Structural and catalytic properties of lanthanide (La, Eu, Gd) doped ceria

Ce0.9M0.1O2-δ mixed oxides (M=La, Eu and Gd) were synthesized by coprecipitation. Independent of the dopant cation, the obtained solids maintain the F-type crystalline structure, characteristic of CeO2 (fluorite structure) without phase segregation. The ceria lattice expands depending on the ionic radii of the dopant cation, as indicated by X-ray diffraction studies. This effect also agrees…

Influence of Al2O3 reinforcement on precipitation kinetic of Cu–Cr nanocomposite

In this paper, the kinetic of precipitation process in mechanically alloyed Cu-1 wt.% Cr and Cu-1 wt.% Cr/3 wt.% Al2O3 solid solution was compared using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ageing kinetics in Cu–Cr and Cu–Cr/Al2O3 can be described using Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) and Sestak–Berggren (SB) models, respectively. These different behaviors…

Soft plasma processing of organic nanowires: a route for the fabrication of 1D organic heterostructures and the template synthesis of inorganic 1D nanostructures

Hierarchical (branched) and hybrid metal-NPs/organic supported NWs are fabricated through controlled plasma processing of metalloporphyrin, metallophthalocyanine and perylene nanowires. The procedure is also applied for the development of a general template route for the synthesis of supported metal and metal oxide nanowires.

Formation of the complete range of Ti5Si3-xGex solid solutions via mechanically induced self-sustained reactions

The complete range of Ti5Si3–Ti5Ge3 solid solutions was synthesised from elemental mixtures of Ti, Si, and Ge under an inert atmosphere via mechanically induced self-sustaining reactions (MSR). The stoichiometry of Ti5Si3−xGex solid solutions was controlled by adjusting the Si/Ge ratio of the initial mixture. The chemical composition and lattice parameters of the materials confirmed that…

Comments on «an essay on contact angle measurements»: Determination of surface roughness and modeling of the wetting behavior

This commentary addresses the problem of determining surface roughness values and their use to assess the wetting behavior of surfaces. For very rough surfaces it is shown that depending on the observation scale by atomic force microscopy (AFM) quite different RMS roughness values can be obtained and that only the values taken at saturation can…

The effect of polymorphic structure on the structural and chemical stability of yttrium disilicates

Under pressure and temperature conditions like those found in deep geological repositories (DGRs), rare-earth cations may react with silicates to form rare-earth disilicates. This study establishes the stability range of yttrium disilicates in response to changes in pH. The α, β, γ, and δ polymorphs of Y2Si2O7 were synthesized by the sol-gel process at temperatures…