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Author Vanrompay, H.; Skorikov, A.; Bladt, E.; Béché, A.; Freitag, B.; Verbeeck, J.; Bals, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Fast versus conventional HAADF-STEM tomography of nanoparticles: advantages and challenges Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Ultramicroscopy Abbreviated Journal Ultramicroscopy  
  Volume 221 Issue Pages 113191  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract HAADF-STEM tomography is a widely used experimental technique for analyzing nanometer-scale crystalline structures of a large variety of materials in three dimensions. Unfortunately, the acquisition of conventional HAADF-STEM tilt series can easily take up one hour or more, depending on the complexity of the experiment. It is therefore far from straightforward to investigate samples that do not withstand long acquisition or to acquire large amounts of tilt series during a single TEM experiment. The latter would lead to the ability to obtain statistically meaningful 3D data, or to perform in situ 3D characterizations with a much shorter time resolution. Various HAADF-STEM acquisition strategies have been proposed to accelerate the tomographic acquisition and reduce the required electron dose. These methods include tilting the holder continuously while acquiring a projection “movie” and a hybrid, incremental, methodology which combines the benefits of the conventional and continuous technique. However, until now an experimental evaluation has been lacking. In this paper, the different acquisition strategies will be experimentally compared in terms of speed, resolution and electron dose. This evaluation will be performed based on experimental tilt series acquired for various metallic nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes. We discuss the data processing involved with the fast HAADF-STEM tilt series and provide a general guideline when which acquisition strategy should be preferentially used.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000612539600003 Publication Date 2020-12-08  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0304-3991 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.843 Times cited 15 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes We acknowledge Prof. Luis M. Liz-Marzán and co-workers of the Bionanoplasmonics Laboratory, CIC biomaGUNE, Spain for providing the Au@Ag nanoparticles, Prof. Sara. E. Skrabalak and co-workers of Indiana University, United States for the provision of the Au octopods and Prof. Teri W. Odom of Northwestern University, United States for the provision of the Au nanostars. H.V. acknowledges financial support by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO grant 1S32617N). S.B acknowledges financial support by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO grant G.0381.16N). This project received funding as well from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 731019 (EUSMI) and No 815128 (REALNANO). The authors acknowledge the entire EMAT technical staff for their support.; sygma Approved Most recent IF: 2.843  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:174551 Serial 6660  
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Author Uytdenhouwen, Y.; Hereijgers, J.; Breugelmans, T.; Cool, P.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title How gas flow design can influence the performance of a DBD plasma reactor for dry reforming of methane Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 405 Issue Pages 126618  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract DBD plasma reactors are commonly used in a static ‘one inlet – one outlet’ design that goes against reactor design principles for multi-component reactions, such as dry reforming of methane (DRM). Therefore, in this paper we have developed a novel reactor design, and investigated how the shape and size of the reaction zone, as well as gradual gas addition, and the method of mixing CO2 and CH4 can influence the conversion and product com­ position of DRM. Even in the standard ‘one inlet – one outlet’ design, the direction of the gas flow (i.e. short or long path through the reactor, which defines the gas velocity at fixed residence time), as well as the dimensions of the reaction zone and the power delivery to the reactor, largely affect the performance. Using gradual gas addition and separate plasma activation zones for the individual gases give increased conversions within the same operational parameters, by optimising mixing ratios and kinetics. The choice of the main (pre-activated) gas and the direction of gas flow largely affect the conversion and energy cost, while the gas inlet position during separate addition only influences the product distribution.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000626511800005 Publication Date 2020-08-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.216 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Interreg; Flanders; FWO; University of Antwerp; The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Fund for Regional Development through the cross-border collaborative Interreg V program Flanders-the Netherlands (project EnOp), the Fund 13 for Scientific Research (FWO; grant number: G.0254.14N), and an IOFSBO (SynCO2Chem) project from the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:170609 Serial 6410  
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Author Uytdenhouwen, Y.; Bal, Km.; Neyts, Ec.; Meynen, V.; Cool, P.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title On the kinetics and equilibria of plasma-based dry reforming of methane Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 405 Issue Pages 126630  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma reactors are interesting for gas-based chemical conversion but the fundamental relation between the plasma chemistry and selected conditions remains poorly understood. Apparent kinetic parameters for the loss and formation processes of individual components of gas conversion processes, can however be extracted by performing experiments in an extended residence time range (2–75 s) and fitting the gas composition to a firstorder kinetic model of the evolution towards partial chemical equilibrium (PCE). We specifically investigated the differences in kinetic characteristics and PCE state of the CO2 dissociation and CH4 reforming reactions in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor (DBD), how these are mutually affected when combining both gases in the dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction, and how they change when a packing material (non-porous SiO2) is added to the reactor. We find that CO2 dissociation is characterized by a comparatively high reaction rate of 0.120 s−1 compared to CH4 reforming at 0.041 s−1; whereas CH4 reforming reaches higher equilibrium conversions, 82% compared to 53.6% for CO2 dissociation. Combining both feed gases makes the DRM reaction to proceed at a relatively high rate (0.088 s−1), and high conversion (75.4%) compared to CO2 dissociation, through accessing new chemical pathways between the products of CO2 and CH4. The addition of the packing material can also distinctly influence the conversion rate and position of the equilibrium, but its precise effect depends strongly on the gas composition. Comparing different CO2:CH4 ratios reveals the delicate balance of the combined chemistry. CO2 drives the loss reactions in DRM, whereas CH4 in the mixture suppresses back reactions. As a result, our methodology provides some of the insight necessary to systematically tune the conversion process.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000621197700003 Publication Date 2020-08-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.216 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Fund for Regional Development through the cross-border collaborative Interreg V program Flanders-the Netherlands (project EnOp), the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO; grant number: G.0254.14N), a TOP-BOF project and an IOF-SBO (SynCO2Chem) project from the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172458 Serial 6411  
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Author Khalilov, U.; Neyts, E.C. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Mechanisms of selective nanocarbon synthesis inside carbon nanotubes Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Carbon Abbreviated Journal Carbon  
  Volume 171 Issue Pages 72-78  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The possibility of confinement effects inside a carbon nanotube provides new application opportunities, e.g., growth of novel carbon nanostructures. However, the understanding the precise role of catalystfeedstock in the nanostructure synthesis is still elusive. In our simulation-based study, we investigate the Ni-catalyzed growth mechanism of encapsulated carbon nanostructures, viz. double-wall carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon, from carbon and hydrocarbon growth precursors, respectively. Specifically, we find that the tube and ribbon growth is determined by a catalyst-vs-feedstock competition effect. We compare our results, i.e., growth mechanism and structure morphology with all available theoretical and experimental data. Our calculations show that all encapsulated nanostructures contain metal (catalyst) atoms and such structures are less stable than their pure counterparts. Therefore, we study the purification mechanism of these structures. In general, this study opens a possible route to the controllable synthesis of tubular and planar carbon nanostructures for today’s nanotechnology.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000598371500009 Publication Date 2020-09-02  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0008-6223 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Fund of Scientific Research Flanders, 12M1318N ; Universiteit Antwerpen; Flemish Supercomputer Centre; Hercules Foundation; Flemish Government; The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Fund of Scientific Research Flanders (FWO), Belgium, Grant number 12M1318N. The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC), funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA, Belgium. Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172459 Serial 6414  
