Discovery and Characterization of a Metastable Cubic Interstitial Nickel-Carbon System with an Expanded Lattice.

Metastable, , kinetically favored but thermodynamically not stable, interstitial solid solutions of carbon in iron are well-understood. Carbon can occupy the interstitial atoms of the host metal, altering its properties. Alloying of the host metal results in the stabilization of the FeC phases, widening its application.

Rational design of tandem catalysts using a core-shell structure approach.

A facile and rational approach to synthesize bimetallic heterogeneous tandem catalysts is presented. Using core-shell structures, it is possible to create spatially controlled ensembles of different nanoparticles and investigate coupled chemocatalytic reactions. The CO hydrogenation to methane and light olefins was tested, achieving a tandem process successfully.

Exploiting the Acceleration Voltage Dependence of EMCD.

Energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) is a versatile method for measuring magnetism down to the atomic scale in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As the magnetic signal is encoded in the phase of the electron wave, any process distorting this characteristic phase is detrimental for EMCD. For example, elastic scattering gives rise to a complex thickness dependence of the signal.

Investigation of Electrocatalysts Produced by a Novel Thermal Spray Deposition Method.

Common methods to produce supported catalysts include impregnation, precipitation, and thermal spray techniques. Supported electrocatalysts produced by a novel method for thermal spray deposition were investigated with respect to their structural properties, elemental composition, and electrochemical performance. This was done using electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry.

F-doping of nanostructured ZnO: a way to modify structural, electronic, and surface properties.

Polycrystalline ZnO is a material often used in heterogeneous catalysis. Its properties can be altered by the addition of dopants. We used gaseous fluorine (F) as direct way to incorporate fluoride in ZnO as anionic dopants.

Thickening of T₁ Precipitates during Aging of a High Purity Al⁻4Cu⁻1Li⁻0.25Mn Alloy.

The age hardening response of a high-purity Al⁻4Cu⁻1Li⁻0.25Mn alloy (wt. %) during isothermal aging without and with an applied external load was investigated.

Nitrogen-Functionalized Hydrothermal Carbon Materials by Using Urotropine as the Nitrogen Precursor.

Nitrogen-containing hydrothermal carbon (N-HTC) materials of spherical particle morphology were prepared by means of hydrothermal synthesis with glucose and urotropine as precursors. The molar ratio of glucose to urotropine has been varied to achieve a continuous increase in nitrogen content. By raising the ratio of urotropine to glucose, a maximal nitrogen fraction of about 19 wt % could be obtained.

Precipitation of T₁ and θ' Phase in Al-4Cu-1Li-0.25Mn During Age Hardening: Microstructural Investigation and Phase-Field Simulation.

Experimental and phase field studies of age hardening response of a high purity Al-4Cu-1Li-0.25Mn-alloy (mass %) during isothermal aging are conducted. In the experiments, two hardening phases are identified: the tetragonal ' (Al₂Cu) phase and the hexagonal ₁ (Al₂CuLi) phase.

Fast oxygen exchange and diffusion kinetics of grain boundaries in Sr-doped LaMnO3 thin films.

In this study, the contribution of grain boundaries to the oxygen reduction and diffusion kinetics of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) thin films is investigated.

Oriented attachment explains cobalt ferrite nanoparticle growth in bioinspired syntheses.

Oriented attachment has created a great debate about the description of crystal growth throughout the last decade. This aggregation-based model has successfully described biomineralization processes as well as forms of inorganic crystal growth, which could not be explained by classical crystal growth theory. Understanding the nanoparticle growth is essential since physical properties, such as the magnetic behavior, are highly dependent on the microstructure, morphology and composition of the inorganic crystals.

Methane Decomposition and Carbon Growth on YO, Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia, and ZrO.

Carbon deposition following thermal methane decomposition under dry and steam reforming conditions has been studied on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), YO, and ZrO by a range of different chemical, structural, and spectroscopic characterization techniques, including aberration-corrected electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electric impedance spectroscopy, and volumetric adsorption techniques. Concordantly, all experimental techniques reveal the formation of a conducting layer of disordered nanocrystalline graphite covering the individual grains of the respective pure oxides after treatment in dry methane at temperatures ≥ 1000 K. In addition, treatment under moist methane conditions causes additional formation of carbon-nanotube-like architectures by partial detachment of the graphite layers.

Electron beam-induced oxygen desorption in gamma-LiAlO(2).

Effects of electron irradiation damage in gamma-LiAlO(2) were analysed using energy loss near edge fine structure (ELNES) of the O K-edge. Simulations of the O K-fine structure by means of a density functional theory (DFT) code show that under the electron beam gamma-LiAlO(2) undergoes the following transformation: LiAlO(2)--> LiAl(5)O(8)--> Al(2)O(3). O K-edge spectra, which were recorded during this decomposition process, contain an additional peak at 531eV.