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- XPS (4)
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- 6 Materialchemie (5)
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Results are reported from a pilot study under the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM) to compare measurements of and resolve any relevant measurement issues in, the amount of thermal SiO2 oxide on (100) and (111) orientation Si wafer substrates in the thickness range 1.5 - 8 nm. As a result of the invitation to participate in this activity, 45 sets of measurements have been made in different laboratories using 10 analytical methods: medium-energy ion scattering spectrometry (MEIS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), RBS, elastic backscattering spectrometry (EBS), XPS, SIMS, ellipsometry, grazing-incidence x-ray reflectrometry (GIXRR), neutron reflectometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The measurements are made on separate sets of 10 carefully prepared samples, all of which have been characterised by a combination of ellipsometry and XPS using carefully established reference conditions and reference parameters.
The results have been assessed against the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) data and all show excellent linearity. The remaining data sets correlate with the NPL data with average root-mean-square scatters of 0.15 nm, half being better than 0.1 nm and a few at or better than 0.05 nm. Each set of data allows a relative scaling constant and a zero thickness offset to be determined. Each method has an inherent zero thickness offset between 0 nm and 1 nm and it is these offsets, measured here for the first time, that have caused many problems in the past. There are three basic classes of offset: water and carbonadeous contamination equivalent to ~1 nm as seen by ellipsometry; adsorbed oxygen mainly from water at an equivalent thickness of 0.5 nm as seen by MEIS, NRA, RBS and possibly GIXRR; and no offset as seen by XPS using the Si 2p peaks. Each technique has a different uncertainty for the scaling constant and consistent results have been achieved. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy has large uncertainties for the scaling constant but a high precision and, critically, if used correctly, has zero offset. Thus, a combination of XPS and the other methods allows the XPS scaling constant to be determined with low uncertainty, traceable via the other methods. XPS laboratories returning results early were invited to test a new reference procedure. All showed very significant improvements. The reference attenuation lengths thus need scaling by 0.986 ± 0.009 (at an expansion factor of 2) deduced from the data for the other methods. Several other methods have small offsets and, to the extent that these can be shown to be constant or measurable, then these methods will also show low uncertainty. Recommendations are provided for parameters for XPS, MEIS, RBS and NRA to improve their accuracy.
The present work shows results on elemental distribution analyses in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films for solar cells performed by use of wavelength-dispersive and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) in a scanning electron microscope, EDX in a transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron, angle-dependent soft X-ray emission, secondary ion-mass (SIMS), time-of-flight SIMS, sputtered neutral mass, glow-discharge optical emission and glow-discharge mass, Auger electron, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, by use of scanning Auger electron microscopy, Raman depth profiling, and Raman mapping, as well as by use of elastic recoil detection analysis, grazing-incidence X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction, and grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence analysis. The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films used for the present comparison were produced during the same identical deposition run and exhibit thicknesses of about 2 µm. The analysis techniques were compared with respect to their spatial and depth resolutions, measuring speeds, availabilities, and detection limits.
The water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is strongly influenced by the design of the gas diffusion layers (GDL). Limiting current measurements in small-scale cells operating at high stoichiometries are useful to determine the oxygen transport resistance. The oxygen transport resistance increases, once water condenses inside the GDL. In this study a new electrochemical method for voltage loss estimation of GDL induced oxygen transport losses are presented. This new method, referred to as “transient limiting current” (TLC), is compared with the literature method. TLC allows a direct estimation of oxygen transport resistance at an arbitrarily conditioned state. This study also presents a case study of liquid water visualization of a PEM fuel cell with varying GDLs types.
With the help of quasi in-situ synchrotron X-ray computed tomography and time resolved radiography measurements we investigate appearance and distribution of liquid water inside the GDLs under limiting current conditions.
