Search

In this article, the synthesis by means of the spray pyrolysis method, of the CaMoO4 and rare-earth cation (RE3+)-doped CaMoO4:xRE3+ (RE3+ = Eu3+, Tb3+, and Tm3+; and x = 1, 2, and 4% mol) compounds, is presented. The as-synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Rietveld refinement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. To complement and rationalize the experimental results, first-principles calculations, at the density functional theory level, have been performed to analyze the band structure and density of states. In addition, a theoretical method based on the calculations of surface energies and Wulff construction was applied to obtain the morphology transformation of the CaMoO4 and CaMoO4:RE3+ microstructures. The experimental morphologies can be observed in the FE-SEM images. The PL behavior of the Co-doped samples exhibited well-defined bands in the visible region. The samples with 2 and 4% of RE3+ released white emission according to the chromaticity coordinates (0.34, 0.34) and (0.34, 0.33), respectively. The present results provide not only a deep understanding of the structure–property relationships of CaMoO4-based phosphor but also can be employed as a guideline for the design of the electronic structure of the materials and the fabrication of photofunctional materials with optimal properties, which allows for the modeling of new phosphors for applications in solid-state lighting.

In this paper, heavily C-doped GaN samples were deposited on glass and PET substrates by the thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method, for the first time. Microstructure, surface and optical properties of the carbon-doped GaN samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and UV–Vis spectrophotometer. According to XRD pattern, fullerene (C60) structures were able to deposit in doped samples, for the first time. The fullerene structures were detected at heavily carbon-doped GaN. The obtained band gap changes of heavily carbon-doped GaN samples are determined. The band gap of CGaN on PET substrate decreased to a lower value, about 100 meV. The band gaps were shifted to the lowest wavelengths towards the edge of the UV region by heavily doped carbon. (002) and (004) peaks for GaN were also detected. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

In this paper, copper oxide (CuO/Cu2O) nanocrystalline thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system at 75 W and 100 W. The surface, optical, composition and structural properties of obtaining samples were characterized by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–Vis spectrophotometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical band gaps of produced films were calculated as 2.05 eV and 1.83 eV for 75 W and 100 W. The layer’s thicknesses were measured as 20 nm and 50 nm using a Filmetrics F20. FESEM images of the samples prove the AFM images change and also show homogeneity of thin films and variation relative to power change, thus revealed the surface of samples disturb in homogen mode. EDX results denote presence of Cu and O elements inside the deposited samples.

In this paper, GaN thin film production was realized by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA), a plasma deposition technique, for the first time. We present a new deposition mechanism for GaN thin films with a very short production time. Microstructure properties of samples were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry. The peak at 2? = 72.88° corresponding to GaN (0004) was detected in XRD spectra. The surface morphology of the deposited GaN films was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The surface properties of the produced samples are quite different. The average roughness values were determined to be 0.48 nm for GaN/PET and 1.17 nm for GaN/glass. The optical properties (i.e., refractive index and reflection) were determined using an interferometer. Moreover, the obtained optical data were compared with bulk GaN materials. The refractive indexes were measured as 2.2, 3,0 and 2,5 for the GaN/glass, GaN/PET and bulk GaN, respectively. The transparencies of the different GaN-coated substrates are nearly the same. The obtained band gap values were measured in the energy range of 3.3-3.5 eV. TVA is a novel non-reactive plasma technique for the generation of metal organic thin films. The main advantage of this method is its fast deposition rate without any loss in the quality of the films. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

Current research presents a new deposition method for GaN thin films that produces in a very short production time for GaN-based solid-state applications. A Mo doped GaN thin film on a glass substrate was produced by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) technique. The TVA technique is a novel non-reactive plasma technique. The optical properties were determined by Filmetrics F20 interferometer and UV–Vis double beam spectrophotometer. The surface morphology was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The mean thickness value was measured as 100 nm by Filmetrics interferometer. The crystalline structure of the produced thin film has a Wurtzite crystal structure (004) as obtained by X-ray diffraction. Hardness value was determined as 14 GPa with the Oliver–Pharr method. The obtained properties are consistent with the values reported in related literature. The findings indicate that the TVA method provides advantages for optical and industrial applications. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanostructures have been successfully synthesized on sapphire substrates by using nanoparticle assisted pulsed laser deposition (NAPLD) in Ar atmosphere without using any catalyst. The growth of the AZO nanowires has been investigated by varying the argon flow rates. The coatings have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Laser Raman spectroscopy and Photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results of XRD indicate that the deposited films are crystalline ZnO with hexagonal wurtzite structure with (0 0 2) preferred orientation. FESEM images also clearly reveal the hexagonal structure and the formation of nanowires with aspect ratios between 15 and 20. The surface roughness value of 9.19 nm was observed from AFM analysis. The optical properties of the sample showed that under excitation with ? = 325 nm, an emission band was observed in UV and visible region. The characteristic Raman peaks were detected at 328, 380, 420, 430 cm-1. � 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-energy ball-milling of powder mixtures of zincite (ZnO) and iron (α-Fe) at different weight ratios was performed in air using a planetary ball mill with a stainless steel milling assembly. Structural and microstructural changes during the ball-milling (up to 30 h) were monitored using X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The mechanism of iron oxidation was determined from the results of Mossbauer spectroscopy. It was found that an early phase of ball-milling caused the oxidation of iron from Fe(0) to Fe(2+) followed by the formation of a solid solution structurally similar to wustite. The wustite-type phase rapidly disappeared upon prolonged milling, which was accompanied by further oxidation of iron from Fe(2+) to Fe(3+) and the formation of spinel-type ferrite structurally similar to franklinite (ZnFe2O4) in the products with a high zinc content, or magnetite (Fe3O4) in the products with a high iron content. Further milling or annealing had a low impact on the franklinite-type phase, but caused the transition of the magnetite-type phase to the phase structurally similar to hematite (α-Fe2O3). The results of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) showed a dramatic increase in the degree of contamination with the increase in the proportion of the starting iron (∼9 times higher contamination during the milling of pure iron compared with pure zincite). It was shown that the source of contamination (balls or vial) strongly depends on the type of milled sample. Ball-milling of relatively big and heavy grains (starting iron) caused preferential contamination from the vial whereas ball-milling of smaller and lighter grains (products obtained after prolonged milling) caused preferential contamination from the balls. After prolonged milling the contamination due to wear of the balls was dominant in all the products. An explanation for the observed impact of grain size on the source and the degree of contamination was proposed.

