Transparent electrodes made of single-component ultrathin (<10 nm) metal films (UTMFs) are obtained by sputtering deposition. We show that the optical transparency of the deposited films (chromium and nickel) is comparable to that of indium tin oxide (ITO) in the visible and near-infrared range (0.4-2.5 microm), while it can be significantly higher in the ultraviolet (175-400 nm) and mid-infrared (2.5-25 microm) regions. Despite their very small thickness, the deposited UTMFs are also uniform and continuous over the 10 cm substrate, as it is confirmed by the measured low electrical resistivity. The excellent optical and electrical properties, stability, compatibility with active materials, process simplicity, and potential low cost make UTMFs high-quality transparent electrodes for the optoelectronics industry, seriously competing with widely used transparent conductive oxides, such as ITO.

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An energy and economic analysis on a new distillation process for the upgrading of high-CO 2 content natural gas streams has been carried out. The process has been optimized by means of a feed splitting technique to minimize the energy requirements. The performances of the process have been compared to the ones of a traditional MDEA scrubbing process in terms of energy expenses. The cost of energy has been quantified to build up a merit index function, which allows one to determine the trade-off between the two technologies as a function of the CO 2 and H 2 S content in the feed gas and the geographic area where the gas reserve is located. The results have been discussed on the basis of the cost of energy in different geographic areas, showing the benefits (in terms of energy and operating costs savings) of a low-temperature distillation process when the CO 2 content in the natural gas streams is high.

Abstract.The excitation functions for production of 21 isotopes and isomers of Au, Pt, It, Os and Re in the interaction of 12C with 18~Ta from 54 to 98 MeV incident energy have been measured by the activation technique. The analysis of these data allows one to estimate the reaction cross-section and the cross-sections for complete fusion of 12C and the incomplete fusion of *Be and fragments with tantalum.

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