Search results for "Structural properties"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
Thermal and structural properties of a hemp–lime biocomposite
2013
Abstract The need to reduce greenhouse gases emission produced by the building sector leads to the research of renewable and less impacting materials that can replace traditional ones. This subject has encouraged new researches on biocomposite concretes with the aim to exploit renewable resources like vegetal fibres intended as materials whose production processes are generally characterized by low costs and energy demand. This biocomposite is obviously much lighter than concrete and, therefore, can be suitably used in such cases where a structure cannot be overloaded, for instance in the realization of a green covering on top of a preexistent building. In this work, a first analysis of the…
Investigating the Structural Properties of an IT-Enabled Resource
2019
The synergistic combination and integration of information technology (IT) and other complementary organizational resources to form IT-enabled resources, has long been identified as one means through which organizations can derive benefits from IT. However, research shows that the integration required to form IT-enabled resources from which organizations derive benefits, also constrains the renewal and redeployment of the IT-enabled resources to address new strategic imperatives. Thus, there are several calls for further research on how organizations can sustain the derivation of benefits from IT especially in dynamic environments. This study responds to such calls. Specifically, it draws o…
Differential scanning calorimetry investigation of phase transition in $BaZr_{x}Ti_{1-x}O_{3}$
2009
ABSTRACT Lead-free BaZrxTi1-xO3 (x = 0; 0.025; 0.125) ceramics have been obtained by a conventional method. A single-phase perovskite structure of the ceramics was identified by the X-ray diffraction method. EDS analysis, performed for the individual grains of the tested sample, showed a good homogeneous distribution of all elements throughout the grains. The thermal behaviour of BaZrxTi1-xO3 (x = 0; 0.025; 0.125) ceramics was studied using the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Measurements showed the influence of Zr addition on the character of phase transition in the BaTiO3 structure. The results were compared with these ones obtained for pure BaTiO3.
Evidence for a different electronic configuration as a primary effect during compression of orthorhombic perovskites: The case of NdM3+ O3 (M=Cr, Ga)
2018
(Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite is the most abundant mineral of the Earth's lower mantle, and compounds with the perovskite structure are perhaps the most widely employed ceramics. Hence, they attract both geophysicists and material scientists. Several investigations attempted to predict their structural evolution at high pressure, and recent advancements highlighted that perovskites having ions with the same formal valence at both polyhedral sites (i.e., 3+:3+) define different compressional patterns when transition metal ions (TMI) are involved. In this study, in situ high-pressure synchrotron XRD measurements coupled with ab initio simulations of the electronic population of NdCrO3 perovskite are…
Liquid structure and dynamics in the choline acetate:urea 1:2 deep eutectic solvent
2021
We report on the thermodynamic, structural, and dynamic properties of a recently proposed deep eutectic solvent, formed by choline acetate (ChAc) and urea (U) at the stoichiometric ratio 1:2, hereinafter indicated as ChAc:U. Although the crystalline phase melts at 36-38 degrees C depending on the heating rate, ChAc:U can be easily supercooled at sub-ambient conditions, thus maintaining at the liquid state, with a glass-liquid transition at about -50 degrees C. Synchrotron high energy x-ray scattering experiments provide the experimental data for supporting a reverse Monte Carlo analysis to extract structural information at the atomistic level. This exploration of the liquid structure of ChA…
Structural Features of β-Cyclodextrin Solvation in the Deep Eutectic Solvent, Reline
2020
The inherently amphiphilic nature of native cyclodextrins (CDs) determines their peculiar molecular encapsulation features, enabling applications such as targeted drug nanodelivery, aroma protection, etc. On the contrary, it may also lead to poor solubility in water and other organic solvents and to potentially detrimental flocking in these media, thus posing limitations to more extensive usage. Here we use small angle X-ray scattering to show that deep eutectic solvent reline (1:2 choline chloride:urea) succeeds in dissolving large amounts of beta-CD (at least 800 mg/mL, compared with the solubility in water of 18 mg/mL), without aggregation phenomena occurring. At the microscopic level, m…
Optical, structural, and morphological characterisation of epitaxial ZnO films grown by pulsed-laser deposition
2013
We report on ZnO epitaxial growth by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) on different substrates, such as quartz, sapphire, and GaN template. Approximately 1 mu m-thick films were grown under different substrate temperatures and background oxygen conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated preferential growth along the c-axis direction with a full-width at half maximum(FWHM) of the rocking curve as narrow as 230 arcs in the case of the GaN template. Low-temperature photoluminescence showed A-excitonic emission near 3.36 eV and a FWHM of (DXA)-X-0 emission as small as 2.89 meV at 9 K. Atomic force microscope measurements showed that roughness as low as 18 nm could be obtained. These results p…
Photocatalytic thin films of TiO2 formed by a sol-gel process using titanium tetraisopropoxide as the precursor
2008
Abstract Thin TiO 2 films were prepared with the dip-coating technique by using sols deriving from titanium tetraisopropoxide. TiO 2 films were formed on glass substrates previously covered by a SiO 2 layer obtained from a tetraethylortosilicate sol. The films, after a thermal treatment at 673 K, mainly consisted of TiO 2 anatase. The samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The photoactivity of the various films was tested by using as probe reaction the photo-oxidation of 2-propanol in gas-solid regime. The photoreactivity results indicated that the TiO 2 films were efficient for degrading 2-propanol und…
Aging of MCM41, MSU-H and MSU-F mesoporous systems investigated through the Raman spectroscopy
2014
Here we report an experimental investigation, based on the Raman spectroscopy, on the aging of some mesoporous silica based systems. In details, we studied the aging in air of the MCM41, the MSU-H and the MSU-F materials by acquiring the Raman spectra of as received and of mechanically pressed, at 0.2 and 0.45 GPa, powders. Our data evidenced that the starting powders of the MCM41 and of the MSU-H undergo structural modification when they are exposed to the ambient atmosphere, such modification consisting in the decrease of the D2 Raman band (originated by the three member rings). At variance the powders of the MSU-F appear to be stable. Furthermore, by pressing the starting powders to prod…
Unveiling the role of the lone electron pair in sesquioxides at high pressure: compressibility of β-Sb2O3
2021
The structural, vibrational and electronic properties of the compressed beta-Sb2O3 polymorph, a.k.a. mineral valentinite, have been investigated in a joint experimental and theoretical study up to 23 GPa. The compressibility of the lattice parameters, unit-cell volume and polyhedral unit volume as well as the behaviour of its Raman- and IR-active modes under compression have been interpreted on the basis of ab initio theoretical simulations. Valentinite shows an unusual compressibility up to 15 GPa with four different pressure ranges, whose critical pressures are 2, 4, and 10 GPa. The pressure dependence of the main structural units, the lack of soft phonons, and the electronic density char…