TY - JOUR A1 - Ernst, O. C. A1 - Böttcher, K. A1 - Fischer, Daniel A1 - Uebel, D. A1 - Teubner, T. A1 - Boeck, T. T1 - Morphogenesis of liquid indium microdroplets on solid molybdenum surfaces during solidification at normal pressure and under vacuum conditions N2 - Electrical and optical applications based on micro- and nanoparticles have specific demands on their interfacial properties. These properties are strongly related to atmospheric conditions to which the particles were exposed during their formation. In this study, metallic In microparticles are synthesized by solidification of In droplets on an amorphous Mo substrate at normal pressure and under vacuum conditions. The influence of ambient pressure on the interface and surface shape is investigated. While solidification at atmospheric pressure leads to collapsed particles with undisturbed contact to the substrate, low pressures result in smooth spherical particles but with cavities inside. Numerical simulations with COMSOL Multiphysics reveal different temperature profiles and heat flux in particles during solidification for both cases. This indicates different starting conditions of the solidification, which leads to the described phenomenon eventually. The investigation of the varying process conditions on the particle shape in combination with the calculated and measured temperature curves over time gives valuable insights into new approaches to synthesize micro- and nanoparticles with defined interfacial properties. Both ambient pressure and cooling rate provide well-controllable and reliable parameters for the realization of different interfacial shapes. KW - Morphogenesis KW - Indium KW - Microdroplet KW - Molybdenum PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02744 SN - 0743-7463 SN - 1520-5827 VL - 38 IS - 2 SP - 762 EP - 768 PB - ACS Publ. CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-54242 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fahmy, Alaa A1 - Kolmangadi, Mohamed Aejaz A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Friedrich, J. T1 - Structure of plasma‐deposited copolymer films preparedfrom acrylic acid and styrene: Part III sulfonation andelectrochemical properties N2 - Acrylic acid-styrene copolymer films were deposited plasma-chemically more gently using the pulsed plasma mode instead of the continuous mode, with linear and some slightly branched chains and marginal crosslinking. Then, the styrene unit of copolymers was wet-chemically sulfonated by chlorosulfuric acid. On exposure to air, the formed 4-chlorosulfonic acid groups hydrolyze to sulfonic acid groups (-SO3H). FTIR, XPS and broadband dielectric spectroscopy were employed to characterize the composition, the structure, the functional groups, and the electrochemical performance for the copolymers. A high concentration of sulfonic acid-containing groups was obtained in the sulfonated PS sample. The values of the DC conductivity DC for the sulfonated sample of the AA/S copolymer are ca. five orders of magnitude higher than that of the not-sulfonated copolymer materials. KW - Plasma Polymers KW - Electrolyte membrane PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.202100222 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-54539 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mohamed, W. A. A. A1 - Fahmy, Alaa A1 - Helal, A. A1 - Ahmed, E. A. E. A1 - Elsayed, B. A. A1 - Kamoun, E. A. A1 - Gad, E. A. M. T1 - Degradation of local Brilliant Blue R dye in presence of polyvinylidene fluoride/MWCNs/TiO2 as photocatalysts and plasma discharge N2 - The need of clean water and the water-poor are increasing daily in the world. In addition, we are facing a dramatic increase in the industrial pollutions of rivers and groundwater, which led us to find a new way to treat industrial pollutants. The plasma discharge technique is one of the important, safe, and applicable for industrial wastewater decontamination. Decolorization of Brilliant Blue R (BBR) dye as a hazard material was noticed when the contaminated solution was exposed to the plasma discharge technique. The combination between the nonthermal plasma and catalysts was evaluated in this work to optimize the degradation efficiency. The PVDF/(MWCNTs/TiO2) as three system composites was employed to enhance the nonthermal plasma performance. The surface area, phase purity, shape, and photonic efficiency were characterized employing XRD, FTIR, SEM, DSC, and UV–Vis. techniques. The obtained results of degradation using NTP technique in presence of the PVDF/MWCNTs catalyst have been enhanced the BBR dye degradation by 19% than only plasma treatment for 20 min. The durability processes of prepared PVDF/(MWCNTs/TiO2) was