Search results for "Chemical engineering"
showing 10 items of 5892 documents
Optimization of physicochemical and optical properties of nanocrystalline TiO 2 deposited on porous silicon by metal-organic chemical vapor depositio…
2020
International audience; Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is very employed in solar cells due to its interesting physicochemical and optical properties allowing high device performances. Considering the extension of applications in nanotechnologies, nanocrystalline TiO2 is very promising for nanoscale components. In this work, nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films were successfully deposited on porous silicon (PSi) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique at temperature of 550°C for different periods of times: 5, 10 and 15 min. The objective was to optimize the physicochemical and optical properties of the TiO2/PSi films dedicated for photovoltaic application. The structural, morphologi…
Continuous hydrothermal synthesis in supercritical conditions as a novel process for the elaboration of Y-doped BaZrO3
2021
Abstract The present work describes a novel process for the elaboration of a ceramic material. Y-doped barium zirconate, an electrolyte material for Protonic Ceramic Fuel cell, was synthesized by a continuous hydrothermal process in supercritical conditions (410 °C/30.0 MPa) using nitrate precursors and NaOH reactants. The use of supercritical water allowed the formation of particles of about 50 nm in diameter with a narrow size distribution. X-Ray Diffraction examination revealed that a major perovskite phase with few BaCO3 and YO(OH) impurities was obtained. BaCO3 is assumed to form due to faster kinetics than Y-doped BaZrO3 resulting in a Ba-deficient perovskite phase. The Ba-deficiency …
Enhancement of the dielectric response through Al-substitution in La1.6Sr0.4NiO4 nickelates
2016
The structures and dielectric properties of La1.6Sr0.4Ni1−xAlxO4 (x = 0, 0.2 and 0.4) ceramics elaborated using the Pechini method were studied for the first time. The same unique tetragonal phase was found in all compounds. The lattice parameters were found using Rietveld refinement. The surface morphology characterization and elemental analysis of these samples were respectively carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). A giant dielectric response was observed in these ceramics, and one dielectric relaxation was found. The substitution of nickel with aluminum results in a colossal dielectric constant value (>106). The dielectric l…
Evaluation and Comparison of Novel Precursors for Atomic Layer Deposition of Nb2O5 Thin Films
2012
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Nb2O5 thin films was studied using three novel precursors, namely, tBuN═Nb(NEt2)3, tBuN═Nb(NMeEt)3, and tamylN═Nb(OtBu)3. These precursors are liquid at room temperature, present good volatility, and are reactive toward both water and ozone as the oxygen sources. The deposition temperature was varied from 150 to 375 °C. ALD-type saturative growth modes were confirmed at 275 °C for tBuN═Nb(NEt2)3 and tBuN═Nb(NMeEt)3 together with both oxygen sources. Constant growth rate was observed between a temperature regions of 150 and 325 °C. By contrast, amylN═Nb(OtBu)3 exhibited limited thermal stability and thus a saturative growth mode was not achieved. All films we…
Atomic Layer Deposition of Osmium
2011
Growth of osmium thin films and nanoparticles by atomic layer deposition is described. The Os thin films were successfully grown between 325 and 375 °C using osmocene and molecular oxygen as precursors. The films consisted of only Os metal as osmium oxides were not detected in X-ray diffraction measurements. Also the impurity contents of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen were less than 1 at % each at all deposition temperatures. The long nucleation delay of the Os process facilitates either Os nanoparticle or thin film deposition. However, after the nucleation delay of about 350 cycles the film growth proceeded linearly with increasing number of deposition cycles. Also conformal growth of Os thi…
Atomic Layer Deposition of LiF Thin Films from Lithd, Mg(thd)2, and TiF4 Precursors
2013
Lithium fluoride is an interesting material because of its low refractive index and large band gap. Previously LiF thin films have been deposited mostly by physical methods. In this study a new way of depositing thin films of LiF using atomic layer deposition (ALD) is presented. Mg(thd)2, TiF4 and Lithd were used as precursors, and they produced crystalline LiF at a temperature range of 300–350 °C. The films were studied by UV–vis spectrometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). In addition, film adhesion was t…
Deep insight into electron transport and photovoltaic parameters in DSSCs
2019
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on titanium (IV) oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and nanotubes (NTs) with different weight ratios and phase compositions were fabricated. The obtained nanostructures were investigated using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Current–voltage measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to investigate the electron transport and photovoltaic performance of DSSCs. An increase of 14% in cell efficiency was achieved by introducing 10 wt% NTs. In this configuration, high dye loading is ensured and substantial improvement in electron transport efficie…
Fundamentals on the Molecular Mechanism of Action of Antimicrobial Peptides
2019
Abstract Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are produced by several organisms as their first line of defense. Constituted by amino acids, they may present different mechanisms of action. The antimicrobial activity can be used by the peptide-producing organism itself, as innate immune strategy, or in the industry, applying as natural source preservatives. Understanding the possibilities of the operation of these compounds is a prerequisite for the development of effective uses, as well as for the establishment of combinations, which can even expand their applications considering the possibilities of genetic manipulations. Thus, the objective of this article is to review the basic principles of AM…
Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy Insight on Free Volume Conversion of Nanostructured MgAl2O4 Ceramics
2021
H.K. and A.I.P. are grateful for the support from the COST Action CA17126. H.K. was also supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (project for young researchers No. 0119U100435). In addition, I.K. and H.K. were also supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine via project 2020.02/0217, while the research of A.I.P. was funded by the Latvian research council via the Latvian National Research Program under the topic ?High-Energy Physics and Accelerator Technologies?, Agreement No: VPP-IZM-CERN-2020/1-0002. In addition, the research of A.I.P. has been supported by the Latvian-Ukrainian Grant LV-UA/2021/5. The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvi…
Formation of translucent nanostructured zirconia ceramics
2021
Abstract In this work the mechanisms that affect the optical transparency of nanostructured translucent ZrO2 ceramics are studied. The translucent ceramic samples were obtained from a low agglomeration nanosized powder at low pressure and low temperature sintering. Even low pressures cause structural changes and defect creation in the nanocrystals. Annealing was used to study the grain formation, structure and impact of defects. Significant changes in translucency were observed with increase in pore size. In order to further understand the defect creation, the obtained ceramics were doped with Er3+ ions and studied optically. Photoluminescence studies revealed a change in the ratio of green…