Publications

BaFBr:Er3+ @SiO2 core-shell composites were synthesized starting from BaFBr:Er3+ phosphor core grains (BaFBr doped with 1 at% Er3+) prepared by coprecipitation method. A sol-gel process was used to obtain the outer Si02 layer shell from silica sol precursor. The polycrystalline BaFBr:Er3+ @SiO2 heterostructures were formed following calcination at 700 degrees C, in air. The resulting material was characterized in terms of microstructure, photoluminescence and up-conversion luminescence properties. The results indicate that the as-obtained composite has a core-shell structure and shows good luminescence properties. The BaFBr:Er3+ @SiO2 heterostructure is made of BaFBr:Er3+ square sheets encased in a SiO2 shell layer with thickness values between 100 and 400 nm. Under 810 nm laser light pumping, the core-shell heterostructure exhibits Er3+ green up conversion luminescence bands ((H-2(11/2),S-4(3/2)) -> I-4(15/2)) at 525 and 545 nm, ascribed to a two-photon process.

Composites containing polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and different mass contents of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared and structurally investigated. X-ray Diffraction of pristine PAN reveals the presence of crystalline and amorphous phases which change their ratio under thermal annealing and addition of MWCNT. For as prepared samples, thermal analysis reveals two glass transition temperatures, which support the hypothesis that unoriented PAN is a two-phase material. Infrared spectrum of as prepared PAN suggests that the polymer is not stabilized. Dielectric investigations of PAN/MWCNT composites show that permittivity has a strong increase as the MWCNT mass content increases, while the dielectric losses are comparable in all samples. These results suggest that PAN/MWCNT composites could find important applications in electronics. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1741-1748, 2017. (c) 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

The magnetic properties, in the 5 K-350 K temperature range, were investigated in relationship with the structure and morphology of Zn1-xFexO (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03) powders prepared by hydrothermal route. The magnetization measurements reveal that all powders are ferromagnetic at room temperature, with Curie temperature TT, higher than 350 K. The coercivity Hc takes values between 58 Oe and 107 Oe at 300 K and, between 217 Oe and 613 Oe at 5 K. The weak magnetization of the un-doped ZnO powder is temperature independent and was associated with the high surface to volume ratio of the powder particles (or the number of surface defects). The saturation magnetization M-s, was substantially enhanced (up to a factor of about 20 at 300 K and of about 200 at 5 K) at all temperatures as Fe concentration increased, in spite of reduction of the surface to volume ratio of the powder particles. The Hc vs. Tand FC/ZFC curves for the un-doped ZnO show typical ferromagnetic behavior, whereas for the Fe doped powders exhibit Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) - like and spin-glass-like behavior. The observed magnetic phenomena in Fe doped ZnO can be explained on the basis of "donor defects concentration magnetic cations concentration" phase diagram for dilute magnetic semiconductors. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The phase structure and magnetic properties of magnetite-based glass-ceramics obtained by crystallization of Fe-containing boroaluminosilicate glass melts are presented. The use of Cr2O3 as nucleating agent generated magnetite configurations showing a complex temperature dependence of the relaxation of the remanent magnetization. Specifically, the expected decrease in time of the remanent magnetization occurs only in a limited temperature range, whereas it increases at low and high temperatures (upward relaxation). We tentatively attribute these effects to the complex spin structure of the tiny magnetite nanoparticles, their complex size distribution and the interplay between the relaxation mechanisms in different temperature ranges. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-density (92-98% of the theoretical density) MgB2 samples added with Sb2O5 ((MgB2)+ (Sb2O5) x, x = 0, 0.0025, 0.005, 0.015) were obtained by Spark Plasma Sintering. A higher amount of additive decreases density. In added samples, grains of secondary phases are located at MgB2 grain boundaries and they are of large size. Hence, Sb2O5 does not promote effective flux pinning, connectivity is lower, and this suppresses the critical current density and the irreversibility field. Pinning force-related parameters indicate that added samples are close to the point pinning region and they show a higher grain boundary pinning contribution when compared with pristine MgB2 sample and when temperature is lower. It is speculated that for fixed processing conditions and Sb-oxide phases, a lower stability of the additive, reflected by a lower melting temperature, may promote reactive processes to start earlier leading to coarsening of the grains belonging to secondary phases.

