Adsorption and desorption of ethylene on BaO-terminated (001) barium titanate are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Carbon is found in an oxidized state, at a binding energy similar to that resulting from CO adsorption on BaTiO(001). The amount of carbon adsorbed on the surface is also similar to the case of CO/BaTiO(001).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTi-aluminosilicate gels were used as supports for the immobilization of Fe, Co, and Ni oxides (5%) by impregnation and synthesis of efficient photocatalysts for the degradation of β-lactam antibiotics from water. Titanium oxide (1 and 2%) was incorporated into the zeolite network by modifying the gel during the zeolitization process. The formation of the zeolite Y structure and its microporous structure were evidenced by X-ray diffraction and N physisorption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZeolite Y samples with microporous and hierarchical structures containing Ti-Ni and Ti-Co oxides were obtained as active photocatalysts. Different Ti amounts (5, 10% TiO) were supported, followed by the loading of Ni or Co oxides (5%). X-ray diffraction evidenced the presence of TiO as an anatase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProbing of the free surface ferroelectric properties of thin polar films can be achieved either by estimating the band bending variance under the top-most layer or by studying the extent of the extrinsic charge accumulated outside the surface. Photoemitted or incoming low-energy electrons can be used to characterize locally both properties in a spectromicroscopic approach. Thin ferroelectric lead zirco-titanate (PZT) is investigated by combining low energy/mirror electron microscopy (LEEM/MEM) with photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) and high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing the microwave-assisted sol-gel method, Zn- and Cu-doped TiO nanoparticles with an anatase crystalline structure were prepared. Titanium (IV) butoxide was used as a TiO precursor, with parental alcohol as a solvent and ammonia water as a catalyst. Based on the TG/DTA results, the powders were thermally treated at 500 °C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor environmental applications, nanosized TiO-based materials are known as the most important photocatalyst and are intensively studied for their advantages such as their higher activity, lower price, and chemical and photoresist properties. Zn or Cu doped TiO nanoparticles with anatase crystalline structure were synthesized by sol-gel process. Titanium (IV) butoxide was used as a TiO precursor, with parental alcohol as a solvent, and a hydrolysing agent (ammonia-containing water) was added to obtain a solution with pH 10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRSC Adv
January 2020
Carbon layers are deposited on 100 nm thick atomically clean (001) lead zirconate titanate (PZT) in ultrahigh vacuum, ruling out the presence of any contaminants. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to assess the substrate surface or interface composition, substrate polarization and the thickness of carbon layers, which ranges from less than one monolayer (1 ML) of graphene to several monolayers. Atomically clean PZT(001) exhibit inwards polarization, and this polarization reverses the sign upon carbon deposition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStaggered gap radial heterojunctions based on ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowires are used as water stable photocatalysts to harvest solar energy for pollutants removal. ZnO nanowires with a wurtzite crystalline structure and a band gap of approximately 3.3 eV are obtained by thermal oxidation in air.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe work describes the development of a flexible, hydrogel embedded pH-sensor that can be integrated in inexpensive wearable and non-invasive devices at epidermal level for electrochemical quantification of H ions in sweat. Such a device can be useful for swift, real time diagnosis and for monitoring specific conditions. The sensors' working electrodes are flexible poly(methyl methacrylate) electrospun fibers coated with a thin gold layer and electrochemically functionalized with nanostructured palladium/palladium oxide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present work describes a new simple procedure for the direct immobilization of biomolecules on Ni electrodes using magnetic Ni nanoparticles (NiNPs) as biomolecule carriers. Ni electrodes were fabricated by electroplating, and NiNPs were chemically synthesized. The chemical composition, crystallinity, and granular size of Ni electrodes, NiNP, and NiNP-modified Ni electrodes (NiNP/Ni) were determined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZnO-CuO core-shell radial heterojunction nanowire arrays were fabricated by a straightforward approach which combine two simple, cost effective and large-scale preparation methods: (i) thermal oxidation in air of a zinc foil for obtaining ZnO nanowire arrays and (ii) radio frequency magnetron sputtering for covering the surface of the ZnO nanowires with a CuO thin film. The structural, compositional, morphological and optical properties of the high aspect ratio ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowire arrays were investigated. Individual ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowires were contacted with Pt electrodes by means of electron beam lithography technique, diode behaviour being demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe adsorption of Si atoms on a metal surface might proceed through complex surface processes, whose rate is determined differently by factors such as temperature, Si coverage, and metal cohesive energy. Among other transition metals, iridium is a special case since the Ir(111) surface was reported first, in addition to Ag(111), as being suitable for the epitaxy of silicene monolayers. In this study we followed the adsorption of Si on the Ir(111) surface via high resolution core level photoelectron spectroscopy, starting from the clean metal surface up to a coverage exceeding one monolayer, in a temperature range between 300 and 670 K.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe stability of thin films of lead zirco-titanate (PZT) under intense soft X-ray beams is investigated by time-resolved photoelectron spectromicroscopy with a lateral resolution below 1 micrometer. Surface dissociation is observed when samples are irradiated with intense (5 × 10 photons per s per m) soft X-rays, with promotion of reduced lead on the surface. On areas exhibiting outwards polarization (P), the reduced lead is formed at the expense of P-PZT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtomically clean lead zirco-titanate PbZrTiO (001) layers exhibit a polarization oriented inwards P, visible by a band bending of all core levels towards lower binding energies, whereas as introduced layers exhibit P polarization under air or in ultrahigh vacuum. The magnitude of the inwards polarization decreases when the temperature is increased at 700 K. CO adsorption on P polarized surfaces saturates at about one quarter of a monolayer of carbon, and occurs in both molecular (oxidized) and dissociated (reduced) states of carbon, with a large majority of reduced state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBy means of a combination of surface-science spectroscopies and theory, we investigate the mechanisms ruling the catalytic role of epitaxial graphene (Gr) grown on transition-metal substrates for the production of hydrogen from water. Water decomposition at the Gr/metal interface at room temperature provides a hydrogenated Gr sheet, which is buckled and decoupled from the metal substrate. We evaluate the performance of Gr/metal interface as a hydrogen storage medium, with a storage density in the Gr sheet comparable with state-of-the-art materials (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe possibility to intercalate noble gas atoms below epitaxial graphene monolayers coupled with the instability at high temperature of graphene on the surface of certain metals has been exploited to produce Ar-filled graphene nanosized blisters evenly distributed on the bare Ni(111) surface. We have followed in real time the self-assembling of the nanoblisters during the thermal annealing of the Gr/Ni(111) interface loaded with Ar and characterized their morphology and structure at the atomic scale. The nanoblisters contain Ar aggregates compressed at high pressure arranged below the graphene monolayer skin that is decoupled from the Ni substrate and sealed only at the periphery through stable C-Ni bonds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigate the structure of epitaxially grown hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on Ir(111) by chemical vapor deposition of borazine. Using photoelectron diffraction spectroscopy, we unambiguously show that a single-domain h-BN monolayer can be synthesized by a cyclic dose of high-purity borazine onto the metal substrate at room temperature followed by annealing at T=1270 K, this method giving rise to a diffraction pattern with 3-fold symmetry. In contrast, high-temperature borazine deposition (T=1070 K) results in a h-BN monolayer formed by domains with opposite orientation and characterized by a 6-fold symmetric diffraction pattern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on structure-property relationships in Pr-doped CeO2 and ZrO2 using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, UV to Vis Diffuse Reflectance (DR-UV/Vis), X-ray Photoelectron (XPS), and luminescence (PL) spectroscopies. Both 3+ and 4+ valence states of Pr are evidenced, irrespective of the host and calcination temperature, T (T = 500 and 1000 °C) with consequences on absorption, surface, vibrational and luminescence properties. Only zirconia represents a suitable host for Pr(3+) luminescence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectrode interface is a key element in controlling the macroscopic electrical properties of the ferroelectric capacitors based on thin films. In the case of epitaxial ferroelectrics, the electrode interface is essential in controlling the leakage current and the polarization switching, two important elements in the read/write processes of nonvolatile memories. However, the relation between the polarization bound charges and the electronic properties of the electrode interfaces is not yet well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFerromagnetic FeGe with = 2%-9% are obtained by Fe deposition onto Ge(001) at high temperatures (500 °C). Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) investigation evidenced the preservation of the (1 × 1) surface structure of Ge(001) with Fe deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at Ge 3d and Fe 2p core levels evidenced strong Fe diffusion into the Ge substrate and formation of Ge-rich compounds, from FeGe₃ to approximately FeGe₂, depending on the amount of Fe deposited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF