Thin films fabricated from a nanoparticle beam

As time advances, man has been able to control technology in finer and finer detail. The microelectronics era is an example of this, with control down to the micrometer. Experts agree that we may be entering a new era, controlling technology down to the nanometer. One aspect of such control is making materials in the nanometer range, i.e. nanoparticles. For this purpose, a new magnetron-sputtering gun, inert gas condensation, nanoparticle source has been designed, built, and tested. ^ Films made from cobalt, nickel, tantalum, molybdenum, chromium, and aluminum have been investigated. Transmission Electron Microscope measurements done at the University of Illinois confirm the thin films are nanostructured. This was also confirmed by Atomic Force Microscope measurements made at the F.I.U. Thin Film Laboratory. ^ Composition, optical and magnetic properties have been measured. In most cases, unique properties have been found that differ significantly from bulk properties. Rutherford Backscattering measurements done at the University of Illinois determined significant percentages of oxygen and carbon in the samples, possibly due to interactions with air. Because of this, optical properties are a composite of oxide, metal, and void properties. Magnetic materials were determined to have spin-glass properties below the irreversibility temperature and superparamagnetic properties above it. Indications of possible future uses for these nanostructured materials are discussed. ^

Síntese de ferritas de cobalto e níquel dopadas com zinco e caracterização de suas propriedades eletromagnéticas

This work shows that the synthesis by combustion is a prominent alternative to obtain ceramic powders of higher oxides, nanostructured and of high purity, as the ferrites of formulas Co(1-x)Zn(x)Fe2O4 e Ni(1-x)Zn(x)Fe2O4 with x ranging from 0.2 mols, in a range from 0.2 ≤ x ≥ 1.0 mol, that presents magnetic properties in coexistence of ferroelectric and ferrimagnetic states, which can be used in antennas of micro tapes and selective surfaces of low frequency in a range of miniaturized microwaves, without performance loss. The obtainment occurred through the combustion process, followed by appropriate physical processes and ordered to the utilization of the substrate sinterization process, it gave us a ceramic material, of high purity degree in a nanometric scale. The Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) analysis showed that those ferritic materials presents parameters, as materials hysteresis, that have own behavior of magnetic materials of good quality, in which the magnetization states can be suddenly changed with a relatively small variation of the field intensity, having large applications on the electronics field. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of the ceramic powders synthesized at 900 °C, characterize its structural and geometrical properties, the crystallite size and the interplanar spacing. Other analysis were developed, as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), electric permittivity and the tangent loss, in high frequencies, through the equipment ZVB - 14 Vector Network Analyzer 10 MHz-14 GHz, of ROHDE & SCHWART.

Influência da interação dipolar nas fases magnéticas de nanopartículas esféricas com estrutura núcleo@camada

Bi-magnetic core@shell nanoparticle has attracted attention several researchers because great applicability that they offer. The possibility of combining different functionalities of magnetic materials make them a key piece in many areas as in data processing permanent magnets and biomagnetics sistems. These nanoparticles are controlled by intrinsic properties of the core and shell materials as well as the interactions between them, besides size and geometry effects. Thus, it was developed in this thesis a theoretical study about dipolar interaction contribution between materials different magnetic properties in bi-magnetic core@shell nanoparticles conventional spherical geometry. The materials were analyzed CoFe2O4, MnFe2O4 e CoFe2 in various combinations and sizes. The results show that the impact of the core dipole field in the shell cause reverse magnetization early its, before of the core, in nanoparticle of CoFe2O4(22nm)@CoFe2(2nm), thereby causing a decrease coercivity field of 65% in comparection with simple nanoparticle of CoFe2O4 (HC=13.6 KOe) of same diameter. The large core anisotropy in conventional nanoparticle makes it the a stable dipolar field source in the shell, that varies length scale of the order of the core radius. Furthermore, the impact of dipolar field is greatly enhanced by the geometrical constraints and by magnetics properties of both core@shell materials. In systems with core coated with a thin shell of thickness less than the exchange length, the interaction interface can hold reversal the shell occurring an uniform magnetization reversal, however this effect only is relevant on systems where the dipole field effects is weak compared with the exchange interaction.