Deposition of IRMOF-8 thin films by atomic layer deposition was studied at 260–320 C. Zinc acetate and 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid were used as the precursors. The as-deposited amorphous films were crystallized in 70% relative humidity at room temperature resulting in an unknown phase with a large unit cell. An autoclave with dimethylformamide as the solvent was used to recrystallize the films into IRMOF-8 as confirmed by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The films were further characterized by high temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (TOF-ERDA), nanoindentation, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. HTXRD measurements revealed similar behavior to bulk IRMOF-8. According to TOFERDA and FTIR, composition of the films was similar to IRMOF-8. Through-porosity was confirmed by loading the films with palladium using Pd(thd)2 (thd ¼ 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3, 5-heptanedionato) as the precursor. peerReviewed

The purpose of this paper is to analyze surface properties of AlGaN thin film produced using thermionic vacuum arc technique. Thermionic vacuum arc is an alternative deposition technique for GaN thin films that produces in a very short production time for GaN-based solid-state applications. XRD results showed that AlGaN thin film with cubic crystal structure on a amorphous glass was grown. Conductivity type of AlGaN thin film is determined as p-type by hot-probe method which is a very simple method. The surface morphology was analyzed and discussed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy. The contact angles in four different testing liquid and surface free energy of the AlGaN thin film were investigated by optical tensiometer. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

A facile surfactant free laser ablation mediated synthesis (LAMS) of gold-graphene composite is reported here. The material was characterized using transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, powdered X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Zeta potential measurements and UV-Visible spectroscopic techniques. The as-synthesized gold-graphene composite was effectively utilized as catalyst for decolorization of 4 important textile and laser dyes. The integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with high surface area graphene has enhanced the catalytic activity of AuNPs. This enhanced activity is attributed to the synergistic interplay of pristine gold's electronic relay and ?-? stacking of graphene with the dyes. This is evident when the Rhodamine B (RB) reduction rate of the composite is nearly twice faster than that of commercial citrate capped AuNPs of similar size. In case of Methylene blue (MB) the rate of reduction is 17,000 times faster than uncatalyzed reaction. This synthetic method opens door to laser ablation based fabrication of metal catalysts on graphene for improved performance without the aid of linkers and surfactants.� 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The correlation between structural and electronic order–disorder effects in understanding the optical properties of flower-like ZnO nanocrystals synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method at low temperatures and short times is discussed. Theoretical simulations were performed at the density functional theory level to gain a better understanding of the experimental data from X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance (UV-vis) spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) measurement studies at different temperatures. The decrease in band gap values is due to the presence of intermediate states above the conduction band. These discrete levels are formed by structural and electronic disorder of tetrahedral [ZnO4] clusters which enhance the electron–hole pair.

The present work describes the synthesis of cobalt oxide nanoparticle decorated hydrogen exfoliated graphene (Co 3O 4/HEG) by exfoliating graphite oxide in hydrogen atmosphere followed by chemical reduction of cobalt salt using sodium borohydride. The synthesized material has been characterized by X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetric analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A flexible field emitter has been fabricated by spin coating this material on carbon cloth. Electron emission characteristics of Co 3O 4/HEG have been investigated using an in-house fabricated setup and analyzed using Fowler-Nordheim equation. Turn-on and threshold fields of 1.12 and 1.35 V ?m -1, respectively have been observed for this material. Moreover, the present field emitter shows a reasonably good stability and repeatability. � 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three nano-porous NiO samples with high specific surface area were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method under homogeneous precipitation conditions using CTAB as a template and urea as the hydrolysis controlling agent. This study was done to determine the effect of different anions (acetate, nitrate and chloride) present in the precursor salts on the morphology and pseudocapacitance behavior of NiO. The samples were characterized by thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) isotherm and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The final NiO samples showed different hierarchical surface morphologies and their effect on the electrochemical pseudocapacitance behavior was carefully studied by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles (chronopotentiometry) and impedance spectroscopic techniques. The specific capacitance of NiO sample synthesized by NO3 - ion intercalation showed higher surface area, intermediate porosity and a novel pine-cone morphology with nano-wire surface attachments. This sample exhibits the highest pseudocapacitance of 279 F g -1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s-1, calculated from the cyclic voltammetry measurements. The sample synthesized by Cl- intercalation shows a nano-flower morphology with lower surface area, porosity and pseudocapacitance behaviour. The NiO sample prepared in the presence of CH 3COO- ions showed a honeycomb type surface morphology with an intermediate pseudocapacitance value but higher reversibility. The galvanostatic charge-discharge and impedance spectroscopic measurements on these NiO electrodes were consistent with CV results. The Coulombic efficiency of all the three NiO samples was found to be high (?85 to ?99%) after 100 galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles. This study shows that the surface morphology and porosity of NiO are strongly influenced by the anions in the precursor salts, and in turn affect significantly the pseudocapacitance behavior and the power performance of NiO powders. � 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.