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In this work, the multiferroic bismuth ferrite materials Bi 0.9 RE 0.1 FeO 3 doped by rare-earth (RE = La, Eu, and Er) elements were obtained by the solution combustion synthesis. Structure, electrical, and magnetic properties of prepared samples were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, electrical hysteresis measurement, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. All obtained nanomaterials are characterized by spontaneous electrical polarization, which confirmed their ferroelectric properties. Investigation of magnetic properties at 300.0 K and 2.0 K showed that all investigated Bi 0.9 RE 0.1 FeO 3 ferrites possess significantly higher magnetization in comparison to bismuth ferrites obtained by different methods. The highest saturation magnetisation of 5.161 emu/g at 300.0 K was observed for the BLaFO sample, while at 2.0 K it was 12.07 emu/g for the BErFO sample. Several possible reasons for these phenomena were proposed and discussed.

At this time, the development of advanced elastic dielectric materials for use in organic devices, particularly in organic field-effect transistors, is of considerable interest to the scientific community. In the present work, flexible poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) specimens cross-linked by means of ZnCl2-bipyridine coordination with an addition of 0.001 wt. %, 0.0025 wt. %, 0.005 wt. %, 0.04 wt. %, 0.2 wt. %, and 0.4 wt. % of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared in order to understand the effect of AuNPs on the electrical properties of the composite materials formed. The broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements revealed one order of magnitude decrease in loss tangent, compared to the coordinated system, upon an introduction of 0.001 wt. % of AuNPs into the polymeric matrix. An introduction of AuNPs causes damping of conductivity within the low-temperature range investigated. These effects can be explained as a result of trapping the Cl− counter ions by the nanoparticles. The study has shown that even a very low concentration of AuNPs (0.001 wt. %) still brings about effective trapping of Cl− counter anions, therefore improving the dielectric properties of the investigated systems. The modification proposed reveals new perspectives for using AuNPs in polymers cross-linked by metal-ligand coordination systems.

Following the remarkable advances in the performance of metal halide perovskite solar cells, recent research efforts have focused more on enhancing their long‐term stability. Among the various factors that impact the device's lifetime, humidity‐driven degradation plays an important role and can significantly lower the device performance within hours. It is generally considered that humidity‐induced degradation proceeds via the formation of hydrogen bonds between the water molecules and the nitrogen atoms in widely used ammonium‐based organic cations like methylammonium (MA) and formamidinium (FA). To mitigate this process, it has been suggested that an interfacial passivation using sulfonium – rather than the ubiquitously used ammonium – cations may enhance the device stability against moisture. This work explores the impact of a dual interfacial modification by sulfonium‐ and sulfoxonium‐based cations versus two commonly used ammonium‐based ones. By examining the interfaces using optical spectroscopy and electron microscopy and evaluating the performance and stability of the devices, it is demonstrated that sulfonium‐ and sulfoxonium‐based cations do not offer a significant advantage over ammonium‐based cations, with the latter leading to enhanced stability only in certain cases. By directly comparing the impact of dual interfacial passivation by ammonium‐, sulfonium‐ and sulfoxonium‐based cations on the performance and stability of triple cation metal halide perovskite solar cells, it is found that it is the exact molecular structure of the cation, rather than the nature of the onium that influences the efficacy of passivation and corresponding stability enhancement.

In this work, we propose a novel method for the preparation of polypyrrole (PPy) layers on textile fabrics using a reactive inkjet printing technique with direct freezing of inks under varying temperature up to −16 °C. It was found that the surface resistance of PPy layers on polypropylene (PP) fabric, used as a standard support, linearly decreased from 6335 Ω/sq. to 792 Ω/sq. with the decrease of polymerization temperature from 23 °C to 0 °C. The lowest surface resistance (584 Ω/sq.) of PPy layer was obtained at −12 °C. The spectroscopic studies showed that the degree of the PPy oxidation as well as its conformation is practically independent of the polymerization temperature. Thus, observed tendences in electrical conductivity were assigned to change in PPy layer morphology, as it is significantly influenced by the reaction temperature: the lower the polymerization temperature the smoother the surface of PPy layer. The as-coated PPy layers on PP textile substrates were further assembled as the electrodes in symmetric all-solid-state supercapacitor devices to access their electrochemical performance. The electrochemical results demonstrate that the symmetric supercapacitor device made with the PPy prepared at −12 °C, showed the highest specific capacitance of 72.3 F/g at a current density of 0.6 A/g, and delivers an energy density of 6.12 Wh/kg with a corresponding power density of 139 W/kg.

There is an urgent need for the development of elastic dielectric materials for flexible organic field effect transistors (OFETs). In this work, detailed analysis of the AC and DC electrical conductivity of a series of flexible poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymers crosslinked by metal-ligand coordination in comparison to neat PDMS was performed for the first time by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The ligand was 2,2-bipyridine-4,4-dicarboxylic amide, and Ni2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ were introduced for Cl−, Br−, and I− salts. Introduction of metal salt and creation of coordination bonds resulted in higher permittivity values increasing in an order: neat PDMS < Ni2+ < Mn2+ < Zn2+; accompanied by conductivity values of the materials increasing in an order: neat PDMS < Cl− < I− < Br−. Conductivity relaxation time plot as a function of temperature, showed Vogel-Fulcher–Tammann dependance for the Br− salts and Arrhenius type for the Cl− and I− salts. Performed study revealed that double-edged challenge can be obtained, i.e., dielectric materials with elevated value of dielectric permittivity without deterioration too much the non-conductive nature of the polymer. This opens up new perspectives for the production of flexible dielectrics suitable for gate insulators in OFETs. Among the synthesized organometallic materials, those with chlorides salts are the most promising for such applications.