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Author Fukuhara, S.; Bal, K.M.; Neyts, E.C.; Shibuta, Y. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Entropic and enthalpic factors determining the thermodynamics and kinetics of carbon segregation from transition metal nanoparticles Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Carbon Abbreviated Journal Carbon  
  Volume 171 Issue Pages 806-813  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The free energy surface (FES) for carbon segregation from nickel nanoparticles is obtained from advanced molecular dynamics simulations. A suitable reaction coordinate is developed that can distinguish dissolved carbon atoms from segregated dimers, chains and junctions on the nanoparticle surface. Because of the typically long segregation time scale (up to ms), metadynamics simulations along the developed reaction coordinate are used to construct FES over a wide range of temperatures and carbon concentrations. The FES revealed the relative stability of different stages in the segregation process, and free energy barriers and rates of the individual steps could then be calculated and decomposed into enthalpic and entropic contributions. As the carbon concentration in the nickel nanoparticle increases, segregated carbon becomes more stable in terms of both enthalpy and entropy. The activation free energy of the reaction also decreases with the increase of carbon concentration, which can be mainly attributed to entropic effects. These insights and the methodology developed to obtain them improve our understanding of carbon segregation process across materials science in general, and the nucleation and growth of carbon nanotube in particular.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000598371500084 Publication Date 2020-09-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0008-6223 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Scientific Research, 19H02415 ; JSPS, 18J22727 ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; JSPS; JSPS; FWO; Research Foundation; Flanders, 12ZI420N ; This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No.19H02415) and Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow (No.18J22727) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan. S.F. was supported by JSPS through the Program for 812 Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172452 Serial 6421  
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Author Attri, P.; Kaushik, N.K.; Kaushik, N.; Hammerschmid, D.; Privat-Maldonado, A.; De Backer, J.; Shiratani, M.; Choi, E.H.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma treatment causes structural modifications in lysozyme, and increases cytotoxicity towards cancer cells Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2021 Publication International Journal Of Biological Macromolecules Abbreviated Journal Int J Biol Macromol  
  Volume 182 Issue Pages 1724-1736  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Lysozyme; Cold atmospheric plasma; Cancer cell death; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract Bacterial and mammalian proteins, such as lysozyme, are gaining increasing interest as anticancer drugs. This study aims to modify the lysozyme structure using cold atmospheric plasma to boost its cancer cell killing effect. We investigated the structure at acidic and neutral pH using various experimental techniques (circular dichroism, fluorescence, and mass spectrometry) and molecular dynamics simulations. The controlled structural modification of lysozyme at neutral pH enhances its activity, while the activity was lost at acidic pH at the same treatment conditions. Indeed, a larger number of amino acids were oxidized at acidic pH after plasma treatment, which results in a greater distortion of the lysozyme structure, whereas only limited structural changes were observed in lysozyme after plasma treatment at neutral pH. We found that the plasma-treated lysozyme significantly induced apoptosis to the cancer cells. Our results reveal that plasma-treated lysozyme could have potential as a new cancer cell killing drug.  
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  Language Wos 000675794700005 Publication Date 2021-05-27  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0141-8130 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.671 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; We gratefully acknowledge the European H2020 Marie SkłodowskaCurie Actions Individual Fellowship “Anticancer-PAM” within Horizon2020 (grant number 743546). This work was also supported by JSPS-KAKENHI grant number 20K14454. NK thanks to National Research Foundation of Korea under Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF2021R1C1C1013875) of Korean Government. The computational work was carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA. Approved Most recent IF: 3.671  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:178813 Serial 6792  
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Author Oliveira, M.C.; Yusupov, M.; Bogaerts, A.; Cordeiro, R.M. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Lipid Oxidation: Role of Membrane Phase-Separated Domains Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2021 Publication Journal Of Chemical Information And Modeling Abbreviated Journal J Chem Inf Model  
  Volume 61 Issue 6 Pages 2857-2868  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract Lipid oxidation is associated with several inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, but many questions to unravel its effects on biomembranes are still open due to the complexity of the topic. For instance, recent studies indicated that phase-separated domains can have a significant effect on membrane function. It is reported that domain interfaces are “hot spots” for pore formation, but the underlying mechanisms and the effect of oxidation-induced phase separation on membranes remain elusive. Thus, to evaluate the permeability of the membrane coexisting of liquid-ordered (Lo) and liquid-disordered (Ld) domains, we performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, we studied the membrane permeability of nonoxidized or oxidized homogeneous membranes (single-phase) and at the Lo/Ld domain interfaces of heterogeneous membranes, where the Ld domain is composed of either oxidized or nonoxidized lipids. Our simulation results reveal that the addition of only 1.5% of lipid aldehyde molecules at the Lo/Ld domain interfaces of heterogeneous membranes increases the membrane permeability, whereas their addition at homogeneous membranes does not have any effect. This study is of interest for a better understanding of cancer treatment methods based on oxidative stress (causing among others lipid oxidation), such as plasma medicine and photodynamic therapy.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language Wos 000669541400034 Publication Date 2021-06-28  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1549-9596 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.76 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 1200219N ; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; We thank Universidade Federal do ABC for providing the computational resources needed for completion of this work and CAPES for the scholarship granted. M.Y. acknowledges the Flanders Research Foundation (grant 1200219N) for financial support. Approved Most recent IF: 3.76  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:179766 Serial 6806  
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Author Blommaerts, N.; Hoeven, N.; Arenas Esteban, D.; Campos, R.; Mertens, M.; Borah, R.; Glisenti, A.; De Wael, K.; Bals, S.; Lenaerts, S.; Verbruggen, S.W.; Cool, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Tuning the turnover frequency and selectivity of photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO and methane using platinum and palladium nanoparticles on Ti-Beta zeolites Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 410 Issue Pages 128234  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); AXES (Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation)  
  Abstract A Ti-Beta zeolite was used in gas phase photocatalytic CO2 reduction to reduce the charge recombination rate and increase the surface area compared to P25 as commercial benchmark, reaching 607 m2 g-1. By adding Pt nanoparticles, the selectivity can be tuned toward CO, reaching a value of 92% and a turnover frequency (TOF) of 96 µmol.gcat-1.h-1, nearly an order of magnitude higher in comparison with P25. By adding Pd nanoparticles the selectivity can be shifted from CO (70% for a bare Ti-Beta zeolite), toward CH4 as the prevalent species (60%). In this way, the selectivity toward CO or CH4 can be tuned by either using Pt or Pd. The TOF values obtained in this work outperform reported state-of-the-art values in similar research. The improved activity by adding the nanoparticles was attributed to an improved charge separation efficiency, together with a plasmonic contribution of the metal nanoparticles under the applied experimental conditions.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000623394200004 Publication Date 2021-01-09  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.216 Times cited 15 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes N.B., S.L., S.W.V. and P.C. wish to thank the Flemish government and Catalisti for financial support and coordination in terms of a sprint SBO in the context of the moonshot project D2M. N.H. thanks the Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) for the financial support. The Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research (SPHERE) group, R. Blust, University of Antwerp is acknowledged for the ICP-MS measurements. Approved Most recent IF: 6.216  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:174591 Serial 6662  
