Abstract: A thermoelectric material comprises core-shell particles having a core formed from a core material and a shell formed from a shell material. In representative examples, the shell material is a material showing an appreciable thermoelectric effect in bulk. The core material preferably has a lower thermal conductivity than the shell material. In representative examples, the core material is an inorganic oxide such as silica or alumina, and the shell material is a chalcogenide semiconductor such as a telluride, for example bismuth telluride. A thermoelectric material including such core-shell particles may have an improved thermoelectric figure of merit compared with a bulk sample of the shell material alone. Embodiments of the invention further include thermoelectric devices using such thermoelectric materials, and preparation techniques.

Abstract: Provided is a new supercapacitor electrode material, comprising multiple interpenetrating networks of nanowires. More specifically, an interpenetrating network of metal oxide nanowires and an interpenetrating network of electrically conductive nanowires may form a composite film having a hierarchal porous structure. This hierarchically porous, interpenetrating network structure can provide the composite film with high capacitance, electrical conductivity and excellent rate performance. The present invention can be generalized towards other capacitor composites, opening a new avenue for a large spectrum of device applications.

Abstract: Titanium oxide (usually titanium dioxide) catalyst support particles are doped for electronic conductivity and formed with surface area-enhancing pores for use, for example, in electro-catalyzed electrodes on proton exchange membrane electrodes in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells. Suitable compounds of titanium and a dopant are dispersed with pore-forming particles in a liquid medium. The compounds are deposited as a precipitate or sol on the pore-forming particles and heated to transform the deposit into crystals of dopant-containing titanium dioxide. If the heating has not decomposed the pore-forming particles, they are chemically removed from the, now pore-enhanced, the titanium dioxide particles.

Abstract: Carbon with mesopores (about two to fifteen nanometers in average pore size) is made using sucrose as a source of carbon, and silica and phosphoric acid as templates for the mesopore structure in the carbon. A silica sol is prepared in a water/ethanol medium and sucrose is dispersed in the sol. Phosphoric acid may be added to the sol to control pore size in the mesopore size range. The sol is dried, carbonized, and the silica and phosphate materials removed by leaching. The residue is a mesoporous carbon mass having utility as a catalyst support, gas absorbent, and the like.

Abstract: Mesoporous carbon and silica containing composites are prepared based on the co-assembly of a suitable surfactant in a liquid medium. When a low molecular weight carbonizable polymer and a silica precursor are added to the surfactant solution, a mixture of distinct phases of the materials is formed after solvent evaporation. A polymer/silica solid composite with highly organized mesopores is obtained after surfactant removal. This product has utility as a catalyst support or gas absorbent. And the polymer-silica composite can be easily converted successively to a mesoporous carbon-silica composite and to a bimodal mesoporous carbon material.

Abstract: The present subject matter relates generally to design, synthesis, and characterization of materials with well-defined porous networks of molecular dimensions in which the size and surface energy of the pores can be externally and reversibly controlled to dynamically modulate the adsorption and transport of molecular species.

Abstract: A process for synthesizing a metal telluride is provided that includes the dissolution of a metal precursor in a solvent containing a ligand to form a metal-ligand complex soluble in the solvent. The metal-ligand complex is then reacted with a telluride-containing reagent to form metal telluride domains having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers. NaHTe represents a well-suited telluride reagent. A composition is provided that includes a plurality of metal telluride crystalline domains (PbTe)1-x-y(SnTe)x(Bi2Te3)y??(I) having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers inclusive where x is between 0 and 1 inclusive and y is between 0 and 1 inclusive with the proviso that x+y is less than or equal to 1. Each of the metal telluride crystalline domains has a surface passivated with a saccharide moiety or a polydentate carboxylate.

Abstract: Titanium oxide (usually titanium dioxide) catalyst support particles are doped for electronic conductivity and formed with surface area-enhancing pores for use, for example, in electro-catalyzed electrodes on proton exchange membrane electrodes in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells. Suitable compounds of titanium and a dopant are dispersed with pore-forming particles in a liquid medium. The compounds are deposited as a precipitate or sol on the pore-forming particles and heated to transform the deposit into crystals of dopant-containing titanium dioxide.

Abstract: Carbon with mesopores (about two to fifteen nanometers in average pore size) is made using sucrose as a source of carbon, and silica and phosphoric acid as templates for the mesopore structure in the carbon. A silica sol is prepared in a water/ethanol medium and sucrose is dispersed in the sol. Phosphoric acid may be added to the sol to control pore size in the mesopore size range. The sol is dried, carbonized, and the silica and phosphate materials removed by leaching. The residue is a mesoporous carbon mass having utility as a catalyst support, gas absorbent, and the like.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material includes a composite having a first electrically conducting component and second low thermal conductivity component. The first component may include a semiconductor and the second component may include an inorganic oxide. The thermoelectric composite includes a network of the first component having nanoparticles of the second component dispersed in the network.

Abstract: A process for synthesizing a metal telluride is provided that includes the dissolution of a metal precursor in a solvent containing a ligand to form a metal-ligand complex soluble in the solvent. The metal-ligand complex is then reacted with a telluride-containing reagent to form metal telluride domains having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers. NaHTe represents a well-suited telluride reagent. A composition is provided that includes a plurality of metal telluride crystalline domains (PbTe)1-x-y(SnTe)x(Bi2Te3)y ??(I) having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers inclusive where x is between 0 and 1 inclusive and y is between 0 and 1 inclusive with the proviso that x+y is less than or equal to 1. Each of the metal telluride crystalline domains has a surface passivated with a saccharide moiety or a polydentate carboxylate.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material comprises core-shell particles having a core formed from a core material and a shell formed from a shell material. In representative examples, the shell material is a material showing an appreciable thermoelectric effect in bulk. The core material preferably has a lower thermal conductivity than the shell material. In representative examples, the core material is an inorganic oxide such as silica or alumina, and the shell material is a chalcogenide semiconductor such as a telluride, for example bismuth telluride. A thermoelectric material including such core-shell particles may have an improved thermoelectric figure of merit compared with a bulk sample of the shell material alone. Embodiments of the invention further include thermoelectric devices using such thermoelectric materials, and preparation techniques.

Abstract: Mesoporous carbon and silica containing composites are prepared based on the co-assembly of a suitable surfactant in a liquid medium. When a low molecular weight carbonizable polymer and a silica precursor are added to the surfactant solution, a mixture of distinct phases of the materials is formed after solvent evaporation. A polymer/silica solid composite with highly organized mesopores is obtained after surfactant removal. This product has utility as a catalyst support or gas absorbent. And the polymer-silica composite can be easily converted successively to a mesoporous carbon-silica composite and to a bimodal mesoporous carbon material.

Abstract: A process for synthesizing a metal telluride is provided that includes the dissolution of a metal precursor in a solvent containing a ligand to form a metal-ligand complex soluble in the solvent. The metal-ligand complex is then reacted with a telluride-containing reagent to form metal telluride domains having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers. NaHTe represents a well-suited telluride reagent. A composition is provided that includes a plurality of metal telluride crystalline domains (PbTe)1-x-y(SnTe)x(Bi2Te3)y ??(I) having a mean linear dimension of from 2 to 40 nanometers inclusive where x is between 0 and 1 inclusive and y is between 0 and 1 inclusive with the proviso that x+y is less than or equal to 1. Each of the metal telluride crystalline domains has a surface passivated with a saccharide moiety or a polydentate carboxylate.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material comprises two or more components, at least one of which is a thermoelectric material. The first component is nanostructured, for example as an electrically conducting nanostructured network, and can include nanowires, nanoparticles, or other nanostructures of the first component. The second component may comprise an electrical insulator, such as an inorganic oxide, other electrical insulator, other low thermal conductivity material, voids, air-filled gaps, and the like. Additional components may be included, for example to improve mechanical properties. Quantum size effects within the nanostructured first component can advantageously modify the thermoelectric properties of the first component. In other examples, the second component may be a thermoelectric material, and additional components may be included.

Abstract: Titanium oxide (usually titanium dioxide) catalyst support particles are doped for electronic conductivity and formed with surface area-enhancing pores for use, for example, in electro-catalyzed electrodes on proton exchange membrane electrodes in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells. Suitable compounds of titanium and a dopant are dispersed with pore-forming particles in a liquid medium. The compounds are deposited as a precipitate or sol on the pore-forming particles and heated to transform the deposit into crystals of dopant-containing titanium dioxide. If the heating has not decomposed the pore-forming particles, they are chemically removed from the, now pore-enhanced, the titanium dioxide particles.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material comprises two or more components, at least one of which is a thermoelectric material. The first component is nanostructured, for example as an electrically conducting nanostructured network, and can include nanowires, nanoparticles, or other nanostructures of the first component. The second component may comprise an electrical insulator, such as an inorganic oxide, other electrical insulator, other low thermal conductivity material, voids, air-filled gaps, and the like. Additional components may be included, for example to improve mechanical properties. Quantum size effects within the nanostructured first component can advantageously modify the thermoelectric properties of the first component. In other examples, the second component may be a thermoelectric material, and additional components may be included.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a transparent and electrically conductive glass capillary for the purpose of containing and heating fluids inside the capillary on the stage of a microscope and a method to investigate and characterize acid neutralization by overbased additives in lubricant oils. The heating capillary was prepared by coating a transparent ITO film on the outside surface of the capillary as an electrically heating jacket. It can generate at least 287° C. when applied appropriate voltage. The desired temperature can be attained at a rate ranging from 75° C./s to 198° C./s and be easily adjusted by changing the supplied voltage.

Abstract: Metal-containing nanostructured films are prepared by electrodepositing a metal-containing composition within the pores of a mesoporous silica template to form a metal-containing silica nanocomposite. The nanocomposite is annealed to strengthen the deposited metal-containing composition. The silica is then removed from the nanocomposite, e.g., by dissolving the silica in an etching solution to provide a self-supporting metal-containing nanostructured film. The nanostructured films have a nanowire or nanomesh architecture depending on the pore structure of the mesoporous silica template used to prepare the films.

Abstract: An evaporation-induced self-assembly method to prepare a porous, surfactant-templated, thin film by mixing a silica sol, a solvent, a surfactant, and an interstitial compound, evaporating a portion of the solvent to form a liquid, crystalline thin film mesophase material, and then removal of the surfactant template. Coating onto a substrate produces a thin film with the interstitial compound either covalently bonded to the internal surfaces of the ordered or disordered mesostructure framework or physically entrapped within the ordered or disordered mesostructured framework. Particles can be formed by aerosol processing or spray drying rather than coating onto a substrate. The selection of the interstitial compound provides a means for developing thin films for applications including membranes, sensors, low dielectric constant films, photonic materials and optical hosts.