<p>U ovom radu prikazani su rezultati ispitivanja strukturnih i magnetnih osobina čistih cink- ferita, ZnFe₂O₄ i cink-ferita sa dodatkom indijuma Zn_1-xIn_xFe₂O₄ i itrijuma, ZnY_xFe_2-xO₄, gde je 0 &le; x &le; 0,6. Prahovi na bazi cink-ferita su sintetisani koristeći nisko temperaturnu metodu sinteze iz tečne faze &ndash; metodu koprecipitacije. Osnovni cilj ove doktorske disertacije je bio da se utvrdi veza između uslova sinteze, uticaja različitih katjona, strukture i osobina čistih cink-feritnih nanočestica, kao i cink-ferita sa dodatkom indijuma i itrijuma. Radi praćenja uticaja veličine čestica dobijenog praha na strukturu i osobine ovih materijala, sintetisani čist cink-ferit je kalcinisan na različitim temperaturama. Posebno je razmatran i uticaj dodatka različitih jona na distribuciju i preraspodelu katjona u spinelnoj strukturi. Pored toga ispitivan je uticaj tako pripremljenih prahova na njihove magnetne osobine. Rentgenostrukturna i TEM analize potvrdili su da ispitivani uzorci spadaju u klasu nanomaterijala spinelne strukture. Analiza Raman i M&ouml;ssbauer spektara je ukazala na moguću raspodelu katjona između tetraedarskih i oktaedarskih mesta, te formiranje delimično inverznog spinela. Ispitivanja magnetnih osobina su pokazala da histerezisne petlje ne pokazuju saturaciju u prisustvu jakog magnetnog polja, &scaron;to je potvrdilo superparamagnetnu i jednodomensku prirodu čestica. Pokazano je da pored uticaja veličine čestica, dodatak različitih katjona (u ovom slučaju itrijum i indijum) ima veliki uticaj na uređenje strukture, a posledično i na magnetno pona&scaron;anje ispitivanih nanočestičnih sistema.</p> / <p> This thesis presents the results of the investigation of the structural and magnetic properties of nanostructured zinc ferrites, ZnFe2O4 and zinc ferrites supstituted with different amount of indium and yttrium, Zn1-xInxFe2O4 and ZnYxFe2-xO4 (0 &le; x &le; 0,6). Powders based on zinc ferrites were synthesised by a low temperature wet-chemical method &ndash; coprecipitation. The main purpose of this thesis was to establish the relationship between the synthesis, dopants, structure and properties of zinc ferrite based materials. Nanoparticles of ZnFe2O4 were calcined at different temperatures in order to elucidate the influence of the particle size on the magnetic properties of the obtained nanoparticles. In addition, we have investigated the effect of dopant addition on cation distribution in spinel structure, in order to modify the magnetic properties and to obtain the magnetic ceramics with improved properties compared to the bulk-counterparts. The results of X-ray and TEM analyses confirmed the nanosized nature and spinel type structure of the investigated samples. Raman and M&ouml;ssbauer spectroscopy studies implied on the possible cation distribution between the tetrahedral and octahedral sites and formation of the partially inversed spinel. The study of the magnetic properties showed that hysteresis loops do not saturate even in the presence of high magnetic fields, which confirmed the superparamagnetic and single domain nature of the samples. These observations imply that, besides the particle size, doping (e.g. yttrium and indium) causes significant structural rearrangements which in turn induce changes in magnetic behavior of the investigated nanoparticulate systems.</p>