Influência da interação dipolar nas fases magnéticas de nanopartículas esféricas com estrutura núcleo@camada

Bi-magnetic core@shell nanoparticle has attracted attention several researchers because great applicability that they offer. The possibility of combining different functionalities of magnetic materials make them a key piece in many areas as in data processing permanent magnets and biomagnetics sistems. These nanoparticles are controlled by intrinsic properties of the core and shell materials as well as the interactions between them, besides size and geometry effects. Thus, it was developed in this thesis a theoretical study about dipolar interaction contribution between materials different magnetic properties in bi-magnetic core@shell nanoparticles conventional spherical geometry. The materials were analyzed CoFe2O4, MnFe2O4 e CoFe2 in various combinations and sizes. The results show that the impact of the core dipole field in the shell cause reverse magnetization early its, before of the core, in nanoparticle of CoFe2O4(22nm)@CoFe2(2nm), thereby causing a decrease coercivity field of 65% in comparection with simple nanoparticle of CoFe2O4 (HC=13.6 KOe) of same diameter. The large core anisotropy in conventional nanoparticle makes it the a stable dipolar field source in the shell, that varies length scale of the order of the core radius. Furthermore, the impact of dipolar field is greatly enhanced by the geometrical constraints and by magnetics properties of both core@shell materials. In systems with core coated with a thin shell of thickness less than the exchange length, the interaction interface can hold reversal the shell occurring an uniform magnetization reversal, however this effect only is relevant on systems where the dipole field effects is weak compared with the exchange interaction.

Fibrillar Elastomeric Micropatterns Create Tunable Adhesion Even to Rough Surfaces

Acknowledgements V.B., N.K.G., and E.A. contributed with conception and experimental design. V.B. performed the experiments. V.B., R.H., A.G., and R.M.M. carried out analysis and interpretation of data. V.B., R.H., A.G., and E.A. wrote the manuscript. V.B. and R.H. contributed equally to this work. V.B. acknowledges funding by SPP 1420 of the German Science Foundation DFG. E.A., N.K.G., and R.H. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union/ERC Advanced Grant “Switch2Stick,” Agreement No. 340929.

(Table 1, page 376), Composition of manganese deposits from the Gulf of Aden and the Carlsberg Ridge

Iron-manganese nodules from the ocean floor have been extensively studied. But, because of the fine grain size of the particles of the nodules, structural identification by X-ray and electron diffraction techniques is difficult and the mineralogy of the iron oxide phase has not been well characterized. The observation of the Mössbauer spectrum-in which each nucleus absorbs gamma-rays independently-is not limited by particle size in the same way as is the observation of Bragg peaks in diffraction measurements, in which radiation must be scattered coherently from a large number of atoms. The magnetic hyperfine splitting in the Mössbauer spectrum of magnetic materials is affected, however, when the particles are so small that they become superparamagnetic. We describe here an investigation using the 57Fe Mössbauer effect of two iron-manganese nodules in which the iron oxide phase could not be detected by X-ray or electron diffraction.

Highlights from Faraday Discussion: Designing New Heterogeneous Catalysts, London, UK, April 2016

The Faraday Discussion on the design of new heterogeneous catalysts took place from 4-6 April 2016 in London, United Kingdom. It brought together world leading scientists actively involved in the synthesis, characterisation, modelling and testing of solid catalysts, attracting more than one hundred delegates from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experience levels-academic and industrial researchers, experimentalists and theoreticians, and students. The meeting was a reflection of how big of an impact the ability to control and design catalysts with specific properties for particular processes can potentially have on the chemical industry, environment, economy and society as a whole. In the following, we give an overview of the topics covered during this meeting and briefly highlight the content of each presentation.

Acid-mediated topological control in a functionalized foldamer

Induced conformational change provides a powerful mechanism to modulate the structure and function of molecules. Here we describe the synthesis of chiral, surface-functionalized oligomeric pyridine/imidazolidin-2-one foldamers, and interrogate their acid-mediated transition between linear and helical topologies.

Fabrication and evaluation of NiO/Y2O3-stabilized-ZrO2 hollow fibers for anode-supported micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cells

In this work NiO/3mol% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ (3YSZ) and NiO/8mol% Y₂O₃-ZrO₂ (8YSZ) hollow fibers were prepared by phase-inversion. The effect of different kinds of YSZ (3YSZ and 8YSZ) on the porosity, electrical conductivity, shrinkage and flexural strength of the hollow fibers were systematically evaluated. When compared with Ni-8YSZ the porosity and shrinkage of Ni-3YSZ hollow fibers increases while the electrical conductivity decreases, while at the same time also exhibiting enhanced flexural strength. Single cells with Ni-3YSZ and Ni-8YSZ hollow fibers as the supported anode were successfully fabricated showing maximum power densities of 0.53 and 0.67Wcm^-2 at 800°C, respectively. Furthermore, in order to improve the cell performance, a Ni-8YSZ anode functional layer was added between the electrolyte and Ni-YSZ hollow fiber. Here enhanced peak power densities of 0.79 and 0.73Wcm^-2 were achieved at 800°C for single cells with Ni-3YSZ and Ni-8YSZ hollow fibers, respectively.