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Author Felipe Montiel, N.; Parrilla, M.; Beltrán, V.; Nuyts, G.; Van Durme, F.; De Wael, K. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title The opportunity of 6-monoacetylmorphine to selectively detect heroin at preanodized screen printed electrodes Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2021 Publication Talanta Abbreviated Journal Talanta  
  Volume Issue Pages 122005  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation (AXES) ;  
  Abstract The illicit consumption of heroin is an increasing concern in our society. For this reason, rapid analytical methods to seize heroin samples in the field are of paramount importance to hinder drug trafficking, and thus prevent the availability of heroin in the drug market. The present work reports on the enriched electrochemical fingerprint of heroin, allowing its selective detection in street samples, based on the use of electrochemical pretreated screen printed electrodes (p-SPE). The voltammetric identification is built on two oxidation peaks of both heroin and its degradation product 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), generated in alkaline conditions. Interestingly, an anodic pretreatment of the screen printed electrodes (SPE) shifts the peak potential of paracetamol (the most encountered cutting agent in heroin seizures), allowing the detection of 6-MAM peak, overlapping with the paracetamol signal in the case of untreated SPE. Subsequently, the characterization of the p-SPE with scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is provided to demonstrate local changes on the surface of the electrode. From an analytical perspective, p-SPE provide higher sensitivity (0.019 μA μM-1), excellent reproducibility (6-MAM, RSD = 2.85%, and heroin RSD = 0.91%, n = 5) and lower limits of detection (LOD) (5.2 μM) in comparison to untreated SPE. The proposed protocol which integrates a tailor-made script is interrogated against common cutting agents, and finally, validated with the screening of 14 street samples, also analyzed by standard methods. Besides, a comparison with portable spectroscopic techniques on the confiscated samples shows the better performance of the electrochemical strategy. Overall, this sensing approach offers promising results for the rapid on-site profiling of suspicious heroin samples, also in the presence of paracetamol.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000656959000033 Publication Date 2021-01-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0039-9140 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 4.162 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 833787, BorderSens. The authors acknowledge financial support from the University of Antwerp (IOF). Approved Most recent IF: 4.162  
  Call Number AXES @ axes @c:irua:174844 Serial 6663  
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Author Liu, P.; Arslan Irmak, E.; De Backer, A.; De wael, A.; Lobato, I.; Béché, A.; Van Aert, S.; Bals, S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Three-dimensional atomic structure of supported Au nanoparticles at high temperature Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal Nanoscale  
  Volume 13 Issue Pages  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract Au nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on CeO2 are extensively used as thermal catalysts since the morphology of the NPs is expected to be stable at elevated temperatures. Although it is well known that the activity of Au NPs depends on their size and surface structure, their three-dimensional (3D) structure at the atomic scale has not been completely characterized as a function of temperature. In this paper, we overcome the limitations of conventional electron tomography by combining atom counting applied to aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy images and molecular dynamics relaxation. In this manner, we are able to perform an atomic resolution 3D investigation of supported Au NPs. Our results enable us to characterize the 3D equilibrium structure of single NPs as a function of temperature. Moreover, the dynamic 3D structural evolution of the NPs at high temperatures, including surface layer jumping and crystalline transformations, has been studied.  
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  Language Wos 000612999200029 Publication Date 2020-12-29  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2040-3364 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 7.367 Times cited 13 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was supported by the European Research Council (Grant 815128 REALNANO to SB, Grant 770887 PICOMETRICS to SVA, Grant 823717 ESTEEM3). The authors acknowledge financial support from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium) through grants to A. D. w. and A. D. B. and project funding G.0267.18N.; sygma; esteem3JRA; esteem3reported Approved Most recent IF: 7.367  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:174858 Serial 6665  
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Author Li, C.; Tardajos, A.P.; Wang, D.; Choukroun, D.; Van Daele, K.; Breugelmans, T.; Bals, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title A simple method to clean ligand contamination on TEM grids Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Ultramicroscopy Abbreviated Journal Ultramicroscopy  
  Volume 221 Issue Pages 113195  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) including nanowires and nanosheets made by chemical methods involve many organic ligands. When the structure of NPs is investigated via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the organic ligands act as a source for e-beam induced deposition and this causes substantial build-up of carbon layers in the investigated areas, which is typically referred to as “contamination” in the eld of electron mi- croscopy. This contamination is often more severe for scanning TEM, a technique that is based on a focused electron beam and hence higher electron dose rate. In this paper, we report a simple and effective method to clean drop-cast TEM grids that contain NPs with ligands. Using a combination of activated carbon and ethanol, this method effectively reduces the amount of ligands on TEM grids, and therefore greatly improves the quality of electron microscopy images and subsequent analytical measurements. This ef cient and facile method can be helpful during electron microscopy investigation of different kinds of nanomaterials that suffer from ligand- induced contamination.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language Wos 000612539600002 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0304-3991 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.843 Times cited 10 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes This research was funded by the University Antwerp GOA project (ID 33928). DW acknowledges an Individual Fellowship funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in Horizon 2020 program (grant 894254 SuprAtom). Approved Most recent IF: 2.843  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:174947 Serial 6666  
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Author Van Hoecke, L.; Laffineur, L.; Campe, R.; Perreault, P.; Verbruggen, S.W.; Lenaerts, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Challenges in the use of hydrogen for maritime applications Type A1 Journal Article;Review article, Hydrogen Production, Hydrogen Storage, Maritime Applications
  Year 2021 Publication Energy & Environmental Science Abbreviated Journal Energ Environ Sci  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article;Review article, Hydrogen Production, Hydrogen Storage, Maritime Applications; Sustainable energy, air and water technology (DuEL)  
  Abstract Maritime shipping is a key factor that enables the global economy, however the pressure it exerts on the environment is increasing rapidly. In order to reduce the emissions of harmful greenhouse gasses, the search is on for alternative fuels for the maritime shipping industry. In this work the usefulness of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers is being investigated as a fuel for sea going ships. Due to the low volumetric energy density of hydrogen under standard conditions, the need for efficient storage of this fuel is high. Key processes in the use of hydrogen are discussed, starting with the production of hydrogen from fossil and renewable sources. The focus of this review is different storage methods, and in this work we discuss the storage of hydrogen at high pressure, in liquefied form at cryogenic temperatures and bound to liquid or solid-state carriers. In this work a theoretical introduction to different hydrogen storage methods precedes an analysis of the energy-efficiency and practical storage density of the carriers. In the final section the major challenges and hurdles for the development of hydrogen storage for the maritime industry are discussed. The most likely challenges will be the development of a new bunkering infrastructure and suitable monitoring of the safety to ensure safe operation of these hydrogen carriers on board the ship.  
