National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Eggshell membranes were employed as biological scaffolds for developing soft and versatile actuators. A particular architecture, consisting of eggshell membrane coated with polypyrrole, has been fabricated and has been found to be a green, inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to handle class of actuators. The polypyrrole-coated eggshell membrane devices were tested in liquid, ambient atmosphere and controlled humidity environment, with the recorded movements proving their versatility. In 1 M NaCl aqueous solution, by applying successive potential pulses, the actuator contracts/expands owing to the expulsion/insertion of the electrolyte ions out/into polypyrrole film, producing a displacement of similar to 0.1 cm. In air, upon application of voltages from 2 to 5 V on a V-shaped geometry actuator, it bends due to water desorption from its structure induced by Joule heating, generating a displacement which reaches similar to 0.4 cm at 5 V. In a chamber with controlled humidity, the decrease of humidity stimulates a bending/curling motion of the actuator, achieving a displacement of similar to 2.1 cm at 50% relative humidity. Upon modification of the humidity, these actuators move, hold, and release delicate and lightweight objects. Such polypyrrole-coated eggshell membrane actuators which operate in different environments and respond to multiple stimuli can have potential applications in biomimetic micromanipulators or artificial muscle fields.

A series of Fe3O4@SiO2@Re catalysts were prepared by deposition of rhenium by means of the precipitation-deposition and impregnation procedures. Characterization of the catalysts confirmed that the deposition of silica protected the magnetite nanoparticles, resulting in a stable SiO(2)pFe(3)O(4) composite, which was not affected by the treatments during the further deposition of rhenium. Rhenium was silent in XRD over the range of concentrations, at which it was deposited. Furthermore, XPS detected rhenium, only in the impregnation series; this may confirm that dispersion was high. As expected, rhenium was not reduced to the metallic state and generated weakly acidic Bronsted-type centers as detected by NH3-TPD. H-2-TPD and chemisorption experiments demonstrate the capacity of these catalysts to chemisorb hydrogen. In line with these properties, rhenium catalyzed both C-C hydrogenolysis and C-O hydrolysis in successive steps. The performance of these catalysts was checked for a series of lignins of different origin and by means of different separation procedures. A very important finding is that these catalysts were highly stable and easy to recover.

Interfacing different transition-metal oxides opens a route to functionalizing their rich interplay of electron, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom for electronic and spintronic devices. Electronic and magnetic properties of SrTiO3-based interfaces hosting a mobile two-dimensional electron system (2DES) are strongly influenced by oxygen vacancies, which form an electronic dichotomy, where strongly correlated localized electrons in the in-gap states (IGSs) coexist with noncorrelated delocalized 2DES. Here, we use resonant soft-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to prove the e(g) character of the IGSs, as opposed to the t(2g) character of the 2DES in the paradigmatic LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. We furthermore separate the d(xy) and d(xz)/d(xz) orbital contributions based on deeper consideration of the resonant photoexcitation process in terms of orbital and momentum selectivity. Supported by a self-consistent combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory calculations, this experiment identifies local orbital reconstruction that goes beyond the conventional e(g)-vs-t(2g) band ordering. A hallmark of oxygen-deficient LaAlO3/SrTiO3 is a significant hybridization of the e(g) and t(2g) orbitals. Our findings provide routes for tuning the electronic and magnetic properties of oxide interfaces through "defect engineering" with oxygen vacancies.

Nanostructured hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) film deposited on mesoporous titania (TiO2) underlayer was described as a photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Mesoporous TiO2 layers were prepared by spin coating a paste on conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide glass followed by an annealing process. Hematite film was prepared after electrochemical and annealing processes. The TiO2/Fe2O3 photoanodes achieve photocurrent densities up to 0.5 mA/cm(2) at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. This value is greater than that for photocurrent density obtained with pristine hematite photoanode. Impedance measurements showed that prepared heterostructure TiO2/Fe2O3 contributes to diminution of electron-hole recombination process.

We report a study related to the influence of heat treatment (up to 300 degrees C) on the structure of GaSb \GeTe, SnSe\GeTe and GaSb\SnSe stacked phase change memory films and of their counterparts with Hf thin film barrier between the layers. Samples were prepared by pulsed laser deposition and investigated by X-ray reflectometry and X-ray diffraction in order to evaluate the inter-films diffusion and the temperature threshold where this process is initiated. The thickness and mass density variations of films after each heat treatment, as well as the efficiency of hafnium barrier film, to eliminate potential atomic diffusion issues, were investigated.

