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In recent years, portable devices and larger display are the trend of market, so transparent conducting oxides (TCO) draw a considerable interest due to their unique characteristics and essential role in the technology of flat panel display. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is one of the most widely used TCO in the application of display technology. In this work, properties of ITO thin film as a function of dopant ratio and density of sputtering targets had been done. It is found that the mechanism of oxygen vaccines is more dominated in electrical conduction than dopant concentration. Meanwhile, the conductivity of ITO thin film depends on the sputtering condition than the target itself. Annealing process is one of the ways to enhance the optical properties of ITO thin film. This process can change the crystal structure of film from amorphous to crystalline but limited by the presence of the oxygen. Apart from the transitional single layer of ITO thin film, a modified structure had been done by inserting a thin layer of metal (Al/Ag) into ITO which provides a highway for carrier transparent. A modified structure with Ag is successfully demonstrated and well agrees with the theory. OLED application was also done by using sandwich structure. The key of sandwich structure is the metal layer, non-reactive and highly conducting material should be selected. Upper and bottom TCO layers are purpose-built for application without affect the properties of structure. This structure also shows more robust on the flexible substrate than single layer ITO.

Two new series of organic soluble indigoids 7-7-dialkoxyindigoids (4a, 4b) and 4,4-dibromo-7,7-dialkoxyindigoids (5a, 5b) (alkoxy = n-butoxy and n-octyloxy) have been synthesized starting from the inexpensive 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde for OFET applications. The indigoids were soluble in common organic solvents such as chloroform, dichloromethane, toluene, ethyl acetate and ethers. The enhanced solubility was suggested to be a lack of intermolecular hydrogen-bonds as confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. It was found that intramolecular hydrogen-bonds in indigoids were crucial to the exhibition of field-effect in OFETs, while intermolecular hydrogen-bonds only caused insolubility of the indigoids. Compared to the pristine insoluble indigo (LUMO = -3.55 eV and Eg = 1.91 eV), the soluble indigoids containing electron donating alkoxy side chains at the indigoid 7 and 7 positions were shown to have LUMO decreased by -0.13 to -0.26 eV as well as a lower bandgap energy from Eg = 1.66 to 1.94 eV. A bottom-gate-top-contact OFET employing polystyrene as the dielectric layer was used to demonstrate the field-effect properties. The indigoid 4,4-dibromo-7,7-dioctyloxyindigoid (5b) was found to exhibit the highest electron mobility at 2.20 ₉ 10-5 cm2V-1s-1. In addition, 4,4-dibromo-7,7-dioctyloxyindigoids (5) can be further derivatized by organometallic catalyzed aryl-aryl coupling reactions to create functional organic electronic materials.

M.Ing. / Measurement of acceleration is of importance for several applications such as impact tests and navigation. The design and manufacture of a symmetrical piezoresistive accelerometer, which can measure accelerations up to 60 000 g, are presented in this work. Various accelerometers are discussed and compared. The design of an accelerometer is an interdisciplinary activity which requires knowledge of the mechanical and electronic properties of materials as well as electronic signal processing. Computer design aids such as finite element analysis and semiconductor process modelling are used in this work to optimize first order designs. Since accelerometers with large dynamic range must be small in size in order to cause the minimum disturbance of the measurand, micromachining of silicon is used to manufacture extremely small devices. A substantial part of this work deals with the different materials and methods used in the manufacturing process. Since there is an inevitable spread in the parameters of the accelerometers, each one requires calibration. A test facility was developed to test and calibrate accelerometers up to 20 000 g. Because shock impulse response is determined by the test facility, a Fourier-transform is used to compute the frequency response of the accelerometer. The result of this work is the development and manufacture of an accelerometer with a mass of approximately 1 mg. The extremely small size and mass makes it very useful for measuring high accelerations.

