National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Photocatalysis is one of the approaches for solving environmental issues derived from extremely harmful pollution caused by industrial dyes, medicine, and heavy metals. Titanium dioxide is among the most promising photocatalytic semiconductors; thus, in this work, TiO2 powders were prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis using titanium tetrachloride TiCl4 as a Ti source. The effect of the hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentration on TiO2 formation was analyzed, in which a thorough morpho-structural analysis was performed employing different analysis methods like XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM/TEM, and N-2 physisorption. EPR spectroscopy was employed to characterize the paramagnetic defect centers and the photogeneration of reactive oxygen species. Photocatalytic properties were tested by photocatalytic degradation of the rhodamine B (RhB) dye under UV light irradiation and using a solar simulator. The pH value directly influenced the formation of the TiO2 phases; for less acidic conditions, the anatase phase of TiO2 crystallized, with a crystallite size of approximate to 9 nm. Promising results were observed for TiO2, which contained 76% rutile, showing a 96% degradation of RhB under the solar simulator and 91% under UV light after 90 min irradiation, and the best result showed that the sample with 67% of the anatase phase after 60 min irradiation under the solar simulator had a 99% degradation efficiency.

Bulk MgB2 discs were prepared by an in situ route from mixtures of magnesium and boron powders. The boron powders were produced by two methods. The first one consisted of a self-propagating high tem-perature magnesiothermic synthesis (SHS) process followed by acid and fluorine cleaning and a heat treatment in inert atmosphere. This approach produced boron with purities between 86 % and 97 %, where the main impurity was Mg. Depending on the final heat treatment, these boron powders were amorphous or crystalline. In the second route, high purity nano powders (99 %) of boron were obtained by a diborane pyrolysis process. Bulks of MgB2 were characterized by structural, microstructural, and magnetic mea-surements. Critical current density, pinning force aspects and levitation force (including guiding force) details were assessed. Amorphous lower purity boron (86-97 %) obtained by the first processing route was found to promote the largest levitation forces of the MgB2 bulks and, among these samples, the best le-vitation results were recorded when using boron with a purity of 95-97 %. Use of a lower purity boron that decreases the cost of MgB2 promotes large scale production at industrial level of bulk MgB2 super-conducting magnets for levitation applications and enhances the applicability potential of MgB2 super-conductor. The relationship between levitation force and specific features of the samples such as pinning force details are discussed.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this work, applications of nanohybrid composites based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) with anatase crystallin phase and single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWCNHs) as promising catalysts for the photodegradation of amoxicillin (AMOX) are reported. In this order, TiO2/SWCNH composites were prepared by the solid-state interaction of the two chemical compounds. The increase in the SWCNH concentration in the TiO2/SWCNH composite mass, from 1 wt.% to 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% induces (i) a change in the relative intensity ratio of the Raman lines located at 145 and 1595 cm(-1), which are attributed to the E-g(1) vibrational mode of TiO2 and the graphitic structure of SWCNHs; and (ii) a gradual increase in the IR band absorbance at 1735 cm(-1) because of the formation of new carboxylic groups on the SWCNHs' surface. The best photocatalytic properties were obtained for the TiO2/SWCNH composite with a SWCNH concentration of 5 wt.%, when approx. 92.4% of AMOX removal was achieved after 90 min of UV irradiation. The TiO2/SWCNH composite is a more efficient catalyst in AMOX photodegradation than TiO2 as a consequence of the SWCNHs' presence, which acts as a capture agent for the photogenerated electrons of TiO2 hindering the electron-hole recombination. The high stability of the TiO2/SWCNH composite with a SWCNH concentration of 5 wt.% is proved by the reusing of the catalyst in six photodegradation cycles of the 98.5 mu M AMOX solution, when the efficiency decreases from 92.4% up to 78%.

Thick tungsten oxide layers were prepared electrophoretically in order to be used as photoanodes in photoelectrochemical water oxidation applications. The highest photocurrent density was obtained for a WO3 layer with thickness of similar to 900 nm. Additionally, WO3/BiVO4 and WO3/BiVO4/MIL-101(Fe) heterojunctions have been fabricated using WO3 layer as substrate. WO3/BiVO4 shows an increased value of the electrochemical active surface area indicating that more sites of this photoanode are activated through the formation of the heterojunction. The small V5+ signals observed in the V 2p XPS spectra of these heterojunctions were attributed to the substitution of V5+ atoms with W6+ atoms on the surface of BiVO4. Excessive W doping of the BiVO4 film determined the decrease of the photoelectrochemical performance of WO3/BiVO4 photoanode. The significant improvement of the photoconversion efficiency of the sample decorated with MIL-101(Fe) indicated that this cocatalyst provides sites more efficiently in the photoelectrochemical process. This performance was correlated with the reduced value of the charge transfer resistance at electrode/electrolyte interface obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy investigation.