Nanostructures based on buried interfaces and heterostructures are at the heart of modern semiconductor electronics as well as future devices utilizing spintronics, multiferroics, topological effects, and other novel operational principles. Knowledge of electronic structure of these systems resolved in electron momentum k delivers unprecedented insights into their physics. Here we explore 2D electron gas formed in GaN/AlGaN high-electron-mobility transistor heterostructures with an ultrathin barrier layer, key elements in current high-frequency and high-power electronics. Its electronic structure is accessed with angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy whose probing depth is pushed to a few nanometers using soft-X-ray synchrotron radiation. The experiment yields direct k-space images of the electronic structure fundamentals of this system-the Fermi surface, band dispersions and occupancy, and the Fourier composition of wavefunctions encoded in the k-dependent photoemission intensity. We discover significant planar anisotropy of the electron Fermi surface and effective mass connected with relaxation of the interfacial atomic positions, which translates into nonlinear (high-field) transport properties of the GaN/AlGaN heterostructures as an anisotropy of the saturation drift velocity of the 2D electrons.

In this paper we report on a novel 1-D piezoelectric/ferroelectric nanostructure. Composites of piezoelectric (0.92Na(0.5)Bi(0.5)TiO(3)-0.08BaTiO(3) abbreviated as BNT-BT0.08) and ferromagnetic (CoFe2O4) nanotubes were assembled and studied in order to envisage new multifunctional applications. Using a polycarbonate membrane template and sols precursors of BNT-BT(0.08 )and CoFe2O4, heterostructured BNT-BT0.08/CoFe2O4 core-shell composite nanotubes were created. Selective methods such as SEM, TEM, AFM, PFM and MFM were used for the characterization of the as-prepared hybrid piezoelectric/ferromagnetic coaxial nanotubes structure. This composite shows two crystalline phases: rhombohedral BNT-BT0.08 and cubicCoFe(2)O(4). The piezoelectric and ferromagnetic properties have been characterized. Piezo force microscopy (PFM) images evidenced ferroelectric domains with opposite polarity due to lead free piezoelectric BNT-BT0.08 outer tube. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) images evidenced magnetic domains attributed to the CoFe2O4 inner tube. Magnetic hysteresis curves demonstrate a weak ferromagnetic behavior, accompanied by a linear variation of the magnetization at higher magnetic fields, especially at room temperature. From dielectric measurements, high tunability values reaching about 70% at 0.5 kHz and E = 80 kV/cm have been obtained. An effective dielectric constant epsilon(r) = 32 has been measured. The results obtained from this work provide a base for the design of tubular multi-layered materials with novel functionalities and applications in various multifunctional electronic devices such as actuators, transducers, and energy storage microsystems. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The electronic, magnetic and optical properties of doped CdS:Mn and co-doped CdS:Mn, Cr cubic structures were studied via Density Functional Theory and subsequently compared with the properties of undoped CdS. The doped compound presents semiconducting character similar to the undoped CdS, while the co-doped compound exhibits half metallic properties with a high spin polarization at the Fermi energy. The magnetic moments as well as the trend of magnetic exchange parameters of CdS:Mn and CdS:Mn,Cr, have been analyzed, in addition to the dielectric functions, by starting from calculated density of states for spin polarized configurations. The calculated absorption coefficients lead to direct information on the spectral energy distribution in the range of optoelectronic applications. The optical band gaps of doped and co-doped compounds are higher as compared to the undoped CdS, making the first compounds more interesting for possible technological applications for high density magneto-optical recording. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three phenacyl derivatives have been investigated as potential inhibitors for the aqueous oxidation of sphalerite (ZnS) in air-equilibrated solutions of HCl (pH 2.5 and 25 degrees C) using potentyodynamic polarization, aqueous batch experiments, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering and quantum chemical calculations. Findings show that the studied phenacyl derivatives are inhibitors of sphalerite aqueous oxidation. Quantum chemical calculations indicate that the adsorption of phenacyl derivatives on ZnS is energetically favorable and accounts for the observed inhibiting effects.

Undoped and Ni-doped TiO2 thin films, with Ni concentration in the range 3-9 at.%, were obtained by reactive magnetron co-sputtering. A combined analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption-edge fine structure shows that Ni2+ substitutes for Ti4+ in the TiO2 lattice and promotes, at higher Ni amounts, a structural transition of the host from anatase to rutile. Several difficulties of the extended X-ray absorption-edge fine structure analysis, in the case of Ni-doped TiO2, are also discussed. X-ray diffraction data revealed that a large amount of the films material is in amorphous state. The films are very smooth, with root mean square roughness values (below 1.5 nm) decreasing with the increase of the Ni content. The hydrophilic properties of TiO2, modified by Ni doping, are also investigated.