Die steigende Nachfrage nach erneuerbarer elektrischer Energie erfordert neue photovoltaische Technologien. Effiziente organische Solarzellen mit gemischten, absorbierenden organischen Molekülen wandeln Sonnenlicht in Elektrizität um und die jüngsten Rekorde des Wirkungsgrads zeigen das Potenzial für eine alternative Energieerzeugung. Trotz dieser Durchbrüche führt die Verwendung komplexer organischer Moleküle, die zu einer selbstorganisierten Absorberschicht zusammengemischt werden, zu komplizierten Morphologien, die bisher nur unzureichend abgebildet werden konnten. Die Morphologie hat jedoch einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Umwandlung von Photonen in Elektronen und auf den Photostrom, was sich auf die Gesamtleistung der Solarzelle auswirkt. Diese Dissertation ist eine Studie über die Morphologie organischer Dünnfilm-Mischschichten in verschiedenen organischen Solarzellen unter Verwendung analytischer Elektronenmikroskopietechniken (REM, TEM, EDX). In einem weiteren Schritt werden auch die Einflüsse der Mikrostruktureigenschaften dieser im Vakuum abgeschiedenen organischen Solarzellen auf ihre elektronischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Diese Studie umfasst bekannte Zinkphthalocyanin- (ZnPc) und Fulleren (C60) Mischschichten (ZnPc:C60) sowie neu entwickelte Materialien, DTDCTB und NGX gemischt mit C60. Auf mikroskopischer Skala wurde der Einfluss der Abscheidung der oben genannten Schichten auf unterschiedlich erhitzte Substrate, sowie deren Auswirkungen auf die elektronische Leistungsfähigkeit untersucht. Es wurden drei sehr unterschiedliche Wachstumssysteme beobachtet: • Filme mit guter Phasentrennung (ZnPc:C60) • Gut gemischte dünne Schichten (DTDCTB:C60) • Selbstorganisierende Nanodrähte (NGX:C60) Um die gewachsene Mikrostruktur zu erklären werden thermodynamische Modelle zur Erklärung der experimentellen Ergebnisse eingesetzt. Diese Arbeit bietet daher einen Rahmen, der die Planung zukünftiger Experimente leiten kann. Für die in dieser Arbeit untersuchten Schichtsysteme konnte die Korrelation zwischen den Präparationsbedingungen und der Leistungsfähigkeit der Solarzellen durch die beobachtete Mikrostruktur und die Phasenseparation von Donor und Akzeptor gut erklärt werden.:1 MOTIVATION AND INTRODUCTION 5 2 THEORETICAL FUNDAMENTALS 2.1 BASICS OF ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS 2.1.1 Organic semiconductors materials 2.1.2 Working principle of organic solar cells 2.1.3 Characteristic curves of solar cells 2.1.4 Concept of bulk heterojunction 2.1.5 Morphology and phase separation 2.2 RELEVANT LENGTH SCALES IN THE STUDY OF ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS 2.3 THE SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE 2.3.1 Introduction and working principle 2.3.2 Interaction of primary electrons with sample 2.3.3 Detecting SE and BSE electrons 2.3.4 SEM tool with FIB 2.4 THE TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE 2.4.1 Working principle and components of TEM 2.4.2 Scattering in TEM 2.4.3 Operation modes in TEM 2.5 ANALYTICAL ELECTRON MICROSCOPY 2.5.1 EDX in TEM 2.5.2 EDX with high-tech detectors 2.6 CHALLENGES OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPY ON ORGANIC MATERIALS 2.6.1 Contrast formation and electron scattering 2.6.2 Damage induced by electron beam 2.6.3 Contrast formation and electron scattering 2.6.4 Necessity of low energy microscopy 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 DONORS AND ACCEPTOR 3.1.1 The donor ZnPc 3.1.2 The donor DTDCTB 3.1.3 The donor NGX 3.1.1 The acceptor C60 3.2 FABRICATION OF ORGANIC SOLAR CELL DEVICES AND THIN FILMS 3.2.1 Vacuum deposition 3.2.2 Solar cell devices 3.2.3 Electrical Characterization 3.2.4 Organic thin films on the substrate 3.3 ELECTRON MICROSCOPES AND SAMPLE PREPARATION 3.3.1 Cross-sections using focused ion beam 3.3.2 Experimental details used in TEM/SEM 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 ZNPC AS DONOR MATERIAL 4.1.1 Morphology of ZnPc:C60 thin films 4.1.2 Solar cell devices with ZnPc:C60 active layer 4.1.3 Conclusions and discussion 4.2 DTDCTB AS DONOR MATERIAL 4.2.1 Peculiar performance of the solar cell 4.2.2 Morphology of DTDCTB:C60 thin films 4.2.3 Solar cell devices with DTDCTB:C60 active layer 4.2.4 Conclusions and discussion 4.3 NGX AS DONOR MATERIAL 4.3.1 Morphology of NGX:C60 thin films 4.3.2 Conclusions and discussion 5 CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK 6 APPENDIX A1 NEAREST NEIGHBOR DISTANCE A2 FROM DARK FIELD TEM IMAGES TO THE ELEMENTAL MAP A3 COMPARING THE COMPOSITION OF DARK AND BRIGHT POINTS IN THE EDX-ELEMENTAL A4 ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENTS FROM EDX IMAGES A5 SPECTROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS ON DTDCTB:C60 7 LISTS 7.1 ABBREVIATIONS 1.: Acronyms B2.: Materials B3.: Symbols 7.2 LIST OF FIGURES 7.3 LIST OF TABLES BIBLIOGRAPHY