investigated and evaluated until 8 solar photocatalytic process repeating times. KW - Brilliant Blue R KW - MWCNT KW - PVDF PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.106854 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-54386 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Macková, A. A1 - Malinský, P. A1 - Jagerová, A. A1 - Mikšová, A. A1 - Lalik, O. A1 - Nekvindová, P. A1 - Mistrík, J. A1 - Marvan, P. A1 - Sofer, Z. A1 - Holý, V. A1 - Schütter, Jan David A1 - Kentsch, U. A1 - Azarov, A. A1 - Galeckas, A. T1 - Energetic Au ion beam implantation of ZnO nanopillars for optical response modulation N2 - Nanopillars of ZnO were implanted with Au-400 keV ions at various ion fluences from 1 × 1015 cm−2 to 1 × 1016 cm−2 and subsequently annealed at 750 °C for 15 min in order to reduce the implantation damage and to support Au nanoparticle (NP) aggregation. It was found that implantation-induced effects and thermal effects influence the Au NP coalescence as well as the quality of the ZnO nanopillars. Rutherford Back-Scattering spectrometry (RBS) showed the broader Au-depth profiles than it was theoretically predicted, but the Au-concentration maximum agrees well with prediction taking into account the effective ZnO layer density. The implantation at the higher fluences induced the morphology modification of the nanopillar layer evidenced by RBS and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An indirect evidence of this effect was given by optical ellipsometry due to gradual refractive index changes in the ZnO nanopillars with the increased Au-ion fluence. Optical characterization of the Au-implanted and annealed nanopillars performed by means of photoluminescence (PL) and diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) evidenced the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) activity of the embedded Au NPs. The SPR-enhanced scattering and PL emission observed in the spectral range 500–650 nm are ascribed to Au NPs or more complex Au-clusters. In addition, the ellipsometry measurements of extinction coefficient are found to corroborate well results from DRS, both indicating increase of SPR effect with the increase of Au-ion fluence and after the post-annealing. KW - ZnO nanopillars KW - Ion beam implantation PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/ac5486 VL - 55 IS - 21 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-54394 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yildirim, Arda A1 - Krause, Christina A1 - Huber, P. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Multiple glassy dynamics of a homologous series of triphenylene-based columnar liquid crystals – A study by broadband dielectric spectroscopy and advanced calorimetry N2 - Hexakis(n-alkyloxy)triphenylene) (HATn) consisting of an aromatic triphenylene core and alkyl side chains are model discotic liquid crystal (DLC) systems forming a columnar mesophase. In the mesophase, the molecules of HATn self-assemble in columns, which has one-dimensional high charge carrier mobility along the columns. Here, a homologous series of HATn with different length of the alkyl chain (n = 5,6,8,10,12) is investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and advanced calorimetric techniques including fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) and specific heat spectroscopy (SHS). The investigation of the phase behavior was done utilizing DSC experiments and the influence of the alkyl chain length on the phase behavior was revealed. By the dielectric investigations probing the molecular mobility, a c-relaxation due to localized fluctuations as well as two glassy dynamics, the acore- and aalkyl-relaxation, were observed in the temperature range of the plastic crystalline phase. Moreover, the observed glassy dynamics were further studied employing advanced calorimetry. All observed relaxation processes are attributed to the possible specific molecular fluctuations and discussed in detail. From the results a transition at around n = 8 from a rigid constrained (n = 5,6) to a softer system (n = 10,12) was revealed with increasing alkyl chain length. A counterbalance of two competing effects of a polyethylene-like behavior of the alkyl chains in the intercolumnar domains and self-organized confinement is discussed in the context of a hindered glass transition. KW - Discotic liquid crystals KW - Broadband dielectric spectroscopy KW - Advanced calorimetry PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119212 VL - 358 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-54721 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frunza, L. A1 - Zgura, I A1 - Ganea, C. P. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Molecular dynamics of alkyl benzoate liquid crystals in the bulk state and in the surface layer of their composites with oxide nanopowders N2 - This paper presents the results concerning monotropic nematic liquid crystals 4-pentylphenyl 40-alkyl benzoate (5PnB) (n = 3 or 5 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain). Their mesophase properties were supported by images of the polarized optical microscopy. Molecular dynamics in the bulk samples or in the composites prepared with aerosil A380 was investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy in a large temperature range, appropriately chosen. Thermo gravimetric and infrared investigations were additionally performed. The data were compared with those of structurally related nematics like cyanophenyl pentyl benzoates, which have a cyan group instead of the pentyl chain. The dielectric spectra of the bulk 3P5B and 5P5B demonstrate a dielectric behavior with several relaxation processes as expected for nematic liquid crystals. The temperature dependence of the relaxation rates (and of the dielectric strength) seems to have two distinguished regimes. Thus, in the isotropic state, at higher temperatures the data obey the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann law, whereas an Arrhenius law is fitted at lower temperature, in a close similarity to the behavior of a constrained dynamic glass transition. Samples with a high density of silica (larger than 7 g aerosil/1 g of 5PnB) were prepared to observe a thin layer adsorbed on the particle surface; it was estimated that almost each guest 5PnB molecule interacts with the aerosil surface. For the composites only one main relaxation process is observed at frequencies much lower than those for the corresponding bulk, which was assigned to the dynamics of the molecules in the surface layer. Infrared spectroscopy shows that these molecules interact with the surface by the ester carbonyl group leading to the monolayer self-assembly at liquid–solid interface. We note once more the importance of the functional unit(s) for the interaction with the hydroxyl groups on the aerosil surface. KW - Liquid crystals PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119374 SN - 0167-7322 VL - 359 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-54867 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Deumer, J. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Marguet, S. A1 - Skroblin, D. A1 - Taché, O. A1 - Krumrey, M. A1 - Gollwitzer, C. T1 - Small-angle X-ray scattering: characterization of cubic Au nanoparticles using Debye’s scattering formula N2 - A versatile software package in the form of a Python extension, named CDEF (computing Debye’s scattering formula for extraordinary form factors), is proposed to calculate approximate scattering profiles of arbitrarily shaped nanoparticles for small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). CDEF generates a quasi-randomly distributed point cloud in the desired particle shape and then applies the open-source software DEBYER for efficient evaluation of Debye’s scattering formula to calculate the SAXS pattern (https://github.com/j-from-b/CDEF). If self-correlation of the scattering signal is not omitted, the quasi-random distribution provides faster convergence compared with a true-random distribution of the scatterers, especially at higher momentum transfer. The usage of the software is demonstrated for the evaluation of scattering data of Au nanocubes with rounded edges, which were measured at the four-crystal monochromator beamline of PTB at the synchrotron radiation facility BESSY II in Berlin. The implementation is fast enough to run on a single desktop computer and perform model fits within minutes. The accuracy of the method was analyzed by comparison with analytically known form factors and verified with another implementation, the SPONGE, based on a similar principle with fewer approximations. Additionally, the SPONGE coupled to McSAS3 allows one to retrieve information on the uncertainty of the size distribution using a Monte Carlo uncertainty estimation algorithm. KW - X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - Non-spherical nanoparticles KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanomaterials KW - Debye scattering equation KW - Simulation KW - Data fitting PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-557652 DO - https://doi.org/10.1107/S160057672200499X VL - 55 IS - Pt 4 SP - 993 EP - 1001 PB - International Union of Crystallography CY - Chester, England AN - OPUS4-55765 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehri, S. A1 - Kolmangadi, Mohamed Aejaz A1 - Dyre, J.C. A1 - Ingebrigtsen, T.S. T1 - Lines