A conductive paste for forming a solar cell electrode, including: a conductive powder containing silver as a main component; glass frit; and an organic vehicle, wherein the glass frit contains tellurium glass frit having tellurium oxide as a network-forming component. The conductive paste of the present invention makes it possible to form a solar cell electrode having a low dependence on firing temperature without causing problems due to fire-through into the substrate, and to thereby obtain a solar cell having good solar cell characteristics.

A conductive paste for forming a solar cell electrode, including: a conductive powder containing silver as a main component; glass frit; and an organic vehicle, wherein the glass frit contains tellurium glass frit having tellurium oxide as a network-forming component. The conductive paste of the present invention makes it possible to form a solar cell electrode having a low dependence on firing temperature without causing problems due to fire-through into the substrate, and to thereby obtain a solar cell having good solar cell characteristics.

In a preferred embodiment, there is provided a modified fabric composition, the composition comprising a fabric member and an electroactive member for storing energy, wherein the fabric member comprises a fabric framework defining a deformable plane and a plurality of projections extending at an angle from the plane, and wherein the electroactive member is coupled to at least one of the projections.

In a preferred embodiment, there is provided a modified fabric composition, the composition comprising a fabric member and an electroactive member for storing energy, wherein the fabric member comprises a fabric framework defining a deformable plane and a plurality of projections extending at an angle from the plane, and wherein the electroactive member is coupled to at least one of the projections.

The present invention is directed to methods for formation of refractory carbide, nitride, and boride coatings without use of a binding agent. The present invention is directed to methods of creating refractory coatings with controlled porosity. Refractory coatings can be formed from refractory metal, metal oxide, or metal/metal oxide composite refractory coating precursor of the 9 refractory metals encompassed by groups 4-6 and periods 4-6 of the periodic table; non-metallic elements (e.g. Si & B) and their oxides (i.e. SiO.sub.2 & B.sub.2O.sub.3) are also pertinent. The conversion of the refractory coating precursor to refractory carbide, nitride or boride is achieved via carburization, nitridization, or boridization in the presence of carbon-containing (e.g. CH.sub.4), nitrogen containing (e.g. NH.sub.3), and boron-containing (e.g. B.sub.2H.sub.6) gaseous species. Any known technique of applying the refractory coating precursor can be used. The porosity of resultant refractory coatings is controlled through compositional manipulation of composite refractory coating precursors.

The present invention is directed to methods for formation of refractory carbide, nitride, and boride coatings without use of a binding agent. The present invention is directed to methods of creating refractory coatings with controlled porosity. Refractory coatings can be formed from refractory metal, metal oxide, or metal/metal oxide composite refractory coating precursor of the 9 refractory metals encompassed by groups 4-6 and periods 4-6 of the periodic table; non-metallic elements (e.g. Si & B) and their oxides (i.e. SiO.sub.2 & B.sub.2O.sub.3) are also pertinent. The conversion of the refractory coating precursor to refractory carbide, nitride or boride is achieved via carburization, nitridization, or boridization in the presence of carbon-containing (e.g. CH.sub.4), nitrogen containing (e.g. NH.sub.3), and boron-containing (e.g. B.sub.2H.sub.6) gaseous species. Any known technique of applying the refractory coating precursor can be used. The porosity of resultant refractory coatings is controlled through compositional manipulation of composite refractory coating precursors.

Systems and methods of synthesizing nanoparticles on substrates using rapid, high temperature thermal shock. A method involves depositing micro-sized particles or salt precursors on a substrate, and applying a rapid, high temperature thermal pulse or shock to the micro-sized particles or the salt precursors and the substrate to cause the micro-sized particles or the salt precursors to become nanoparticles on the substrate. A system may include a rotatable member that receives a roll of a substrate sheet having micro-sized particles or salt precursors; a motor that rotates the rotatable member so as to unroll consecutive portions of the substrate sheet from the roll; and a thermal energy source that applies a short, high temperature thermal shock to consecutive portions of the substrate sheet that are unrolled from the roll by rotating the first rotatable member. Some systems and methods produce nanoparticles on existing substrate. The nanoparticles may be metallic, ceramic, inorganic, semiconductor, or compound nanoparticles. The substrate may be a carbon-based substrate, a conducting substrate, or a non-conducting substrate. The high temperature thermal shock process may be enabled by electrical Joule heating, microwave heating, thermal radiative heating, plasma heating, or laser heating.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a wiring board that forms a wiring layer having favorable adhesion without a resin resist pattern. A method prepares a substrate with seed-layer including: a underlayer on the surface of an insulating substrate; and a seed layer on the surface of the underlayer, the seed layer having a predetermined pattern and containing metal; presses a solid electrolyte membrane against the seed layer and the underlayer, and applies voltage between an anode and the underlayer to reduce metal ions in the membrane and form a metal layer on the surface of the seed layer; and removes an exposed region without the seed layer and the metal layer of the underlayer to form a wiring layer including the underlayer, the seed layer and the metal layer on the surface of the substrate.

The invention provides a method for increasing the order of an array of polymeric micelles or of nanoparticles on a substrate surface comprising a) providing an ordered array of micelles or nanoparticles coated with a polymer shell on a substrate surface and b) annealing the array of micelles or nanoparticles by ultrasonication in a liquid medium which is selected from the group comprising H.sub.2O, a polar organic solvent and a mixture of H.sub.2O and a polar organic solvent. In a related aspect, the invention provides the highly ordered arrays of micelles or nanoparticles obtainable by the methods of the invention.

The invention provides a method for increasing the order of an array of polymeric micelles or of nanoparticles on a substrate surface comprising a) providing an ordered array of micelles or nanoparticles coated with a polymer shell on a substrate surface and b) annealing the array of micelles or nanoparticles by ultrasonication in a liquid medium which is selected from the group comprising H.sub.2O, a polar organic solvent and a mixture of H.sub.2O and a polar organic solvent. In a related aspect, the invention provides the highly ordered arrays of micelles or nanoparticles obtainable by the methods of the invention.