Enhanced oxidation of nanoparticles through strain-mediated ionic transport.

Geometry and confinement effects at the nanoscale can result in substantial modifications to a material's properties with significant consequences in terms of chemical reactivity, biocompatibility and toxicity. Although benefiting applications across a diverse array of environmental and technological settings, the long-term effects of these changes, for example in the reaction of metallic nanoparticles under atmospheric conditions, are not well understood. Here, we use the unprecedented resolution attainable with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy to study the oxidation of cuboid Fe nanoparticles.

The growth of an ordered Mn layer on the Si(111)- 1 × 1-Ho surface.

The growth of ordered Mn layers on room temperature and liquid nitrogen cooled Si(111)- 1 × 1-Ho surfaces has been studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy. We have shown for 4 ML (monolayers) of Mn grown on a cooled Si(111)- 1 × 1-Ho surface that an ordered Mn layer is produced without any, or with only limited, silicide formation. This surface exhibits a [Formula: see text] low energy electron diffraction pattern.