National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

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839 articles found

371. INVESTIGATIONS OF PULSED LASER DEPOSITED TiN THIN FILMS FOR TITANIUM IMPLANTS

Authors: Popescu-Pelin, G; Craciun, D; Socol, G; Cristea, D; Floroian, L; Badea, M; Socol, M; Craciun, V

Published: 2015, ROMANIAN REPORTS IN PHYSICS, 67, 1502, DOI:

TiN thin films were deposited at room temperature on polished Ti samples by PLD. GIXRD investigations showed that films were crystalline, with grain sizes around 25 run. Simulations of XRR curves indicated that the layers were dense and only slightly rougher than Ti substrates. Nanoindentation results showed that TiN films possessed a hardness of 26.8 GPa, much harder than Ti substrate, while scratch and wear tests found that films were adherent and exhibited a low friction coefficient of 0.16. Electrochemical tests performed in SBF indicated that the coated Ti samples exhibited significantly better behavior against corrosion than bare Ti samples.

372. Titanium dioxide layer deposited at low temperature upon polyester fabrics

Authors: Zgura, I; Frunza, S; Frunza, L; Enculescu, M; Florica, C; Ganea, CP; Negrila, CC; Diamandescu, L

Published: JUL-AUG 2015, JOURNAL OF OPTOELECTRONICS AND ADVANCED MATERIALS, 17, 1063, DOI:

TiO2 deposition by sputtering or sol-gel techniques was applied onto less thermal stable polyester textiles and onto a related poly(lactic acid) material. The temperature of deposition and of the further treatment was low enough as allowed by the support nature. Structural and spectroscopic characterization of the raw and coated samples has been performed. TiO2 coated particles are amorphous as indicated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Sputtered layers consist in aggregates randomly distributed on the substrate while the sol gel layers show a uniform coverage of nanoparticles having a mosaic-like structure. The morphology of the sputtered layers depends on the deposition pressure as well. The loading degree estimated on the basis of the thermogravimetric data is rather low (ca. 2%), but the fabric properties are much influenced by the deposition. Photocatalytic activity also present on the coated surfaces was evaluated in the methylene blue degradation. TiO2 layer is quite adherent as checked by an ultra-sonication method.

373. HETEROSTRUCTURES BASED ON SMALL MOLECULES ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Authors: Socol, M; Rasoga, O; Breazu, C; Socol, G; Preda, N; Pasuk, I; Visan, D; Stavarache, I; Gherendi, F; Girtan, M; Sidwaba, U

Published: OCT-DEC 2015, DIGEST JOURNAL OF NANOMATERIALS AND BIOSTRUCTURES, 10, 1392, DOI:

Heterostructures with layers from small molecules organic compounds were deposited on ITO/glass substrate by thermal vacuum evaporation (TVE) technique. Structural, optical and morphological investigations were carried out on the realised layers (zinc phthalocyanine-ZnPc, fullerene-C60 and 1,4,5,8-naphthalene-tetracarboxylic dianhydride-NTCDA). The films are polycrystalline keeping the morphological features characteristic to these materials. The prepared heterostructures reveal a large absorption domain in the visible domain. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the investigated structures, recorded in dark, present an improvement in the current value (similar to one order of magnitude) for the standard structure (ITO/PEDOT: PSS/ZnPc/C60/NTCDA/Al) with a supplimentary layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). For the inverted structure (Al/NTCDA/C60/ZnPc/ITO) was also noticed an increased curent value in comparasion with that observed for the standard structure.

374. DEPOSITION OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE LAYERS UPON POLYESTER TEXTILE MATERIALS: CHECKING THE ADHERENCE BY ULTRA-SONICATION

Authors: Zgura, I; Frunza, S; Enculescu, M; Florica, C; Cotorobai, F

Published: 2015, ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 60, 494, DOI:

An important parameter of deposited thin films is their adhesion to the substrate materials, we focused on the adhesion of TiO2 layer by sol-gel or sputtering onto textile substrate as checked by an ultra-sonication method. The characterization-made prior and after the tests have shown a good adherence of the nanoparticles, despite the low deposition temperature.

