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SignificanceDynamically understanding the microscopic processes governing ordering transformations has rarely been attained. The situation becomes even more challenging for nanoscale alloys, where the significantly increased surface-area-to-volume ratio not only opens up a variety of additional freedoms to initiate an ordering transformation but also allows for kinetic interplay between the surface and bulk due to their close proximity. We provide direct evidence of the microscopic processes controlling the ordering transformation through the surface-bulk interplay in Pt-Fe nanoalloys and new features rendered by variations in alloy composition and chemical stimuli. These results provide a mechanistic detail of ordering transformation phenomena which are widely relevant to nanoalloys as chemical ordering occurs in most multicomponent materials under suitable environmental bias.

© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. Bimetallic, nanostructured materials hold promise for improving catalyst activity and selectivity, yet little is known about the dynamic compositional and structural changes that these systems undergo during pretreatment that leads to efficient catalyst function. Here we use ozone-activated silver-gold alloys in the form of nanoporous gold as a case study to demonstrate the dynamic behaviour of bimetallic systems during activation to produce a functioning catalyst. We show that it is these dynamic changes that give rise to the observed catalytic activity. Advanced in situ electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to demonstrate that major restructuring and compositional changes occur along the path to catalytic function for selective alcohol oxidation. Transient kinetic measurements correlate the restructuring to three types of oxygen on the surface. The direct influence of changes in surface silver concentration and restructuring at the nanoscale on oxidation activity is demonstrated. Our results demonstrate that characterization of these dynamic changes is necessary to unlock the full potential of bimetallic catalytic materials.

Two-dimensional and homogeneous growth of m-plane AlGaN by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy has been realized on free-standing (1 (1) over bar 00) GaN substrates by implementing high metal-to-nitrogen (III/N) flux ratio. AlN island nucleation, often reported for m-plane AlGaN under nitrogen-rich growth conditions, is suppressed at high III/N flux ratio, highlighting the important role of growth kinetics for adatom incorporation. The homogeneity and microstructure of m-plane AlGaN/GaN superlattices are assessed via a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The predominant defects identified in dark field TEM characterization are short basal plane stacking faults (SFs) bounded by either Frank-Shockley or Frank partial dislocations. In particular, the linear density of SFs is approximately 5 x 10(-5) cm(-1), and the length of SFs is less than 15 nm. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

We report a unique process for rapid synthesis of few-layer graphene films on Cu foil by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). We show that the plasma/metal interaction can be advantageous for a rapid synthesis of such thin films. The process can produce films of controllable quality from amorphous to highly crystalline by adjusting plasma conditions during growth processes of similar to 100 s duration and with no supplemental substrate heating. Films have been characterized using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results help to identify the stages involved in the MPCVD deposition of thin carbon films on Cu foil, and the findings open new pathways for a rapid growth of few-layer graphene films. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.