Title: Structuring of plasma polymers: new methods for fabrication of nano-architectured thin films Author: Daniil Nikitin Department / Institute: Department of Macromolecular Physics/Charles University Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: Doc. Ing. Andrey Shukurov, PhD, Department of Macromolecular Physics/Charles University Abstract: The PhD thesis aims at the investigation of nanostructures based on plasma polymers. The main attention is paid to the combination of a gas aggregation cluster source with plasma-assisted vapor phase deposition for the fabrication of metal-polymer nanocomposites with bactericidal potential. Copper nanoparticles were incorporated into a biocompatible matrix of plasma polymerized poly(ethylene oxide) (ppPEO). The efficiency of such nanocomposite against multi-drug resistant bacteria was demonstrated. It was found that the segmental dynamics of the plasma polymer significantly changed in the presence of nanoparticles as revealed by the measurements of the dynamic glass transition temperature. The nanoscale confinement crucially influences the non-fouling properties of poly(ethylene oxide). A separate chapter is dedicated to the examination of the nanoparticle formation, growth and transport inside the source. Copper and silver nanoparticles were detected in situ in the gas phase...

Self-organization of block copolymers becomes attractive for several branches of the current science and technology, which requires a cheap way of fabrication of well-ordered arrays of various nanoobjects. High ratio between the surface (or the interface) and the volume of the nanoobjects enables development of very efficient devices. The work within this thesis profits from the chemical dissimilarity between blocks of polystyrene-block-poly(4‑vinylpyridine) copolymers, where polystyrene forms “a body” of nanostructures and poly(4‑vinylpyridine) is “a link” for assemblies with low-molar-mass additives. Procedures and phenomena are demonstrated (observed) on few sorts of PS‑b‑P4VP copolymers with respect to their molecular weight and ratio of blocks. Although there are many kinds of nanostructures based on block copolymers, only nanotemplates are involved in the study. Their properties, like an influence of substrate roughness on microphase separation, stability of porous nanotemplates in ionized solutions, or a role of additives in their supramolecular assembly, respectively, are investigated. All of them appears to be important in development of various devices based on the nanotemplates. With respect to optoelectronic applications, electrical current transport and fluorescence are two basic phenomena studied on functionalized nanotemplates, developed in the thesis. DC transport is studied on nanostructures developed via sputtering of chromium into porous nanotemplates. Sputtering process is optimized in dependence of chromium deposition rate, composition and pressure of ambient gas. It is shown that a reactive nature of PS-b-P4VP nanotemplates enables development of resistant organometallic nanotemplates. On the other hand, suppression of the polymer reactivity is achieved by oxidation of a metal during sputtering in a reactive gas, which enables e. g. development of highly ordered TiO2 nanodots. Current-voltage characteristics are measured on “sandwich” devices (like LEDs) with various electrodes and composition. Several recent theoretical models fitting the characteristics are applied together with structural characterization techniques (like AFM or x-ray reflectivity) in order to elucidate relations among surface roughness, distribution of sputtered clusters, and carrier injection and transport. Fluorescence is studied on nanotemplates with organic low-molar-mass dyes, developed either via direct blending with the copolymer or via soaking of porous nanotemplates in dye solutions. Several relations between structure and fluorescence are observed. For instance, excimer emission in pyrene assemblies is supressed after ordering of the nanotemplate. Solvent induced orientation of fluorescein molecules in the nanotemplate results in fluorescence enhancement. Dimerization of Rhodamine 6G is dependent on the way of its impregnation in the nanotemplates (solvent, concentration, speed).

Title: Structuring of plasma polymers: new methods for fabrication of nano-architectured thin films Author: Daniil Nikitin Department / Institute: Department of Macromolecular Physics/Charles University Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: Doc. Ing. Andrey Shukurov, PhD, Department of Macromolecular Physics/Charles University Abstract: The PhD thesis aims at the investigation of nanostructures based on plasma polymers. The main attention is paid to the combination of a gas aggregation cluster source with plasma-assisted vapor phase deposition for the fabrication of metal-polymer nanocomposites with bactericidal potential. Copper nanoparticles were incorporated into a biocompatible matrix of plasma polymerized poly(ethylene oxide) (ppPEO). The efficiency of such nanocomposite against multi-drug resistant bacteria was demonstrated. It was found that the segmental dynamics of the plasma polymer significantly changed in the presence of nanoparticles as revealed by the measurements of the dynamic glass transition temperature. The nanoscale confinement crucially influences the non-fouling properties of poly(ethylene oxide). A separate chapter is dedicated to the examination of the nanoparticle formation, growth and transport inside the source. Copper and silver nanoparticles were detected in situ in the gas phase...

