Search results for: BULK SOLID
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Niobate in silicate and phosphate glasses: Effect of glass basicity on crucible dissolution
PublicationUsing niobium crucibles for melting phosphate and silicate glasses of various modifier oxide contents, and therefore varying optical basicity (Λ), was found to result in varying dissolution rates of niobate during melting. Because of their high electronic polarizability, even small concentrations of niobates are detectable in the Raman spectra of glasses. Even less than 1 mol% Nb2O5 can be identified, as independently confirmed...
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Communication: Inside the water wheel: Intrinsic differences between hydrated tetraphenylphosphonium and tetraphenylborate ions
PublicationTetraphenylphosphonium tetraphenylborate (TPTB) is a common reference electrolyte in physical chemistry of solutions allowing for a convenient partitioning of thermodynamic properties into single-ion contributions. Here, we compute on the basis of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations the infrared (IR) spectra for hydrated constituent ions of the TPTB assumption. Using spectral decomposition techniques, we extract important...
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Physical properties of homogeneous TiO2 films prepared by high power impulse magnetron sputtering as a function of crystallographic phase and nanostructure
PublicationOptical, photo-electrochemical, crystallographic and morphological properties of TiO2 thin films prepared by high power impulse magnetron sputtering at low substrate temperatures (<65 ◦C) without post-deposition thermal annealing are studied. The film composition-anatase, rutile or amorphous TiO2-is adjusted by the pressure (p ∼ 0.75-15 Pa) in the deposition chamber. The different crystallographic phases were determined with grazing...
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Superconductivity in a breathing kagome metals ROs2 (R = Sc, Y, Lu)
PublicationWe have successfully synthesized three osmium-based hexagonal Laves compounds ROs2 (R = Sc, Y, Lu), and discussed their physical properties. LeBail refinement of pXRD data confirms that all compounds crystallize in the hexagonal centrosymmetric MgZn2- type structure (P63/mmc, No. 194). The refined lattice parameters are a = b = 5.1791(1) Å and c = 8.4841(2) Å for ScOs2, a = b = 5.2571(3) Å and c = 8.6613(2) Å for LuOs2 and a =...
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High-temperature oxidation of the Crofer 22 H ferritic steel with Mn1.45Co1.45Fe0.1O4 and Mn1.5Co1.5O4 spinel coatings under thermal cycling conditions and its properties
PublicationThe aim of the presented study was to deposit protective-conducting Mn1.45Co1.45Fe0.1O4 and Mn1.5Co1.5O4 spinel coatings on the Crofer 22 H ferritic steel by means of electrophoresis and to evaluate their physicochemical properties after high-temperature oxidation under thermal cycling conditions. When the Crofer 22 H steel – whether uncoated or coated with the two spinels – was oxidized in 48-h cycles involving a temperature of...
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Local impedance imaging of boron-doped polycrystalline diamond thin films
PublicationLocal impedance imaging (LII) was used to visualise surficial deviations of AC impedances in polycrystalline boron-doped diamond (BDD). The BDD thin film electrodes were deposited onto the highly doped silicon substrates via microwave plasma-enhanced CVD. The studied boron dopant concentrations, controlled by the [B]/[C] ratio in plasma, ranged from 1 × 1016 to 2 × 1021 atoms cm−3. The BDD films displayed microcrystalline structure,...
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Hydration of amino acids: FTIR spectra and molecular dynamics studies
PublicationThe hydration of selected amino acids, alanine, glycine, proline, valine, isoleucine and phenylalanine, has been studied in aqueous solutions by means of FTIR spectra of HDO isotopically diluted in H2O. The difference spectra procedure and the chemometric method have been applied to remove the contribution of bulk water and thus to separate the spectra of solute-affected HDO. To support interpretation of obtained spectral results,...
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Mechanical exfoliation and layer number identification of single crystal monoclinic CrCl3
PublicationAfter the recent finding that CrI3, displays ferromagnetic order down to its monolayer, extensive studies have followed to pursue new two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials. In this article, we report on the growth of single crystal CrCl3 in the layered monoclinic phase. The system after mechanical exfoliation exhibits stability in ambient air (the degradation occurs on a time scale at least four orders of magnitude longer than...
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EFFECT OF SURFACE STATE AND STRESS ON AN OXIDATION OF THE ZIRCALOY-2 ALLOY
PublicationZr alloys are widely used as materials for nuclear fuel pellets in the nuclear industry. In the case of the LOCA or RIA happen, a temperature may locally reach high values. Even if the high temperature maintains shortly, the zirconium oxides may become permeable, absorb hydrogen appearing in cooling water from decomposition reaction and crack because of formation and brittle failure of hydrides. Such model cannot so far take into...
