The present disclosure is directed to simple, scalable methods of forming colloidal MXene dispersions in nonpolar organic solvents with long term stability.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing an aqueous or hydro-alcoholic colloidal solution of metal chalcogenide amorphous nanoparticles notably of the Cu.sub.2ZnSnS.sub.4 (CZTS) type and to the obtained colloidal solution.

The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a film of large-grain crystallized semi-conducting metal chalcogenide film notably of CZTS obtained from an aqueous or hydro-alcoholic colloidal solution according to the invention, said film being useful as an absorption layer deposited on a substrate applied in a solid photovoltaic device.

The present invention provides an optical member having an antireflection effect and environmental reliability and a manufacturing method thereof.

The optical member includes a laminated body formed on a surface of a substrate, and the laminated body includes a porous layer or a layer having an uneven structure as a surface layer, a first organic resin layer containing a polymer having an aromatic ring and/or an imide ring in its main chain as a primary component, and a second organic resin layer containing a polymaleimide or a copolymer thereof as a primary component, the first organic resin layer and the second organic resin layer being provided in this order from the substrate to the surface layer.

Provided is an inorganic oxide dispersion (sol) in which inorganic oxide particles are dispersed in silicone oil.

A composition contains an additive for assisting with the regeneration of the PF in the form of an organic dispersion of iron particles and a detergent including a polyester quaternary ammonium salt.

A hafnium compound-containing sol-gel liquid contains an alcohol as a solvent and a hafnium compound as a hafnia source, in which the hafnium compound-containing sol-gel liquid contains one or two or more elements M selected from the group consisting of Zr, Ti, and Nb, a mass ratio W.sub.M/W.sub.Hf of a content W.sub.M of the elements M to a content W.sub.Hf of Hf as a metal component is within a range of 0.2% or more and 5.0% or less. A hafnia-containing film containing hafnia (HfO.sub.2) and one or two or more elements M selected from the group consisting of Zr, Ti, and Nb, and in which a mass ratio W.sub.M/W.sub.HfO2 of a content W.sub.M of the elements M to a content W.sub.HfO2 of the HfO.sub.2 is within a range of 0.05% or more and 5.0% or less.

The technical result of the present method is simplicity, low cost and the possibility of producing nanoparticles of different types. This result is achieved in that the method for producing a colloidal solution of nanoscale carbon is carried out as follows: an organic fluid is fed into a chamber that contains electrodes, an inert gas is injected into the inter-electrode space, a high temperature plasma channel is formed in gas bubbles, thus atomizing ethanol molecules, followed by rapid cooling.

A silica sol uses a carboxylic acid ester as a dispersion medium and a method for produces the same. The silica sol contains, as dispersoids, silica particles in which an alkoxy group represented by SiOR.sup.1 is present on or near surfaces of silane-treated silica particles, a solvent containing a carboxylic acid ester having an R.sup.2COOR.sup.1 structure as a dispersion medium, and an amine. The dispersoids are silica particles in which at least two types of alkoxy groups represented by SiOR.sup.0 and SiOR.sup.1 are present and which have a molar ratio (SiOR.sup.1)/(SiOR.sup.0) of 0.002 to 50. SiOR.sup.0 is SiOCH.sub.3 or SiOC.sub.2H.sub.5. The silica particles have an average particle diameter of 5 to 200 nm determined by a dynamic light scattering method.

A two-step process is provided for forming large photonic single crystals of about 0.1 millimeter and greater via DNA coated colloidal particles. The two-step process generally include decoupling the nucleation and growth steps. In particular, DNA colloidal particles are partitioned in nanoliter droplets formed in a water in oil emulsion using microfluidics. Once a crystal nucleates within a droplet, depletion of particles occurs as the crystal grows inhibit formation of more crystals within the droplet. A small number of droplets containing these seed crystals are then mixed with droplets containing weak DNA coated colloidal particles. The emulsion is then broken and heated at a temperature effective to cause dissociation of the weak particles while the seeds remain stable. The system is further cooled at a temperature effective that the particles stably adhere to the seed crystals resulting in growth while inhibiting nucleation of new crystals.