Abstract: A diazonium based-arylation reaction was efficiently used for the covalent addition of 4-amino-N,N,N-trimethylbenzene ammonium to stable dispersions of few layer graphene (FLG) yielding an innovative FLG platform with positive charges to immobilize inorganic polyanions.

Abstract: A major revolution for electron microscopy in the past decade is the introduction of aberration correction, which enables one to increase both the spatial resolution and the energy resolution to the optical limit. Aberration correction has contributed significantly to the imaging at low operating voltages. This is crucial for carbon-based nanomaterials which are sensitive to electron irradiation. The research of carbon nanomaterials and nanohybrids, in particular the fundamental understanding of defects and interfaces, can now be carried out in unprecedented detail by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (AC-TEM). This review discusses new possibilities and limits of AC-TEM at low voltage, including the structural imaging at atomic resolution, in three dimensions and spectroscopic investigation of chemistry and bonding. In situ TEM of carbon-based nanomaterials is discussed and illustrated through recent reports with particular emphasis on the underlying physics of interactions between electrons and carbon atoms.

Abstract: A method to correlate microstructure from cross-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations and transport properties of a single well characterized high-T-c artificial grain boundary junction is reported. A YBa2Cu3O7-delta 45 degrees twist junction exhibiting the typical phenomenology of high T-c Josephson weak links was employed. The TEM sample preparation is based on focused ion beam etching and allows to easily localize the electron transparent area on a microbridge. The reported technique opens clear perspectives in the determination of the microstructural origin of variations in Josephson junction properties, such as the spread in I-c and IcRN values and the presence of different transport regimes in nominally identical junctions. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)03404-X].

Abstract: It is not straightforward to determine resolution for a 3D reconstruction when performing an electron tomography experiment. Different contributions such as missing wedge and misalignment add up and often influence the final resolution in an anisotropic manner. The conventional resolution measures can not be used for all of the reconstruction techniques, especially for iterative techniques which are more commonly used for electron tomography in materials science. Here we define a quantitative resolution measure that determines the resolution in three orthogonal directions of the reconstruction. As an application we use this measure to determine the optimum number of simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique (SIRT) iterations to reconstruct the gold nanoparticles, based on a high angle annular dark field STEM (HAADF-STEM) tilt series.

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate to what extent high resolution transmission electron microscopy images can be used to measure the mass, in terms of thickness, and surface profile, corresponding to the defocus offset, of an object at the atomic scale. Therefore, we derive an expression for the statistical precision with which these object parameters can be estimated in a quantitative analysis. Evaluating this expression as a function of the microscope settings allows us to derive the optimal microscope design. Acquiring three-dimensional structure information in terms of thickness turns out to be much more difficult than obtaining two-dimensional information on the projected atom column positions. The attainable precision is found to be more strongly affected by processes influencing the image contrast, such as phonon scattering, than by the specific choice of microscope settings. For a realistic incident electron dose, it is expected that atom columns can be distinguished with single atom sensitivity up to a thickness of the order of the extinction distance. A comparable thickness limit is determined to measure surface steps of one atom. An increase of the electron dose shifts the limiting thickness upward due to an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio.

Abstract: We measured the electrical resistivity R(T) and specific heat C-p(T) between room temperature (RT) and 4.2 K as well as the microstructure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of a Ni-52 Ti-48 SMA quenched from 1000degreesC (B2-Phase range) to RT and then annealed for 1h at T=380degreesC, 550degreesC and 650degreesC. In the “as quenched” and the “650degreesC annealed” state no martensitic transformations (MT's) occur. The diffraction patterns show faint reflections originating from coherent Ni4Ti3 precipitates in an early state of formation. Additional reflections of the type 1/2 <110>, 1/2 <111> and 1/3 <110> result from various lattice displacement waves, which are precursors of the MT's to the B19' and R-phase, respectively. Indeed, high resolution TEM micrographs of the [001] zone of the “as quenched” sample reveal transverse 1/2 <110> <110> lattice displacement waves, precursors of the B19' martensite. The coherent Ni4Ti3 precipitates, homogeneously distributed on a small length scale, binder the MT's in the “as quenched” and the “650degreesC annealed” state, and thus only the precursors appear. When annealed at T=380degreesC, however, coherent Ni4Ti3 precipitates with a length of 10nm are clearly visible in TEM. These precipitates trigger the NIT from the B2 to the R-phase on cooling, as evidenced also by anomalies in R(T) and C-p(T). Annealing at T-550degreesC leads to the well known two step MT's from the B2 to the R-phase and then into the B19'-phase. These martensitic transitions are clearly seen as additional peaks in the specific heat and anomalies in the resistance, while the “as quenched” and 650degreesC annealed samples show weak features in R(T) and C-p(T).

Abstract: Bulk oxyfluoride glasses doped with Ag nanoclusters have been prepared using the melt quenching technique. When pumped in the absorption band of Ag nanoclusters between 300 to 500 nm, these glasses emit a very broad luminescence band covering all the visible range with a weak tail extending into the near infrared. The maximum of the luminescence band and its color shifts to the blue with a shortening of the excitation wavelength and an increasing ratio of oxide to fluoride components, resulting in white color luminescence at a particular ratio of oxide to fluoride; with a quantum yield above 20%.

Abstract: Stearate@Cu/ZnO nanocomposite particles with molar ratios of ZnO ∶ Cu = 2 and 5 are synthesized by reduction of the metalorganic Cu precursor [Cu{(OCH(CH3)CH2N(CH3)2)}2] in the presence of stearate@ZnO nanoparticles. In the case of ZnO ∶ Cu = 5, high-angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) combined with electron-energy-loss-spectroscopy (EELS) as well as attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy are used to localize the small amount of Cu deposited on the surface of 35 nm sized stearate@ZnO particles. For ZnO ∶ Cu = 2, the microstructure of the nanocomposites after catalytic activity testing is characterized by HAADF-STEM techniques. This reveals the construction of large Cu nanoparticles (2050 nm) decorated by small ZnO nanoparticles (35 nm). The catalytic activity of both composites for the synthesis of methanol from syn gas is evaluated.