A cold radio frequency oxygen plasma treatment is demonstrated as a successful route to prepare clean, well-ordered, and stoichiometric PrO₂ layers on silicon. High structural quality of these layers is shown by x-ray diffraction. So far unobserved spectral characteristics in Pr 3d x-ray photoelectron (XP) spectra of PrO₂ are presented as a fingerprint for praseodymia in its highest oxidized state. They provide insight in the electronic ground state and the special role of praseodymia among the rare earth oxides. They also reveal that former XP studies suffered from a significant reduction at the surface.

We present a facile method for the preparation of bimetallic AuAg nanoparticles (NPs) with controlled size and composition rendering them ideally suitable for optical and catalytic applications. In analogy to methods for the generation of monometallic Au and Ag NPs, AuAg NPs were prepared inside polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) block-copolymer micelles formed in toluene, by loading the P4VP cores of the micelles first with AgNO₃ and then with HAuCl₄. In contrast to the reverse sequence of loading, homogenously bimetallic AuAg particle arrays were achieved after reduction carried out in solution with hydrazine monohydrate as the reducing agent. TEM reveals that stable and spherical NPs can be prepared well separated from one another and with a narrow size distribution with diameters of ∼3 nm. The bimetallic NP composition was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) of single NPs. The atomic ratio of Ag and Au contained in single particles is in good agreement with the relative concentrations of both metals used in the synthesis which was confirmed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The atomic ratio Au : Ag was systematically varied between 3 : 1 and 1 : 3. For all ratios UV-vis spectra showed a single plasmon band. Its wavelength varied from 430 for Au : Ag = 1 : 3 to 515 nm for Au : Ag = 3 : 1, showing a linear dependence on the relative amount of gold within the range of plasmon wavelengths from monometallic gold (538 nm) to silver (415 nm).

In chemical vapor deposition experiments with pulsed spray evaporation (PSE-CVD) of liquid solutions of Ni and Co acetylacetonate in ethanol as precursors, the influence of water in the feedstock on the composition and growth kinetics of deposited Ni and Co metal films was systematically studied. Varying the water concentration in the precursor solutions, beneficial as well as detrimental effects of water on the metal film growth, strongly depending on the concentration of water and the β-diketonate in the precursor, were identified. For 2.5 mM Ni(acac)₂ precursor solutions, addition of 0.5 vol% water improves growth of a metallic Ni film and reduces carbon contamination, while addition of 1.0 vol% water and more leads to significant oxidation of deposited Ni. By tuning the concentration of both, Ni(acac)₂ and water in the precursor solution, the fraction of Ni metal and Ni oxide in the film or the film morphology can be adjusted. In the case of Co(acac)₂, even smallest amounts of water promote complete oxidation of the deposited film. All deposited films were analyzed with respect to chemical composition quasi in situ by XPS, their morphology was evaluated after deposition by SEM.

This paper presents a highly sensitive thermoelectric sensor for catalytic combustible gas detection. The sensor contains two low-stress (+176 MPa) membranes of a combination of stoichiometric and silicon-rich silicon nitride that makes them chemically and thermally stable. The complete fabrication process with details, especially the challenges and their solutions, is discussed elaborately. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of design criteria and a comparative analysis of different sensor designs are performed with respect to the homogeneity of the temperature field on the membrane, power consumption, and thermal sensitivity. Evaluating the respective tradeoffs, the best design is selected. The selected sensor has a linear thermal characteristic with a sensitivity of 6.54 mV/K. Additionally, the temperature profile on the membrane is quite homogeneous (20% root mean standard deviation), which is important for the stability of the catalytic layer. Most importantly, the sensor with a ligand (p-Phenylenediamine (PDA))-linked platinum nanoparticles catalyst shows exceptionally high response to hydrogen gas, i.e., 752 mV at 2% concentration.