We present a breakthrough in the development of novel nanocomposites based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-functionalized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods that hold exceptional promise for their use in white light emitting diodes (LEDs) and reliable UV photodetection. The nanorods had a pristine hexagonal wurtzite struc-ture, as confirmed by XRD analysis. SEM images revealed sandwich-like nanocomposites with ZnO nanorods coated in reduced graphene oxide and embedded between two layers of RGO. The study also confirmed the hybridization and interactions between the layers using Raman measurements. The resulting nanocomposites displayed a lower band gap energy than ZnO and exhibited unique photoluminescence spectra with a white PL light. The photodetector based on RGO/ZnO/RGO sandwich structures demonstrated exceptional photoresponse, with higher photocurrent under UV illumination, making it highly promising for a wide range of optoelectronic applications. Overall, this study offers a novel and powerful approach to create nanocomposite structures with enhanced optical characteristics.

We report a novel approach in producing and characterizing enriched isotopic selenium-82 (82Se) thin films with trigonal hexagonal crystal structure (t-82Se), the most thermodynamically stable form of the element. The ob-tained t-82Se thin films are used as targets in accelerator based nuclear structure experiments. Several 82Se thin films with thicknesses around 5 mg/cm2 (10.4 & mu;m) were deposited on 5 mg/cm2 (3 & mu;m) tantalum (Ta) foils by vacuum evaporation-condensation method. The condensed 82Se films exhibit unstable amorphous structure (a-82Se), therefore were converted to t-82Se by means of an appropriate vacuum heat treatment developed in the target laboratory of IFIN-HH. After the thermal treatment, the microstructure, morphology and composition of the 82Se films were evaluated before and after the vacuum thermal treatment using Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy (FT-Raman), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Mi-croscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. Furthermore, an in-beam & gamma;-spectroscopy experiment performed at the 9-MV tandem accelerator of IFIN-HH confirmed that the ther-mally treated t-82Se films possess high durability and high purity with no detectable contamination and no mass loss.

This study aimed to exploit two invasive plant species to develop a novel, multifunctional, bioactive wound dressing based on a microporous cellulosic sponge (CS) from Gleditsia triacanthos pods and functionalizing them with Phytolacca americana fruit extract. The CS was functionalized, lyophilized, and characterized by Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, water absorption, and retention capacity. In addition, two parameters were evaluated in temporal dynamics: controlled release of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities. The hemolytic index, blood clotting kinetics, lactate dehydrogenase release, and wound scratch assays proved their hemo- and bio-compatibility, as well as their ability to promote cell proliferation and migration promoting-activity and to inhibit microbial growth. Furthermore, the obtained spongious material exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect by modulating the macrophages' secretion profile of IL-6 and IL-10. In conclusion, the microporous cellulosic sponge obtained from G. triacanthos could be used as a vehicle to ensure the controlled release of bioactive principles with pro-wound healing activities extracted from invasive plants. [GRAPHICS] .

The current study reports on the fabrication of composite scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and cerium (Ce)-containing powders, followed by their characterization from compositional, structural, morphological, optical and biological points of view. First, CeO2, Ce-doped calcium phosphates and Ce-substituted bioglass were synthesized by wet-chemistry methods (precipitation/coprecipitation and sol-gel) and subsequently loaded on PCL fibres processed by electrospinning. The powders were proven to be nanometric or micrometric, while the investigation of their phase composition showed that Ce was present as a dopant within the crystal lattice of the obtained calcium phosphates or as crystalline domains inside the glassy matrix. The best bioactivity was attained in the case of Ce-containing bioglass, while the most pronounced antibacterial effect was visible for Ce-doped calcium phosphates calcined at a lower temperature. The scaffolds were composed of either dimensionally homogeneous fibres or mixtures of fibres with a wide size distribution and beads of different shapes. In most cases, the increase in polymer concentration in the precursor solution ensured the achievement of more ordered fibre mats. The immersion in SBF for 28 days triggered an incipient degradation of PCL, evidenced mostly through cracks and gaps. In terms of biological properties, the composite scaffolds displayed a very good biocompatibility when tested with human osteoblast cells, with a superior response for the samples consisting of the polymer and Ce-doped calcium phosphates.

Nanostructured surfaces based on silver nanoparticles decorated ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowire arrays, which can assure protection against various environmental factors such as water and bacteria were developed by combining dry preparation techniques namely thermal oxidation in air, radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and thermal vacuum evaporation. Thus, high-aspect-ratio ZnO nanowire arrays were grown directly on zinc foils by thermal oxidation in air. Further ZnO nanowires were coated with a CuO layer by RF magnetron sputtering, the obtained ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowires being decorated with Ag nanoparticles by thermal vacuum evaporation. The prepared samples were comprehensively assessed from morphological, compositional, structural, optical, surface chemistry, wetting and antibacterial activity point of view. The wettability studies show that native Zn foil and ZnO nanowire arrays grown on it are featured by a high water droplet adhesion while ZnO-CuO core-shell nanowire arrays (before and after decoration with Ag nanoparticles) reveal a low water droplet adhesion. The antibacterial tests carried on Escherichia coli (a Gram-negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (a Gram-positive bacterium) emphasize that the nanostructured surfaces based on nanowire arrays present excellent antibacterial activity against both type of bacteria. This study proves that functional surfaces obtained by relatively simple and highly reproducible preparation techniques that can be easily scaled to large area are very attractive in the field of water repellent coatings with enhanced antibacterial function.