Chitosan is an attractive material for biomedical applications. A novel approach for the anodic electrodeposition of chitosan–AgNP composites using in situ coordination with copper ions is proposed in this work. The surface and cross-section morphology of the obtained coating with varying concentrations of AgNPs were evaluated by SEM, and surface functional groups were analyzed with FT-IR spectroscopy. The mechanism of the formation of the coating based on the chelation of Cu(II) ions with chitosan was discussed. The antibacterial activity of the coatings towards Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984/RP62A bacteria was analyzed using the live–dead approach. The presented results indicate that the obtained chitosan–AgNP-based films possess some limited anti-biofilm-forming properties and exhibit moderate antibacterial efficiency at high AgNP loads.

Poly(dimethylosiloxane) (PDMS) cross-linked by metal-ligand coordination has a potential functionality for electronic devices applications. In this work, the molecular dynamics of bipyridine (bpy)–PDMS-MeCl2 (Me: Mn2+, Fe2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+) are investigated by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy and supported by differential scanning calorimetry and density functional theory calculations. The study of molecular motions covered a broad range of temperatures and frequencies and was performed for the first time for metal-ligand cross-linked PDMS. It was found that the incorporation of bpy moieties into PDMS chain prevents its crystallization. The dielectric permittivity of studied organometallic systems was elevated and almost two times higher (ε′ ~4 at 1 MHz) than in neat PDMS. BpyPDMS-MeCl2 complexes exhibit slightly higher glass transition temperature and fragility as compared to a neat PDMS. Two segmental type relaxations (α and αac) were observed in dielectric studies, and their origin was discussed in relation to the molecular structure of investigated complexes. The αac relaxation was observed for the first time in amorphous metal-ligand complexes. It originates from the lower mobility of PDMS polymer chains, which are immobilized by metal-ligand coordination centers via bipyridine moieties.

In this study, nanocrystalline (18–28 nm) perovskite-like bismuth ferrite rare earth-doped powders (Bi0.9RE0.1FeO3, where RE = La (BLaFO), Eu (BEuFO), and Er (BErFO)) were obtained by microwave-assisted modification of solution combustion synthesis (SCS). The influence of high load La3+, Eu3+, and Er3+ doping on structural, optical, and electrical properties of BiFeO3 was investigated. It was found that rare earth doping along with fast phase formation and quenching significantly distorts the crystal cells of the obtained materials, which results in the formation of mixed rhombohedral- (R3c-) orthorhombic (Pbnm) crystal structures with decreased lengths of Bi-O and Fe-O bonds along with a decreasing radius size of doping ions. This promotes reduction of the optical band gap energy and suppression of ionic polarization at high frequencies and results in enhanced dielectric permittivity of the materials at 1 MHz.

In this study, nanocrystalline (18–28 nm) perovskite-like bismuth ferrite rare earth-doped powders (Bi 0.9 RE 0.1 FeO 3 , where RE = La (BLaFO), Eu (BEuFO), and Er (BErFO)) were obtained by microwave-assisted modification of solution combustion synthesis (SCS). The influence of high load La 3+ , Eu 3+ , and Er 3+ doping on structural, optical, and electrical properties of BiFeO 3 was investigated. It was found that rare earth doping along with fast phase formation and quenching significantly distorts the crystal cells of the obtained materials, which results in the formation of mixed rhombohedral- (R3c-) orthorhombic (Pbnm) crystal structures with decreased lengths of Bi-O and Fe-O bonds along with a decreasing radius size of doping ions. This promotes reduction of the optical band gap energy and suppression of ionic polarization at high frequencies and results in enhanced dielectric permittivity of the materials at 1 MHz.

We report a strategy for preparing barium titanate precursor, being the composite of titanate nanosheets (TN) with barium ions (Ba-TN), which subjected to step sintering allows obtaining TiO2 rich barium titanate ceramics of stoichiometry BaTi4O9 or Ba2Ti9O20. These compounds are important in modern electronics due to their required dielectric properties and grains’ size that can be preserved in nanometric range. The morphology studies, structural characterization, and dielectric investigations were performed simultaneously in each step of Ba-TN calcinations in order to properly characterize type of obtained ceramic, its grains’ morphology, and dielectric properties. The Ba-TN precursor can be sintered at given temperatures, so that its dielectric permittivity can be tuned between 25 and 42 with controlled temperature coefficients that change from negative 32 ppm/°C for Ba-TN sintered at 900°C up to positive 37 ppm/°C after calcination at 1300°C. XRD analysis and Raman investigations performed for the Ba-TN in the temperature range of 900÷1250°C showed that below 1100°C we obtained as a main phase BaTi4O9, whereas the higher calcinations temperature transformed Ba-TN into Ba2Ti9O20. Taking into account trend of device miniaturization and nanoscopic size requirements, temperatures of 900°C and 1100°C seem to be an optimal condition for Ba-TN precursor calcinations that guarantee the satisfactory value of dielectric permittivity (ε=26 and 32) and ceramic grains with a mean size of ~180 nm and ~550 nm, respectively.