Preparation and characterization of Pr0.6Sr0.4FeO3-δ-Ce0.9Pr0.1O2-δ nanofiber structured composite cathode for IT-SOFCs

In this work, Pr_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3-δ -Ce_0.9Pr_0.1O_2-δ (PSFO-CPO) nanofibers were synthesized by a one-step electrospin technique for use in intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC) applications. PSFO-CPO nanofibers were produced with a diameter of about 100nm and lengths exceeding tens of microns. The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) matches with standard GDC electrolytes and the resulting conductivity also satisfies the needs of IT-SOFCs cathodes. EIS analysis of the nanofiber structured electrode gives a polarization resistance of 0.072Ωcm² at 800°C, smaller than that from the powdered cathode with the same composition. The excellent electrochemical performance can be attributed to the well-constructed microstructure of the nanofiber structured cathode, which promotes surface oxygen diffusion and charge transfer processes. All the results imply that the one-step electrospin method is a facile and practical way of improving the cathode properties and that PSFO-CPO is a promising cathode material for IT-SOFCs.

Fabrication and characterization of SSZ tape cast electrolyte-supported solid oxide fuel cells

A 10 mol%Sc₂O₃, 1 mol%CeO₂ stabilized-ZrO₂ (SSZ) powder was successfully prepared using the sol-gel method. Subsequent SSZ electrolyte pellets were prepared by tape casting technique and sintered at 1400 °C, 1450 °C, 1500 °C, 1550 °C and 1600 °C. These were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). SSZ showed a pure cubic phase after sintering, the grain size of SSZ increased with the increase of sintering temperature. The SSZ sintered at 1550 °C showed the highest ion conductivity. The maximum power densities of Ni-SSZ/SSZ/La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO_3-δ (LSM)-SSZ single cells sintered at 1550 °C were 0.18, 0.36, 0.51 and 0.72 W cm^-2 at 650, 700, 750 and 800 °C, respectively. The polarization resistance (R_p) of the single cell attained 0.201 Ω cm² at 800 °C.

Design and Flux-Weakening Control of an Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Electric Vehicles

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) provide a competitive technology for EV traction drives owing to their high power density and high efficiency. In this paper, three types of interior PMSMs with different PM arrangements are modeled by the finite element method (FEM). For a given amount of permanent magnet materials, the V-shape interior PMSM is found better than the U-shape and the conventional rotor topologies for EV traction drives. Then the V-shape interior PMSM is further analyzed with the effects of stator slot opening and the permanent magnet pole chamfering on cogging torque and output torque performance. A vector-controlled flux-weakening method is developed and simulated in Matlab to expand the motor speed range for EV drive system. The results show good dynamic and steady-state performance with a capability of expanding speed up to four times of the rated. A prototype of the V-shape interior PMSM is also manufactured and tested to validate the numerical models built by the FEM.

Estudo do campo hiperfino magnético na sonda de Ce colocada nos compostos intermetálicos do tipo Rag(R=terra rara) e do ordenamento magnético desses compostos usando cálculos de primeiros princípios

Dissertação (Mestrado)

Random path sampling applied to vector models of magnetism

The recently reported Monte Carlo Random Path Sampling method (RPS) is here improved and its application is expanded to the study of the 2D and 3D Ising and discrete Heisenberg models. The methodology was implemented to allow use in both CPU-based high-performance computing infrastructures (C/MPI) and GPU-based (CUDA) parallel computation, with significant computational performance gains. Convergence is discussed, both in terms of free energy and magnetization dependence on field/temperature. From the calculated magnetization-energy joint density of states, fast calculations of field and temperature dependent thermodynamic properties are performed, including the effects of anisotropy on coercivity, and the magnetocaloric effect. The emergence of first-order magneto-volume transitions in the compressible Ising model is interpreted using the Landau theory of phase transitions. Using metallic Gadolinium as a real-world example, the possibility of using RPS as a tool for computational magnetic materials design is discussed. Experimental magnetic and structural properties of a Gadolinium single crystal are compared to RPS-based calculations using microscopic parameters obtained from Density Functional Theory.