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  Language Wos 000621101100009 Publication Date 2021-01-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1754-5692 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 29.518 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes For the completion of this work we would like to thank, Compagnie Maritime Belge for initial funding 9 of the research into maritime hydrogen storage and the University of Antwerp for funding of the 10 Doctoral Project that allowed for the completion of this work. Approved Most recent IF: 29.518  
  Call Number DuEL @ duel @c:irua:174754 Serial 6668  
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Author Kleshch, V.I.; Porshyn, V.; Orekhov, A.S.; Orekhov, A.S.; Lützenkirchen-Hecht, D.; Obraztsov, A.N. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Carbon single-electron point source controlled by Coulomb blockade Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Carbon Abbreviated Journal Carbon  
  Volume 171 Issue Pages 154-160  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract The Coulomb blockade effect is commonly used in solid state electronics for the control of electron flow

at the single-particle level. Potentially, it allows the creation of single-electron point sources demanded

for prospective electron microscopy instruments and other vacuum electronics devices. Here we realize

this potential via creation of a stable point electron source composed of a carbon nanowire electrically

coupled to a diamond nanotip by a tunnel junction. Using energy spectroscopy analysis, we characterize

the electrons liberated from the nanometer scale carbon heterostructures in time and energy domains.

Our experimental results demonstrate perfect agreement with theory prediction of Coulomb oscillations

of the Fermi level in the nanowire and allow to determine the mechanisms of their suppression.

Persistence of the oscillations at room temperature, high intensity field emission with currents up to

1 mA, and other characteristics of our emitters are very promising for practical realization of coherent

single-electron guns.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000598371500018 Publication Date 2020-09-06  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0008-6223 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes The work was supported by Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 19-72-10067). Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:175013 Serial 6670  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Marinov, D.; de Marneffe, J.-F.; Smets, Q.; Arutchelvan, G.; Bal, K.M.; Voronina, E.; Rakhimova, T.; Mankelevich, Y.; El Kazzi, S.; Nalin Mehta, A.; Wyndaele, P.-J.; Heyne, M.H.; Zhang, J.; With, P.C.; Banerjee, S.; Neyts, E.C.; Asselberghs, I.; Lin, D.; De Gendt, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Reactive plasma cleaning and restoration of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication npj 2D Materials and Applications Abbreviated Journal npj 2D Mater Appl  
  Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 17  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The cleaning of two-dimensional (2D) materials is an essential step in the fabrication of future devices, leveraging their unique physical, optical, and chemical properties. Part of these emerging 2D materials are transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). So far there is limited understanding of the cleaning of “monolayer” TMD materials. In this study, we report on the use of downstream H<sub>2</sub>plasma to clean the surface of monolayer WS<sub>2</sub>grown by MOCVD. We demonstrate that high-temperature processing is essential, allowing to maximize the removal rate of polymers and to mitigate damage caused to the WS<sub>2</sub>in the form of sulfur vacancies. We show that low temperature in situ carbonyl sulfide (OCS) soak is an efficient way to resulfurize the material, besides high-temperature H<sub>2</sub>S annealing. The cleaning processes and mechanisms elucidated in this work are tested on back-gated field-effect transistors, confirming that transport properties of WS<sub>2</sub>devices can be maintained by the combination of H<sub>2</sub>plasma cleaning and OCS restoration. The low-damage plasma cleaning based on H<sub>2</sub>and OCS is very reproducible, fast (completed in a few minutes) and uses a 300 mm industrial plasma etch system qualified for standard semiconductor pilot production. This process is, therefore, expected to enable the industrial scale-up of 2D-based devices, co-integrated with silicon technology.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000613258900001 Publication Date 2021-01-28  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2397-7132 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Daniil Marinov has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 752164. Ekaterina Voronina, Yuri Mankelevitch, and Tatyana Rakhimova are thankful to the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) for financial support (Grant No. 16-12-10361). This study was carried out using the equipment of the shared research facilities of high-performance computing resources at Lomonosov Moscow State University and the computational resources and services of the HPC core facility CalcUA of the University of Antwerp, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. Patrick With gratefully acknowledges imec’s CTO office for financial support during his stay at imec. The authors thank Mr. Surajit Sutar (imec) for his help during sample electrical characterization, and Patrick Verdonck for lab processing. Jean-François de Marneffe thank Prof. Simone Napolitano from the Free University of Brussels for useful discussions on irreversibly adsorbed polymer layers, and Cédric Huyghebaert (imec) for his continuous support in the framework of the Graphene FET Flagship core project. All authors acknowledge the support of imec’s pilot line and materials characterization and analysis (MCA) group, namely Jonathan Ludwig, Stefanie Sergeant, Thomas Nuytten, Olivier Richard, and Thierry Conard. Finally, Daniil Marinov thank Mikhail Krishtab (imec/KU Leuven) for his help in selecting the optimal plasma etch system for this work. Part of this project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 649953. Approved Most recent IF: NA  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175871 Serial 6671  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Loenders, B.; Engelmann, Y.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane on Pt(111): A Microkinetic Study on the Role of Different Plasma Species Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Journal Of Physical Chemistry C Abbreviated Journal J Phys Chem C  
  Volume 125 Issue 5 Pages 2966-2983  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Movement Antwerp (MOVANT)  
  Abstract We use microkinetic modeling to examine the potential of plasma-catalytic partial oxidation (POX) of CH4 as a promising new approach to produce oxygenates. We study how different plasma species affect POX of CH4 on the Pt(111) surface, and we discuss the associated kinetic and mechanistic changes. We discuss the effect of vibrationally excited CH4 and O2, as well as plasma-generated radicals and stable intermediates. Our results show that vibrational excitation enhances the turnover frequency (TOF) of catalytic CH4 dissociation and has good potential for improving the selectivities toward CH3OH, HCOOH, and C2 hydrocarbons. Nevertheless, when also considering plasma-generated radicals, we find that these species mainly govern the surface chemistry. Additionally, we find that plasma-generated radicals and stable intermediates enhance the TOFs of COx and oxygenates, increase the selectivity toward oxygenates, and make the formation of HCOOH more significant on Pt(111). We also briefly illustrate the potential impact of Eley−Rideal reactions that involve plasma-generated radicals. Finally, we reveal how various radicals affect the catalyst surface chemistry and we link this to the formation of different products. This allows us to make suggestions on how the plasma composition should be altered to improve the formation of desired products.