure of the synthesized thin film. Thin films show a high absorption coefficient in the visible spectra, and the calculated band gap energy value is near 1.8 eV.