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This dissertation undertakes theoretical and computational research to characterize and understand in detail atomic configurations and electronic structural properties of surfaces and interfaces at the nano-scale, with particular emphasis on identifying the factors that control atomic-scale diffusion and transport properties. The overarching goal is to outline, with examples, a predictive modeling procedure of stable structures of novel materials that, on the one hand, facilitates a better understanding of experimental results, and on the other hand, provide guidelines for future experimental work. The results of this dissertation are useful in future miniaturization of electronic devices, predicting and engineering functional novel nanostructures. A variety of theoretical and computational tools with different degrees of accuracy is used to study problems in different time and length scales. Interactions between the atoms are derived using both ab-initio methods based on Density Functional Theory (DFT), as well as semiempirical approaches such as those embodied in the Embedded Atom Method (EAM), depending on the scale of the problem at hand. The energetics for a variety of surface phenomena (adsorption, desorption, diffusion, and reactions) are calculated using either DFT or EAM, as feasible. For simulating dynamic processes such as diffusion of adatoms on surfaces with dislocations the Molecular Dynamics (MD) method is applied. To calculate vibrational mode frequencies, the infinitesimal displacement method is employed. The combination of non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) and DFT is used to calculate electronic transport properties of molecular devices as well as interfaces and junctions.

This work describes the modeling, synthesis, integration and characterization of a novel nanostructure embedded thermoresponsive material for microfluidic applications. The innumerable applications of thermoresponsive surfaces in the recent years have necessitated the development of a rigorous mathematical treatment for these surfaces to understand and improve their behavior. An analytical model is proposed to describe the transfer characteristic (variation of contact angle versus temperature) of a unique switchable, nanostructured, thermoresponsive surface consisting of silica nanoparticles and the thermoresponsive polymer, Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide ) (PNIPAAm) which changes its wetting angle upon heating. Important metrics such as the absolute lower critical solution temperature, threshold & saturation temperatures and gain are modeled and quantified by mathematical expressions. Based on the modeling, a heat source for the thermoresponsive surface was integrated on the glass substrate itself to create a fully functional smart surface. The design and fabrication of a smart platform consisting of the switchable, nanostructured, thermoresponsive surface with an integrated gold microheater for wettability control and its time response analysis was conducted. The insight gained into the behavior of the thermoresponsive surface by using the analytical model, aided the effort in the effective integration of the surface into a microfluidic channel for flow regulation applications. The implementations of novel microfluidic flow regulator concepts were tested. The aim is to integrate a regulator function to a channel surface utilizing the layer-by-layer (LBL) deposition technique. The characterization and pressure differential study of the microfluidic regulators was carried out on simple straight microchannels which were selectively coated with the thermoresponsive surface. Theoretical and experimental studies were performed to determine the important characteristic parameters including capillary, Weber and Reynolds numbers. The pressure differential data was used to develop critical operating specifications. This work lays out a new microfluidic device concept consisting of a channel with a built-in regulatory function.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have received a great deal of focus in recent years as a possible alternative to expensive silicon based solar technology. Current challenges for organic photovoltaics are centered around improving their lifetimes and increasing their power conversion efficiencies. One approach to improving the lifetime of such devices has been the inclusion of inorganic metal oxide layers, but interaction between the metal oxides and common conjugated polymers is not favorable. Here we present two methods by which the interactions between polythiophenes and nanostructured ZnO can be made to be more favorable. Using the first method, direct side on attachment of polythiophene to ZnO nanowires via chemical grafting, we demonstrate chemical linkage between the polymer and ZnO phases. The attachment was confirmed to affect the morphological properties of the polymer layer as well, inducing highly ordered regions of the polymer at the ZnO surface via chemical attachment and physical adsorption. Using the second method to improve polythiophene ZnO interactions, we have functionalized ZnO nanowires with organic molecules that favorably interact with conjugated polymer and organic solvents. Photovoltaic devices were made using a blended active layer of functionalized ZnO nanowires and P3HT. Electrical analysis of the resultant devices concluded that the devices were functional photovoltaic cells and isolated the dominant loss mechanisms for further device improvement.

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