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000619760700017 Publication Date 2021-02-11  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1932-7447 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 4.536 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Universiteit Antwerpen; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, S001619N ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; We thank Tom Butterworth for the interesting discussions regarding the calculation of the vibrational populations of methane and for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences on the matter. This research is supported by the FWO-SBO project PLASMACATDesign (grant number S001619N). We also acknowledge financial support from the TOP-BOF project of the University of Antwerp and from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement no. 810182SCOPE ERC Synergy project). The calculations were carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (Department EWI), and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 4.536  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175873 Serial 6672  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Bagiński, M.; Pedrazo-Tardajos, A.; Altantzis, T.; Tupikowska, M.; Vetter, A.; Tomczyk, E.; Suryadharma, R.N.S.; Pawlak, M.; Andruszkiewicz, A.; Górecka, E.; Pociecha, D.; Rockstuhl, C.; Bals, S.; Lewandowski, W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Understanding and Controlling the Crystallization Process in Reconfigurable Plasmonic Superlattices Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Acs Nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume Issue Pages acsnano.0c09746  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract The crystallization of nanomaterials is a primary source of solid-state, photonic structures. Thus, a detailed understanding of this process is of paramount importance for the successful application of photonic nanomaterials in emerging optoelectronic technologies. While colloidal crystallization has been thoroughly studied, for example, with advanced in situ electron microscopy methods, the noncolloidal crystallization (freezing) of nanoparticles (NPs) remains so far unexplored. To fill this gap, in this work, we present proof-of principle experiments decoding a crystallization of reconfigurable assemblies of NPs at a solid state. The chosen material corresponds to an excellent testing bed, as it enables both in situ and ex situ investigation using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and optical spectroscopy in visible and ultraviolet range (UV−vis) techniques. In particular, ensemble measurements with small-angle XRD highlighted the dependence of the correlation length in the NPs assemblies on the number of heating/cooling cycles and the rate of cooling. Ex situ TEM imaging further supported these results by revealing a dependence of domain size and structure on the sample preparation route and by showing we can control the domain size over 2 orders of magnitude. The application of HAADF-STEM tomography, combined with in situ thermal control, provided three-dimensional single-particle level information on the positional order evolution within assemblies. This combination of real and reciprocal space provides insightful information on the anisotropic, reversibly reconfigurable assemblies of NPs. TEM measurements also highlighted the importance of interfaces in the polydomain structure of nanoparticle solids, allowing us to understand experimentally observed differences in UV−vis extinction spectra of the differently prepared crystallites. Overall, the obtained results show that the combination of in situ heating HAADF-STEM tomography with XRD and ex situ TEM techniques is a powerful approach to study nanoparticle freezing processes and to reveal the crucial impact of disorder in the solid-state aggregates of NPs on their plasmonic properties.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000634569100101 Publication Date 2021-02-23  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1936-0851 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.942 Times cited 10 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego, 0112/DIA/2019/48 ; European Commission, 731019 E171000009 (EUSMI) ; Narodowe Centrum Nauki, 2016/21/N/ST5/03356 ; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, RO 3640/12-1 ; Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, First TEAM2016–2/15 ; European Research Council, 815128 (REALNANO) ; sygma; Approved Most recent IF: 13.942  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:175872 Serial 6673  
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Author van ‘t Veer, K.; van Alphen, S.; Remy, A.; Gorbanev, Y.; De Geyter, N.; Snyders, R.; Reniers, F.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Spatially and temporally non-uniform plasmas: microdischarges from the perspective of molecules in a packed bed plasma reactor Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Journal Of Physics D-Applied Physics Abbreviated Journal J Phys D Appl Phys  
  Volume 54 Issue 17 Pages 174002  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) typically operate in the filamentary regime and thus exhibit great spatial and temporal non-uniformity. In order to optimize DBDs for various applications, such as in plasma catalysis, more fundamental insight is needed. Here, we consider how the millions of microdischarges, characteristic for a DBD, influence individual gas molecules. We use a Monte Carlo approach to determine the number of microdischarges to which a single molecule would be exposed, by means of particle tracing simulations through a full-scale packed bed DBD reactor, as well as an empty DBD reactor. We find that the fraction of microdischarges to which the molecules are exposed can be approximated as the microdischarge volume over the entire reactor gas volume. The use of this concept provides good agreement between a plasma-catalytic kinetics model and experiments for plasma-catalytic NH3 synthesis. We also show that the concept of the fraction of microdischarges indicates the efficiency by which the plasma power is transferred to the gas molecules. This generalised concept is also applicable for other spatially and temporally non-uniform plasmas.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000618776000001 Publication Date 2021-04-29  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-3727 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.588 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project, FWO grant ID GoF9618n ; Flemish Government, project P2C (HBC.2019.0108) ; H2020 European Research Council, grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy pr ; This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO Grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 810182—SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and by the Flemish Government through the Moonshot cSBO project P2C (HBC. 2019.0108). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. The authors would also like to thank Hamid Ahmadi Eshtehardi for discussions on the plasma-kinetic DBD model and Yannick Engelmann for discussions on the surface kinetics model. Approved Most recent IF: 2.588  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175878 Serial 6674  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Yi, Y.; Wang, X.; Jafarzadeh, A.; Wang, L.; Liu, P.; He, B.; Yan, J.; Zhang, R.; Zhang, H.; Liu, X.; Guo, H.; Neyts, E.C.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-Catalytic Ammonia Reforming of Methane over Cu-Based Catalysts for the Production of HCN and H2at Reduced Temperature Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 11 Issue 3 Pages 1765-1773  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Industrial production of HCN from NH3 and CH4 not only uses precious Pt or Pt−Rh catalysts but also requires extremely high temperatures (∼1600 K). From an energetic, operational, and safety perspective, a drastic decrease in temperature is highly desirable. Here, we report ammonia reforming of methane for the production of HCN and H2 at 673 K by the combination of CH4/NH3 plasma and a supported Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst. 30% CH4 conversion has been achieved with 79% HCN selectivity. Catalyst characterization and plasma diagnostics reveal that the excellent reaction performance is attributed to metallic Cu active sites. In addition, we propose a possible reaction pathway, viz. E-R reactions with N, NH, NH2, and CH radicals produced in the plasma, for the production of HCN, based on density functional theory calculations. Importantly, the Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst costs less than 5% of the commercial Pt mesh catalyst.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000618540300057 Publication Date 2021-02-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10.614 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Universiteit Antwerpen, 32249 ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2015M580220 2016T90217 ; PetroChina Innovation Foundation, 2018D-5007-0501 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 21503032 ; We acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21503032], the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant numbers 2015M580220 and 2016T90217, 2016], the PetroChina Innovation Foundation [2018D-5007-0501], and the TOP research project of the Research Fund of the University of Antwerp [grant ID 32249]. Approved Most recent IF: 10.614  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175880 Serial 6675  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author De Meyer, R.; Albrecht, W.; Bals, S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Effectiveness of reducing the influence of CTAB at the surface of metal nanoparticles during in situ heating studies by TEM Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Micron Abbreviated Journal Micron  
  Volume 144 Issue Pages 103036  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract In situ TEM is a valuable technique to offer novel insights in the behavior of nanomaterials under various conditions. However, interpretation of in situ experiments is not straightforward since the electron beam can impact the outcome of such measurements. For example, ligands surrounding metal nanoparticles transform into a protective carbon layer upon electron beam irradiation and may impact the apparent thermal stability during in situ heating experiments. In this work, we explore the effect of different treatments typically proposed to remove such ligands. We found that plasma treatment prior to heating experiments for Au nanorods and nanostars increased the apparent thermal stability of the nanoparticles, while an activated carbon treatment resulted in a decrease of the observed thermal stability. Treatment with HCl barely changed the experimental outcome. These results demonstrate the importance of carefully selecting pre-treatments procedures during in situ heating experiments.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000632282600002 Publication Date 2021-02-19  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0968-4328 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 1.98 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes H2020; European Research Council; This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [grant agreement No 823717 (ESTEEM3) and No 815128 (REALNANO)]; We acknowledge Prof. Luis M. Liz-Marzán and co-workers of the Bionanoplasmonics Laboratory, CICbiomaGUNE, Spain for providing the Au nanoparticles.; sygma; esteem3jra; esteem3reported Approved Most recent IF: 1.98  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:175874 Serial 6677  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Jardali, F.; Van Alphen, S.; Creel, J.; Ahmadi Eshtehardi, H.; Axelsson, M.; Ingels, R.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title NOxproduction in a rotating gliding arc plasma: potential avenue for sustainable nitrogen fixation Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Green Chemistry Abbreviated Journal Green Chem  
  Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 1748-1757  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The fast growing world population demands food to survive, and nitrogen-based fertilizers are essential to ensure sufficient food production. Today, fertilizers are mainly produced from non-sustainable fossil fuels<italic>via</italic>the Haber–Bosch process, leading to serious environmental problems. We propose here a novel rotating gliding arc plasma, operating in air, for direct NO<sub>x</sub>production, which can yield high nitrogen content organic fertilizers without pollution associated with ammonia emission. We explored the efficiency of NO<sub>x</sub>production in a wide range of feed gas ratios, and for two arc modes: rotating and steady. When the arc is in steady mode, record-value NO<sub>x</sub>concentrations up to 5.5% are achieved which are 1.7 times higher than the maximum concentration obtained by the rotating arc mode, and with an energy consumption of 2.5 MJ mol<sup>−1</sup>(or<italic>ca.</italic>50 kW h kN<sup>−1</sup>);<italic>i.e.</italic>the lowest value so far achieved by atmospheric pressure plasma reactors. Computer modelling, using a combination of five different complementary approaches, provides a comprehensive picture of NO<sub>x</sub>formation in both arc modes; in particular, the higher NO<sub>x</sub>production in the steady arc mode is due to the combined thermal and vibrationally-promoted Zeldovich mechanisms.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000629630600021 Publication Date 2021-01-28  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1463-9262 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 9.125 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, GoF9618n 30505023 ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; This research was supported by a Bilateral Project with N2 Applied, the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023) and by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. We also thank J.-L. Liu for the RGA design, L. Van ‘t dack and K. Leyssens for MS calibration and practical support, and K. Van ‘t Veer for the fruitful discussions on plasma kinetic modelling and for calculating the electron energy losses. Approved Most recent IF: 9.125  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:176022 Serial 6678  
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Author Geerts, L.; Geerts-Claes, H.; Skorikov, A.; Vermeersch, J.; Vanbutsele, G.; Galvita, V.; Constales, D.; Chandran, C.V.; Radhakrishnan, S.; Seo, J.W.; Breynaert, E.; Bals, S.; Sree, S.P.; Martens, J.A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Spherical core–shell alumina support particles for model platinum catalysts Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal Nanoscale  
  Volume 13 Issue 7 Pages 4221-4232  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract γ- and δ-alumina are popular catalyst support materials. Using a hydrothermal synthesis method starting from aluminum nitrate and urea in diluted solution, spherical core–shell particles with a uniform particle size of about 1 μm were synthesized. Upon calcination at 1000 °C, the particles adopted a core–shell structure with a γ-alumina core and δ-alumina shell as evidenced by 2D and 3D electron microscopy and<sup>27</sup>Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The spherical alumina particles were loaded with Pt nanoparticles with an average size below 1 nm using the strong electrostatic adsorption method. Electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed a homogeneous platinum dispersion over the alumina surface. These platinum loaded alumina spheres were used as a model catalyst for bifunctional catalysis. Physical mixtures of Pt/alumina spheres and spherical zeolite particles are equivalent to catalysts with platinum deposited on the zeolite itself facilitating the investigation of the catalyst components individually. The spherical alumina particles are very convenient supports for obtaining a homogeneous distribution of highly dispersed platinum nanoparticles. Obtaining such a small Pt particle size is challenging on other support materials such as zeolites. The here reported and well-characterized Pt/alumina spheres can be combined with any zeolite and used as a bifunctional model catalyst. This is an interesting strategy for the examination of the acid catalytic function without the interference of the supported platinum metal on the investigated acid material.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000621767000026 Publication Date 2021-01-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2040-3364 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 7.367 Times cited 3 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, G0A5417N G038116N ; Vlaamse regering, Methusalem ; Hercules Foundation, AKUL/13/19 ; Approved Most recent IF: 7.367  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:176021 Serial 6679  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Tiwari, S.; Van de Put, M.L.; Sorée, B.; Vandenberghe, W.G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Critical behavior of the ferromagnets CrI₃, CrBr₃, and CrGeTe₃ and the antiferromagnet FeCl₂ : a detailed first-principles study Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Physical Review B Abbreviated Journal Phys Rev B  
  Volume 103 Issue 1 Pages 014432  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract We calculate the Curie temperature of layered ferromagnets, chromium tri-iodide (CrI3), chromium tri-bromide (CrBr3), chromium germanium tri-telluride (CrGeTe3), and the Ned temperature of a layered antiferromagnet iron di-chloride (FeCl2), using first-principles density functional theory calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. We develop a computational method to model the magnetic interactions in layered magnetic materials and calculate their critical temperature. We provide a unified method to obtain the magnetic exchange parameters (J) for an effective Heisenberg Hamiltonian from first principles, taking into account both the magnetic ansiotropy as well as the out-of-plane interactions. We obtain the magnetic phase change behavior, in particular the critical temperature, from the susceptibility and the specific-heat, calculated using the three-dimensional Monte Carlo (METROPOLIS) algorithm. The calculated Curie temperatures for ferromagnetic materials (CrI3, CrBr3, and CrGeTe3), match well with experimental values. We show that the interlayer interaction in bulk CrI3 with R (3) over bar stacking is significantly stronger than the C2/m stacking, in line with experimental observations. We show that the strong interlayer interaction in R (3) over bar CrI3 results in a competition between the in-plane and the out-of-plane magnetic easy axes. Finally, we calculate the Ned temperature of FeCl2 to be 47 +/- 8 K and show that the magnetic phase transition in FeCl2 occurs in two steps with a high-temperature intralayer ferromagnetic phase transition and a low-temperature interlayer antiferromagnetic phase transition.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000609012000002 Publication Date 2021-01-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2469-9969; 2469-9950 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.836 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; The project or effort depicted was or is sponsored by the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Grant No. HDTRA1-18-1-0018. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the federal government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. This work was supported by imec's Industrial Affiliation Program. ; Approved Most recent IF: 3.836  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:176081 Serial 6686  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Lavor, I.R.; da Costa, D.R.; Chaves, A.; Sena, S.H.R.; Farias, G.A.; Van Duppen, B.; Peeters, F.M. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Effect of zitterbewegung on the propagation of wave packets in ABC-stacked multilayer graphene : an analytical and computational approach Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Journal Of Physics-Condensed Matter Abbreviated Journal J Phys-Condens Mat  
  Volume 33 Issue 9 Pages 095503  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract The time evolution of a low-energy two-dimensional Gaussian wave packet in ABC-stacked n-layer graphene (ABC-NLG) is investigated. Expectation values of the position (x, y) of center-of-mass and the total probability densities of the wave packet are calculated analytically using the Green's function method. These results are confirmed using an alternative numerical method based on the split-operator technique within the Dirac approach for ABC-NLG, which additionally allows to include external fields and potentials. The main features of the zitterbewegung (trembling motion) of wave packets in graphene are demonstrated and are found to depend not only on the wave packet width and initial pseudospin polarization, but also on the number of layers. Moreover, the analytical and numerical methods proposed here allow to investigate wave packet dynamics in graphene systems with an arbitrary number of layers and arbitrary potential landscapes.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000599465000001 Publication Date 2020-11-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0953-8984 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.649 Times cited 3 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; Discussions with D J P de Sousa and J M Pereira Jr are gratefully acknowledged. This work was financially supported by the Brazilian Council for Research (CNPq), under the PQ and PRONEX/FUNCAP programs, and by CAPES. One of us (BVD) is supported by the FWO-Vl. DRC is supported by CNPq Grant Nos. 310019/2018-4 and 437067/2018-1. ; Approved Most recent IF: 2.649  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:174953 Serial 6687  
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Author Reyntjens, P.D.; Tiwari, S.; van de Put, M.L.; Sorée, B.; Vandenberghe, W.G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Magnetic properties and critical behavior of magnetically intercalated WSe₂ : a theoretical study Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication 2d Materials Abbreviated Journal 2D Mater  
  Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 025009  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract Transition metal dichalcogenides, intercalated with transition metals, are studied for their potential applications as dilute magnetic semiconductors. We investigate the magnetic properties of WSe2 doped with third-row transition metals (Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ti and V). Using density functional theory in combination with Monte Carlo simulations, we obtain an estimate of the Curie or Neel temperature. We find that the magnetic ordering is highly dependent on the dopant type. While Ti and Cr-doped WSe2 have a ferromagnetic ground state, V, Mn, Fe and Co-doped WSe2 are antiferromagnetic in their ground state. For Fe doped WSe2, we find a high Curie-temperature of 327 K. In the case of V-doped WSe2, we find that there are two distinct magnetic phase transitions, originating from a frustrated in-plane antiferromagnetic exchange interaction and a ferromagnetic out-of-plane interaction. We calculate the formation energy and reveal that, in contrast to earlier reports, the formation energy is positive for the intercalated systems studied here. We also show that in the presence of W-vacancies, it becomes favorable for Ti, Fe, and Co to intercalate in WSe2.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000601127600001 Publication Date 2020-12-09  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2053-1583 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.937 Times cited 1 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; The project or effort depicted was or is sponsored by the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the federal government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1802166. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This work was supported by IMEC's Industrial Affiliation Program. Peter D Reyntjens acknowledges support by the Eugene McDermott Fellowship program, under Grant Number 201806. ; Approved Most recent IF: 6.937  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:174951 Serial 6692  
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Author Lavor, I.R.; Cavalcante, L.S.R.; Chaves, A.; Peeters, F.M.; Van Duppen, B. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Probing the structure and composition of van der Waals heterostructures using the nonlocality of Dirac plasmons in the terahertz regime Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication 2d Materials Abbreviated Journal 2D Mater  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 015014  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract Dirac plasmons in graphene are very sensitive to the dielectric properties of the environment. We show that this can be used to probe the structure and composition of van der Waals heterostructures (vdWh) put underneath a single graphene layer. In order to do so, we assess vdWh composed of hexagonal boron nitride and different types of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). By performing realistic simulations that account for the contribution of each layer of the vdWh separately and including the importance of the substrate phonons, we show that one can achieve single-layer resolution by investigating the nonlocal nature of the Dirac plasmon-polaritons. The composition of the vdWh stack can be inferred from the plasmon-phonon coupling once it is composed by more than two TMD layers. Furthermore, we show that the bulk character of TMD stacks for plasmonic screening properties in the terahertz regime is reached only beyond 100 layers.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000582820500001 Publication Date 2020-10-06  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2053-1583 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.937 Times cited 2 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; This work was financially supported by the Brazilian Council for Research (CNPq), Brazilian National Council for the Improvement of Higher Education (CAPES) and by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) through a postdoctoral fellowship to B.V.D. ; Approved Most recent IF: 6.937  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:173507 Serial 6696  
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Author Jiang, J.; Wang, Y.-L.; Milošević, M.V.; Xiao, Z.-L.; Peeters, F.M.; Chen, Q.-H. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Reversible ratchet effects in a narrow superconducting ring Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Physical Review B Abbreviated Journal Phys Rev B  
  Volume 103 Issue 1 Pages 014502  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract We study the ratchet effect in a narrow pinning-free superconductive ring based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equations. Voltage responses to external dc and ac currents at various magnetic fields are studied. Due to asymmetric barriers for flux penetration and flux exit in the ring-shaped superconductor, the critical current above which the flux-flow state is reached, as well as the critical current for the transition to the normal state, are different for the two directions of applied current. These effects cooperatively cause ratchet signal reversal at high magnetic fields, which has not been reported to date in a pinning-free system. The ratchet signal found here is larger than those induced by asymmetric pinning potentials. Our results also demonstrate the feasibility of using mesoscopic superconductors to employ a superconducting diode effect in versatile superconducting devices.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000604821500003 Publication Date 2021-01-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2469-9969; 2469-9950 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.836 Times cited 2 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; We are grateful to G. Berdiyorov for useful suggestions and comments. Q.-H.C. thanks Beiyi Zhu for helpful discussions during the early stage of this work. This work is supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, Grants No. 2017YFA0303002 (Q.-H.C. and J.J.), and No. 2018YFA0209002 (Y.-L.W.), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants No. 11834005, No. 11674285, No. 61771235, and No. 61727805. Z.-L.X. acknowledges support by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-1901843. F.M.P. and M.V.M. acknowledge support by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). ; Approved Most recent IF: 3.836  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:174984 Serial 6697  
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Author Pandey, T.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Tuning flexoelectricty and electronic properties of zig-zag graphene nanoribbons by functionalization Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Carbon Abbreviated Journal Carbon  
  Volume 171 Issue Pages 551-559  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract The flexoelectric and electronic properties of zig-zag graphene nanoribbons are explored under mechanical bending using state of the art first principles calculations. A linear dependence of the bending induced out of plane polarization on the applied strain gradient is found. The inferior flexoelectric properties of graphene nanoribbons can be improved by more than two orders of magnitude by hydrogen and fluorine functionalization (CH and CF nanoribbons). A large out of plane flexoelectric effect is predicted for CF nanoribbons. The origin of this enhancement lies in the electro-negativity difference between carbon and fluorine atoms, which breaks the out of plane charge symmetry even for a small strain gradient. The flexoelectric effect can be further improved by co-functionalization with hydrogen and fluorine (CHF Janus-type nanoribbon), where a spontaneous out of plane dipole moment is formed even for flat nanoribbons. We also find that bending can control the charge localization of valence band maxima and therefore enables the tuning of the hole effective masses and band gaps. These results present an important advance towards the understanding of flexoelectric and electronic properties of hydrogen and fluorine functionalized graphene nanoribbons, which can have important implications for flexible electronic applications. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000598371500058 Publication Date 2020-09-17  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0008-6223 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited 11 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes ; The computational resources and services used for the first-principles calculations in this work were provided by the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Flemish Science Foundation (FWO-VI). T. P. is supported by a postdoctoral research fellowship from BOF-UAntwerpen. ; Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:175014 Serial 6700  
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Author Sanchis-Gual, R.; Susic, I.; Torres-Cavanillas, R.; Arenas-Esteban, D.; Bals, S.; Mallah, T.; Coronado-Puchau, M.; Coronado, E. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The design of magneto-plasmonic nanostructures formed by magnetic Prussian Blue-type nanocrystals decorated with Au nanoparticles Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Chemical Communications Abbreviated Journal Chem Commun  
  Volume 57 Issue 15 Pages 1903-1906  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract We have developed a general protocol for the preparation of hybrid nanostructures formed by nanoparticles (NPs) of molecule-based magnets based on Prussian Blue Analogues (PBAs) decorated with plasmonic Au NPs of different shapes. By adjusting the pH, Au NPs can be attached preferentially along the edges of the PBA or randomly on the surface. The protocol allows tuning the plasmonic properties of the hybrids in the whole visible spectrum.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000620719300011 Publication Date 2021-01-18  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1359-7345 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.319 Times cited 5 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes European Commission, COST Action MOLSPIN CA15128 ERC Advanced Grant Mol-2D 788222 ERC Consolidator Grant REALNANO 815128 Grant Agreement No. 731019 (EUSMI) ; Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, No. 14.W03.31.0001 ; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Maria de Maeztu CEX2019-000919-M Project MAT2017-89993-R ; Generalitat Valenciana, PROMETEO/2017/066 iDiFEDER/2018/061 ; sygma; Approved Most recent IF: 6.319  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:176542 Serial 6702  
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Author Saniz, R.; Bekaert, J.; Partoens, B.; Lamoen, D. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title First-principles study of defects at Σ3 grain boundaries in CuGaSe2 Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Solid State Communications Abbreviated Journal Solid State Commun  
  Volume Issue Pages 114263  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract We present a first-principles computational study of cation–Se 3 (112) grain boundaries in CuGaSe. We discuss the structure of these grain boundaries, as well as the effect of native defects and Na impurities on their electronic properties. The formation energies show that the defects will tend to form preferentially at the grain boundaries, rather than in the grain interiors. We find that in Ga-rich growth conditions Cu vacancies as well as Ga at Cu and Cu at Ga antisites are mainly responsible for having the equilibrium Fermi level pinned toward the middle of the gap, resulting in carrier depletion. The Na at Cu impurity in its +1 charge state contributes to this. In Ga-poor growth conditions, on the other hand, the formation energies of Cu vacancies and Ga at Cu antisites are comparatively too high for any significant influence on carrier density or on the equilibrium Fermi level position. Thus, under these conditions, the Cu at Ga antisites give rise to a -type grain boundary. Also, their formation energy is lower than the formation energy of Na at Cu impurities. Thus, the latter will fail to act as a hole barrier preventing recombination at the grain boundary, in contrast to what occurs in CuInSe grain boundaries. We also discuss the effect of the defects on the electronic properties of bulk CuGaSe, which we assume reflect the properties of the grain interiors.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000652668500013 Publication Date 2021-03-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0038-1098 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 1.554 Times cited 1 Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes Fwo; We acknowledge the financial support of FWO-Vlaanderen, Belgium through project G.0150.13. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center) and the HPC infrastructure of the University of Antwerp (CalcUA), both funded by FWO-Vlaanderen and the Flemish Government-department EWI. Approved Most recent IF: 1.554  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:176544 Serial 6703  
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Author Khelifi, S.; Brammertz, G.; Choubrac, L.; Batuk, M.; Yang, S.; Meuris, M.; Barreau, N.; Hadermann, J.; Vrielinck, H.; Poelman, D.; Neyts, K.; Vermang, B.; Lauwaert, J. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title The path towards efficient wide band gap thin-film kesterite solar cells with transparent back contact for viable tandem application Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Solar Energy Materials And Solar Cells Abbreviated Journal Sol Energ Mat Sol C  
  Volume 219 Issue Pages 110824  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)  
  Abstract Wide band gap thin-film kesterite solar cell based on non-toxic and earth-abundant materials might be a suitable candidate as a top cell for tandem configuration in combination with crystalline silicon as a bottom solar cell. For this purpose and based on parameters we have extracted from electrical and optical characterization techniques of Cu2ZnGeSe4 absorbers and solar cells, a model has been developed to describe the kesterite top cell efficiency limitations and to investigate the different possible configurations with transparent back contact for fourterminal tandem solar cell application. Furthermore, we have studied the tandem solar cell performance in view of the band gap and the transparency of the kesterite top cell and back contact engineering. Our detailed analysis shows that a kesterite top cell with efficiency > 14%, a band gap in the range of 1.5-1.7 eV and transparency above 80% at the sub-band gaps photons energies are required to achieve a tandem cell with higher efficiency than with a single silicon solar cell.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000591683500002 Publication Date 2020-10-08  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0927-0248 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 4.784 Times cited Open Access (down) OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors would like to acknowledge the SWInG project financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 640868 and the Research Foundation Flanders-Hercules Foundation (FWO-Vlaanderen, project No AUGE/13/16:FT-IMAGER). Approved Most recent IF: 4.784  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:174337 Serial 6706  
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