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Polypyrrole composites of polyaromatic hydrocarbon sulphonic acids (β–naphthalene sulphonic acid (NSA) and 1, 2-napthaquinone-4-sulphonic acid (NQS)), as well as those of transition metal oxides (tungsten (VI) oxide (WO3) and zirconium (IV) oxide (ZrO2)), were prepared and characterised for use as electrocatalytic sensors. The polymerization of pyrrole in β–naphthalene sulphonic acid (NSA) gave rise to nanotubules, nanomicelles or nanosheets polypyrrole (PPy) morphologies depending on the amount of NSA in the polymer and the polymerisation temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements showed that the diameters of the nanostructured polypyrrole-β-naphthalene sulphonic acid (PPyNSA) composites were 150-3000 nm for the tubules, 100-150 nm for the micelles and 20 nm for the sheets. A red shift in the UV-Vis absorption spectra of PPy was observed for PPyNSA which is indicative of the involvement of bulky β-naphthalene sulphonate ion in the polymerization process. The UV-Vis also showed the existence of polaron and bipolaron in the polymer which may be responsible for the improved solubility of PPyNSA compared to PPy. All the characteristic IR bands of polypyrrole were observed in the FTIR spectra of PPyNSA, with slight variation in the absolute values. However, the absence of N–H stretching at 3400 cm-1 and 1450 cm-1 usually associated with neutral polypyrrole confirms that the polymer is not in the aromatic state but in the excited polaron and bipolaron defect state. Electrochemical analysis of PPyNSA reveals two redox couples: a/a′ - partly oxidized polypyrrole-naphthalene sulphonate radical cation/neutral polypyrrole naphthalene sulphonate; b/b′ - fully oxidized naphthalene sulphonate radical cation/partly reduced polypyrrole-naphthalene sulphonate radical anion. The corresponding formal potentials measured at 5 mV/s, Eº'(5 mV/s), are 181 mV and 291 mV, respectively. Analysis of the amperometric response of GCE/PPyNSA film to phenol gave sensitivities of 3.1 mA/mole dm-3 with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.982 for phenol concentrations of 19.8 μM to 139.5 μM. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (Km′) was estimated as 160 μM. Novel polypyrrole thin film microelectrodes prepared from an aqueous solution of the sodium salt of 1, 2- apthaquinone-4-sulphonic acid and pyrrole in hydrochloric acid as the supporting electrolyte was characterized electrochemically for the first time and found to exhibit good electronic and spectroscopic properties. The modified PPyNQS consisted of nano micelles with diameters of 50–100 nm. It also exhibited more pronounced voltammetric redox responses, improved solubility and stronger UV-Vis absorptions at wavelengths for polarons (380 nm), bipolarons (750 nm) and overlapped bi-polarons (820 nm) compared to conventional PPy. Voltammetric investigations showed that the polymer exhibited quasi-reversible kinetics in a potential window of - 400 mV to +700 mV, with a formal potential of 322 mV vs. Ag/AgCl. The diffusion coefficient was calculated to be 1.02 x 10-6 cm2/s for a thin film with a surface concentration of 1.83 x 10-7 mol/cm2 and a standard rate constant of 2.20 x 10-3 cm/s at 5 mV/s. Substractively normalised in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (SNIFTIR) confirmed the incorporation of the surfactant into the polypyrrole film, and for the first time structural changes within the polymer were observed and used to explain the electrochemistry of the polymer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results validated the quasi-reversible kinetics observed in the voltammetric experiment. The changes in electrical properties of the polymer during electrochemical p-doping and n-doping were quantified by equivalent electrical circuit fitting. Impedimetric nanosensor systems for the determination of two anthropogenic organic pollutants, namely benzidine and naphthalene, were constructed with smart Pt/PPyNQS nanomaterials. Analysis of sensor systems containing tungsten oxide or zirconium oxide-modified polypyrrole showed that nanohybrids of the polypyrrole were generated by the in-situ polymerisation of pyrrole in acidic solutions. Results from morphological and spectroscopic investigation confirmed the pattern of metal distribution within the nanohybrid polymers matrix. However, this class of polymers were devoid of charge carriers characteristics required for electrocatalytic sensor applications. The thesis provided justification for the preparation of nanostructured conducting polypyrrole for use as anodes for the determination of phenol, benzidine and naphthalene. / South Africa

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