Search results for "amorphous"
showing 10 items of 790 documents
Two-Step Nucleation Process of Calcium Silicate Hydrate, the Nanobrick of Cement
2018
Despite a millennial history and the ubiquitous presence of cement in everyday life, the molecular processes underlying its hydration behavior, like the formation of calcium–silicate–hydrate (C–S–H), the binding phase of concrete, are mostly unexplored. Using time-resolved potentiometry and turbidimetry combined with dynamic light scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering, and cryo-TEM, we demonstrate C–S–H formation to proceed via a complex two-step pathway. In the first step, amorphous and dispersed spheroids are formed, whose composition is depleted in calcium compared to C–S–H and charge compensated with sodium. In the second step, these amorphous spheroids crystallize to tobermorite-typ…
The effects of lasers on bond strength to ceramic materials: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2018
Lasers have recently been introduced as an alternative means of conditioning dental ceramic surfaces in order to enhance their adhesive strength to cements and other materials. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to review and quantitatively analyze the available literature in order to determine which bond protocols and laser types are the most effective. A search was conducted in the Pubmed, Embase and Scopus databases for papers published up to April 2017. PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis were followed. Fifty-two papers were eligible for inclusion in the review. Twenty-five studies were synthesized quantitatively. Lasers were found to increase bo…
Structural and Chemical Characterization of Cerium Oxide Thin Layers Grown on Silicon Substrate
2015
In this study, we report transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy study of cerium oxide thin layers deposited on silicon substrate. Transmission electron microscopy experiments have revealed the flat morphology of the deposited layers. In addition, studies of high resolution images have indicated the presence of mainly ceria crystallized nanoparticles. Energy electron loss spectroscopy measurements were also performed in scanning mode to study the evolution of the cerium valence. In addition to Ce4+ inside the layer, the presence of amorphous cerium silicate with valence +3 is pointed out at the vicinity of the substrate.
Preparation of magnetron sputtered thin cerium oxide films with a large surface on silicon substrates using carbonaceous interlayers.
2013
The study focuses on preparation of thin cerium oxide films with a porous structure prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on a silicon wafer substrate using amorphous carbon (a-C) and nitrogenated amorphous carbon films (CNx) as an interlayer. We show that the structure and morphology of the deposited layers depend on the oxygen concentration in working gas used for cerium oxide deposition. Considerable erosion of the carbonaceous interlayer accompanied by the formation of highly porous carbon/cerium oxide bilayer systems is reported. Etching of the carbon interlayer with oxygen species occurring simultaneously with cerium oxide film growth is considered to be the driving force for this effec…
Ferrimagnetic Heisenberg chain; influence of a random exchange interaction
1985
We report on the magnetic behavior of ‘‘rigid’’ ferrimagnetic chains isolated in bimetallic complexes of the EDTA and ‘‘flexible’’ ones obtained in the amorphous variety. As shown by LAXS, the only noteworthy difference in the amorphous state is the random distribution of bond angles between nearest neighbors within chains. The ‘‘rigid’’ bimetallic chains in CoNi(EDTA)6H2O are described in terms of Heisenberg model with an exchange coupling J=−7.5 K. The behavior of the amorphous variety somewhat differs, following the law X=AT−0.8 typical of REHAC. A classical spin chain model involving a J distribution and alternating g factors allows to explain successfully the temperature dependence of …
Inverse simulated annealing for the determination of amorphous structures
2013
We present a new and efficient optimization method to determine the structure of disordered systems in agreement with available experimental data. Our approach permits the application of accurate electronic structure calculations within the structure optimization. The new technique is demonstrated within density functional theory by the calculation of a model of amorphous carbon.
Nucleation mechanism for the direct graphite-to-diamond phase transition
2011
Graphite and diamond have comparable free energies, yet forming diamond from graphite is far from easy. In the absence of a catalyst, pressures that are significantly higher than the equilibrium coexistence pressures are required to induce the graphite-to-diamond transition. Furthermore, the formation of the metastable hexagonal polymorph of diamond instead of the more stable cubic diamond is favored at lower temperatures. The concerted mechanism suggested in previous theoretical studies cannot explain these phenomena. Using an ab initio quality neural-network potential we performed a large-scale study of the graphite-to-diamond transition assuming that it occurs via nucleation. The nucleat…
The synthesis of zeolites from dry powders
1995
Summary ZSM-5 was synthesized by different methods with a gradually decreasing water content ending in a reaction mixture with absolutely dry reagents in form of a powder in the complete absence of a solution phase. Amorphous precursors obtained by drying SiO 2 * Al 2 O 3 gels at 650°C were transformed into zeolites in the presence of dried NH 4 F and TPABr. The reaction products were characterized by XRD, REM, TG/DTA, MAS NMR and Electron Micropobe. Pure ZSM-5 or Silicalite-1 was obtained in all cases. Some water is probably formed as a reaction product, but the maximum water pressure is appreciably below the saturation pressure at the given reaction conditions. To explain the formation of…
The structure of pumice: An XPS and27Al MAS NMR study
1992
In order to investigate the surface structure of pumice, an amorphous aluminosilicate, samples of pumice and of standards of silica and alumina have been studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of a mild acid leaching was also considered. The analysis of the Si 2p, Al 2p and O 1s photoelectron peaks and the Si KLL and O KLL Auger peaks indicated that pumice is formed by tetrahedral silica with some units being replaced by aluminate, AlO2−. The acid treatment decreases the alkali and the aluminate ions. X-ray photoelectron spectra of the valence band of pumices and of standards of Al2O3 and SiO2 agree with the core-level results. To support the conclusions from the XPS …
Analysis of Mn2+EPR spectral shapes for studies of the oxyfluoride glass ceramics
2011
We investigated the EPR superhyperfine structure of the Mn 2+ ion in the disordered BaF2 crystalline media which tends to crystallize in the oxyfluoride glass-ceramics material. Obtained EPR spectra reveal explicit shf structure due to Mn 2+ ion building into the BaF2 lattice showing its usefulness as a probe in orientationally disordered and amorphous structures. Two types with explicit shf structure of Mn 2+ ion characteristic EPR spectra were obtained in BaF2 powder samples characteristic with broad (type 1) and narrow (type 2) hyperfine structure lines. Spectra of the ZnF2-BaF2 oxyfluoride glass-ceramics samples revealed explicit fine structure lines.