375. EFFECT OF CHOLESTEROL ON THE DEPOSITION OF BETA-AMYLOID 1-40 AND 1-42 FILMS

Authors: Breazu, C; Stanculescu, A; Socol, M; Rasoga, O

Published: JAN-MAR 2015, DIGEST JOURNAL OF NANOMATERIALS AND BIOSTRUCTURES, 10, 313, DOI:

We report the pressure vs area isotherms of Langmuir films of pure and doped with cholesterol (Ch) amyloid beta, A beta (1-40) and (1-42) at the air-water interface and, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of A beta (1-40) and (1-42) layers deposited from solution by drop cast and/or dipping and/or Langmuir-Blodgett on substrates of quartz and Si. The particularity of the substrate surface morphology determines the adhesion forces and plays an important role in the formation and stability of the multilayer films which are deposited on these substrates. The effect of cholesterol on the morphology of amyloids films and appearance of fibril structures is also analysed. AFM investigations have revealed the particularities of the aggregation process of the strongly hydrophobic A beta (1-42) on cholesterol films deposited by Langmuir-Blodgett on solid support of quartz and Si.

376. A new class of thermotropic lanthanidomesogens: Eu(III) nitrate complexes with mesogenic 4-pyridone ligands

Authors: Pana, A; Chiriac, FL; Secu, M; Pasuk, I; Ferbinteanu, M; Micutz, M; Circu, V

Published: 2015, DALTON TRANSACTIONS, 44, 14199, DOI: 10.1039/c5dt01197c

A new class of thermotropic lanthanidomesogens has been designed and prepared. They are based on 4-pyridone ligands that possess mesogenic cyanobiphenyl groups attached to the 4-pyridone unit via a flexible long alkyl spacer and show a very high thermal stability (decomposition temperatures near 300 degrees C). Depending on the alkyl length spacer, these complexes exhibit a SmA phase with transition temperatures influenced by the number of mesogenic groups employed and the spacer length.

377. In-situ crystallization of GeTe\GaSb phase change memory stacked films

Authors: Velea, A; Borca, CN; Socol, G; Galca, AC; Grolimund, D; Popescu, M; van Bokhoven, JA

Published: DEC 21 2014, JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 116, DOI: 10.1063/1.4904741

Single and double layer phase change memory structures based on GeTe and GaSb thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Their crystallization behavior was studied using in-situ synchrotron techniques. Electrical resistance vs. temperature investigations, using the four points probe method, showed transition temperatures of 138 degrees C and 198 degrees C for GeTe and GaSb single films, respectively. It was found that after GeTe crystallization in the stacked films, Ga atoms from the GaSb layer diffused in the vacancies of the GeTe crystalline structure. Therefore, the crystallization temperature of the Sb-rich GaSb layer is decreased by more than 30 degrees C. Furthermore, at 210 degrees C, the antimony excess from GaSb films crystallizes as a secondary phase. At higher annealing temperatures, the crystalline Sb phase increased on the expense of GaSb crystalline phase which was reduced. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements at the Ga and Ge K-edges revealed changes in their local atomic environments as a function of the annealing temperature. Simulations unveil a tetrahedral configuration in the amorphous state and octahedral configuration in the crystalline state for Ge atoms, while Ga is four-fold coordinated in both as-deposited and annealed samples. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

378. Supported Pd-Cu Nanoparticles for Water Phase Reduction of Nitrates. Influence of the Support and of the pH Conditions

Authors: Papa, F; Balint, I; Negrila, C; Olaru, EA; Zgura, I; Bradu, C

Published: DEC 10 2014, INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH, 53, 19103, DOI: 10.1021/ie503070f

PdCu nanoparticles were synthesized by the alkaline polyol method and further supported on alumina or titania. The nanoparticles show a crystalline Pd core and a shell rich in amorphous copper as was put in evidence by complex characterization methods (X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and CO chemisorption). The performances of as-prepared catalysts in the water phase reduction of nitrate were assessed in comparison with catalysts obtained by impregnation. Supported nanoparticle catalysts show a high activity in the reduction of nitrates, better than the impregnated catalysts. The importance of the support choice was discussed. The catalyst based on PdCu nanoparticles supported on titania (PCT-np) is the most active, selective, and stable among those investigated. Also, the influence of pH conditions on the PCT-np catalyst performances was emphasized.

379. Electrochemical Grafting of Reduced Graphene Oxide with Polydiphenylamine Doped with Heteropolyanions and Its Optical Properties

Authors: Smaranda, I; Benito, AM; Maser, WK; Baltog, I; Baibarac, M

Published: NOV 6 2014, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C, 118, 25717, DOI: 10.1021/jp507324r

Electropolymerization of diphenylamine (DPA) onto a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) film was carried out to obtain a corresponding RGO/polydiphenylamie (PDPA) composite doped with phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40) heteropolyanions (PT). The synthesis was performed in the absence of light, since UVvis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) studies on RGO/DPA blends irradiated by UV light revealed a partial transformation of the DPA monomer into oligomers of PDPA. Raman scattering demonstrates that the electropolymerization of DPA in the presence of H3PW12O40 (PTA) and RGO leads to the formation of PDPA covalently bonded to the RGO sheets (RGO/PDPA:PT). The presence of heteropolyanions in the PDPA matrix (PDPA:PT) is detected by FTIR spectroscopy. Comparing the PL excitation spectra of PDPA:PT and the RGO/PDPA:PT composite highlights an upshift of the band gap that is accompanied by a change in the composition of the PL spectrum in the spectral range of 2.253.54 eV. These changes originate in a charge transfer that takes place at the interface of nongrafted RGO and PDPA:PT. The gradual increase of the PL intensity of RGO covalently grafted with PDPA:PT reveals photochemical reactions under UV irradiation. These involve the CC stretching vibrational mode in the benzene ring of PDPA and indicate the transformation of an RGO/PDPA:PT composite containing HPW12O402 anions into an RGO/PDPA:PT composite stabilized by PW12O403 anions. These results not only provide important insights on the interactions between RGO, conjugated polymers, and stabilizing dopant ions but also impact on the synthesis conditions.

380. The Influence of the Microstructure and Morphology of CeO2 Buffer Layer on the Properties of YBCO Films PLD Grown on Ni Tape

Authors: Mihalache, V; Stefan, N; Enculescu, I; Mihailescu, IN; Socol, M; Miroi, M

Published: NOV 2014, JOURNAL OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND NOVEL MAGNETISM, 27, 2485, DOI: 10.1007/s10948-014-2679-9

YBa2Cu3O7-delta films were deposited on CeO2-buffered nickel substrates, with different buffer thickness. Full width at half maximum of rocking curve, Delta(omega), of CeO2 and yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO), as well as the critical temperature, T-c, of YBCO were shown to be strongly dependent on buffer thickness. They behave similarly but not proportional to the buffer thickness increase. This and the fact that Delta(omega) vs. buffer thickness and T-c vs. buffer thickness for YBCO behave similar with RMS roughness vs. thickness of CeO2 indicates that the surface peculiarity of buffers is responsible for YBCO properties. More precisely, the surface of CeO2 films prepared by the chemical solution route based on propionic acid is prone to agglomerate (de-wet) and the degree of agglomeration depends in an intricate way on buffer thickness. We showed that nor RMS roughness neither (00l) texture degree can define alone the surface suitable for c-axis YBCO nucleation. The {111} faceted grains (even in the case of high (00l) texture) and other defects generated by agglomeration supply a low fraction of (00l) flat terminations of buffer that affect the nucleation of c-axis-oriented YBCO phase. Moreover, the thermal instability of the surface morphology of CeO2 buffers (further development of de-wetting process, {111} faceted grains, etc. during superconducting layer deposition) influence the quality of YBCO films.