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Deciphering the Molecular Mechanism of Substrate-Induced Assembly of Gold Nanocube Arrays toward an Accelerated Electrocatalytic Effect Employing Heterogeneous Diffusion Field Confinement
PublicationThe complex electrocatalytic performance of gold nanocubes (AuNCs) is the focus of this work. The faceted shapes of AuNCs and the individual assembly processes at the electrode surfaces define the heterogeneous conditions for the purpose of electrocatalytic processes. Topographic and electron imaging demonstrated slightly rounded AuNC (average of 38 nm) assemblies with sizes of ≤1 μm, where the dominating patterns are (111) and...
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Mobile Security: Threats and Best Practices
PublicationCommunicating mobile security threats and best practices has become a central objective due to the ongoing discovery of new vulnerabilities of mobile devices. To cope with this overarching issue, the goal of this paper is to identify and analyze existing threats and best practices in the domain of mobile security. To this extent, we conducted a literature review based on a set of keywords. The obtained results concern recognizable...
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Structure and water uptake in BaLnCo2O6−δ (Ln =La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb and Dy)
PublicationThe structure of BaLnCo2O6-δ (Ln =La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb and Dy) was studied by the means of synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), while water uptake properties were analysed with the use of thermogravimetry (TG) and water adsorption isotherms. The structure refinement revealed that the dominant phase in all compositions was orthorhombic with an ordering...
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On the origin of surface imposed anisotropic growth of salicylic and acetylsalicylic acids crystals during droplet evaporation
PublicationIn this paper droplet evaporative crystallization of salicylic acid (SA) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) crystals on different surfaces, such as glass, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and paraffin was studied. The obtained crystals were analyzed using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) technique. In order to better understand the effect of the surface on evaporative crystallization, crystals deposited on glass were scraped off. Moreover,...
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Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents as Agents for Improving Solubility, Stability and Delivery of Curcumin
PublicationPurpose Study on curcumin dissolved in natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) was aimed at exploiting their beneficial properties as drug carriers. Methods The concentration of dissolved curcumin in NADES was measured. Simulated gastrointestinal fluids were used to determine the concentration of curcumin and quantum chemistry computations were performed for clarifying the origin of curcumin solubility enhancement in NADES. Results NADES...
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Highly Occupied Surface States at Deuterium-Grown Boron-Doped Diamond Interfaces for Efficient Photoelectrochemistry
PublicationPolycrystalline boron-doped diamond is a promising material for high-power aqueous electrochemical applications in bioanalytics, catalysis, and energy storage. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process of diamond forma-tion and doping is totally diversified by using high kinetic energies of deu-terium substituting habitually applied hydrogen. The high concentration of deuterium in plasma induces atomic arrangements and steric...
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Sustainable Chemically Modified Mater-Bi/Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Cellulose Biocomposites: Looking at the Bulk through the Surface
PublicationSustainable polymer composites are progressively under development in a technological paradigm shift from "just use more and more" to "convert into value-added products". The bio-based blends based on Mater-Bi bio-plastic (A) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (B), at a weight ratio of 70:30 (A:B) were developed, followed by the addition of UFC100 cellulose (C) filler to yield 70/30 (w/w) (A:B)/C sustainable biocomposites. The effects of...
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Modeling and optimization of chemical-treated torrefaction of wheat straw to improve energy density by response surface methodology
PublicationToday, torrefaction is important technique for extending the potential of biomass for improvement of energy density. The independent variables investigated for torrefaction study were temperature, retention time, acid concentration, and particle size. The experiment was designed by central composite design (CCD) method using design expert (version 11). The three dependent variables were higher heating value (HHV), energy enhancement...
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DMSO hydration redefined: Unraveling the hydrophobic hydration of solutes with a mixed hydrophilic–hydrophobic characteristic
PublicationHydrophobic hydration of solutes with a mixed hydrophilic--hydrophobic characteristics is still poorly understood. This is because both experimental and theoretical methods find it difficult to see the ice-like water structure around the nonpolar solute groups, unlike hydrogen bonds with the hydrophilic groups. In order to unravel this problem, we have investigated DMSO hydration by means of infrared spectroscopy and theoretical...
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Radioactivity of drilling cuttings from shale resources of the Lower Paleozoic Baltic Basin, Poland
PublicationFractionated drilling wastes originating from shale gas exploration in the Baltic Basin in Pomerania were subjected to the measurements of mean activity concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs).To better understand rock structure and texture, the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) observation were used. To compare activity concentration of radionuclides in bulk wastes...
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Superconducting SrSnP with Strong Sn–P Antibonding Interaction: Is the Sn Atom Single or Mixed Valent?
PublicationThe large single crystals of SrSnP were prepared using Sn self-flux method. The superconductivity in the tetragonal SrSnP is observed with the critical temperature of ∼2.3 K. The results of a crystallographic analysis, superconducting characterization, and theoretical assessment of tetragonal SrSnP are presented. The SrSnP crystallizes in the CaGaN structure type with space group P4/nmm (S.G. 129, Pearson symbol tP6) according...