Incorporation of Cr3+ ions in tuning the magnetic and transport properties of nano zinc ferrite

Cost effective and low temperature synthesis methods namely solution combustion and hydrothermal methods were used to prepare chromium incorporated nanocrystalline zinc ferrites. The effect of incorporation of low concentration Cr3+ ions on the structural, morphological, magnetic and transport properties of the zinc ferrite compounds were investigated. The crystalline nature and size variation with chromium content were valid from powder x-ray diffraction. Particles size and crystallite size variation were valid from scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy respectively. With the increase in chromium incorporation, the crystallite and particles sizes were decreased. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies confirmed the presence of strong metal-oxygen bonds. The elastic properties of the materials in both the methods were estimated by FTIR studies. Magnetic properties namely saturation magentization, remanent magnetization and coercivity values were decreased with increase in Cr3+ ions concentration. The dielectric properties of the samples decreased with increase in the Cr3+ ions. The dielectric constant was observed to be of the order of 10(6) at low frequency and almost 1 at higher frequency range. The activation energy estimated using Arrhenius plots was of the order of 0.182 eV and 0.368 eV respectively for the compounds prepared by solution combustion and hydrothermal methods. The emission spectra of the samples excited at 344 nm were reported using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Further, the approximate energy band gap(E-g) was estimated from PL studies. The E-g of the materials were lie in the range of 2.11-1.98 eV. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

YIn0.9Mn0.1O3-ZnO nano-pigment exhibiting intense blue color with impressive solar reflectance

The current study reports on the synthesis and characterization of a new inorganic nano-pigment with an intense blue color and high solar radiation reflective properties (70%). The nano-pigment YIn0.9Mn0.1O3-ZnO was synthesized by a sol-gel combustion method and characterized with the aid of X-Ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Magnetic susceptibility, Transmission electron microscopy, UV ndash;vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and CIE-1976 L*a*b* color measurements. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns of the developed nano-pigment disclosed the existence of YIn0.9Mn0.1O3 and ZnO in a 1:1 ratio with hexagonal crystal structures. For comparison, YIn0.9Mn0.1O3 was also synthesized by the sol gel combustion route and its optical properties compared with that of YIn0.9Mn0.1O3-ZnO. It is interesting to note that the developed YIn0.9Mn0.1O3-ZnO nano-pigmeht exhibits superior blue hue (b* = -40.55) and solar reflectance (R* = 70%) values as compared to the YIn0.9Mn0.1O3 nano-pigment (b* = -22.28, R* = 50%). Most importantly, the potential utility of the nano-pigment as a ``Cool Pigment'' was demonstrated by coating onto roofing materials like aluminum roofing sheets. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A nano-scale instability in the beta phase of dilute Ti-Mo alloys

A nano-scale instability in the beta phase resulting in the formation of the disordered orthorhombic O' phase has been discovered in a fairly dilute binary Ti-Mo alloy, using selected area electron diffraction and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. The O' phase informed in the alloy when the Mo content exceeds a critical value. The instability occurs in beta-solutionized samples that have been quenched to room temperature and is found to co-exist with athermal omega to phase. Interestingly, this nano-scale instability, involving the {110}<1<(1)over bar>0> soft-phonon shuffle, occurs in the beta phase without deliberate additions of either interstitial or substitutional solutes. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Nano Carbon Filled Silicone Rubber Composites

Electromagnetic shielding has become important for various electrical systems because of the electromagnetic pollution caused by the large scale use of electronic devices operating at different frequencies and power levels. Traditionally used metallic shields lack flexibility and hence may not be the right choice for certain applications. In such situations, filled polymer composites provide a good alternative for electromagnetic shielding applications. Being polymer based, they are easy to manufacture and can be molded into the required geometry and shape. In this study, the shielding properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers filled silicone rubber are studied. The conductivity and the shielding effectiveness of the composites were measured at different filler loadings. Both the fillers are able to make the base polymer conducting even at very low filler loadings. The conductivity and the shielding effectiveness improved when the filler loading was above the percolation threshold.

Nano-hardness Techniques and Its Applications in Mechanical Property Measurements for Surface Engineering

结合纳米硬度技术测量各类薄膜和块体材料表层的纳米压痕硬度、弹性模量、断裂韧性、膜厚、微结构的弯曲变形,采用纳米划痕硬度技术测量各类薄膜和块体材料的粗糙度、临界附着力、摩擦系数、划痕横剖面.纳米硬度计是检测材料表层微米乃至几十纳米力学性能的先进仪器,可广泛应用于表面工程中的质量检测.

