Evidence of defect-mediated magnetic coupling on hydrogenated Co-doped ZnO

Hydrogenated bulk Zn1-xCoxO samples were synthesized via standard solid-state reaction route with Co molar concentrations up to 15 at.%. Magnetic characterization demonstrates a room temperature ferromagnetic behavior associated to a paramagnetic Curie-Weiss component. Detailed microstructural analysis was carried out to exclude the presence of extrinsic sources of ferromagnetism. The magnetization increases linearly as a function of Co concentration. Hall measurements reveal an insulating character for the whole set of samples. In this context, the defect mediated magnetic coupling between the Co atoms under the scope of the bound magnetic polarons model is used to interpret the observed room temperature ferromagnetism. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cubic interactions and quantum criticality in dimerized antiferromagnets

In certain Mott-insulating dimerized antiferromagnets, triplet excitations of the paramagnetic phase display both three-particle and four-particle interactions. When such a magnet undergoes a quantum phase transition into a magnetically ordered state, the three-particle interaction becomes part of the critical theory provided that the lattice ordering wave vector is zero. One microscopic example is the staggered-dimer antiferromagnet on the square lattice, for which deviations from O(3) universality have been reported in numerical studies. Using both symmetry arguments and microscopic calculations, we show that a nontrivial cubic term arises in the relevant order-parameter quantum field theory, and we assess its consequences using a combination of analytical and numerical methods. We also present finite-temperature quantum Monte Carlo data for the staggered-dimer antiferromagnet which complement recently published results. The data can be consistently interpreted in terms of critical exponents identical to that of the standard O(3) universality class, but with anomalously large corrections to scaling. We argue that the cubic interaction of critical triplons, although irrelevant in two spatial dimensions, is responsible for the leading corrections to scaling due to its small scaling dimension.

Electrocatalysis of oxidation of hydrogen on platinum ordered intermetallic phases: Kinetic and mechanistic studies

An experimentally based kinetic and mechanistic study of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) on platinum and platinum ordered intermetallic materials in acid medium is presented. RDE kinetic data were re-evaluated and complemented by Tafel plots obtained from chronoamperometric measurements. Among the materials evaluated, PtSb and PtSn exhibited markedly improved kinetic current densities and exchange current densities, compared to Pt in the same experimental conditions. It is proposed that the intermetallic phase enhanced the adsorptive characteristic of the surface sites and, as a consequence, improved the kinetics of the adsorption steps (Tafel or Heyrovsky) of the mechanism involved. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Synthesis and Characterization of Ordered Intermetallic Nanostructured PtSn/C and PtSb/C and Evaluation as Electrodes for Alcohol Oxidation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Hydrogen oxidation on ordered intermetallic electrodes covered with CO

This describes an experimental evaluation of the electrocatalytic activity of the hydrogen oxidation reaction on electrodes of platinum and the ordered intermetallic phases PtSb and PtSn, on which CO has previously been deposited. The experiments were carried out in perchloric acid solution and the analysis based on steady-state polarization curves and Tafel plots derived from chronoamperometric data. Both intermetallics, PtSb and PtSn, performed better than Pt towards the HOR, when their surface was deliberately covered with CO. It is suggested that the intermetallic surfaces have a lower affinity for CO molecules, causing a lower CO coverage on these surfaces, and/or a weaker surface-CO interaction, compared to Pt under the same conditions. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metal-insulator transitions and magnetic ordered states in oxygen-depleted manganites

The use of AC/DC magnetic susceptibility and impedance measurements to detect oxygen depletion effects in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 +/-delta and NiMn2O4+delta spinel-type compounds is reported. For the NiMn2O4, for which no Mn4+ was found, three superposed Debye relaxations were observed in the range 260-180 K. Otherwise, in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3, the argon annealed has contributed to a decrease in T-C, but the amount of Mn4+ is still too high to allow the observation of a relaxation in this frequency window. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Non-leachable highly luminescent ordered mesoporous SiO2 spherical particles

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

On the existence of ordered phases of encapsulated diamondoids into carbon nanotubes

We have investigated some diamondoids encapsulation into single walled carbon nanotubes (with diameters ranging from1.0 up to 2.2 nm) using fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Diamondoids are the smallest hydrogen-terminated nanosized diamond-like molecules. Diamondois have been investigated for a large class of applications, ranging from oil industry to pharmaceuticals. Molecular ordered phases were observed for the encapsulation of adamantane, diamantane, and dihydroxy diamantanes. Chiral ordered phases, such as; double, triple, 4- and 5-stranded helices were also observed for those diamondoids. Our results also indicate that the modification of diamondoids through chemical functionalization with hydroxyl groups can lead to an enhancement of the molecular packing inside the carbon nanotubes in comparison to non-functionalized molecules. For larger diamondoids (such as, adamantane tetramers), we have not observed long-range ordering, but only a tendency of incomplete helical structural formation. © 2012 Materials Research Society.

About the thermal stability and pore elimination in the ordered hexagonal mesoporous silica SBA-15

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Luminescence properties of Eu-complex formations into ordered mesoporous silica particles obtained by the spray pyrolysis process

Ordered mesoporous, highly luminescent SiO2 particles have been synthesized by spray pyrolysis from solutions containing tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), Eu(NO3)3.6H2O, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as structure-directing agents. The 1,10-phenantroline (Phen) molecules were coordinated in a post-synthesis step by a simple wet impregnation method. In addition, other matrices were also prepared by the encapsulation of europium complex Eu(fod)3 (where fod = 6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-3,5-octanedionato) into mesoporous silica, and then the Phen molecules were encapsulated by different impregnation steps, after which the luminescence properties were investigated. The obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Powders with polydisperse spherical grains were obtained, displaying an ordered hexagonal array of mesochannels. Luminescence results revealed that Phen molecules had been successfully coordinated as an additional ligand in the Eu(fod)3 complex into the channels of the mesoporous particles without disrupting the structure.