of invariant physics in the isotropic phase of the discotic Gay-Berne model N2 - The Gay-Berne model is studied numerically with a choice of parameters allowing for the formation of a discotic liquid crystal at low temperatures. We show that the model has strong virial potential-energy correlations in the isotropic phase at high temperatures, i.e., it obeys the criterion for the existence of isomorphs, which are curves of approximately invariant structure and dynamics. These properties are demonstrated to be approximately invariant in reduced units along the isomorph studied. The isomorph is described well by the constant density-scaling exponent 11.5, a number that is significantly larger than the density-scaling exponents of various Lennard-Jones models that are always below 6. KW - Liquid Crystal KW - Molecular Dynamics PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-547611 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nocx.2022.100085 VL - 14 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-54761 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stawski, Tomasz A1 - Van Driessche, A. E. S. T1 - Editorial for special issue "Formation of sulfate minerals in natural and industrial environments" N2 - Sulfate is abundant in the environment and, as a result, sulfate-containing minerals constitute a large and important focus of research. These minerals play an important role in many geochemical and industrial processes, including the sulfur cycle, the construction industry (e.g., plaster of Paris), fault tectonics, acid mine drainage, and even rare biominerals. Important to note are the abundant amounts of sulfate (minerals) located on the surface of Mars, and in meteorites, extending the relevance of this mineral group beyond the realm of our planet. In geological systems, sulfate minerals such as barite are also important for indicating certain sedimentation environments. In this regard, sulfate deposits can be used to evaluate the redox state of ancient oceans during early Earth time periods. KW - Calcium sulfate KW - Sulfates PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-546794 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/min12030299 SN - 2075-163X VL - 12(3) IS - Special issue "Formation of sulfate minerals in natural and industrial environments" SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-54679 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chambers, M. S. A1 - Hunter, R. D. A1 - Hollamby, M. J. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Smith, A. J. A1 - Snow, T. A1 - Danks, A. E. A1 - Schnepp, Z. T1 - In Situ and Ex Situ X‑ray Diffraction and Small-Angle X‑ray Scattering Investigations of the Sol−Gel Synthesis of Fe3N and Fe3C N2 - Iron nitride (Fe3N) and iron carbide (Fe3C) nanoparticles can be prepared via sol−gel synthesis. While sol−gel methods are simple, it can be difficult to control the crystalline composition, i.e., to achieve a Rietveld-pure product. In a previous in situ synchrotron study of the sol−gel synthesis of Fe3N/Fe3C, we showed that the reaction proceeds as follows: Fe3O4 → FeOx → Fe3N → Fe3C. There was considerable overlap between the different phases, but we were unable to ascertain whether this was due to the experimental setup (side-on heating of a quartz capillary which could lead to thermal gradients) or whether individual particle reactions proceed at different rates. In this paper, we use in situ wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering (wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)) to demonstrate that the overlapping phases are indeed due to variable reaction rates. While the initial oxide nanoparticles have a small range of diameters, the size range expands considerably and very rapidly during the oxide−nitride transition. This has implications for the isolation of Rietveld-pure Fe3N, and in an extensive laboratory study, we were indeed unable to isolate phasepure Fe3N. However, we made the surprising discovery that Rietveld-pure Fe3C nanoparticles can be produced at 500 °C with a sufficient furnace dwell time. This is considerably lower than the previous reports of the sol−gel synthesis of Fe3C nanoparticles. KW - Small-angle X-ray Scattering KW - SAXS KW - Diffraction KW - XRD KW - Scattering KW - Sol-gel KW - Iron nitride KW - Nanoparticles KW - Iron carbide KW - Catalyst KW - In-situ KW - Ex-situ KW - Synthesis KW - Synchrotron PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-548226 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c03442 VL - 61 IS - 18 SP - 6742 EP - 6749 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington AN - OPUS4-54822 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -