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Eingeladener Vortrag
- nein (1)
Even after autoclaving for 2 weeks in the temperature range of 120 to 200 °C, CEM I paste with a water-to-cement ratio of 0.5 still contains some low-crystalline C-S-H. The conversion of low-crystalline C-S-H to crystalline is faster with increasing temperature. The observed low-crystalline and crystalline C-S-H phases (reinhardbraunsite, jaffeite) indicate that the samples have not reached equilibrium yet under these experimental conditions. However, there is a good agreement between experiment and thermodynamic modelling for the other solids indicating that the used datasets are suitable for this application.
We report the scale-up of a batch solid synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) for reactive extrusion. The crystalline product forms in the extruder directly under the mixture of solid 2-methylimidazole and basic zinc carbonate in the presence of a catalytic amount of liquid. The process parameters such as temperature, liquid type, feeding rate, and linker excess were optimized using the setup specifically designed for in situ Raman spectroscopy. Highly crystalline ZIF-8 with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 1816 m2 g–1 was quantitatively prepared at mild temperature using a catalytic amount of ethanol and a small excess of the linker. Finally, we developed a simple and comprehensive approach to evaluating the environmental friendliness and scalability of metal–organic framework (MOF) syntheses in view of their large-scale production.
Optimizing the Green Synthesis of ZIF-8 by Reactive Extrusion Using In Situ Raman Spectroscopy
(2023)
ZIF-8 is a prominent member of the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) subfamily of MOFs which possesses high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stabilities. Different routes have been explored to achieve the large-scale production of ZIF-8. However, these synthetic procedures are often inconsistent with the principles of sustainable chemical manufacturing. Aimed at developing scalable and greener production of ZIF-8, we adapted our previously reported in-batch „mix and wait“ synthesis[2] to continuous extrusion. To optimize the process, in-situ Raman spectroscopy was applied. Finally, we developed a simple and comprehensive approach to evaluating the environmental friendliness and scalability of MOF syntheses in view of their large-scale production.
The synthesis of ZIF-8 was performed using a twin-screw extruder ZE 12 HMI equipped with an automatic volumetric feeder ZD 12B (Three-Tec GmbH, Switzerland) and peristaltic pump BT-L (Lead Fluid, China). The process was monitored in six different zones using a Raman RXN1TM analyzer (Kaiser Optical Systems, France) with a non-contact probe head. PMMA screw-in parts, which are transparent to Raman laser radiation, were specially manufactured to provide the laser focus within the barrel. PXRD, TGA, N2 adsorption measurements, and SEM were used as complementary techniques to characterize the extrudates.
The batch ‘mix and wait’ synthesis of ZIF-8, consisting of bringing solid basic zinc carbonate and 2-methylimidazole in contact in a closed vial, was successfully adapted to reactive extrusion. The crystalline ZIF-8 continuously forms in the extruder under the mixing of solid reagents in the presence of a catalytic amounts of H2O or EtOH. The temperature, type of liquid, feeding rate, and excess of linker were optimized using in situ Raman spectroscopy. Pure and highly crystalline ZIF-8 was isolated at 40 °C by adding a catalytic amount of EtOH and a linker excess of 25%. The resulting material has excellent porosity with the BET surface area slightly exceeding that of the reference Basolite® Z1200 (1816 vs. 1734 m2 g–1). The reaction could yield ~ 3 kg d–1 assuming a continuous operation, with a space-time yield of ca. 67,000 kg m–3 d–1. The present method was compared to the published pathways based on Green Chemistry principles and proved to have the highest potential for large-scale production of ZIF-8.
Metal-organic framework-based biocomposites (MOF-biocomposites) are promising materials for biosensing, biocatalysis, and delivery of biopharmaceuticals. One of the most studied MOFs for bioapplications is ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate framework 8) due to its high surface area, high thermal and chemical stability, and low cytotoxicity. The conventional synthesis of ZIF-8-biocomposites called biomimetic mineralization includes mixing selected biomolecules 2-methylimidazole, and soluble Zn2+ source in water. Despite the high efficiency of the method, it does not allow for large-scale production and is restricted to hydrophilic biomolecules. Aimed at developing a scalable and versatile approach, we adapted our recently-reported ZIF-8 reactive extrusion for biocomposite production.
We selected bovine serum albumin (BSA) as an inexpensive model biomacromolecule for the preparation of biocomposites. The synthesis of BSA@ZIF-8 was performed using a twin-screw extruder ZE 12 HMI (Three-Tec Gmbh) at a mild temperature of 40 °C. Automatic volumetric feeder ZD 12B (Three-Tec GmbH) was used to supply the reagent mixture consisting of 2-methylimidazole, zinc source, and BSA. To initiate the reaction, a catalytic amount of EtOH was added using a peristaltic pump BT-L (Lead Fluid, China). Powder X-Ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FTIR, and N2 adsorption were used to characterize the extrudates.
Highly crystalline and pure BSA@ZIF-8 with different BSA loadings was isolated after washing the extrudate with EtOH and sodium dodecyl sulfate. The EtOH feeding rate was optimized by following the protein encapsulation efficiency at a BSA mass fraction of 10%. A continuous extruder operation under optimized conditions showed good reproducibility and capability of producing biocomposites on the kilograms scale. These results provide highly valuable information for cheap and large-scale production of ZIF-8-based biocomposites. Due to the lack of restrictions on molecule size and solubility, our proof-of-concept study may significantly expand the selection of biomolecules for immobilization in ZIF-8, making the method applicable to various functional applications
The long-term global goals of achieving almost net zero carbon emissions in the next decades are closely linked to the development of highly efficient components in plant, process and energy engineering, and their sustainable and resource-saving production. Plant components must increasingly withstand tribological loads in addition to high thermal, mechanical, and corrosive stresses. Such combined stresses demand high-performance alloys economically tailored to the application for wear protection and components produced as semi-finished products, via additive manufacturing (AM) or claddings via deposition welding. For instance, the protection of special components made of less cost-intensive materials, e.g., steel in process engineering for screw machines or exhaust gas separation, is feasible applying cost-intensive Ni- or Co-based hard-phase claddings.
Today an increasing number of above-mentioned applications demand precise finishing machining of components to ensure defined compact surfaces with a high integrity and complex contours. Contour milling is standard process for finishing machining of metals. Especially, the desired properties of wear resistant materials (e.g., high strength, hard precipitations) imply significant challenges for milling processes and tools, leading frequently to uneconomic milling conditions due to intolerable high tool wear and surface defects. Inhomogeneous, anisotropic weld structures due to cladding or AM of wear resistance alloys lead to further deteriorations of milling processes due to unstable milling conditions and process forces during chip removal.
To tackle these challenges, already several approaches exist, (1) to enhance machinability of the claddings by alloy modifications to specifically influence solidification and hard phases morphology (precipitation shape, size, distribution) and (2) to achieve significant improvements of the machining situation (e.g., increase of tool life and surfaces integrity) by means of modern hybrid machining processes such as ultrasonic-assisted milling. This contribution shows a comprehensive overview of recent results with these promising approaches for additively welded Ni- CoCr-alloys.
Microplastics are solid polymeric particles with a size of 1-1000 μm (ISO/TR21960:2020), which can be emitted from mismanaged waste into the environment, where microplastic is now ubiquitous. What happens to the microplastics after ending up in the environment, which risks entail and what effects it has are not sufficiently clarified up to now. The most certain issue is that the plastic particles in the environment are exposed to natural ageing, are fragmenting and degrading, such that the potential risk to ecosystems and humans is increasing due to the formation of smaller and smaller particles, potentially even including nanoplastics, if these are ingested before their further degradation. Therefore, and in view of a possible registration of polymers under REACH in the future, it is necessary to investigate the degradation of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) regarding hydrolysis stability to evaluate possible risks and effects to the environment.
In the present studies, one thermoplastic polyurethane – with and without hydrolysis stabilizer – is exposed to different pH buffers at 50°C for 14 days to investigate hydrolysis depending to different pH values (acid, alkali and neutral) based on OECD guideline TG111. The hydrolysis behavior of the TPUs is characterized by surface sensitive techniques and on bulk properties. First degradation effects can be detected by SEC. Hydrolysis, especially under acidic and basic conditions, leads to chain scissions to lower molecular masses. Furthermore, the degradation products which indicate the structure of the bulk material were detected by thermo-analytical methods like TGA-FTIR for the small degradation products and the thermo extraction/desorption-gaschromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) for bigger degradation products. Acidic and basic hydrolysis shows the same degradation behavior which is caused by a preferred scission of the ester and urethane functionalities. Surface-sensitive techniques such as XPS demonstrate less carboxylic acid formation at acidic than at alkaline pH value in the TPU without stabilator, where as the TPU with stabilator ages to the same extent in both pH ranges. Altogether, the hydrolysis of TPUs – independently of added stabilizer or not – in acid and alkali environment is accelerated compared to the neutral hydrolysis.
Text Multiphoton lithography (MPL) has recently attracted significant research interest as a versatile tool capable of producing 2D and 3D micro- and nanoscopic features with high spatial resolution. The integrity of MPL microstructures, or their ability to respond to external stimuli, is of critical importance. However, achieving the desired properties of fabricated microcomponents for a specific application remains a challenge.
In this work, we present new MPL materials based on epoxy-acrylate interpenetrating networks (IPNs). We aim at 3D microstructures, whose properties can be easily tuned by varying the ratio of the IPN components and fabrication parameters (Figure 1). The resulting library of 3D microstructures was investigated for their thermal and mechanical properties using highly-sensitive space-resolved methods. Flash scanning calorimetry revealed the influence of both, IPN composition and fabrication parameters, on glass transition temperature and material fragility. AFM force-distance curve and intermodulation methods were used to characterize the mechanical properties with a lateral resolution of 1 micron and 4 nm, respectively. The deformation, stiffness and elastic behavior are discussed in detail in relation to the morphology. Moreover, we found that some 3D IPN microstructures exhibit fully elastic behavior. Our funding encourages the further development of IPN systems as versatile and easily tunable MPL materials.
To date, there are very few technologies available for the conversion of low-temperature waste heat into electricity. Thermomagnetic generators are one approach proposed more than a century ago. Such devices are based on a cyclic change of magnetization with temperature. This switches a magnetic flux and, according to Faraday’s law, induces a voltage.
Here we give an overview on our research, covering both materials and systems. We demonstrate that guiding the magnetic flux with an appropriate topology of the magnetic circuit improves the performance of thermomagnetic generators by orders of magnitude. Through a combination of experiments and simulations, we show that a pretzel-like topology results in a sign reversal of the magnetic flux. This avoids the drawbacks of previous designs, namely, magnetic stray fields, hysteresis and complex geometries of the thermomagnetic material.
Though magnetocaloric materials had been the first choice also for thermomagnetic generators, they require some different properties, which we illustrate with Ashby plots for materials selection. Experimentally we compare La-Fe-Co-Si and Gd plates in the same thermomagnetic generator. Furthermore, we discuss corrosion and deterioration under cyclic use is a severe problem occurring during operation. To amend this, composite plates using polymer as a matrix have been suggested previously.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are one of the most promising alternative green energy technologies that deliver high energy density without CO2 emissions. The proton conductivity of proton exchange membranes (PEM) contributes to the overall efficiency of a PEMFC. Materials being used as PEMs must exhibit high proton conductivity at the working conditions of the targeted PEMFC. To date, Nafion and Nafion-like polymers with acidic functionality are widely used as membrane materials due to their high proton conductivity in the range of 10-1 to 10-2 Scm-1 at higher relative humidity. However, these materials suffer from high costs, hazardous production process, and poor performance at high temperatures, limiting their versatility.
In this context, crystalline porous materials are recognized as promising proton conductors for the proton exchange membrane (PEM) in fuel cell technology, owing to their tunable framework structure. However, it is still challenging bulk synthesis for real-world applications of these materials. Herein, we present mechanochemical gram-scale synthesis of series of mixed ligand metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and metal hydrogen‐bonded organic frameworks (MHOFs) using phenylene diphosphonic acid and 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid with different bipyridyl type of ligands, respectively. In all cases, the existence of extensive hydrogen bonds with amphiprotic uncoordinated phosphonate hydroxyl and oxygen atoms, the frameworks exhibited high proton conductivity. The study demonstrates the potential of green mechanosynthesis for preparations of framework-based proton conducting materials in bulk scale for green energy generation.
Energetic materials (explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, and gas generators; EM) release large amounts of energy when initiated by mechanical loading and have many technological applications including in energy storage and propulsion. The accidental initiation of an EM – particularly in the wrong setting – has the potential to be catastrophic. Unfortunately, there is little understood about what determines the sensitivity of a given EM. This poses severe restrictions on our ability to design new and safer EMs.
Aiming to better understand the initiation mechanisms of EMs, we here investigate the reactivity of simple, isomorphous azides (MN3 M=Li, Na). Both metal azides contain the same explosophoric azido anions, but differ significantly in their reactivity, presumably owing to different bonding interactions between the anion and the metal cation. This interaction offers a promising probe for X-ray spectroscopy and quantum chemical simulations. In noting that mechanical initiation results from mechanical impact – with high local pressures – we are particularly interested in identifying how this bonding interaction changes as a function of pressure.
This interaction offers a promising probe for X-ray spectroscopy and quantum chemical simulations. In noting that mechanical initiation results from mechanical impact – with high local pressures – we are particularly interested in identifying how this bonding interaction changes as a function of pressure.
Here we show results from DFT simulations that indicate a shift in electronic structure and changes in the metal-azide bond with increasing pressure, which is further investigated through experimental XAS spectra. Together, our results show promising insights into the behaviour of simple metal azide EMs.
Tailor-made nanoparticles are of increasing interest in e.g. catalysis, as sensor materials, analytical assays, or can have superior photophysical properties. A major issue concerning the preparation of high-quality and functional nanoparticles is a good control of particle size, shape, polydispersity, and composition.
Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) is a non-destructive method for the analysis of nanostructures in a wide variety of materials. This method allows determining averaged structural parameters on a length scale from just above atomic sizes up to several 100 nanometers such as sizes, size distributions, volume fractions, and inner surface sizes. Moreover, anomalous Small Angle X-ray Scattering (ASAXS) exploits the anomalous dispersion of the scattering amplitudes near the X-ray absorption edges of the elements contained in the sample. These element sensitive contrast variations can be used to analyse average composition fluctuations on the nm scale. Two kinds of nanoparticles are chosen here to elaborate the advantages of ASAXS in the analysis of complex materials.
A facile and efficient methodology is developed for the thermal synthesis of size-tunable, stable, and uniform bimetallic NiCu core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) for various application in catalysis. Their diameter can be tuned in a range from 6 nm to 30 nm and the Ni:Cu ratio is adjustable in a wide range from 1:1 to 30:1. The NPs are structurally characterized by a method combination of transmission electron microscopy, anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS), X-ray absorption fine structure, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Here, we focus on the ASAXS method and its ability to analyses nanostructure parts and their compositions at once. As a result, a NiCu alloyed core surrounded by a Ni enriched shell and an outer NiO shell was found.
Semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots, QDs) are well known for their superior photophysical properties and enabled advancements in several key technologies of the 21st century and numerous technological applications like in photovoltaics, LED displays, photocatalysis, and biosensing. To achieve high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) and enhanced photostability the QD core needs to be passivated by a second semiconductor, which possess a larger band gap to confine the charges within the QD core. An important parameter is thereby the lattice mismatch between the core and shell. To avoid strong lattice strain, which would alter the photophysical properties, an intermediary shell can be used as a lattice adapter between the core and the outer shell leading to core/shell/shell systems. These systems have shown to possess high PLQYs combined with a strong long-term stability and can be found in modern QLED displays. ASAXS was used here to better understand the core/shell/shell structure of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs to enable a correlation between their structural and photophysical properties.
The system Na2O.B2O3-SiO2 (NBS) is the basis of many industrial glass applications and therefore one of the most studied systems at all. Glass formation is possible over a wide compositional range, but the system also contains ranges of pronounced phase separation and crystallization tendency. Despite its importance, experimental data are limited to few compositional areas. The general understanding and modelling of glass formation, phase separation, and crystallization in this system would therefore be easier if small step melt series could be studied. The efficient melting of such glass series is now possible with the new robotic glass melting system at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM, Division Glasses). Using three exemplary joins within this NBS system, the small step changes of glass transition temperature (Tg), crystallization behavior as well as glass density (Roh) was studied. Additionally, experimental Tg and Roh data were compared with their modeled counterparts using SciGlass and a newly developed DFT model, respectively.
Offshore wind turbines (OWT) are a key factor of the sustainable energy generation of tomorrow. The continuously increasing installation depths and weight of the OWTs require suitable foundation concepts like monopiles or tripods. Typically, mild steels like the S420ML are used with plate thicknesses up to several hundreds of mm causing high restraints in the weld joints. Due to the large plate thickness, submerged arc welding (SAW) with multiple wires is the state-of-the-art welding procedure. As a result of the very high stiffness of the construction, a certain susceptibility for time-delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking (HAC) may occur. The evaluation of crack susceptibility is very complex due to the component size and stiffness of real offshore structures. For this purpose, a near-component test geometry was developed to transfer the real stiffness conditions to laboratory (i.e., workshop) scale. The investigated mock-up, weighing 350 kg, comprised heavy plates (thickness 50 mm, seam length 1,000 m) joined by a 22-pass submerged arc weld. Additional stiffeners simulated the effect of high restraint or shrinkage restraint of the weld. Extreme scenarios of hydrogen absorption during welding were simulated via the use of welding fluxes in dry (HD < 5 ml/100g Fe) and moisture condition (HD > 15 ml/100g Fe). The residual stresses were determined by a robot X-ray diffractometer. Areas of critical tensile residual stress (at the level of the yield strength) were found in the weld metal and heat affected zone. To identify possible delayed cracking, the welds were tested by phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) after 48 h. Summarized, no significant occurrence of HAC was detected, indicating the high crack resistance of the welded joint, i.e., a suitable combination of base material, welding consumable and welding parameters.
The Kemnitz et al. developed a fluorolytic route to access metal fluorides 1 such as AlF3 2 and MgF2 3 which possess a high surface area. In aluminium-based systems, the synthetic approach led to amorphous xerogels that can be further converted into Lewis superacids.2 Still, despite zirconium oxide being described as a stronger Lewis acid than other metal oxides4 zirconium fluoride-based materials have only recently been reported or investigated. In this work we extend the class of amorphous Lewis acidic heterogeneous catalysts to an amorphous ZrF4 that is active in C-F bond activation.
Knowledge representation in the materials science and engineering (MSE) domain is a vast and multi-faceted challenge: Overlap, ambiguity, and inconsistency in terminology are common. Invariant and variant knowledge are difficult to align cross-domain. Generic top-level semantic terminology often is too abstract, while MSE domain terminology often is too specific.
In this poster presentation, an approach how to maintain a comprehensive and intuitive MSE-centric terminology composing a mid-level ontology–the PMD core ontology (PMDco)–via MSE community-based curation procedures is shown.
The PMDco is designed in direct support of the FAIR principles to address immediate needs of the global experts community and their requirements. The illustrated findings show how the PMDco bridges semantic gaps between high-level, MSE-specific, and other science domain semantics, how the PMDco lowers development and integration thresholds, and how to fuel it from real-world data sources ranging from manually conducted experiments and simulations as well as continuously automated industrial applications.
The storage of spent fuel and high level radioactive waste in Germany is performed in interim storage containers with double lid systems. The lids are bolted and equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) to ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. The used metal seals have a layered structure consisting of three components as can be seen schematically in the cross-sectional view in Fig. 1.
In the center a helical spring is positioned that is surrounded by two C-shaped jackets and is mainly responsible for generation of the required restoring force. The inner jacket is made of stainless steel and homogenizes the restoring force of the helical spring. The outer jacket is made of silver or aluminium which both are soft metals in comparison to the contact partners (lid and container body). During bolting of the lid to the container body the seal is compressed. The generated restoring force of the helical spring causes a plastic deformation of the outer jacket and adapts to the surfaces of the lid and the container body. Hence, leakage paths are closed and the sealing function is generated.
Typical durations for existing interim storage licenses in Germany are 40 years, but it can be expected that they have to be extended to longer periods as a final repository will not be available before the end of the running licence periods. This extension of license periods requires a solid understanding of the long-term behaviour of the seals under storage conditions. To meet this challenge long-term investigations have been started at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) in 2009. These tests focus on seals assembled in test flanges which are stored at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150 °C for accelerated ageing. The aged seals are tested repeatedly after certain ageing steps and the leakage rate as indicator for sealing performance, the remaining seal force, and the useable resilience upon decompression are determined.
In the poster an update on the performed investigations in respect to earlier publications (Grelle et al. 2019, Goral et al. 2023) will be given and the implications of the results for resilient long term safety will be presented. Additionally, a focus will be laid on the currently planned further investigations and the question “What is additionally needed for evaluation of an interim storage period extension in regard to the used metal seals?” will be addressed.
Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have gained remarkable attention as they represent a universal phenomenon that is often accompanying laser-processing. Such LIPSS enable a large variety of different surface functionalizations for applications in the fields of optics, fluidics, tribology, or medicine. Moreover, so-called “high spatial frequency LIPSS” (HSFL) provide an appealing and straightforward way for surface nanostructuring featuring spatial periods even below 100 nm – far beyond the optical diffraction limit. However, the imposed surface functionalities are usually caused by both, topographic and chemical surface alterations. For exploring these effects in detail, multi-method characterizations were performed here for HSFL on processed Ti- 6Al- 4V alloy upon irradiation with near-infrared ps-laser pulses (1030 nm wavelength, ~1 ps pulse duration, 1 – 400 kHz pulse repetition rate) under different laser and scan processing conditions. The sample characterization involved morphological and topographical investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), stylus profilometry (SP), and white light interference microscopy (WLIM), as well as near-surface chemical analyses by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and depth-profiling time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). The results allow to qualify the laser ablation depth, the geometrical HSFL characteristics and provide detailed insights into the depth extent and the nature of the ps-laser-induced near-surface oxidation. Significance for medical applications will be outlined.
Enhancing the fracture toughness is still one of the major challenges in the field of oxide glasses. To screen different glass systems for promising candidates, a theoretical expression for the fracture surface energy, G, linked to the fracture toughness, KIc, is thus of interest. Extending our earlier work on nucleation and surface energies [1], we present a simple approach for predicting the fracture surface energy of oxide glasses, G using readily available crystallographic structure data and diatomic bond energies. The proposed method assumes that G of glass equals the surface fracture energy of the weakest fracture (cleavage) plane of the isochemical crystal. For non-isochemically crystallizing glasses, an average G is calculated from the weighed fracture energy data of the constitutional crystal phases according to Conradt [2]. Our predictions yield good agreement with the glass density- and chemical bond energy-based prediction model of Rouxel [3] and with experimentally obtained G values known at present.
[1] C. Tielemann, S. Reinsch, R. Maass, J. Deubener, R. Müller, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 2022, 14, 100093
[2] R. Conradt, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 2004, 345-346, 16
[3] R., Tanguy, Scripta Materialia 2017, 109-13, 137
Determining thermal transitions in thin polymer layers by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry
(2023)
Thin polymer layers have enormous technical significance as polymer coatings on materials are very cost-effective for tailoring properties of surfaces. Apart from technical aspects in their use, thin polymer layers can be used to determine dimensional aspects in properties of material, such as confinement effects.
In this work, we investigated several different polymer layer materials and determined their glass transition region by means of temperature-dependent spectroscopic ellipsometry. We have optimised our fitting procedure of the ellipsometric data produced in temperature ramp experiments. By this, we could measure the dependence of Tg on the layer thickness in a wide variety of thickness values, proving the existence of confinement effects in the investigated systems. We compare numerical methods for determining the location of the glass transition and discuss the possibilities of different analysis methods when determining thermal transitions. We also discuss the simultaneous existence of these transitions and annealing effects and the implications on the accuracy of the determined data.
Damage induced by electric field (DIEF) that happens in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) when converging the electron beam (e-beam) on microparticles (MPs) can be used to synthesis new nanomaterial and nanomaterial compositions. The research questions are to clarify the limits and possibilities of the method regarding materials that can be produced, systems to which it is applicable and working beam parameters. Synthesis of nano-objects from microparticles using DIEF in TEM could be shown for different materials. Additionally, DIEF using the e-beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) can also be used to synthesis nano-objects. A deeper material analysis of this nano-objects was done using TEM and shows that the material of the nanoparticles (NPs) can be gold or/and silicon. Furthermore, the size of the NPs depends on the distance to the center of DIEF whereby the larger NPs are closer to the center. The areas of gold NPs are promising candidates for plasmonic or photonic devices for energy storage or transport.
Material Selection Strategy
(2023)
1. Introduction
A normally unwanted process that can arise when converging an electron beam onto, e.g. microparticles, has been called "damage induced by electric field" (DIEF) [1]. By DIEF, the convergent electron beam (CEB) imparts a high amount of energy to the microparticle locally and strongly interacts with its atoms. At a specific current density J, which can be controlled by the convergence angle α, the irradiated material begins to transform. The phenomenon of expelling nanomaterial from microparticles under the influence of a convergent electron beam (CB) in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) has been largely studied [2]. Several types of nanoparticles (NPs) have been observed for different metallic materials and metal oxides after specific CB protocols (P) in the TEM. Thus, DIEF can be used as a promising synthesis method controlled changes of micrometric material to create new nanometric material compositions and morphologies.
While these reactions have been observed in situ at the high acceleration voltages associated with TEM, it remains unclear whether the SEM can also be used to fabricate NPs via DIEF. In contrast to TEM there is no possibility to statically convert the electron beam to a range of α to reach the needed J as in TEM. Instead, the scanning parameters and the magnification can be manipulated so as to find an integrated J. Considering that the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is easier to use, more accessible and cheaper than a TEM, here we explore the possibility to transfer the concepts of DIEF known to operate in the TEM for in situ NP generation SEM.
2. Objectives
The main goal is to determine whether DIEF can be translated to the SEM perform to controlled in situ fabrication of nanoparticles from microparticles, using gold microparticles on amorphous SiO substrate as precursors. We determine what experimental parameters must be taken into account to create SEM-based CBPs for NP creation in the SEM with these materials.
3. Materials & methods
Gold microparticles with diameter of around 1 to 3 µm were deposited on electron transparent amorphous SiO/SiO2 substrate. Using a convergent electron beam protocol (CBP) in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at an acceleration voltage of 30 kV, the gold microparticles were irradiated until a production of NPs takes place as shown in figure 1. The beam current varied between 16 and 23 nA.
4. Results
Depending on the CBP parameters, either only Au NPs or a mixture of Au and Si NPs are produced. The particle size ranges from a few nm up to 100 nm, and it depends on the distance of the NP to the initial position of the microparticle. Further beam parameters such as the dwell time, the effective irradiated volume and particle size determine whether NPs are produced or if the microparticles only are expelled from the substrate without reacting.
5. Conclusion
The SEM can be used as an instrument for synthesizing nanomaterials via DIEF. Different CBP protocols can be applied for obtaining either gold nanoparticles or silicon + gold nanoparticles
The phenomenon of expelling nanomaterial from microparticles of different materials, such as Au, WO3 or B2O3 under the influence of a convergent electron beam (CB) of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) was reviewed by Ignacio Gonzalez-Martinez [1]. Converging the e-beam in a TEM means that a high amount of energy enters the microparticle at a very local place and interact with the matter. Obviously, during the convergent beam protocol, no imaging with the electron beam is possible, but at the end, nanoparticles with different appearances lie down next to the microparticle while its size is reduced.
Hence, there is a blind spot in the observation, which we want to fill, as we want to help clarify the nature of the expelling phenomenon. One hypothesis that explains the phenomenon is the so-called damage (of the microparticle) induced by an electric field (DIEF). Within this theory, the material is ionized and expelled in form of ionic waves. Our aim is therefore to fabricate specimens with artificial microlandscapes, as schematically exemplified in figure 1a), using the focused ion beam (FIB) and micromanipulators, as experimental setups to follow the paths of the expelled material.
As a first step towards the fabrication of such specimen, we make experimental feasibility studies for each fabrication method, FIB structuring with Ga+ ion beam and micromanipulated microparticle deposition. Bridges (gray regions in Fig. 1) are created by milling a commercially available electron transparent membrane (silicon oxide or carbon) of a Cu-TEM grid. Platinum or carbon walls (blue features in Fig. 1) are built to stand on those bridges. Microparticles (yellow sphere in Fig. 1) of gold or other material are deposited in the center of the bridges.
Figure 2a) shows four square holes (black area) and between them the residual silicon oxide membrane bridges (dark grey). On top of the bridges, walls (light grey) are deposited. The width of the bridges is different, the walls overlap the holes as well as the distance between the walls is very small, so these and other parameters need to be optimized. Figure 2b) shows a square hole (black) with bridges (white) on the right side on top of a carbon membrane (grey). There are still some obstacles which needs to be eliminated. For instance, the deposition process of the walls is not reliable as visible at the wall on top where a hole arises instead of a wall.
These studies are still in progress and the results are further discussed in terms of the applicability for the DIEF experiment in the TEM.
Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Luminescent Nanocrystals and Particles in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR
(2023)
The rational design of functional luminescent materials such as semiconductor quantum dots and lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles, all photophysical and mechanistic studies, and the comparison of different emitters require accurate and quantitative photoluminescence measurements. Particularly the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (f), the number of emitted per absorbed photons, and the brightness are of special importance for luminescence applications in the life and material sciences and nano(bio)photonics.[1] In this context, examples for absolute measurements of the photoluminescence quantum yields of UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emissive semiconductor quantum dots and rods, made from different materials, and spectrally shifting lanthanide upconversion nanocrystals with different surface chemistries in transparent matrices are presented including excitation wavelength and power density dependent studies utilizing integration sphere spectroscopy.[2,3] In addition, procedures for the absolute determination of the photoluminescence quantum yields of scattering dispersions of larger size quantum rods and differently sized inorganic particles have been developed as well as procedures for the characterization of solid luminescent nanomaterials such as different perovskites and YAG:Cer converter materials.[4] Thereby, challenges and pitfalls of f measurements in different wavelength regions including the SWIR and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes are addressed, achievable uncertainties are quantified, and relative and absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yield measurements are compared to underline limitations of the former approach. Finally, a set of novel UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards is presented including their certification with a complete uncertainty budget.[5]
Packagings for the transport of dangerous goods need to meet special requirements to get an approval. This includes free fall drop testing onto an essentially unyielding surface as a means to assess a package’s resistance to mechanical damage. A main requirement for drop tests is that the impact target’s mass shall be at least 50 times that of the heaviest package to be tested. Nevertheless, many manufacturers do not possess foundation structures with the required mass ratio. Previous evidence highlights that the mass ratio is not a decisive criterion on its own. Parameters such as the impact target foundation’s connection and the impulse experienced by the impacting object are essential as well. However, these factors are not easily verifiable since experimental measurements are not possible at most facilities. The objective of this work is to provide a detailed analysis on the interaction between impact target foundation and subgrade in dynamic impact testing using validated finite-element (FE) models. This research is highly beneficial for industrial application since it allows manufacturers to make informed predictions about the mechanical response of installed impact target foundations.
The PMD Core Ontology (PMDco) is a comprehensive set of building blocks produced via consensus building. The ontological building blocks provide a framework representing knowledge about fundamental concepts used in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) today. The PMDco is a mid-level ontology that establishes connections between narrower MSE application ontologies and domain neutral concepts used in already established broader (top-level) ontologies. The primary goal of the PMDco design is to enable interoperability between various other MSE-related ontologies and other common ontologies.
PMDco’s class structure is both comprehensive and extensible, rendering it an efficient tool to structure MSE knowledge. The PMDco serves as a semantic middle-layer unifying common MSE concepts via semantic mapping to other semantic representations using well-known key terms used in the MSE domain. The PMDco enables straight-forward documentation and tracking of science data generation and in consequence enables high-quality FAIR data that allows for precise reproducibility of scientific experiments.
The design of PMDco is based on the W3C Provenance Ontology (PROV-O), which provides a standard framework for capturing the production, derivation, and attribution of resources. Via this foundation, the PMDco enables the integration of data from various data origins and the representation of complex workflows.
In summary, the PMDco is a valuable advancement for researchers and practitioners in MSE domains. It provides a common MSE vocabulary to represent and share knowledge, allowing for efficient collaboration and promoting interoperability between diverse domains. Its design allows for the systematic integration of data and metadata, enabling seamless tracing of science data. Overall, the PMDco is a crucial step towards a unified and comprehensive understanding of the MSE domain in general.
Argyrodite-type materials have lately sparked a lot of research interest due to their thermoelectric properties. One promising candidate is canfieldite (Ag8SnS6), which has a Pna21 orthorhombic crystal structure at room temperature (RT). Recently, Slade group found a new low-temperature (LT) phase transition of canfieldite at 120K. Therefore, we investigate structural, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of Ag8SnS6 at room- and low-temperature employing density-functional theory (DFT) and lattice dynamics computations. Thermal properties calculations were based on the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) as implemented in phonopy. We achieve good agreement with experiments. Lattice parameters were overestimated by 2%, and thermal properties such as the constant-pressure heat capacity Cp are very close to experimental measurements. Our simulations also reveal a possible new phase transition at around 312 K. Furthermore, we compared RT and LT Ag8SnS6 Grüneisen parameters with some argyrodites analogues, Ag8TS6 (T = Si, Ge, Ti and Sn), finding a relationship between the anharmonicity and low thermal conductivity.
Zirconium vanadate (ZrV2O7) is a well-known negative thermal expansion (NTE) material which exhibits significant isotropic contraction over a broad temperature range (~150°C < T < 800°C). The linear thermal expansion coefficient of ZrV2O7 is −7.1×10-6 K-. Therefore, it can be used to create composites with controllable expansion coefficients and prevent destruction by thermal shock.
Material characterization, leading to application, requires pure, homogenous samples of high crystallinity via a reliable synthesis route. While there is a selection of described syntheses in the literature, it still needs to be addressed which synthesis route leads to truly pure and homogenous samples. Here, we study the influence of the synthesis methods (solid-state, sol-gel, solvothermal) and their parameters on the sample's purity, crystallinity, and homogeneity. The reproducibility of results and data obtained with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis (DSC/TGA) were analyzed extensively. The sol-gel method proves superior to the solid-state method and produces higher-quality samples over varying parameters. Sample purity also plays an important role in NTE micro and macro-scale characterizations that explain the impact of porosity versus structural changes.
Moreover, we implement ab-initio-based vibrational computations with partially treated anharmonicity (quasi-harmonic approximation, temperature-dependent effective harmonic potentials) in combination with experimental methods to follow and rationalize the negative thermal expansion in this material, including the influence of the local structure disorder, microstructure, and defects. Khosrovani et al. and Korthuis et al., in a series of diffraction experiments, attributed the thermal contraction of ZrV2O7 to the transverse thermal motion of oxygen atoms in V-O-V linkages. In addition to previous explanations, we hypothesize that local disorder develops in ZrV2O7 crystals during heating.
We are working on the experimental ZrV2O7 development and discuss difficulties one might face in the process as well as high-quality sample significance in further investigation. The obtained samples are currently used in the ongoing research of structure analysis and the negative thermal expansion mechanism.
Zirconium vanadate (ZrV2O7) is a well-known negative thermal expansion (NTE) material which exhibits significant isotropic contraction over a broad temperature range (~150°C < T < 800°C). The linear thermal expansion coefficient of ZrV2O7 is −7.1×10-6 K-. Therefore, it can be used to create composites with controllable expansion coefficients and prevent destruction by thermal shock.
Material characterization, leading to application, requires pure, homogenous samples of high crystallinity via a reliable synthesis route. While there is a selection of described syntheses in the literature, it still needs to be addressed which synthesis route leads to truly pure and homogenous samples. Here, we study the influence of the synthesis methods (solid-state, sol-gel, solvothermal) and their parameters on the sample's purity, crystallinity, and homogeneity. The reproducibility of results and data obtained with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis (DSC/TGA) were analyzed extensively. The sol-gel method proves superior to the solid-state method and produces higher-quality samples over varying parameters. Sample purity also plays an important role in NTE micro and macro-scale characterizations that explain the impact of porosity versus structural changes.
Moreover, we implement ab-initio-based vibrational computations with partially treated anharmonicity (quasi-harmonic approximation, temperature-dependent effective harmonic potentials) in combination with experimental methods to follow and rationalize the negative thermal expansion in this material, including the influence of the local structure disorder, microstructure, and defects. Khosrovani et al. and Korthuis et al., in a series of diffraction experiments, attributed the thermal contraction of ZrV2O7 to the transverse thermal motion of oxygen atoms in V-O-V linkages. In addition to previous explanations, we hypothesize that local disorder develops in ZrV2O7 crystals during heating.
We are working on the experimental ZrV2O7 development and discuss difficulties one might face in the process as well as high-quality sample significance in further investigation. The obtained samples are currently used in the ongoing research of structure analysis and the negative thermal expansion mechanism.
Zirconium vanadate (ZrV2O7) is a well-known negative thermal expansion (NTE) material which exhibits significant isotropic contraction over a broad temperature range (~150°C < T < 800°C). The linear thermal expansion coefficient of ZrV2O7 is −7.1×10-6 K-1. Therefore, it can be used to create composites with controllable expansion coefficients and prevent destruction by thermal shock.
Material characterization, leading to application, requires pure, homogenous samples of high crystallinity via a reliable synthesis route. While there is a selection of described syntheses in the literature, it still needs to be addressed which synthesis route leads to truly pure and homogenous samples. Here, we study the influence of the synthesis methods (solid-state, sol-gel, solvothermal) and their parameters on the sample's purity, crystallinity, and homogeneity. The reproducibility of results and data obtained with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis (DSC/TGA) were analyzed extensively. The sol-gel method proves superior to the solid-state method and produces higher-quality samples over varying parameters. Sample purity also plays an important role in NTE micro and macro-scale characterizations that explain the impact of porosity versus structural changes.
Moreover, we implement ab-initio-based vibrational computations with partially treated anharmonicity (quasi-harmonic approximation, temperature-dependent effective harmonic potentials) in combination with experimental methods to follow and rationalize the negative thermal expansion in this material, including the influence of the local structure disorder, microstructure, and defects. Khosrovani et al. and Korthuis et al., in a series of diffraction experiments, attributed the thermal contraction of ZrV2O7 to the transverse thermal motion of oxygen atoms in V-O-V linkages. In addition to previous explanations, we hypothesize that local disorder develops in ZrV2O7 crystals during heating.
We are working on the experimental ZrV2O7 development and discuss difficulties one might face in the process as well as high-quality sample significance in further investigation. The obtained samples are currently used in the ongoing research of structure analysis and the negative thermal expansion mechanism.
Current challenges and objectives for non-invasive optical bioimaging are deep tissue penetration, high detection sensitivity, high spatial and temporal resolution, and fast data acquisition. A promising spectral window to tackle these challenges is the short-wave infrared (SWIR) ranging from 900 nm to 1700 nm where scattering, absorption, and autofluorescence of biological components are strongly reduced compared to the visible/NIR. At present, the best performing SWIR contrast agents are based on nanomaterials containing toxic heavy-metal ions like cadmium or lead, which raises great concerns for biological applications. Promising heavy-metal free nanoscale candidates are gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs). The photoluminescence (PL) of both types of nanomaterials is very sensitive to their size, composition of their surface ligand shell, and element composition, which provides an elegant handle to fine-tune their absorption and emission features and boost thereby the size of the signals recorded in bioimaging studies.
Aiming for the development of SWIR contrast agents with optimum performance, we dived deeper into the photophysical processes occurring in these nanomaterials, thereby exploring in depth how the environment, surface ligand composition, and the incorporation of transition metals influence the optical properties of AuNCs and Ag2S NPs. We observed a strong enhancement of the SWIR emission of AuNCs upon exposure to different local environments (in solution, polymer, and in the solid state). Addition of metal ions such as Zn2+ to Ag2S based NPs led to a strong PL enhancement, yielding PL quantum yields of about 10% and thus making them highly suitable for non-invasive deep imaging of vascular networks and 3D fluid flow mapping.
In recent years, chromium (III) complexes have received a lot of attention as novel near-infrared (NIR) emitters. This interest was triggered by the report on the first molecular ruby Cr(ddpd)2(BF4)3 with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 13.7% of its near infrared (NIR) emission band and a long luminescence lifetime of 1.122 ms at room temperature. Meanwhile, the influence of triplet oxygen, temperature, and pressure on the optical properties of different molecular rubies have been assessed. These features make these molecular rubies promising candidates for multi-analyte optical sensing applications and the generation of singlet oxygen for photocatalysis and photodynamic therapy. However, in an oxygen-containing environment, the photoluminescence quantum yields and luminescence lifetimes of these chromium(III) complexes show only very small values. This hampers their application as NIR luminescence labels. This application, that cannot be tackled by conventional deoxygenating approaches, requires suitable strategies to protect the luminescence of the chromium(III) complexes from oxygen quenching. Typical approaches to reduce the oxygen sensitivity of long-lived luminophores include the encapsulation into an oxygen-shielding matrix or less commonly employed, by tuning the bulkiness of the ligands for oxygen-sensitive coordination compounds. An elegant approach to reduce the undesired luminescence quenching by triplet oxygen explored by us presents the incorporation of these chromium(III) complexes into amorphous, non-porous silica nanoparticles, that can be simply surface functionalized, e.g., with targeting ligands and/or other sensor molecules. This can enable the use of such chromium(III) complexes as reporters for bioanalytical assays and bioimaging without the need to introduce reactive groups into the ligands and can pave the road to lifetime tuning.
In this work, as first proof-of-concept experiments, a set of chromium (III) complexes constituting of different ligands and counter anions, were embedded into the core of silica nanoparticles. As an alternative synthesis strategy, selected complexes were incorporated into a silica shell formed around the core of self-made silica nanoparticles. Subsequently, the optical properties of the resulting luminescent silica nanoparticles were spectroscopically assessed by steady state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. First results of time-resolved luminescence measurements of the Cr(ddpd)2(PF6)3 complex incorporated into 25nm large silica nanoparticles dispersed in aerated water in comparison to the decay kinetics obtained for this complex in acetonitrile in air showed an increase in lifetime from 46 µs to 1147 µs. This confirming our design concept of nanoscale NIR emissive Cr(III) reporters.
At present, the field of research on nanostructures is actively developing, which is due to their unique physico-chemical properties compared to bulk materials. Many research activities are focused on obtaining nanocomposites, which combine various types of nanostructures with different properties and function. For example, the development of magneto-luminescent nanocomposites makes it possible to use their luminescence for optical imaging, and their magnetic properties for magnetic targeted delivery and as agents of hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging.
My master studies as part of the project Goszadanie 2019-1080 at ITMO were focused on the investigation of nanocomposites, consisting of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) as luminescent component and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as magnetic one, in solution and during their incubation with HeLa cells. The spectrally resolved analysis of the QD photoluminescence (PL) kinetics of the free QDs and the QDs incorporated in these nanocomposites undergoing energy transfer processes allowed for (1) understanding the reasons for the quenching of QD luminescence in cells, (2) evaluating the average distance between the QDs and, based on this, concluding the degree of QD aggregation in cells, and (3) drawing conclusions about the QD-quencher composites integrity in cells. Overall, the analysis of the PL kinetics confirmed that QDs and SPIONs remain bound in the obtained nanocomposites during incubation with cells.
To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials in biomedicine and the transition from their laboratory preparation and studies to their use in different applications and in industry, it is crucial to develop reliable measurement methods and reference materials candidates for the characterization of functional nanomaterials and assessing the quality of the obtained nanostructures. My recently started project at BAM, which is part of the EU metrology project MeTrINo, will be devoted to this topic. There we will focus on the development of methodologies for the synthesis and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles, already used in biomedicine, and multi-element lanthanide-based nanoparticles with attractive upconversion luminescence, as reference materials with high monodispersity and reproducibility. Also, these nanoparticles will be functionalized with organic dyes for optical imaging and, probably, the study of the energy transfer phenomena.
Dredging sediment refers to materials removed from the bottom of a water body during dredging operations. Mainly the dreading mud contains clay, silt, sand, water, and alkalis. This work incorporated dredging mud into the calcium sulfoaluminate cement at replacement levels of 0%, 10%, 30%, and 50% by weight. Pastes were evaluated after 1d, 28d, and 90d- hydration through mechanical strengths and the reaction rate by isothermal conduction calorimetry. XRD and MIP characterized the reaction products. The findings showed that small replacements (10% and 30%) increased early strength with higher ettringite formation in the system at 1d of curing. However, the evolution of mechanical strength was lower than the reference (0% replacement) over time. The results showed that in low replacement dosages, the dredging mud act as a nucleation site for the hydration of calcium sulfoaluminate phases.
Zirconium chloro fluoride as catalyst for C-F bond activation and HF transfer of fluoroalkanes
(2023)
In this work, we successfully synthesized amorphous zirconium chloro fluoride (ZCF), which exhibits medium lewis acidity. In addition to investigating the local coordination sphere around the Zr atoms and the material properties, we were able to establish a catalytic behavior of ZCF in C-F bond activation reactions. We present a heterogeneous catalyst that performs dehydrofluorination of a fluoroalkane and consecutive hydrofluorination of an alkyne at room temperature.
Investigating the phononic properties is beneficial for predicting low thermal conductivity thermoelectric materials.1–3 Employing density functional theory4 takes many calculation steps and consumes a lot of computational resources.5,6 Using machine learning driven interatomic potentials (MLIP, e.g., Gaussian approximation potential,8 GAP) opens up a faster route to phonons7 but in most cases, the potentials are specifically tailored for a certain compound. In this work, we automate the generation of such MLIPs in a Python code-based workflow, based on the automation tools atomate29 and pymatgen10 which combines the automatic DFT computations with the automated fitting of GAPs. Automation enables easier testing, benchmarking and validation.11 We aim to provide the workflow-generated potentials for storage in databases.
In our current view, reference datasets in the MSE domain represent specific material properties, e.g., structural, mechanical, … characteristics. A reference dataset must fulfill high-quality standards, not only in precision of measurement but also in a comprehensive documentation of material, processing, and testing history (metadata). This Infrastructure Use Case (IUC) aims to develop a framework for generating reference material datasets using creep data of a single crystal Ni-based superalloy as a best practice example. In a community-driven process, we aim to encourage the discussion and establish a framework for the creation and distribution of reference material datasets. In this poster presentation, we highlight our current vision and activities and intend to stimulate the discussion about the topic reference datasets and future collaborations and work.
Understanding the fundamentals of bioreceptivity enables the developement of functionalized materials. Concrete as the most used building material worldwide is of special interest as microbially greened panels may represent an alternative to classic façade greening with plants. This project includes extensive outdoor experiments, in which eight differently structured concrete panels are weathered under different conditions, aiming to grow a stable biofilm of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. Documentation and data analysis of this experiment will be demonstrated using an example of one of the surfaces.
Understanding the chemistry and nature of individual chemical bonds is essential for materials design. Bonding analysis via the LOBSTER software package has provided valuable insights into the properties of materials for thermoelectric and catalysis applications. Thus, the data generated from
bonding analysis becomes an invaluable asset that could be utilized as features in large-scale data analysis and machine learning of material properties. However, no systematic studies exist that conducted high-throughput materials simulations to curate and validate bonding data obtained from LOBSTER. Here we present an approach to constructing such a large database consisting of quantum-chemical bonding information.
Argyrodite-type materials have lately sparked a lot of research interest due to their thermoelectric properties.One promising candidate is canfieldite (Ag8SnS6), which has a Pna21 orthorhombic crystal structure at room temperature (RT). Recently, a new low-temperature (LT) phase transition of canfieldite at 120K has been found. Here, we investigate structural, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of Ag8SnS6 at room- and low-temperature employing density functional theory (DFT) and lattice dynamics computations. Thermal properties calculations were based on the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) as implemented in phonopy. We achieve good agreement with experiments. Thermal properties such as the constant-pressure heat capacity (Cp) and thermal conductivity are very close to experimental measurements. Furthermore, we compared RT and LT Ag8SnS6 Grüneisen parameters with argyrodites analogues, Ag8XS6 (X = Sn, Si, Ge), to arrive at an improved
In dentistry it is of great interest to achieve good sealing interzones between tooth tissue and restoration materials to avoid, e. g. secondary caries. μXRF and CμXRF are suitable to investigate the elemental composition at these interzones in respect to diffusion of elements. Synchrotron X-ray refraction radiography (SXRR) and μCT measurements deliver highly resolved structural information and make structural changes such as micro cracks within the filling and the tooth tissue visible. The presented measurements are part of the DFG funded project IXdent (Integrative X-ray techniques for chemical and structural characterizations of dental interzones.)
The depth-resolved CμXRF measurements are affected by absorption effects, making a quantitative investigation of the interzone in depth difficult. Full 3D quantification of heterogenous samples requires a complete model including dark matrix and density for each voxel. The combination of different techniques paves the way for a quantitative analysis of dental interzones.
In the maritime context of offshore operation, corrosion, in combination with the materials used, poses a particular challenge to ensure safe operation over long indefinite periods and to minimise susceptibility to failure. Until today, only a few corrosion protection systems have proven themselves for the interaction of efficiency, installation, and maintenance in the offshore sector. In addition, available corrosion test methods sometimes have major deficits about conclusions of the durability. Therefore, there is more research and development needed.
The flagship project H2Mare of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research aims to enable the production of green hydrogen and PtX products at high seas. Research is being driven forward by the partners in four individual projects, where BAM is involved in two.
In PtX-Wind, major kinds of corrosion attacks at offshore constructions are characterized and investigated, and suitable corrosion protection measures determined. In TransferWind, attention focusses on transferring scientific results into standardization.
This poster at the H2Mare Conference 2023 presents an overview of the investigation methods and contribution of the department “Corrosion and Corrosion Protection”.
LTCCs (Low-temperature co-fired ceramics) consist of three-dimensionally distributed, hermetically bonded ceramic and metallic components with structure sizes within [10; 100] µm. A non-destructive imaging technique is needed that provides 3D, sharp, high-contrast resolution of these structures, as well as porosity and defect analysis, which is made difficult by the very different X-ray absorption coefficients of the individual components of the microstructure. A HDR method is being developed that allows a combination of different tomograms, each with X-ray energies adapted to individual materials.
Components in aircrafts are usually replaced when critical defects are present.
An alternative approach is repairing using gas dynamic cold spraying: metal particles are shot at a surface at supersonic speeds to selectively rebuild damaged material. Compared to other material-deposition techniques, its advantage is the small thermal impact on the component, preserving its mechanical properties.
Component-repair can save considerable amounts of energy and resources. However, its industrial application at large scale needs reproducible, good repair-material properties to guarantee a safe component life. The aim of this project is the development of safe, automatized repair-procedures considering the mechanical fatigue properties of the repair.
Industrial and agricultural waste streams (waste waters, sludges, tailings etc.), which contain high concentrations of NH4+, PO43- and transition metals, are environmentally harmful due to their toxic pollutants. At the same time, phosphorus and selective transition metals such as Cobalt could be potentially depleted as a critical raw material due to the high demand and rapidly declining natural ore deposits. Therefore, due to simultaneous scarcity and abundance, the phosphorus and 3d metal recovery from agricultural, industrial, mining, or urban wastewaters have been an important factor in sustaining our global consumption and preservation of the natural environment. Typically, separate pathways have been considered to extract hazardous substances such as transition metals or phosphate, independently from each other. Here, we investigate the crystallization of transition metal phosphate (TMP) compounds (NH4MPO4∙6H2O, M3(PO4)2∙8H2O with M = Ni2+, Co2+, NixCo1-x2+ M-struvite and M-phosphate octahydrate) out of aqueous solutions, which allow for P, ammonia and metal co-precipitation. The precipitation of these compounds from industrial and agricultural waste waters has high potential as a P- and 3d metal recovery route. For this purpose, a detailed understanding of the crystallization process beginning from combination of solved ions and ending in a final crystalline product is required. Through adjusting the reaction conditions, the stability, crystallite size and morphology of the as-obtained TMPs could be controlled. Detailed investigations of the precipitation process in time using ex- and in-situ techniques provided new insights into their non-classical crystallization mechanism/crystal engineering of these materials. These TMPs involve transitional colloidal nanophases during the crystallization process. Over time, their complex amorphous framework changes significantly resulting simultaneously in an agglomeration and densification of the compound. After extended reaction times these colloidal nanophases condensed to a final crystal. However, the reaction kinetics of the formation of a final crystalline product and the lifetime of these intermediate phases vary significantly depending on the metal cation involved in the precipitation process. Ni-struvite is stable in a wide reactant concentration range and at different metal/phosphorus (M/P)-ratios, whereas Co tends to form Co-struvite and/or Co-phosphate octahydrate depending on the (M/P)-ratio. The mixed NixCo1-x system shows a significantly different crystallization behavior and reaction kinetics of the precipitation compared to the pure endmembers. The observed various degree of stability could be linked to the octahedral metal coordination environment in these compounds. The achieved level of control over the precipitates, is highly desirable for 3d- and P-recovery methods. Under this paradigm, the crystals can be potentially upcycled as precursor materials for (electro)catalytical applications.
In the present paper we show an approach of measuring large numbers of nanoparticles in a single scan TKD. TiO2 anatase nanoparticles (NP) of bipyramidal shape were deposited on standard carbon grid used for TEM. The procedure used promoted formation of NP ‘monolayer’ islands with uniform distribution of NPs on the carbon surface which allowed mapping of large number of nanoparticles in the single island.
Collection of whole map covering ~2800 nanoparticles took nearly 20 minutes. Inverse pole figure color coded map indicates that the NPs are either lying on a {101} facet (within 10° range around perfect {101} parallel to the carbon surface orientation) on the carbon film or are lying on a {100} facet (within 10° range around the perfect {100} parallel to the carbon surface orientation). Very unlikely was the NP orientation standing on a {001} face. The NPs size distribution described as equivalent circle diameter (ECD) has been also evaluated and the mean NP ECD was 59 nm with standard deviation of 15 nm, i.e. in good agreement with electron microscopy or AFM results.
This study shows high potential of the technique for crystalline NPs analysis with respect to geometrical orientation of the particles on the substrate. With known orientation, the 3D dimensional characterisation of such non-spherical NPs becomes possible from 2D projection electron micrographs. Moreover, the NP size distribution can be easily extracted. Superior accuracies down to 1-2 nm are achievable. The approach is applicable also on thin lamellae extracted from particulate (or mesoporous) layers.
Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA)is a non-destructive technique which assumes a sample of homogenous (bulk) chemical composition and can, therefore, not be used for thin film samples. However, in combination with one of the possible thin film software packages, STRATAGEM, the thickness as well as the composition of such films on a substrate can be determined.
This has been demonstrated for FeNi on Si and SiGe on Al2O3 film systems. For both systems five samples with different elemental composition and a reference were produced and characterised by the Korean research institute KRISS using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
In 2021, a new and open source thin film evaluation programme called BADGERFILM has been released. It can also be used to determine thin film composition and thickness from intensity ratios of the unknown sample and standards (k-ratios).
In this contribution, we re-evaluated the data acquired for the FeNi and SiGe systems using the BADGERFILM software package and compared the resulting composition and thickness with the results of the established STRATAGEM software and other reference methods. With the current evaluation, the BADGERFILM software shows good agreement with the composition and thickness calculated by STRATAGEM and provided by the KRISS.
These results between two well-known layered material systems analysed with available conventional EMPA approaches (STRATAGEM and direct thickness measurement by TEM) and a new one (BADGERFILM) proves that reliable non-destructive thin film analysis is possible. In this way, we validate the performance of the new software, which is not at all self-explanatory for such
complex quantification algorithms lying behind the final quantified results.
Nowadays, in every terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem, even in the remotest areas, small residues of plastics, the so called microplastic (MP) can be found. MPs are particles with a size of 1-1000 µm (ISO/TR 21960:2020), mainly containing synthetic polymers like polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Even styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) as an indication for tire wear is included due to similar particle formation. To understand the MPs consequences to the environment, it is of high priority to capture its extent of contamination. It is surprising that in the analysis of polymer masses in environmental samples, PE, PS and SBR are often detected, but only small amounts of PP, although this is the second most commonly produced standard plastic and many MP particles originate from carelessly disposed packaging materials.
This presentation provides hypotheses about the reasons of rare PP identification and mass quantification in environmental samples. Different investigations of pristine PP and representative environmental samples, including the pre-treatment by Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) or with density separation followed by the thermal extraction / desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) are presented. The results are discussed according to the material properties and a possible degradation mechanism under different weathering conditions which indicate less stability under relevant storage conditions.
Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be used for structural de- termination of biological macromolecules and polymers in their na- tive states. To improve the reliability of such experiments, the re- duction of radiation damage occurring from exposure to X-rays is needed.One method, is the use of scavenger molecules that protect macromolecules against radicals produced by radiation exposure.In this study we investigate the feasibility to apply the compatible solute, osmolyte and radiation protector Ectoine (THP(B)) as a scavenger throughout SAXS measurements of single-stranded DNA-binding protein Gene-V Protein (G5P/GVP). Therefore we monitor the radiation induced changes of G5P during bio-SAXS. The resulting microscopic energy-damage relation was determined by particle scattering simu- lations with TOPAS/Geant4. The results are interpreted in terms of radical scavenging as well as post-irradiation effects, related to preferential-exclusion from the protein surface. Thus, Ectoine provides an non-disturbing way to improve structure-determination of proteins via bio-SAXS in future studies.
Ionic Liquid Crystals (ILCs) are emerging class of materials that combine the properties of liquid crystals with the ionic conduction similar to ionic liquids. It’s known that liquid crystals exhibit intriguing properties when confined and are of importance from both fundamental and technological perspective. Here, we study the molecular dynamics and electrical conductivity of a homologous series of Dopamine (DOPA) based ILCs, ILCn (n = 12,14,16) confined in self ordered nanoporous alumina oxide membrane of 180 nm pore size using Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS). We aim to understand how the alkyl chain length and confinement influence the dynamics in this system.
In the bulk, for all ILCs, we observe two relaxation modes in the crystalline phase, the and α1 relaxation respectively, and one relaxation mode in the columnar phase, the α2 relaxation, but for ILC16, where two relaxation modes (α2 and α3) are detected in the columnar phase.
For the confined case, all relaxation processes slowdown compared to the bulk. For ILC16, the α1 relaxation is completely suppressed. For all ILCs, the absolute values of DC conductivity are reduced by some three orders of magnitude. We discuss in detail the possible molecular origin of the relaxation processes and the charge transport in this system.
A deep insight into the chemistry and nature of individual chemical bonds is essential for understanding materials. Bonding analysis is expected to provide important features for large-scale data analysis and machine learning of material properties. Such information on chemical bonds can be calculated using the LOBSTER (www.cohp.de) software package, which post-processes data from modern density functional theory computations by projecting plane wave-based wave functions onto a local atomic orbital basis. We have performed bonding analysis on 1520 compounds (insulators and semiconductors) using a fully automated workflow combining the VASP and LOBSTER software packages. We then automatically evaluated the data with LobsterPy (https://github.com/jageo/lobsterpy) and provide results as a database. The projected densities of states and bonding indicators are benchmarked on VASP projections and available heuristics, respectively. Lastly, we illustrate the predictive power of bonding descriptors by constructing a machine-learning model for phononic properties, which shows an increase in prediction accuracies by 27 % (mean absolute errors) compared to a benchmark model differing only by not relying on any quantum-chemical bonding features.
Dose enhancement by gold nanoparticles (AuNP) increases the biological effectiveness of radiation damage in biomolecules and tissue.
To apply them effectively during cancer therapy their influence on the locally delivered dose has to be determined. Hereby, the AuNP locations strongly influence the energy deposit in the nucleus, mitochondria, membrane and the cytosol of the targeted cells. In this work, two newly developed continuous and discrete-geometric models for simulations of AuNP in cells are presented. We apply the presented models in Monte-Carlo particle scattering simulations to characterize the energy deposit in cell organelles by radioactive 198AuNP. They emit beta and gamma rays and are therefore considered for applications
with solid tumors. Differences in local dose enhancement between randomly distributed and nucleus targeted nanoparticles are compared.
Hereby nucleus targeted nanoparticels showed a strong local dose enhancement in the radio sensitive nucleus.
Owing to a growing shortage of fluorspar, a raw material used for producing fluorinated base chemicals, fluorspar has been named among the 30 critical raw materials in the EU. 1 However, the sustainable transfer of fluorine atoms from one molecule to another using heterogeneous catalysts has not yet been reported. Herein, we present the heterogeneous catalyst zirconium chloro fluoride (ZCF) that performs dehydrofluorination of a fluoroalkane and consecutive hydrofluorination of an alkyne at room temperature.
ZrF4 species have shown to exhibit hard Lewis acidity in homogeneous systems. In order to study solid state Lewis acidic ZrF4 a sol-gel synthesis was adapted following previous approaches for AlF3 and a necessary post fluorination is being optimised to obtain a Lewis acidic heterogeneous catalyst for C-F bond activation. The influence of different Zr precursors was also studied while the local coordination sphere of a active species was found to be similar to β-ZrF4 using EXAFS of the Zr K-edge.
Previous work in the Dunne Group targeted dispersibility of metal oxide nanoparticles, which had been synthesised via an aqueous sol-gel route. Dispersibility was attained by solvothermal surface modification of the particles with trifluoro acetic acid.
Part of the studies were tin oxide particles, which is known for its predominant rutile phase.
Despite dispersibility in acetone of the particles unexpected peak splitting of the first (110) reflection was observed.
Intensive long-term reaction studies on the tin oxide particles exhibited a time dependent extend of the peak splitting observed in XRD character-isation. Extended characterisation using solid-state multinuclear MAS-NMR spectroscopy indicate size dependent structure change due to partial fluorination of the particles during the solvothermal treatment.
Previous work in the Dunne Group targeted dispersibility of metal oxide nanoparticles, which had been synthesised via an aqueous sol-gel route. Dispersibility was attained by solvothermal surface modification of the particles with trifluoro acetic acid (TFA). Part of the studies were tin oxide particles, which is known for its predominant rutile phase. Besides the dispersibility in acetone of the particles, an unexpected peak splitting of the (110) reflection was observed, which could be an unknown phase of SnO2 . For crystal growth long-term reaction studies on the tin oxide particles were performed. Interestingly these studies exhibited a time dependent extend of the peak splitting observed in XRD characterisation. Further extended analysis using multinuclear solid-state MAS-NMR spectroscopy indicate a size dependent structure change due to partial fluorination of the particles during the solvothermal treatment.
The investigations into the complicated effects of film thickness on bulk properties of thin polymer films has yielded conflicting results. The reduction in molecular mobility, and with it an increase in the glass transition temperature, for thin films of poly (bisphenol A carbonate) (PBAC) was assigned to the formation of an adsorbed layer. The adsorbed layer was obtained by washing away the loosely bounded chains using a good solvent. Next, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the thickness of each sample was measured after annealing for various times at three different annealing temperatures. The growth of this adsorbed layer was shown to deviate from the previously reported 2-step mechanism seen for other polymers. For PBAC, after very long annealing times at high temperatures the thin films were dewetted, where segments of the adsorbed layer were removed from the substrate.
The aim of the task area Materials Data Infrastructure (TA-MDI) of the consortium Materials Science and Engineering (MatWerk) of National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) is to shape scientific datasets obtained through the Participant Projects (PPs) from a data management perspective conforming to the FAIR principles, making use of the FAIR Digital Object (FAIR DO) concept, including structured metadata and storage solutions. As an example, they apply PP18 (BAM) as a use case to demonstrate the proposed technical workflow.
Reference datasets in the MSE domain represent specific material properties, e.g., structural, mechanical, … characteristics. A reference dataset must fulfill high-quality standards, not only in precision of measurement but also in a comprehensive documentation of material, processing, and testing history (metadata). This Infrastructure Use Case (IUC) of the consortium Materials Science and Engineering (MatWerk) of National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) aims to develop, together with BAM and other Participant Projects (PP), a framework for generating reference material datasets using creep data of a single crystal Ni-based superalloy as a best practice example. In a community-driven process, we aim to encourage the discussion and establish a framework for identifying reference material datasets. In this poster presentation, we highlight our current vision and activities and intend to stimulate the discussion about the topic reference datasets and future collaborations and work.
Vibrational properties play a key role in determining the stability and thermal conductivity behaviour of materials. The quasi- harmonic approximation gives insight into the phononic properties of a compound, but in the established way, i.e. density functional theory based methods, it takes many calculation steps and consumes a lot of resources to arrive at the desired results. Machine learning (ML) trained interatomic potentials (e.g. Gaussian approximation potential, GAP) pose an alternative to the traditional computation way of phonons. We develop a Python code based workflow which combines automation tools like atomate2 with ML to ease providing interactomic potentials for (quantum chemical) computations and databases.
The movement of the macroscopic magnetic moment in ferromagnetic systems can be described by the Landau-Lifshitz (LL) or Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation. These equations are strictly valid only at absolute zero temperature. To include temperature effects a stochastic version of the LL or LLG equation for a spin density of one per unit cell can be used instead. To apply the stochastic LL to micromagnetic simulations, where the spin density per unit cell is generally higher, a conversion regarding simulation cell size and temperature has to be established. Based on energetic considerations, a conversion for ferromagnetic bulk and thin film systems is proposed. The conversion is tested in micromagnetic simulations which are performed with the Object Oriented Micromagnetic Framework (OOMMF). The Curie temperatures of bulk Nickel, Cobalt and Iron systems as well as Nickel thin-film systems with thicknesses between 6.3 mono layer (ML) and 31ML are determined from micromagnetic simulations. The results show a good agreement with experimentally determined Curie temperatures of bulk and thin film systems when temperature scaling is performed according to the presented model.
Dose enhancement by gold nanoparticles (AuNP) increases the biological effectiveness of radiation damage in biomolecules and tissue. To apply them effectively during cancer therapy their influence on the locally delivered dose has to be determined.[1] Hereby, the AuNP locations strongly influence the energy deposit in the nucleus, mitochondria, membrane and the cytosol of the targeted cells. To estimate these effects, particle scattering simulations are applied. In general, different approaches for modeling the AuNP and their distribution within the cell are possible. In this work, two newly developed continuous and discrete-geometric models for simulations of AuNP in cells are presented. [2] These models are applicable to simulations of internal emitters and external radiation sources. Most of the current studies on AuNP focus on external beam therapy. In contrast, we apply the presented models in Monte-Carlo particle scattering simulations to characterize the energy deposit in cell organelles by radioactive 198AuNP. They emit beta and gamma rays and are therefore considered for applications with solid tumors. Differences in local dose enhancement between randomly distributed and nucleus targeted nanoparticles are compared. Hereby nucleus targeted nanoparticels showed a strong local dose enhancement in the radio sensitive nucleus. These results are the foundation for ongoing experimental work which aims to obtain a mechanistic understanding of cell death induced by radioactive 198Au.
As one of nature's largest carbon sources with an annual production of around 20 billion tonnes, lignin is the third most abundant biopolymer on the planet. It becomes available as technical lignin, which is produced as a by-product in the pulp and paper industry and in smaller quantities in second generation biofuel refineries. Current estimates suggest that less than 10% of all technical lignin is reused. The high polydispersity, complex heterogeneous structure and uncertain reactivity are the major limiting factors for further processing. The most common applications for various technical lignins without extensive modifications are for example: Surface active substances, additives in bitumen, cement and animal feed. One way to make lignin usable is to break the structure into oligomer units and thus reduce the polydispersity and average molar mass. In addition, it is advantageous to introduce new functionalities such as hydroxyl or carbonyl groups when splitting the high-molecular-weight (HMW) fractions, or to convert existing functionalities. In this study, a mechanochemical method is presented that can degrade and modify technical kraft lignin by means of sodium percarbonate (SPC).
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are one technology to overcome the challenges of climate and energy crisis. They are widely used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, or as storage for renewable energy sources. However, despite innovations in batteries' components like cathode and anode materials, separators, and electrolytes, the aging mechanism related to metallic aluminum current collector degradation causes a significant drop in their performance and prevents the durable use of LIBs.[1] Glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES) is a powerful method for depth-profiling of batteries' electrode materials. This work investigates aging-induced aluminum deposition on commercial lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries' cathodes. The results illustrate the depth-resolved elemental distribution from the cathode surface to the current collector. An accumulation of aluminum is found on the cathode surface by GD-OES, consistent with results from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) combined with focused ion beam (FIB) cutting. In comparison to FIB-EDX, GD-OES allows a fast and manageable depth-profiling. Results from different positions on an aged cathode indicate an inhomogeneous aluminum film growth on the surface. The conclusions from these experiments can lead to a better understanding of the degradation of the aluminum current collector, thus leading to higher lifetimes of LIBs.
Al-Si alloys produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBFLB) allow the fabrication of lightweight free-shape components. Due to the extremely heterogeneous cooling and heating, PBF-LB induces high magnitude residual stress (RS) and a fine Si microstructure. As the RS can be deleterious to the fatigue resistance of engineering components, great efforts are focused on understanding their evolution in as-built state (AB) and after post-process heat treatments (HT). RS in single edge notch bending (SENB) subjected to different HT are investigated (HT1: 1h at 265°C and HT2: 2h at 300°C).
Nanoparticles (NPs) have become important materials for a variety of chemical technologies, including catalysis. One of the main challenges is the reduction of green house gases, such as CO2. One opportunity besides the capturing is the conversion to synthesis gas via the reverse water-gas shift reaction.
A facile and efficient method is described for the solvothermal synthesis of size-tunable, stable, and uniform NiCu core-shell NPs. The diameter of the NPs can be tuned in a range from 6 nm to 30 nm and the Ni:Cu ratio from 30:1 to 1:1. The NPs are structurally characterized with combination of transmission electron microscopy, anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fine structure. Using these analytical methods, a core-shell-shell structure their chemical composition is elucidated. A depletion from the core to the shell is observed, with the core consisting of NiCu alloy, surrounded by an inner Ni-rich shell and an outer NiO shell. The SiO2-supported NiCu core-shell NPs show pronounced selectivity of >99% for CO in the catalytic reduction of CO2 to CO using hydrogen as reactant (reverse water–gas shift reaction).
In the pursuit of discovering materials with desirable properties, extending the available material libraries is crucial. High-throughput simulations have become an integral part in designing new materials in the past decades. However, there is no straightforward way of distinguishing synthesizable materials from all the proposed candidates. This project focuses on employing AI-driven methods to estimate synthesizability of materials.
Up to now, material scientists and engineers have relied on domain knowledge as well as empirical heuristics to guess the stability and synthesizability of molecules and crystals. The famous Pauling rules of crystal stability are an example of such heuristics. However, after the accelerating material discovery in all the years since Pauling, these rules now fail to account for the stability of most known crystals. A new predictive set of heuristics for crystal stability/synthesizability is unlikely to be uncovered by human perception, given the magnitude and dimensionality of crystallographic data. Hence, a data-driven approach should be proposed to find a predictive model or set of heuristics which differentiate synthesizable crystal structures from the rest. The main challenge of this research problem is the lack of a negative set for classification. Here, there are two classes of data: the positive class which contains synthesizable materials and the negative class which contains materials which are not synthesizable. While the data from the positive class is simply the data of crystals which have been experimentally synthesized, we do not have access to data points which are certainly unsynthesizable. Strictly speaking, if an attempt of synthesizing a crystal fails, it does not necessarily follow that the crystal is not synthesizable. Also, there is no database available which contains the intended crystal structures of unsuccessful synthesis attempts.
This project proposes a semi-supervised learning scheme to predict crystal synthesizability. The ML model is trained on experimental and theoretical crystal data. The initial featurization focuses on local environments which is inspired by the Pauling Rules. The experimental data points are downloaded through the Pymatgen API from the Materials Project database which contains relaxed structures recorded in Inorganic Crystal Structure Database – ICSD. The theoretical data is queried from select databases accessible through the Optimade project’s API.
Vorstellung der Themen der Nachwuchsgruppe "Materialcharakterisierung und -informatik für die Nachhaltigkeit im Bauwesen" von Prof. Sabine Kruschwitz (TU Berlin und BAM)
Within NFDI-MatWerk (“National Research Data Infrastructure for Material Sciences”/ “Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur für Materialwissenschaften und Werkstofftechnik“), the Task Area Materials Data Infrastructure (TA-MDI) will provide tools and services to easily store, share, search, and analyze data and metadata. Such a digital materials environment will ensure data integrity, provenance, and authorship. The MatWerk consortium aims to develop specific solutions jointly with Participant Projects (PPs), which are scientific groups or institutes covering different domains, from theory and simulations to experiments. The Data Exploitation Methods group of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-Steinbuch Centre of Computing, as part of TA-MDI, is developing specific solutions in close collaboration with three PPs.
PP07, together with the University of Stuttgart, aims at the image-based prediction of the material properties of stochastic microstructures using large-scale supercomputers. PP13, in cooperation with the University of Saarland, focuses on tomographic methods at various scales in materials research. PP18, together with the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (“Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung”), aspires to define the criteria for materials reference datasets and usage analytics.
The requirements and goals are comparable for each PP: their research outputs, which are scientific datasets, should conform to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. We aim to shape them from a data management perspective making use of the FAIR Digital Object concept, including structured metadata and storage solutions. The results will be a blueprint which will act as a reference for future datasets. Even though the collaboration is in an early stage, the initial steps already show the added value of this approach.
This research has been supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) – funding code M532701 / the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German
Research Foundation) - project number NFDI 38/1, project no. 460247524.
As part of a joint project involving the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC), the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, the Clausthal University of Technology and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), digital tools are to be created for the development of new types of glass materials. Current processes for the production of glasses with improved properties are usually very cost- and energy-intensive due to the low degree of automation and are subject to long development cycles. The use of robotic synthesis processes in combination with self-learning machines is intended to overcome these problems in the long term. The development of new types of glass can then not only be accelerated considerably, but also be achieved with much less effort.
In this talk, data generation via a robotic high-throughput glass melting system is presented, which should be the experimental basis for the ontology developed within the project GlasDigital.
Mechanochemistry offers a unique opportunity to modify or synthesize new crystal forms. Although the method is very promising, little is known about the mechanochemical means to control the synthesis of a solid form. Using an polymorphic organic cocrystal system, we show here that mechanochemistry can be used to obtain a polymorph transformation under the apparently conventional (thermal) transition point.
Industrial and agricultural waste streams (waste waters, sludges, tailings etc.), which contain high concentrations of NH4+, PO43- and transition metals, are environmentally harmful due to their toxic pollutants. At the same time, phosphorus and selective transition metals such as Cobalt could be potentially depleted as a critical raw material due to the high demand and rapidly declining natural ore deposits. Therefore, due to simultaneous scarcity and abundance, the phosphorus and 3d metal recovery from agricultural, industrial, mining, or urban wastewaters have been an important factor in sustaining our global consumption and preservation of the natural environment. Typically, separate pathways have been considered to extract hazardous substances such as transition metals or phosphate, independently from each other. Here, we report the synthesis routes for transition metal phosphate (TMP) compounds (M3(PO4)2∙8H2O, NH4MPO4∙6H2O, M = Ni2+, Co2+, NixCo1-x2+ M-struvite and M-phosphate octahydrate), which allow for P, ammonia and metal co-precipitation. The precipitation of these compounds from industrial and agricultural waste waters could be a promising P-recovery route. Through adjusting the reaction conditions, the stability, crystallite size and morphology of the as-obtained TMP could be controlled. Detailed investigations of the precipitation process using ex- and in-situ techniques provided new insights into their non-classical crystallization mechanism/crystal engineering of these materials. These TMPs involve transitional colloidal nanophases which subsequently aggregate and condense to final crystals after extended reaction times. However, the reaction kinetics of the formation of a final crystalline product vary significantly depending on the metal cation involved in the precipitation process. Ni-struvite is stable in a wide reactant concentration range and at different metal/phosphorus (M/P)-ratios, whereas Co tends to form Co-struvite and/or Co-phosphate octahydrate depending on the (M/P)-ratio. The mixed NixCo1-x system shows a significantly different crystallization behavior and reaction kinetics of the precipitation compared to the pure endmembers. The observed various degree of stability could be linked to the octahedral metal coordination environment in these compounds. The achieved level of control over the precipitates, is highly desirable for 3d- and P-recovery methods. Under this paradigm, the crystals can be potentially upcycled as precursor materials for (electro)catalytical applications.
Industrial and agricultural waste streams (waste waters, sludges, tailings etc.), which contain high concentrations of NH4+, PO43- and transition metals, are environmentally harmful due to their toxic pollutants. At the same time, phosphorus and selective transition metals such as Cobalt could be potentially depleted as a critical raw material due to the high demand and rapidly declining natural ore deposits. Therefore, due to simultaneous scarcity and abundance, the phosphorus and 3d metal recovery from agricultural, industrial, mining, or urban wastewaters have been an important factor in sustaining our global consumption and preservation of the natural environment. Typically, separate pathways have been considered to extract hazardous substances such as transition metals or phosphate, independently from each other. Here, we investigate the crystallization of transition metal phosphate (TMP) compounds (NH4MPO4∙6H2O, M3(PO4)2∙8H2O with M = Ni2+, Co2+, NixCo1-x2+ M-struvite and M-phosphate octahydrate) out of aqueous solutions, which allow for P, ammonia and metal co-precipitation. The precipitation of these compounds from industrial and agricultural waste waters has high potential as a P- and 3d metal recovery route. For this purpose, a detailed understanding of the crystallization process beginning from combination of solved ions and ending in a final crystalline product is required. Through adjusting the reaction conditions, the stability, crystallite size and morphology of the as-obtained TMPs could be controlled. Detailed investigations of the precipitation process in time using ex- and in-situ techniques provided new insights into their non-classical crystallization mechanism/crystal engineering of these materials. These TMPs involve transitional colloidal nanophases during the crystallization process. Over time, their complex amorphous framework changes significantly resulting simultaneously in an agglomeration and densification of the compound. After extended reaction times these colloidal nanophases condensed to a final crystal. However, the reaction kinetics of the formation of a final crystalline product and the lifetime of these intermediate phases vary significantly depending on the metal cation involved in the precipitation process. Ni-struvite is stable in a wide reactant concentration range and at different metal/phosphorus (M/P)-ratios, whereas Co tends to form Co-struvite and/or Co-phosphate octahydrate depending on the (M/P)-ratio. The mixed NixCo1-x system shows a significantly different crystallization behavior and reaction kinetics of the precipitation compared to the pure endmembers. The observed various degree of stability could be linked to the octahedral metal coordination environment in these compounds. The achieved level of control over the precipitates, is highly desirable for 3d- and P-recovery methods. Under this paradigm, the crystals can be potentially upcycled as precursor materials for (electro)catalytical applications.
Inspired by the chemistry of mussel adhesive proteins, polydopamine (PDA) is one of the simplest and most versatile approaches to confer new functionalities to nearly any material surface. Moreover, PDA exhibits high potential for surface modification and diversified secondary reactions that makes it extremely interesting for a wide range of application including biomedical field, e.g., drug delivery, adhesives, cell adhesion, biosensing. PDA has undergone significant expansion in its applications and is one of the most attractive areas within the materials field. Nevertheless, PDA integration in microdevices is still constrained by poor spatial and temporal control of excited deposition methods.
Herein, we demonstrate a novel maskless approach for PDA micropatterning based on Direct Laser Writing (DLW) that overcomes present limitations. The pattern is formed upon exposure of the dopamine solution by light produced by tightly-focused fs NIR laser that scans substrate surface accordingly to the selected pattern design. Neither strong oxidants, metal ions nor adjusting pH to alkaline is required by this technique. Our method achieves the PDA micropatterns with the spatial resolution of 0.8 µm, at least an order of magnitude smaller than what is possible with other PDA microplanning techniques. The here introduced PDA deposition technique will uniquely unravel applications of polydopamine and other catecholamine-based mussel-inspired materials in various multifunctional systems and microdevices (e.g., MEMS elements, microfluidics).
Adjustment of MPL parameters revealed that the morphology and thickness of resulted PDA microstructures can be controlled by altering the laser power and its scanning velocity. As a result, it also enables the production of micropatterns with structural gradient.
Apart from the glass substrate, we achieved PDA patterning at surfaces of different nature such as polychlorotrifluoroethylene, polydimethylsiloxane, polyethylene terephthalate, silicon wafers, and fluorinated glass coverslips.
The chemical nature of PDA was confirmed by locally recorded vibrational and x-ray photoelectron spectra. To ensure post-modification potential of MPL deposited PDA we demonstrated one-step deposition of micropatterns with trypsin. Obtained bio-functionalised surface can be further applied as a protein sensing active microelement.
Presented in this work DLW-based microfabrication technique and the possibilities for further PDA surface post-functionalization empowers advanced applications of this material in single-molecule bioassays, sensors and other complex microdevices.
Polydopamine (PDA) is one of the simplest and most versatile approaches for forming an excellent binding exterior to confer new functionalities to nearly any material surface. Inspired by nature, it mimics the behavior of mussels and can be easily deposited on virtually all types of inorganic and organic substrates, including superhydrophobic surfaces. Moreover, PDA exhibits high potential for surface modification and diversified secondary reactions that makes it extremely interesting for a wide range of application including biomedical field, e.g., drug delivery, adhesives, cell adhesion, biosensing. PDA has undergone significant expansion in its applications and is one of the most attractive areas within the materials field. Nevertheless, PDA integration in microdevices is still constrained by poor spatial and temporal control of excited deposition methods.
Herein, we demonstrate a novel maskless approach for PDA micropatterning based on Direct Laser Writing that overcomes present limitations. The pattern is formed upon exposure of the dopamine solution by light produced by tightly-focused fs NIR laser that scans substrate surface accordingly to the selected pattern design. Neither strong oxidants, metal ions nor adjusting pH to alkaline is required by this technique to perform dopamine polymerization. Our method achieves the PDA micropatterns with the spatial resolution of 0.8 µm, at least an order of magnitude smaller than what is possible with other PDA microplanning techniques. Some examples of PDA patterns are shown in Figure 1. The here introduced PDA deposition technique will uniquely unravel applications of polydopamine and other catecholamine-based mussel-inspired materials in various multifunctional systems and microdevices (e.g., MEMS elements, microfluidics).
The chemical nature of PDA was confirmed by locally recorded vibrational and x-ray photoelectron spectra. Moreover, the morphology and thickness of PDA microstructure can be controlled by the laser power and scanning velocity revealing the possibility of fabricating the structures with gradient. In most of the applied conditions the increase of the laser intensity and decrease of the scanning velocity would lead to the thicker PDA pattern. Different morphologies from smooth and bulky-like to grain like has been obtained.
PDA was produced in the presence of tris buffer, phosphate buffer and DI water only. We also tested the effect of the solution pH applying pH 6.0, 7.0 and 8.5. Furthermore, the effect of antioxidants and purging of the solution with oxygen and nitrogen was investigated. Summarizing, we could see that the structures could be produced in all the given conditions, however their thickness and quality, morphology and roughness would differ. We did not observe negative impact of the antioxidants and nitrogen purging on the performance of PDA build up indicating that the PDA formation mechanism is different to common autooxidation. The current mechanism is based on the interaction of dopamine molecules with the photoinitiator added to solution as active to DLW laser light component.
Apart from the glass substrate, we achieved PDA patterning at surfaces of different nature such as polychlorotrifluoroethylene, polydimethylsiloxane, polyethylene terephthalate, silicon wafers, and fluorinated glass coverslips.
We also performed facile posts-modification of the PDA surface with protein enzymes like trypsin that was confirmed by XPS. Obtained bioactive pattern could be further integrated in the protein sensing devices.
Presented in this work DLW-based microfabrication technique and the possibilities for further PDA surface post-functionalization empowers advanced applications of this material in single-molecule bioassays, sensors and other complex microdevices.
When it comes to higher accuracies, new technologies and real applications in additive manufacturing, there is one topic which cannot be avoided: The material response on the chosen processing parameters and its agreement and correspondence with literature data of the wrought material grade counterpart. In industrial Additive Manufacturing (AM) standards in terms of printing parameters, protection gas atmospheres or powder handling instructions are not obligatory. Therefore, the question must be answered whether the AM process is reproducible and reliable over different printing companies. This was the motivation to realize a round robin test between 8 European printing companies and academic partners. The consortium had printed and tested fatigue and tensile testing bars under plant-specific conditions. A commonly used cast aluminum alloy, AlSi10Mg, was chosen as test material for the PBF-LB/M process. Differences of the results between the partners and the scatter itself were discussed in detail.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are one technology to overcome the challenges of climate and energy crisis. They are widely used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, or as storage for renewable energy sources. However, despite innovations in batteries' components like cathode and anode materials, separators, and electrolytes, the aging mechanism related to metallic aluminum current collector degradation causes a significant drop in their performance and prevents the durable use of LIBs. Glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES) is a powerful method for depth-profiling of batteries' electrode materials. This work investigates aging-induced aluminum deposition on commercial lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries' cathodes. The results illustrate the depth-resolved elemental distribution from the cathode surface to the current collector. An accumulation of aluminum is found on the cathode surface by GD-OES, consistent with results from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) combined with focused ion beam (FIB) cutting. In comparison to FIB-EDX, GD-OES allows a fast and manageable depth-profiling. Results from different positions on an aged cathode indicate an inhomogeneous aluminum film growth on the surface. The conclusions from these experiments can lead to a better understanding of the degradation of the aluminum current collector, thus leading to higher lifetimes of LIBs.
The unique optoelectronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystals, also termed quantum dots (QDs), have led to many advances in optoelectronic devices, bioimaging, and biosensing. This strong potential in a wide range of applications sparked the interest for a better understanding of the QD formation mechanisms. Recent studies have shown that atomically defined, zero-dimensional magic-size clusters (MSCs) play a crucial role during the nucleation and growth of QDs. Thereby MSCs consist of discrete numbers of ions leading to narrow size distributions and thus narrow absorption peaks, which evolve in discrete steps from one stable size to the next. The formation of MSCs was found in the synthesis of II-VI and III-V QDs but only limited synthesis approaches are available for the synthesis of MSCs in single-ensemble form without coexistence of other-size QDs. These MSCs can further self-assemble into two- and three-dimensional hybrid structures using organic ligands like diamines, leading to enhanced photoluminescence properties and catalytic activities.
In this contribution, we present a synthesis strategy for the preparation of single-sized ZnSe MSCs. With a band gap of 2.7 eV and being an earth-abundant material, ZnSe QDs are interesting for light-emitting devices, blue-green lasers, photocatalysis, and fluorescence probes. In contrast to other studies, our approach is based on a one-pot heat-up synthesis and uses less toxic and dangerous zinc precursors (e.g. zinc stearate). Knowing that thiol-based ligands can alter the formation process of ZnSe QDs, we investigated the influence of 1-dodecanethiol on the ZnSe MSC formation using absorption spectroscopy, TEM, XPS, and XRD. By variation of the thiol ligand concentration and reaction temperature, we were able to synthesize two new ZnSe MSC sizes, the largest so far, by using easy-to-handle precursors.
Nonporous corundum powder was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices.The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter was oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The advantages of corundum include the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, convenient handling, and flexible application.
Luminescent lanthanides(III) offer exceptional optical properties that can overcome issues often encountered with other fluorophores (e.g. organic dyes). Their long lifetimes up to milliseconds, low photobleaching and sharp and characteristic emission peaks make the lanthanides extremely valuable for the development of advanced luminescent materials. Previous work on Ru(II) and Ir(III) gold surfaces further highlights the potential of employing the luminescence of metal complexes for the fabrication of sensing platforms and devices.
Here, we incorporate visible and NIR-emitting lanthanide(III) complexes Ln2L3 (Ln = Eu(III), Nd(III), Yb(III)) to gold and plasmonic surfaces, translating the unique optical properties of the lanthanides(III) to practical devices. The Ln2L3 complexes are deposited on the surfaces with different methods, ranging from polymer aided physisorption to the covalent attachment on the gold surface. Furthermore, we exploit the high sensitivity to the coordination environment of lanthanides(III) to design and prepare a sensing platform.
The availability of high-performance Al alloys in AM is limited due to difficulties in printability, requiring both the development of synergetic material and AM process to mitigate problems such as solidification cracking during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The goal of this work was to investigate the failure mechanism in a LPBF 7017 Aluminium alloy + 3 wt% Zr + 0.5 wt% TiC. The processing leads to different categories of Zr-rich inclusions, precipitates and defects.
Up to now, oriented surface crystallization phenomena are discussed controversially, and related studies are restricted to few glasses. For silicate glasses we found a good correlation between the calculated surface energy of crystal faces and oriented surface nucleation. Surface energies were estimated assuming that crystal surfaces resemble minimum energy crack paths along the given crystal plane. This concept was successfully applied by Rouxel in calculating fracture surface energies of glasses. Several oriented nucleation phenomena can be herby explained assuming that high energy crystal surfaces tend to be wetted by the melt. This would minimize the total interfacial energy of the nucleus. Furthermore, we will discuss the evolution of the microstructure and its effect on the preferred crystal orientation.
The degradation effect of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of steels is well known, but still not sufficiently understood. The fast and safe market ramp up of hydrogen technologies makes it evident to evaluate a wider understanding of this topic. In general it is often described as hydrogen embrittlement. Therefore it is desirable to achieve a test method which is able to provide material properties under hydrogen atmosphere in an easy way. Currently mechanical tests under hydrogen atmosphere are executed in autoclaves. For this technique complex hardware is needed, therefore tests are expensive and test capacities are only available in a small scale. The shown test method promises a trendsetting approach for reducing costs and machine time by using hollow specimen.
Aqueous dispersions of polypropylene: towards referencematerials for nanoplastics characterization
(2022)
Plastic pollution in the environment is a rising concern for the health of our planet. The plastic litter that pollutes our environment leads to microplastic particles. They can be found (nearly) everywhere. The processes that lead to microplastic can also form nanoplastic particles, which have a size below 1 µm. Because of the small size they can penetrate tissue more easily. Only few risk assessment studies of nanoplastics were carried out so far.
Using polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles to test effects on organisms is easy because it is commercially available. However, this falls a little short, as the polyolefins i.e., polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), are produced in a larger proportion than PS. Moreover, these plastics are mainly used for disposable products, which means that they also account for a large proportion of plastic waste. Therefore, the percentage of polyolefins in environmental nanoplastic is presumably high. It is important to test the toxicological effects also with nanoplastics made of PP and PE to have more realistic results.
Herein, we present an easy and repeatable method to prepare an aqueous dispersion of polypropylene nanoplastics (nano-PP). They are stabilized electrostatically, resulting in a strongly negative zeta potential of -43 mV (± 2 mV) and making no surfactant necessary to keep the dispersion stable.
The size and the size distribution were determined via Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and gives a hydrodynamic diameter of 180.5 nm (± 5.8 nm) and a PDI of 0.084 (± 0.023).
Finally, ca. 480 bottles of the dispersion with a volume of 10 mL each were prepared to serve as a potential reference material for further testing of detection methods or risk assessments.
Plastic debris in micron and nanometer scale pollutes the nature all over the world. The potential dangers of these pollutants remain unpredictable. While risk assessment studies on microplastic are already popular, nanoplastic has not yet reached the same focus of investigation. The reason for this difference is simple: There is a “methodological gap” in the analytics of plastic particles with a diameter smaller than 1 µm. Submicron and nano plastic particles are currently not detectable in environmental matrices. Therefore, it is important for researchers to have a well-characterized nanoplastic material, that serves as a reference for nanoplastic found in nature.
Our aim was to synthesize nanoplastics made from the most common used plastics, starting with polypropylene (PP). We found an easy way to form nanoparticles consisting of PP (nano-PP), adapting and improving the method presented for polystyrene (PS). PP was dispersed to acetone and then transferred to water. No additional surfactant is needed to obtain a dispersion which is stable for more than 35 weeks. The
The success of forming nanoplastics and their size was detected via scattering methods, predominantly dynamic light scattering (DLS). To examine the good stability of the nanoparticles, zeta potential measurements were performed, which revealed zeta potentials of -30 to -40 mV.
This method is repeatable and well suited to produce reference material, as which we propose our prepared particles, based on a homogeneity study, that we performed, following the ISO Guide 35 for reference materials.
Mechanical properties of metals and their alloys are strongly governed by their microstructure. The nanometer-sized precipitates in hardenable wrought aluminium alloys, which can be controlled by heat treatment, act as obstacles to dislocation movement within the material and are critical to the mechanical performance of the component, in this case a radial compressor wheel of a ships’ engine. TEM-based image analysis is essential for the study to investigate the microstructural changes (precipitation coarsening) that occur as a result of ageing at elevated temperatures.
Luminescence techniques are amongst the most commonly used analytical methods in the life and material sciences due to their high sensitivity and non-destructive and multiparametric character. Photoluminescence signals are, however, affected by wavelength-, polarization-, and time-dependent instrument specific effect and the compound-specific photoluminescence quantum yield. The former hamper the comparability of fluorescence measurements, while the relative determination of the latter requires suitable quantum yield standards with well-known photoluminescence quantum yields (QY). For the simple correction of instrument specific effects in the wavelength region of 300 nm to 950 nm, the set of the five certified spectral fluorescence standards BAM-F001 – BAM-F005, has been extended to the NIR range by including two new fluorescence standards currently under certification. For the reliable and accurate determination of QY which is the key performance parameter for the comparison of different luminophores, we certified a set of 12 quantum yield standards, which absorb and emit in the wavelength range from 300 nm to 1000 nm.
Evolution of mesoporous frameworks from precipitated struvite-structured metal phosphate materialsls
(2022)
Mesoporous transition metal phosphates (TMPs) have attracted major interest due to their high (electro-)catalytic activity suitable for H2 generation, supercapacitors or batteries. Typically, mesoporous materials are synthesized via a template-based route. This way is in the case of TMP because the surfactants used are difficult to remove due to the sensitivity of the mesoporous framework. We present a template-free method including the formation of a precursor phase called M-struvite (NH4MPO4•6H2O, M = Mg2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Ni2+xCo2+1-x) to synthesize mesoporous and amorphous metal phosphates. This method relies on the thermal decomposition of crystalline M-struvite precursors to an amorphous and simultaneous mesoporous phase associated with the degassing of NH3 and H2O. The temporal evolution of mesoporous frameworks and the response of the coordination metal coordination environment was followed with diffraction and spectroscopy based in-situ and ex-situ methods. We highlight the systematic differences in absolute surface area, pore shape, pore size, and phase transitions between the chemical systems. In a complex amorphous structure, thermal decomposed Mg-, Ni- and NixCo1-x-struvites exhibit high surface areas and pore volumes for phosphate materials with a spherical to channel-like pore geometry (240 m²g-1 and 0.32 cm-3 g-1 for Mg and 90 m²g-1 and 0.13 cm-3 g-1 for Ni). In addition to this low-cost, environmentally friendly and simple synthesis, M-struvites could grow as a recycling product from industrial and agricultural wastewaters. These waste products could be upcycled through a simple thermal treatment for further applications.
Liquid crystalline mesophases in nanoconfinement exhibit intriguing phase transition behaviors and relaxation dynamics. Here in, we investigate the molecular dynamics and electrical conductivity of a linear shaped guanidinium based ILC confined in self-ordered nano porous alumina oxide membranes of pore size ranging from 180nm down to 25nm by employing broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and calorimetry. Calorimetric investigation reveals a complete suppression of the columnar – isotropic transition, while the plastic crystalline – columnar transition temperature decreases with inverse pore size and deviates from the Gibbs – Thomson equation.
For the bulk case, BDS detects two relaxation modes in the crystalline phase, the relaxation and the α1 relaxation, and two relaxation modes in the columnar phase, the α2 and α3 relaxation. For the confined case, all relaxation modes slow down compared to the bulk. However, for the least pore size (25 nm), the α2 relaxation is absent. We discuss the possible molecular origins of the different relaxation modes observed. For the bulk ILC, a clear jump of 4 orders of magnitude in the absolute values of DC conductivity occurs at the transition from the plastic crystalline to hexagonal columnar phase, for the confined ILC, this transition is smooth. DC conductivity is reduced for the confined case, except for the 25nm, where the values is similar to the bulk.
Industrial and agricultural waste streams (waste waters, sludges, tailings etc.) which contain high concentrations of NH4+, PO43- and transition metals are environmentally harmful and toxic pollutants . Typically, separate pathways have been considered to extract hazardous and transition metals or phosphate as critical raw materials, independently from each other. Here, we report the synthesis routes for transition metal phosphate (TMP) compounds (M3(PO4)2∙8H2O, NH4MPO4∙6H2O, M = Ni2+, Co2+, M-struvite and M-phosphate octahydrate), which allow for P, ammonia and metal co-precipitation. The precipitation of these compounds from industrial and agricultural waste waters could be a promising P-recovery route. Through adjusting the reaction conditions, the stability, crystallite size and morphology of the as-obtained TMP could be controlled. Detailed investigations of the precipitation process using ex- and in-situ techniques provided new insights into their non-classical crystallization mechanism/crystal engineering of these materials. These TMPs involve transitional colloidal nanophases which subsequently aggregate and condense to final crystals after extended reaction times. However, the reaction kinetics of the formation of a final crystalline product vary significantly depending on the metal cation(s) involved in the precipitation process. The occurring amorphous nanophases seem to majorly influence the outcome of crystallization. Ni-struvite is stable in a wide reactant concentration range and at different metal/phosphorus (M/P)-ratios, whereas Co tends to form Co-struvite and/or Co-phosphate octahydrate depending on the (M/P)-ratio. The observed various degree of stability could be linked to the octahedral metal coordination environment. The achieved level of control over the precipitates, is highly desirable for 3d- and P-recovery methods. Under this paradigm, the crystals can be potentially upcycled as precursor materials for (electro)catalytical applications 4.
Soil acts as a final sink for pollutants. Microplastics from different sources such as plastic mulching, littering, compost, sewage sludge, sedimentary deposition, and tyre abrasion are expected to be found in soil. However, representative and comprehensive information is missing on the sources, transport, and fate. Therefore, a reliable analysis method for microplastics in soils needs to be developed.
The presented work describes the development of a procedure for microplastics analysis in soils. A representative sampling based on the on-site conditions and a sample preparation method was established and comprised of a drying step, the separation of microplastic particles > 1 mm, and a density separation for particles < 1 mm. The detection of the large microplastic particles (> 1 mm) was conducted with Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) , while Thermal Extraction Desorption - Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) was applied for particles < 1 mm, gaining information on the type of polymer and mass fraction. Based on the established method, 14 environmental soil samples ? with different exposure of microplastics from agriculture, industrial sites, roads, and floods were investigated.
Due to the arbitrary microplastic particle distribution among the samples for large microplastics, it was reasoned that the found particles were unrepresentative. In contrast, microplastic particles < 1 mm were discovered in a high mass in soil samples exposed to plastic mulching or fertilization with sewage sludge or compost (0 – 115 mg/kg). On average, microplastic contents detected in soil samples taken from a construction site and an inner-city lake were higher (13 – 238 mg/kg). As expected, microplastic content in soil sampled in proximity to roads was more pronounced in the upper soil layers. In contrast, very remote sampling sites, expectably uncontaminated, did not lead to the detection of microplastic regarding to thermoanalytical detection method.
In a proof of concept experiment several in vivo and in vitro ecotoxicological tests were applied to evaluate the effect of microplastics (tyre abrasion, polystyrene containing hexabromocyclododecane) in natural soils. In summary, while no effects of the examined probes could be detected on higher levels of biological organization after exposures to earthworm E. andrei, significant changes in several oxidative stress related biomarkers were observed.
Al-Si alloys produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) techniques allow the fabrication of lightweight free-shape components. Due to the extremely heterogeneous cooling and heating, PBF-LB/M induces high magnitude residual stress (RS) and a fine Si microstructure. As the RS can be deleterious to the fatigue resistance of engineering components, great efforts are focused on understanding their evolution before and after post-process heat treatments (HT).
Multilayer thermoelectric generators are a promising perspective to the conventional π-type generators. Ceramic multilayer technology is well established for production of microelectronics and piezo-stacks. Key features of ceramic multilayer technology are full-automation, cost-effectiveness, and the co-firing of all materials in one single step. This requires similar sintering temperatures of all used materials. The development of multilayer thermoelectric generators is a subject of current research due to the advantages of this technology. One of the challenges is the compatibility of the different materials with respect to the specific design.
The presented study compares three different designs of multilayer generators based on a given set of material properties. Dualleg, unileg and transverse multilayer generators are compared to conventional π-type generators., the designs are evaluated regarding the expected maximum output power and power density using analytical calculations and FEM simulations. Additionally, the complexity of the production process and material requirements are assessed and design optimizations to simplify production are discussed.
Besides the theoretical aspects, unileg multilayer generator prototypes were produced by tape-casting and pressure-assisted sintering. These prototypes are compared to other multilayer generators from literature regarding the power factors of the used material system and the power density. Improvements of the power output by design optimizations are discussed
The interest to additively manufacture Nickel-based superalloys has substantially grown within the past decade both academically and industrially. More specifically, additive manufacturing processes such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) offer the ability to produce dense parts within a single manufacturing step. In fact, the exceptional freedom in design associated with the layer-based nature of the processes is of particular interest for the complex shapes typically required in turbine applications. In certain cases, the overall part performance can be achieved by tailoring the microstructure and the crystallographic texture to the specific application. However, these advantages must be paid at a price: the large local temperature gradients associated with the rapid melting and solidification produce parts that inherently contain large residual stress in the as-manufactured state. In addition, the presence of pores in the final part may further affect the in-service part failure. As among Nickel-based alloys Inconel 718 exhibits excellent weldability, this alloy has been widely studied in open research in the domain of LPBF. However, significant microsegregation of the heavier alloying elements such as Niobium and Molybdenum accompanied by dislocation entanglements may preclude the application of conventional heat treatment schedules. Therefore, different post processing heat treatments are required for laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 as compared to conventional variants of the same alloy.
In this study, we investigated two different heat treatment routes for LPBF Inconel 718. In a first routine, the samples were stress relieved and subsequently subjected to hot isostatic pressing (HIP) followed by a solution heat treatment and a two-step age (referred to as FHT). In a second routine, the samples were subjected to a single-step direct age post stress relieving heat treatment (referred to DA). We investigated the consequences of such heat treatment schedules on the microstructure, texture, and mechanical behavior. We show that by applying a DA heat treatment the typical columnar microstructure possessing a crystallographic texture is retained, while an equiaxed untextured microstructure prevails in case of an FHT heat treatment. We further evaluate how these heat treatments affect the mechanical behaviour on the macroscopic and microscopic scale.
The European Metrology Network (EMN) for Advanced Manufacturing has been established in June 2021. Currently nine EMNs focussing on different important topics of strategic importance for Europe exist and form an integral part of EURAMET, the European Association of National Metrology Institutes (NMI). EMNs are tasked to ▪ develop a high-level coordination of the metrology community in Europe in a close dialogue with the respective stakeholders (SH)
▪ develop a strategic research agenda (SRA) within their thematic areas
▪ provide contributions to the European Partnership on Metrology research programme Based on the analysis of existing metrology infrastructures and capabilities of NMIs, the metrology research needs for advanced manufacturing are identified in close cooperation with academic, governmental and industrial stakeholders.
Here, we report on the progress of the EMN for Advanced Manufacturing.