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Electrochemistry has been introduced as a powerful tool in order to prepare new organometallic reagents for functionalizing of mesoporous silica. Preparation of the reagents was based on electrochemical oxidation of dihydroxybenzene derivatives in the presence of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-1-propanethiol as a nucleophile. The mechanisms of electrochemical reactions were studied by voltammetric studies. Mesoporous silica SBA-15 was also synthesized in this work through sol-gel hydrothermal method using Genapol PF-10 as structure directing compound. The prepared mesoporous silica was characterized by FT-IR analysis and Barrett–Joiner–Halenda (BJH) pore size and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurement methods using N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm. Finally, the organometallic reagent was covalently grafted on the surface of mesoporous silica. Functionalizing of this material with the new reagent was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The functionalized mesoporous silica by new reagent can be utilized in biological applications.

Potentiostatic two step anodizing of titanium utilized for preparation of self organized titania nanotubes arrays with diameter of 150 nm. Then the new alginate method has been applied for incorporation of NiO into the nanotubes. The prepared hybrid materials have been characterized by various methods including field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry and cyclic voltammetry analyses. The X-ray diffraction patterns of samples were also studied by Rietveld's method. Results showed that the prepared electrode containing anatase, rutile and NiO phases with fraction of 70, 8, and 22%, respectively. It was found that by application of the new method, porous NiO uniformly coated on nanotubes surface and great enhancement of specific capacitance from 0.14 to 3.8 mF cm-2 could be obtained. The prepared nanocomposites are promising materials for supercapacitance application and also for solar energy harvesting systems.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto flexible polyimide substrates using RF sputtering system at room temperature. The deposited films were then heat treated at different temperatures in air and vacuum atmospheres. The structural variations and as consequence the electro‐optical characteristic variations of the films were systematically investigated as a function of post annealing temperature and atmosphere. The structure of the films was studied by means of XRD and SEM techniques and the electro‐optical characteristics were measured by four point probe and spectrophotometer, respectively. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)