Facet 111 oriented Au nanoplatelets (20-40 nm wide, 3-4 nm height) grafted on graphene ((Au) over bar /fl-G) are about three orders of magnitude more efficient than Pd nanoparticles supported on graphene to promote Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. In contrast to Pd catalysis, it is shown here that the product yields in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling catalyzed by Au nanoparticles follow the order chlorobenzene > bromobenzene > iodobenzene. Kinetic studies show that this reactivity order is the result of the poisoning effect of halides for Au that is much higher for I- than Br- and much higher than for Cl-, due to adsorption. This strong iodide adsorption leading to Au catalyst deactivation was predicted by DFT calculations of Au clusters. (Au) over bar /fl-G are about one order of magnitude more efficient than small Au nanoparticles (4-6 nm) obtained by the polyol method supported on graphene. Our results can have impact in organic synthesis, showing the advantage of (Au) over bar /fl-G as catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura couplings. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measurements of the magnetocapacitance effect in epitaxial La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O-3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterostructures have been performed using a quasi-static method. Through capacitance-voltage measurements carried out under variable magnetic field it has been found that the magneto-capacitance depends on the orientation of the ferroelectric polarization. The value of magneto-capacitance can be as high as 1% in the voltage range near the ferroelectric coercive field. This has been attributed to a variation of the apparent built-in voltage of the PZT-LSMO Schottky barriers on applied magnetic field.

Tunable reaction selectivity on a single catalyst is a continual goal in chemical syntheses. Herein, we report an unexpected light-directed intermediate selectivity using well-known plasmonic photocatalysts. We observed distinct intermediate selectivity behaviors between using UV and visible light irradiations. Chemical computations and quenching experiments suggest that the radicals generated by the plasmonic excitation govern the light-directed selectivity. The broader impact of this work ranges from selective yield of desirable intermediates for subsequent syntheses without tedious separation procedures, to arousing interest in examining new opportunities for plasmonic photocatalysts.

We investigate the down- and up-conversion properties of Er (0.3, 1 and 3%)-CeO2 and Er(1%)Yb(20%)-CeO2 nanoparticles by use of ns pulsed monochromatic excitation. The emission spectra were recorded in the visible to near-infrared range (500-1100 nm) under ultraviolet, visible (490 and 650 nm) and near infrared (790, 971/977 and 1470 nm) up-conversion excitations as well as X-ray excitation. The structural properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman, Diffuse Reflectance UV/Vis and Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopies. The role of CeO2 charge transfer band as a level selective antenna sensitizer, the dopant induced oxygen vacancies and the effect of Er concentration on the overall emission properties are highlighted. The mechanisms involved in the up-conversion emission in Er-CeO2 and Er,Yb-CeO2 are analysed in terms of up-conversion excitation spectra, up-conversion emission decays and evolution of the red to green emission ratio with Er concentration and delay after the laser pulse. Our findings are also discussed in the context of a comprehensive literature survey regarding the actual stage of research on the luminescence of Er and Er,Yb doped CeO2 and their possible applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of morpho-structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of two Fe-Au granular films with different concentrations of Fe nanoclusters of almost similar size is reported. Different organizations of the Fe clusters, i.e. in lamellar-like or random-like configuration, were obtained by varying the amount of Fe in the Fe-Au films. The specific magnetic behaviour was investigated with respect to local structure and morpho-structural aspects by combining magneto-optic Kerr effect and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, Fe-57 conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy and a wide range of electron microscopy techniques. A strong in-plane magnetic texture with uniaxial anisotropy was observed in the case of the lamellar-like organization of the clusters (specific to the Fe-Au film with higher Fe concentration) whereas a superparamagnetic behaviour was evidenced in the case of random distribution of the clusters (specific to the Fe-Au film with lower Fe concentration), despite the similar average size of the clusters in the two samples. Specific magnetoresistance effects were investigated with respect to both the involved magnetic configurations and magnetic interactions of the Fe clusters.