Sugarcane bagasse is commonly combusted to generate energy. Unfortunately, recycling strategies rarely consider the resulting ash as a potential fertilizer. To evaluate this recycling strategy for a sustainable circular economy, we characterized bagasse ash as a fertilizer and measured the effects of co-gasification and co-combustion of bagasse with either chicken manure or sewage sludge: on the phosphorus (P) mass fraction, P-extractability, and mineral P phases. Furthermore, we investigated the ashes as fertilizer for soybeans under greenhouse conditions. All methods in combination are reliable indicators helping to assess and predict P availability from ashes to soybeans. The fertilizer efficiency of pure bagasse ash increased with the ash amount supplied to the substrate. Nevertheless, it was not as effective as fertilization with triple-superphosphate and K<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>, which we attributed to lower P availability. Co-gasification and co-combustion increased the P mass fraction in all bagasse-based ashes, but its extractability and availability to soybeans increased only when co-processed with chicken manure, because it enabled the formation of readily available Ca-alkali phosphates. Therefore, we recommend co-combusting biomass with alkali-rich residues to increase the availability of P from the ash to plants.
Accurate and reproducible measurement of the structure and properties of high-value nanoparticles is extremely important for their commercialization. A significant proportion of engineered nanoparticle systems consist of some form of nominally core-shell structure, whether by design or unintentionally. Often, these do not form an ideal core-shell structure, with typical deviations including polydispersity of the core or shell, uneven or incomplete shells, noncentral cores, and others. Such systems may be created with or without intent, and in either case an understanding of the conditions for formation of such particles is desirable. Precise determination of the structure, composition, size, and shell thickness of such particles can prove challenging without the use of a suitable range of characterization techniques. Here, the authors present two such polymer core-shell nanoparticle systems, consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene cores coated with a range of thicknesses of either polymethylmethacrylate or polystyrene. By consideration of surface energy, it is shown that these particles are expected to possess distinctly differing coating structures, with the polystyrene coating being incomplete. A comprehensive characterization of these systems is demonstrated, using a selection of complementary techniques including scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, differential centrifugal sedimentation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By combining the results provided by these techniques, it is possible to achieve superior characterization and understanding of the particle structure than could be obtained by considering results separately.
A variety of methods used to prepare nano-objects for surface analysis are described along with information about when they might be best applied. Intrinsic properties of NPs which complicate their characterization and need to be considered when planning for surface or other analyses of NPs are identified, including challenges associated with reproducible synthesis and functionalization of the particles as well as their dynamic nature. The relevant information about the sample preparation processes, along with analysis details and data that need to be added to the collection of material provenance information is identified. Examples of protocols that have been successfully used for preparation of nano-objects for surface analysis are included in an annex.
In this investigation, synchrotron X-ray imaging was used to investigate the water distribution inside newly developed gas diffusion media in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. In-situ radiography was used to reveal the relationship between the structure of the microporous layer (MPL) and the water flow in a newly developed MPL equipped with randomly arranged holes. A strong influence of these holes on the overall water transport was found. This contribution provides a brief overview to some of our recent activities on this research field.
In a systematic approach we synthesized a new series of fluorescent probes incorporating donor–acceptor (D-A) substituted 1,2,3-triazoles as conjugative π-linkers between the alkali metal ion receptor N-phenylaza-[18]crown-6 and different fluorophoric groups with different electron-acceptor properties (4-naphthalimide, meso-phenyl-BODIPY and 9-anthracene) and investigated their performance in organic and aqueous environments (physiological conditions). In the charge-transfer (CT) type probes 1, 2 and 7, the fluorescence is almost completely quenched by intramolecular CT (ICT) processes involving charge-separated states. In the presence of Na+ and K+ ICT is interrupted, which resulted in a lighting-up of the fluorescence in acetonitrile. Among the investigated fluoroionophores, compound 7, which contains a 9-anthracenyl moiety as the electron-accepting fluorophore, is the only probe which retains light-up features in water and works as a highly K+/Na+-selective probe under simulated physiological conditions. Virtually decoupled BODIPY-based 6 and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) type probes 3–5, where the 10-substituted anthracen-9-yl fluorophores are connected to the 1,2,3-triazole through a methylene spacer, show strong ion-induced fluorescence enhancement in acetonitrile, but not under physiological conditions. Electrochemical studies and theoretical calculations were used to assess and support the underlying mechanisms for the new ICT and PET 1,2,3-triazole fluoroionophores.