National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Publications

847 articles found

641. Fe- and Eu-doped TiO2 Photocatalytical Materials Prepared by High Energy Ball Milling

Authors: Vasiliu, F; Diamandescu, L; Macovei, D; Teodorescu, CM; Tarabasanu-Mihaila, D; Vlaicu, AM; Parvulescu, V

Published: JUN 2009, TOPICS IN CATALYSIS, 52, 556, DOI: 10.1007/s11244-009-9192-6

TiO2 nanopowders, doped with Fe3+ and Eu3+ were obtained by high-energy ball milling and their physical properties were investigated as a function of the doping content and ball milling time. A noticeable red shift and high photoactivity in the degradation and catalytic oxidation reactions of styrene and phenol were found for all doped specimens.

642. In-depth investigation of EPR spectra of Mn2+ ions in ZnS single crystals with pure cubic structure

Authors: Nistor, SV; Stefan, M

Published: APR 8 2009, JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER, 21, DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/21/14/145408

The X (9.8 GHz)-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) properties of substitutional Mn2+ ions in high quality cubic ZnS single crystals grown from PbCl2 flux have been thoroughly investigated. Accurate spin Hamiltonian (SH) parameters: g = 2.002 25 +/- 0.000 06; a = (7.987 +/- 0.008) x 10(-4) cm(-1) and A = -(63.88 +/- 0.02) x 10(-4) cm(-1) were obtained by simulation and fitting to the experimentally allowed transitions recorded for the magnetic field aligned within +/- 0.25 degrees along the main crystal axes. The normally forbidden hyperfine M = + 1/2 <->-1/2, Delta m = +/- 1 transitions were also observed. Their position was found to be in agreement, within the experimental accuracy of Delta H = +/- 0.01 mT, with calculations using the same SH parameters. The angular variation of the ratios of the intensities of the central forbidden to the allowed transitions could be accounted for only by including an additional constant contribution. The observed line broadening of the M = +/- 1/2 <->+/- 3/2 and +/- 3/2 <->+/- 5/2 fine structure transitions and their line width variation in a (110) plane have been quantitatively described by considering a random distribution of lattice strains at the Mn2+ impurity ions. The influence of the forbidden transitions and line broadening on the EPR spectra line shape of the Mn2+ ions in cubic ZnS crystalline powders is also examined.

643. INVESTIGATION OF ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBON NANOTUBES

Authors: Ciurea, ML; Stavarache, I; Lepadatu, AM; Iancu, V; Dragoman, M; Konstantinidis, G; Buiculescu, R

Published: 2009, CAS: 2009 INTERNATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CONFERENCE, VOLS 1 AND 2, PROCEEDINGS, +, DOI: 10.1109/SMICND.2009.5336593

This paper presents the investigation of electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT). A sandwich configuration, quartz substrate/Cr/Al/CNT (partially immersed in SiN)/Cr/Al was investigated. The CNT are mainly oriented parallel with the electrodes. Current - voltage characteristics were taken at 20 K and room temperature and a current - temperature characteristic was taken at constant voltage (20 mV). The I - V characteristics are almost linear, while the G - V characteristics present some peaks and dips, interpreted as voltage percolation thresholds. The I - T and R - T characteristics are also linear (except at low temperatures). The investigated structures have a high electrical polarizability.

644. Synthesis and characterization of Mn2+ doped ZnS nanocrystals self-assembled in a tight mesoporous structure

Authors: Nistor, SV; Nistor, LC; Stefan, M; Mateescu, CD; Birjega, R; Solovieva, N; Nikl, M

Published: JUL-AUG 2009, SUPERLATTICES AND MICROSTRUCTURES, 46, 311, DOI: 10.1016/j.spmi.2008.10.001

We report the synthesis, by a surfactant-assisted liquid-liquid reaction, of nanocrystalline ZnS doped with 0.2 mol% Mn2+ ions self-assembled in a mesoporous structure. The XRD measurements demonstrate the formation of a sponge-like mesoporous material with a tight distribution of pores of 1.8 nm mean diameter built from cubic ZnS nanocrystals of 1.8 nm average size. TEM investigation confirms the formation of the mesoporous structure with walls of 3.1 nm mean thickness built from nanocrystallites of cubic ZnS. The ordering effect of self-assembling, which is reflected in the tight size distribution of crystallites and pores, might be also responsible for the well resolved EPR spectra, attributed to the presence of three types of isolated Mn2+ paramagnetic centers. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

645. ADSORPTION COMPLEXES OF COLLAGENOUS POLYPEPTIDE-IONIC SURFACTANT IN AQUEOUS MEDIUM 1. THE FORMATION OF MICELLAR STRUCTURE OF IONIC SURFACTANT ADSORBED ONTO COLLAGENOUS POLYPEPTIDE CHAIN

Authors: Micutz, M; Staicu, T; Leca, M; Ghica, C

Published: NOV-DEC 2009, REVUE ROUMAINE DE CHIMIE, 54, +, DOI:

The paper reports on the main findings issued from studying the formation of adsorbed micelle-like clusters of ionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate and hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide) onto molecule of collagenous polypeptide (collagen hydrolyzates and calfskin collagen type 1). Capillary viscometry, UV-circular dichroism, transmission electron microscopy and surfactant titration method were used to characterize the macromolecular component of the studied systems. To highlight the critical aggregation concentration (cac) and the critical saturation concentration (T-2) in the investigated polypeptide-surfactant systems, the steady-state fluorescence of pyrene (1(1)/1(3) rule) and the surface tension measurements (the droplet volume method) were availed. The study revealed a significant decrease of the effective micelle concentration of surfactant (cue) in the presence of polypeptide irrespective of pH and a critical concentration T-2 depending on the system composition and pH.

646. Point and extended defects in irradiated silicon and consequences for detectors

Authors: Lazanu, S; Ciurea, ML; Lazanu, I

Published: 2009, PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI C - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, VOL 6, NO 8, 6, +, DOI: 10.1002/pssc.200881434

The interactions by which ions lose their energy in silicon are investigated at the microscopic level. this theoretical study put in evidence that the ionization could also represent a source of structural defects, and, contrary to the processes initiated by elementary particles, could generate extended primary defects, as, e.g. four-fold coordinated defects, due to the simultaneous breaking of bond for more neighbouring atoms in the lattice in a single interaction, in the ionisation core. The average energy transferred per atom is calculated, and also the energy spent by ionisation. The time dependence of the temperature in the ionisation core is derived in some simplifying assumptions. These contributions not considered yet in the studies of degradation of silicon detectors in radiation fields and could account for the discrepancies observed between models and measurements at microscopic versus device level for hadrons and ions. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

647. THE SIMULATION IN THE REAL CONDITIONS OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF TiO2 (Fe) FILMS WITH OPTIMIZED MORPHOLOGY

Authors: Gartner, M; Anastasescu, C; Zaharescu, M; Enache, M; Dumitru, L; Stoica, T; Stoica, TF; Trapalis, C

Published: 2009, NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY II, 29, +, DOI:

The aim of this study was to provide and characterize nanostructured TiO2 films for application in the depollution of the contaminated water against Escherichia coli (E. coli). The nanometric size of particles and the porosity of the films have been correlated with the technological parameters of the deposition process. For this aim three-layer TiO2 films were deposited by sol-gel and dip-coating method on SiO2/glass substrate. Iron (1 and 7%) and polyethylene glycol (PEG(600)) (0.014-0.110 M) were added to the coating solutions to study their effect on the porosity of the samples and respectively on the amorphous to anatase phase transition, as well as on the antibacterial activity. The samples were characterized using different complementary methods such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), dynamics (growth and adherence) of E. coli development versus nanofilm composition (where the amount of bacterial inoculums used was closer to those Found in wasted waters). The obtained films have shown low toughness (values bellow 0.74 nm) and the particle size in nanometric range. The direct optical band gap values increases with the Fe content tip to 2.64 eV (470 nm), leading to an active photocatalyst tinder visible light (in our case under natural illumination condition). The inhibitory effect towards the E. Coli is Correlated with PEG and Fe concentration and was found to he the strongest for the sample containing 0.069 M PEG.

648. STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SOL-GEL DERIVED HYDROXYAPATITE FILMS IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF CRYSTALLIZATION AND DENSIFICATION PROCESSES

Authors: Tionica, S; Gartner, M; Ianculescu, A; Anastasescu, M; Slav, A; Pasuk, I; Stoica, T; Zaharescu, M

Published: 2009, NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY II, 29, +, DOI:

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) films, widely used as a biocompatible material for hard tissues repairing. are studied in this paper for a better control and understanding of the crystallization and densification of sol-gel deposited layers. Calcium nitrate and triethyl phosphite diluted in alcohols were used as calcium and phosphorus precursors. HAp coatings were obtained by spinning method, followed by drying and annealing in the range 130-750 degrees C. Specific temperatures of the chemical reactions of HAp formation have been revealed by thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA). Structural. chemical and optical characterizations of the films were performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) facilities, X-ray diffraction (XRD). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Spectral Ellipsometry (SE). The film crystallinity increases with file annealing temperature above 550 degrees C. XRD lines of HAp crystallographic planes become narrow at 750 degrees. and correspond to a single crystallographic phase. The Film morphology depends not only on annealing history but also on the synthesis parameters. Thus. layers with large grains of well sinterized HAp nano-crystals can be obtained. Using EDX measurements, the Ca/P ratio was found close to the stoichiometric value in the well sinterized HAp grain regions and slightly increased 1.82 for boundary regions between grains. The density of pores usually observed in sol-gel derived films was estimated for different samples using modeling of SE data.

649. DEFECT PRODUCTION IN SILICON AND GERMANIUM BY LOW TEMPERATURE IRRADIATION

Authors: Lazanu, S; Lazanu, I; Lepadatu, A; Stavarache, I

Published: 2009, CAS: 2009 INTERNATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CONFERENCE, VOLS 1 AND 2, PROCEEDINGS, +, DOI:

In this communication, we study the production of defects by energetic ions in silicon and germanium, at very low temperatures, as dependencies of non-ionizing energy loss and number of displacements on the ion kinetic energy, and also the partition of the energy deposited between ionization, creation of defects and phonons, short time after the interaction.

650. Electrochemical growth and characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films

Authors: Ghica, C; Enculescu, I; Nistor, LC; Matei, E; Van Tendeloo, G

Published: DEC 2008, JOURNAL OF OPTOELECTRONICS AND ADVANCED MATERIALS, 10, 3240, DOI:

ZnO is a wide band-gap (ca. 3.4 eV) semiconductor, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, biocompatible, transparent in the visible spectrum and UV light emitting material. The fabrication in 2001 of the first nanobelts of semiconductor oxide materials lead to a rapid expansion of researches concerning one dimensional nanostructures (nanotubes, nanowires, nanobelts), given their possible application in optics, optoelectronics, piezoelectricity, catalysis. Researches carried on up to date evidenced the possibility to obtain an extraordinary variety of ZnO nanostructures, in function of the experimental parameters and the used growth methods. In this work we present morphostructural results on nanostructured ZnO layers obtained by electrochemical deposition. The films have been grown on gold covered glass plates and Si wafers, in various experimental conditions such as: nature of the wetting agents, electrical polarization of the substrate (continuous, pulsed). The influence of the growth conditions on the crystalline structure and morphology of the films is revealed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies. The films show a variety of growth morphologies, from entangled-wires-like to honeycomb-like layers. These large-specific-surface layers will be tested as nanostructured substrates for photovoltaic cells with improved efficiency.