Nano-Hardness Tester and its Application in MEMS

微机电系统(MEMS)技术的迅速崛起,推动了对其所用材料和结构的力学性能研究。简要介绍纳米硬度技术的发展展、理论模型和MTS公司的Nano Indenter XP系统的配置、测量原理及功能。并根据我们的一些研究结果,说明它在微机电系统中的应用。

Characterisation of carbon nano-onions using Raman spectroscopy

Characteristics of the Raman spectrum from carbon onions have been identified in terms of the position of the G peak and appearance of the transverse optic phonon peaks. Five new peaks were observed in the low wavenumber region, at about 1100, 861, 700, 450 and 250 cm(-1). The origins of these peaks are discussed in terms of the phonon density of states (PDOS) and phonon dispersion curves of graphite. The curvature of the graphene planes is invoked to explain the relaxation of the Raman selection rules and the appearance of the new peaks. The Raman spectrum of carbon onions is compared with that of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The strain of graphene planes due to curvature has been estimated analytically and is used to account for the downward shift of the G peak. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Nano-Tribological Study on a Super-Hydrophobic Film Formed on Rough Aluminum

A novel super-hydrophobic stearic acid (STA) film with a water contact angle of 166° was prepared by chemical adsorption on aluminum wafer coated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) film. The micro-tribological behavior of the super-hydrophobic STA monolayer was compared with that of the polished and PEI-coated Al surfaces. The effect of relative humidity on the adhesion and friction was investigated as well. It was found that the STA monolayer showed decreased friction, while the adhesive force was greatly decreased by increasing the surface roughness of the Al wafer to reduce the contact area between the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip and the sample surface to be tested. Thus the friction and adhesion of the Al wafer was effectively decreased by generating the STA monolayer, which indicated that it could be feasible and rational to prepare a surface with good adhesion resistance and lubricity by properly controlling the surface morphology and the chemical composition. Both the adhesion and friction decreased as the relative humidity was lowered from 65% to 10%, though the decrease extent became insignificant for the STA monolayer.

Optical fringe multiplication technique with TEM nano-moiré method

In this paper, a nano-moiré fringe multiplication method is proposed, which can be used to measure nano-deformation of single crystal materials. The lattice structure of Si (111) is recorded on a film at a given magnification under a transmission microscope, which acts as a specimen grating. A parallel grating (binary type) on glass or film is selected as a reference grating. A multiplied nano-moiré fringe pattern can be reproduced in a 4f optical filter system with the specimen grating and the prepared reference grating. The successful results illustrate that this method can be used to measure deformation in nanometre scale. The method is especially useful in the measurement of the inhomogeneous displacement field, and can be utilized to characterize nano-mechanical behaviour of materials such as dislocation and atomic bond failure.

Spark plasma sintering of TiNi nano-powders for biological application

Nano-sized TiNi powder with an average size of 50nm was consolidated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 800 °C for 5min. A layer of anatase TiO 2 coating was formed on the sintered TiNi by chemical reaction with a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution at 60 °C followed by heat treatment at 400 °C to enhance the bioactivity of the metal surface. Cell culture using osteoblast cells and a biomimetic test in simulated body fluid proved the biocompatibility of the chemically treated SPS TiNi. © IOP Publishing Ltd.

Resonant Raman characterisation of ultra-thin nano-protective carbon layers for magnetic storage devices

Carbon thin films are very important as protective coatings for a wide range of applications such as magnetic storage devices. The key parameter of interest is the sp3 fraction, since it controls the mechanical properties of the film. Visible Raman spectroscopy is a very popular technique to determine the carbon bonding. However, the visible Raman spectra mainly depend on the configuration and clustering of the sp2 sites. This can result in the Raman spectra of different samples looking similar albeit having a different structure. Thus, visible Raman alone cannot be used to derive the sp3 content. Here we monitor the carbon bonding by using a combined study of Raman spectra taken at two wavelengths (514 and 244 nm). We show how the G peak dispersion is a very useful parameter to investigate the carbon samples and we endorse it as a production-line characterisation tool. The dispersion is proportional to the degree of disorder, thus making it possible to distinguish between graphitic and diamond-like carbon. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Equivalency and Locality in Nano-Scale Measurement

Two principal problems of equivalency and locality in nano-scale measurement are considered in this paper. The conventional measurements of force and displacement are always closely related to the equivalency problem between the measuremental results by experimental system and the real physical status of the sample, and the locality of the mechanical quantities to be measured. There are some noticeable contradictions in nano-scale measurements induced by the two problems. In this paper, by utilizing a coupled molecular-continuum method, we illustrate the important effects of the two principal problems in atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements on nano-scale. Our calculations and analysis of these typical mechanical measurement problems suggest that in nano-meter scale measurements, the two principal problems must be carefully dealt with. The coupled molecular-continuum method used in this paper is very effective in solving these problems on nano-scale.

A Constrained Particle Dynamics for Continuum-Particle Hybrid Method in Micro- and Nano-Fluidics

A hybrid method of continuum and particle dynamics is developed for micro- and nano-fluidics, where fluids are described by a molecular dynamics (MD) in one domain and by the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations in another domain. In order to ensure the continuity of momentum flux, the continuum and molecular dynamics in the overlap domain are coupled through a constrained particle dynamics. The constrained particle dynamics is constructed with a virtual damping force and a virtual added mass force. The sudden-start Couette flows with either non-slip or slip boundary condition are used to test the hybrid method. It is shown that the results obtained are quantitatively in agreement with the analytical solutions under the non-slip boundary conditions and the full MD simulations under the slip boundary conditions.