Sol-Gel Synthesis of Ruthenium Oxide Nanowires To Enhance Methanol Oxidation in Supported Platinum Nanoparticle Catalysts.

A template-directed, sol-gel synthesis is utilized to produce crystalline RuO nanowires. Crystalline nanowires with a diameter of 128 ± 15 nm were synthesized after treating the nanowires at 600 °C in air. Analysis of these nanowires by X-ray powder diffraction revealed the major crystalline phase to be tetragonal RuO with a small quantity of metallic ruthenium present.

Ambient surfactantless synthesis, growth mechanism, and size-dependent electrocatalytic behavior of high-quality, single crystalline palladium nanowires.

In this report, we utilize the U-tube double diffusion device as a reliable, environmentally friendly method for the size-controlled synthesis of high-quality, single crystalline Pd nanowires. The nanowires grown in 200 and 15 nm polycarbonate template pores maintain diameters of 270 ± 45 nm and 45 ± 9 nm, respectively, and could be isolated either as individual nanowires or as ordered free-standing arrays. The growth mechanism of these nanowires has been extensively explored, and we have carried out characterization of the isolated nanowires, free-standing nanowire arrays, and cross sections of the filled template in order to determine that a unique two-step growth process predominates within the template pores.

Enhanced electrocatalytic performance of processed, ultrathin, supported Pd-Pt core-shell nanowire catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.

We report on the synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical performance of novel, ultrathin Pt monolayer shell-Pd nanowire core catalysts. Initially, ultrathin Pd nanowires with diameters of 2.0 ± 0.

Correlating titania morphology and chemical composition with dye-sensitized solar cell performance.

We have investigated the use of various morphologies, including nanoparticles, nanowires, and sea-urchins of TiO(2) as the semiconducting material used as components of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Analysis of the solar cells under AM 1.5 solar irradiation reveals the superior performance of hydrothermally derived nanoparticles, by comparison with two readily available commercial nanoparticle materials, within the DSSC architecture.

Size-dependent infrared phonon modes and ferroelectric phase transition in BiFeO3 nanoparticles.

One emergent property of ferroelectric nanoparticles is the sized-induced structural distortion to a high-symmetry paraelectric phase at small particle sizes. Finite length scale effects can thus be advantageously employed to elucidate ferroelectric transition mechanisms. In this work, we combine infrared spectroscopy with group theory and lattice dynamics calculations to reveal the displacive nature of the ferroelectric transition in BiFeO3, a room temperature multiferroic.

Evaluating cytotoxicity and cellular uptake from the presence of variously processed TiO2 nanostructured morphologies.

We evaluated the cytotoxicity of various morphological classes of TiO(2) nanostructures (including 0-D nanoparticles, 1-D nanorods, and 3-D assemblies) toward living cells. These TiO(2) nanostructures were modified with fluorescent dye molecules, mediated via a dopamine linkage, in order to facilitate a confocal study of their internalization. Specifically, we noted that both TiO(2) 1-D nanorods and 0-D nanoparticles could internalize into cells after 24 h of incubation time.

Synthesis and characterization of V2O3 nanorods.

In this work, VO2 nanorods have been initially generated as reactive nanoscale precursors to their subsequent conversion to large quantities of highly crystalline V2O3 with no detectable impurities. Structural changes in VO2, associated with the metallic-to-insulating transition from the monoclinic form to the rutile form, have been investigated and confirmed using X-ray diffraction and synchrotron data, showing that the structural transition is reversible and occurs at around 63 degrees C. When this VO2 one-dimensional sample was subsequently heated to 800 degrees C in a reducing atmosphere, it was successfully transformed into V2O3 with effective retention of its nanorod morphology.