Formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzofuran, and dibenzofuran in fuel-rich oxidation of toluene using a flow reactor.

Recently, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their high toxicity. Understanding their formation mechanism during combustion processes is important to control their emission. However, there are few studies that have quantitatively investigated OPAH formation in the fuel-rich oxidation of hydrocarbons, despite the availability of several studies on PAH formation.

Lattice imaging at an accelerating voltage of 30kV using an in-lens type cold field-emission scanning electron microscope.

We reported investigation of lattice resolution imaging using a Hitachi SU9000 conventional in-lens type cold field emission scanning electron microscope without an aberration corrector at an accelerating voltage of 30kV and discuss the electron optics and optimization of observation conditions for obtaining lattice resolution. It is possible to visualize lattice spacings that are much smaller than the diameter of the incident electron beam through the influence of the superior coherent performance of the cold field emission electron source. The defocus difference between STEM imaging and lattice imaging is found to increase with spherical aberration but it is possible to reduce the spherical aberration by reducing the focal length (f) of the objective lens combined with an experimental sample stage enabling a shorter distance between the objective lens pre-field and the sample.

Observation of three-dimensional elemental distributions of a Si device using a 360 degrees -tilt FIB and the cold field-emission STEM system.

A technique for preparation of a pillar-shaped specimen and its multidirectional observation using a combination of a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and a focused ion beam (FIB) instrument has been developed. The system employs an FIB/STEM compatible holder with a specially designed tilt mechanism, which allows the specimen to be tilted through 360 degrees [T. Yaguchi, M.

Development of a specimen heating holder with an evaporator and gas injector and its application for catalyst.

A specimen heating holder equipped with a gas injector and an evaporator has been developed for use with conventional transmission electron microscopes (TEMs). The developed specimen holder allows both synthesis of metal oxide support and deposition of catalyst nano-particles in situ. Since the holder is designed to be used in small gapped high-resolution objective lens pole-piece, all the procedure from the synthesis of support material to the deposition of catalyst as well as the behavior of the catalyst nano-particles on the support can be observed at near atomic resolution.

Development of a gas injection/specimen heating holder for use with transmission electron microscope.

A new gas injection/specimen heating holder is developed for the purpose of in situ observation of gas reaction of materials at high temperatures in a transmission electron microscope at near-atomic resolution. A fine tungsten wire is employed as a heating element of the holder and a battery is used as the power source. Gas was injected onto specimens in the form of particles lying on the heating element via a nozzle.

In situ high temperature TEM observation of interaction between multi-walled carbon nanotube and in situ deposited gold nano-particles.

Interaction between multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and deposited gold nano-particles has been dynamically observed in a 200 kV transmission electron microscope (TEM) using a specimen heating holder. Gold particles with diameters of several tens of microns were mixed with MWNTs to mount on the heating element of a specimen heating holder. The gold particles were instantaneously heated to 1373 K to deposit gold nano-particles on the MWNTs from a very short distance.

A method for multidirectional TEM observation of a specific site at atomic resolution.

A new technique has been developed for the three-dimensional structure characterisation of a specific site at atomic resolution. In this technique, a focused ion beam (FIB) system is used to extract a specimen from a desired site as well as to fabricate the electron transparent specimen. A specimen holder with a specimen stage rotation mechanism has also been developed for use with both an FIB system and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM).