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Author Wang, Z.; Wang, Y.B.; Yin, J.; Tovari, E.; Yang, Y.; Lin, L.; Holwill, M.; Birkbeck, J.; Perello, D.J.; Xu, S.; Zultak, J.; Gorbachev, R.V.; Kretinin, A.V.; Taniguchi, T.; Watanabe, K.; Morozov, S.V.; Andelkovic, M.; Milovanović, S.P.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M.; Mishchenko, A.; Geim, A.K.; Novoselov, K.S.; Fal'ko, V.I.; Knothe, A.; Woods, C.R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Composite super-moiré lattices in double-aligned graphene heterostructures = Composite super-moire lattices in double-aligned graphene heterostructures Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2019 Publication Science Advances Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 5 Issue 12 Pages eaay8897  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract When two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals are brought into close proximity to form a van der Waals heterostructure, neighbouring crystals may influence each other's properties. Of particular interest is when the two crystals closely match and a moire pattern forms, resulting in modified electronic and excitonic spectra, crystal reconstruction, and more. Thus, moire patterns are a viable tool for controlling the properties of 2D materials. However, the difference in periodicity of the two crystals limits the reconstruction and, thus, is a barrier to the low-energy regime. Here, we present a route to spectrum reconstruction at all energies. By using graphene which is aligned to two hexagonal boron nitride layers, one can make electrons scatter in the differential moire pattern which results in spectral changes at arbitrarily low energies. Further, we demonstrate that the strength of this potential relies crucially on the atomic reconstruction of graphene within the differential moire super cell.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000505069600089 Publication Date 2019-12-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2375-2548 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor Times cited 71 Open Access  
  Notes Approved Most recent IF: NA  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:165754 Serial 6289  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Andelkovic, M.; Milovanović, S.P.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Double moiré with a twist : supermoiré in encapsulated graphene Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Nano Letters Abbreviated Journal Nano Lett  
  Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 979  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract A periodic spatial modulation, as created by a moire pattern, has been extensively studied with the view to engineer and tune the properties of graphene. Graphene encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) when slightly misaligned with the top and bottom hBN layers experiences two interfering moire patterns, resulting in a so-called supermoire (SM). This leads to a lattice and electronic spectrum reconstruction. A geometrical construction of the nonrelaxed SM patterns allows us to indicate qualitatively the induced changes in the electronic properties and to locate the SM features in the density of states and in the conductivity. To emphasize the effect of lattice relaxation, we report band gaps at all Dirac-like points in the hole doped part of the reconstructed spectrum, which are expected to be enhanced when including interaction effects. Our result is able to distinguish effects due to lattice relaxation and due to the interfering SM and provides a clear picture on the origin of recently experimentally observed effects in such trilayer heterostuctures.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000514255400021 Publication Date 2020-01-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1530-6984 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10.8 Times cited 48 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes ; This work was funded by FLAGERA project TRANS2DTMD and the Flemish Science Foundation (FWO-Vl) through a postdoc fellowship for S.P.M. The authors acknowledge useful discussions with W. Zihao and K. Novoselov. ; Approved Most recent IF: 10.8; 2020 IF: 12.712  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:168685 Serial 6490  
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Author Mao, J.; Milovanović, S.P.; Andelkovic, M.; Lai, X.; Cao, Y.; Watanabe, K.; Taniguchi, T.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M.; Geim, A.K.; Jiang, Y.; Andrei, E.Y. pdf  doi
openurl 
  Title Evidence of flat bands and correlated states in buckled graphene superlattices Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 584 Issue 7820 Pages 215-220  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract Two-dimensional atomic crystals can radically change their properties in response to external influences, such as substrate orientation or strain, forming materials with novel electronic structure(1-5). An example is the creation of weakly dispersive, 'flat' bands in bilayer graphene for certain 'magic' angles of twist between the orientations of the two layers(6). The quenched kinetic energy in these flat bands promotes electron-electron interactions and facilitates the emergence of strongly correlated phases, such as superconductivity and correlated insulators. However, the very accurate fine-tuning required to obtain the magic angle in twisted-bilayer graphene poses challenges to fabrication and scalability. Here we present an alternative route to creating flat bands that does not involve fine-tuning. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, together with numerical simulations, we demonstrate that graphene monolayers placed on an atomically flat substrate can be forced to undergo a buckling transition(7-9), resulting in a periodically modulated pseudo-magnetic field(10-14), which in turn creates a 'post-graphene' material with flat electronic bands. When we introduce the Fermi level into these flat bands using electrostatic doping, we observe a pseudogap-like depletion in the density of states, which signals the emergence of a correlated state(15-17). This buckling of two-dimensional crystals offers a strategy for creating other superlattice systems and, in particular, for exploring interaction phenomena characteristic of flat bands. Buckled monolayer graphene superlattices are found to provide an alternative to twisted bilayer graphene for the study of flat bands and correlated states in a carbon-based material.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000559831500012 Publication Date 2020-08-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0028-0836 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 64.8 Times cited 109 Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes ; ; Approved Most recent IF: 64.8; 2020 IF: 40.137  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:171150 Serial 6513  
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Author Joao, S.M.; Andelkovic, M.; Covaci, L.; Rappoport, T.G.; Lopes, J.M.V.P.; Ferreira, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title KITE : high-performance accurate modelling of electronic structure and response functions of large molecules, disordered crystals and heterostructures Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Royal Society Open Science Abbreviated Journal Roy Soc Open Sci  
  Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 191809-191832  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract We present KITE, a general purpose open-source tight-binding software for accurate real-space simulations of electronic structure and quantum transport properties of large-scale molecular and condensed systems with tens of billions of atomic orbitals (N similar to 10(10)). KITE's core is written in C++, with a versatile Python-based interface, and is fully optimized for shared memory multi-node CPU architectures, thus scalable, efficient and fast. At the core of KITE is a seamless spectral expansion of lattice Green's functions, which enables large-scale calculations of generic target functions with uniform convergence and fine control over energy resolution. Several functionalities are demonstrated, ranging from simulations of local density of states and photo-emission spectroscopy of disordered materials to large-scale computations of optical conductivity tensors and real-space wave-packet propagation in the presence of magneto-static fields and spin-orbit coupling. On-the-fly calculations of real-space Green's functions are carried out with an efficient domain decomposition technique, allowing KITE to achieve nearly ideal linear scaling in its multi-threading performance. Crystalline defects and disorder, including vacancies, adsorbates and charged impurity centres, can be easily set up with KITE's intuitive interface, paving the way to user-friendly large-scale quantum simulations of equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of molecules, disordered crystals and heterostructures subject to a variety of perturbations and external conditions.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000518020200001 Publication Date 2020-02-26  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2054-5703 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.5 Times cited 19 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes ; T.G.R. and A.F. acknowledge support from the Newton Fund and the Royal Society through the Newton Advanced Fellowship scheme (ref. no. NA150043). M.A. and L.C. acknowledge support from the Trans2DTMD FlagEra project and the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center). A.F. acknowledges support from the Royal Society through a University Research Fellowship (ref. nos. UF130385 and URF-R-191021) and an Enhancement Award (ref. no. RGF-EA-180276). T.G.R. acknowledges the support from the Brazilian agencies CNPq and FAPERJ and COMPETE2020, PORTUGAL2020, FEDER and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028114. S.M.J. is supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) under the grant no. PD/BD/142798/ 2018. S.M.J. and J.M.V.P.L. acknowledge financial support from the FCT, COMPETE 2020 programme in FEDER component (European Union), through projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER028887 and UID/FIS/04650/2013. S.M.J. and J.M.V.P.L. further acknowledge financial support from FCT through national funds, co-financed by COMPETE-FEDER (grant no. M-ERANET2/0002/2016 -UltraGraf) under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. ; Approved Most recent IF: 3.5; 2020 IF: 2.243  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:167751 Serial 6556  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Achari, A.; Bekaert, J.; Sreepal, V.; Orekhov, A.; Kumaravadivel, P.; Kim, M.; Gauquelin, N.; Pillai, P.B.; Verbeeck, J.; Peeters, F.M.; Geim, A.K.; Milošević, M.V.; Nair, R.R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Alternating superconducting and charge density wave monolayers within bulk 6R-TaS₂ Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Nano letters Abbreviated Journal Nano Lett  
  Volume 22 Issue 15 Pages 6268-6275  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures continue to attract intense interest as a route of designing materials with novel properties that cannot be found in nature. Unfortunately, this approach is currently limited to only a few layers that can be stacked on top of each other. Here, we report a bulk vdW material consisting of superconducting 1H TaS2 monolayers interlayered with 1T TaS2 monolayers displaying charge density waves (CDW). This bulk vdW heterostructure is created by phase transition of 1T-TaS2 to 6R at 800 degrees C in an inert atmosphere. Its superconducting transition (T-c) is found at 2.6 K, exceeding the T-c of the bulk 2H phase. Using first-principles calculations, we argue that the coexistence of superconductivity and CDW within 6R-TaS2 stems from amalgamation of the properties of adjacent 1H and 1T monolayers, where the former dominates the superconducting state and the latter the CDW behavior.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000831832100001 Publication Date 2022-07-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1530-6984 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10.8 Times cited 12 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was supported by the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2018-220), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N005082/1), and European Research Council (contract 679689). The authors acknowledge the use of the facilities at the Henry Royce Institute and associated support services. J.B. is a postdoctoral fellow of Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen). Computational resources were provided by the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the FWO and the Flemish Governmentdepartment EWI. This work was also performed under a transnational access provision funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 programme within a contract for Integrating Activities for Advanced Communities No 823717 − ESTEEM3; esteem3reported; esteem3jra Approved Most recent IF: 10.8  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:189495 Serial 7077  
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Author Smeyers, R.; Milošević, M.V.; Covaci, L. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Strong gate-tunability of flat bands in bilayer graphene due to moiré encapsulation between hBN monolayers Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2023 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 15 Issue 9 Pages 4561-4569  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract When using hexagonal boron-nitride (hBN) as a substrate for graphene, the resulting moire pattern creates secondary Dirac points. By encapsulating a multilayer graphene within aligned hBN sheets the controlled moire stacking may offer even richer benefits. Using advanced tight-binding simulations on atomistically-relaxed heterostructures, here we show that the gap at the secondary Dirac point can be opened in selected moire-stacking configurations, and is independent of any additional vertical gating of the heterostructure. On the other hand, gating can broadly tune the gap at the principal Dirac point, and may thereby strongly compress the first moire mini-band in width against the moire-induced gap at the secondary Dirac point. We reveal that in hBN-encapsulated bilayer graphene this novel mechanism can lead to isolated bands flatter than 10 meV under moderate gating, hence presenting a convenient pathway towards electronically-controlled strongly-correlated states on demand.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000933052600001 Publication Date 2023-02-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2040-3364; 2040-3372 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.7 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6.7; 2023 IF: 7.367  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:195249 Serial 7340  
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Author Paulus, A.; Hendrickx, M.; Mayda, S.; Batuk, M.; Reekmans, G.; von Holst, M.; Elen, K.; Abakumov, A.M.; Adriaensens, P.; Lamoen, D.; Partoens, B.; Hadermann, J.; Van Bael, M.K.; Hardy, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Understanding the Activation of Anionic Redox Chemistry in Ti4+-Substituted Li2MnO3as a Cathode Material for Li-Ion Batteries Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2023 Publication ACS applied energy materials Abbreviated Journal ACS Appl. Energy Mater.  
  Volume 6 Issue 13 Pages 6956-6971  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract Layered Li-rich oxides, demonstrating both cationic and anionic redox chemistry being used as positive electrodes for Li-ion batteries,have raised interest due to their high specific discharge capacities exceeding 250 mAh/g. However, irreversible structural transformations triggered by anionic redox chemistry result in pronounced voltagefade (i.e., lowering the specific energy by a gradual decay of discharge potential) upon extended galvanostatic cycling. Activating or suppressing oxygen anionic redox through structural stabilization induced by redox-inactivecation substitution is a well-known strategy. However, less emphasishas been put on the correlation between substitution degree and theactivation/suppression of the anionic redox. In this work, Ti4+-substituted Li2MnO3 was synthesizedvia a facile solution-gel method. Ti4+ is selected as adopant as it contains no partially filled d-orbitals. Our study revealedthat the layered “honeycomb-ordered” C2/m structure is preserved when increasing the Ticontent to x = 0.2 in the Li2Mn1-x Ti (x) O-3 solidsolution, as shown by electron diffraction and aberration-correctedscanning transmission electron microscopy. Galvanostatic cycling hintsat a delayed oxygen release, due to an improved reversibility of theanionic redox, during the first 10 charge-discharge cyclesfor the x = 0.2 composition compared to the parentmaterial (x = 0), followed by pronounced oxygen redoxactivity afterward. The latter originates from a low activation energybarrier toward O-O dimer formation and Mn migration in Li2Mn0.8Ti0.2O3, as deducedfrom first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the“charged” state. Upon lowering the Ti substitution to x = 0.05, the structural stability was drastically improvedbased on our MD analysis, stressing the importance of carefully optimizingthe substitution degree to achieve the best electrochemical performance.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001018266700001 Publication Date 2023-07-10  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2574-0962 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.4 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access: Available from 24.12.2023  
  Notes Universiteit Hasselt, AUHL/15/2 – GOH3816N ; Russian Science Foundation, 20-43-01012 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, AUHL/15/2 – GOH3816N G040116N ; 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 the FWO Vlaanderen and the Flemish Government-department EWI. Approved Most recent IF: 6.4; 2023 IF: NA  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:198160 Serial 8809  
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Author Conti, S.; Chaves, A.; Pandey, T.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M.; Neilson, D.; Milošević, M.V. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Flattening conduction and valence bands for interlayer excitons in a moire MoS₂/WSe₂ heterobilayer Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2023 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume Issue Pages 1-11  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT)  
  Abstract We explore the flatness of conduction and valence bands of interlayer excitons in MoS2/WSe2 van der Waals heterobilayers, tuned by interlayer twist angle, pressure, and external electric field. We employ an efficient continuum model where the moire pattern from lattice mismatch and/or twisting is represented by an equivalent mesoscopic periodic potential. We demonstrate that the mismatch moire potential is too weak to produce significant flattening. Moreover, we draw attention to the fact that the quasi-particle effective masses around the Gamma-point and the band flattening are reduced with twisting. As an alternative approach, we show (i) that reducing the interlayer distance by uniform vertical pressure can significantly increase the effective mass of the moire hole, and (ii) that the moire depth and its band flattening effects are strongly enhanced by accessible electric gating fields perpendicular to the heterobilayer, with resulting electron and hole effective masses increased by more than an order of magnitude – leading to record-flat bands. These findings impose boundaries on the commonly generalized benefits of moire twistronics, while also revealing alternative feasible routes to achieve truly flat electron and hole bands to carry us to strongly correlated excitonic phenomena on demand.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001047512300001 Publication Date 2023-07-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2040-3364; 2040-3372 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.7 Times cited 1 Open Access Not_Open_Access: Available from 25.01.2024  
  Notes Approved Most recent IF: 6.7; 2023 IF: 7.367  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:198290 Serial 8819  
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Author Borah, R.; Ninakanti, R.; Nuyts, G.; Peeters, H.; Pedrazo-Tardajos, A.; Nuti, S.; Vande Velde, C.; De Wael, K.; Lenaerts, S.; Bals, S.; Verbruggen, S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Selectivity in ligand functionalization of photocatalytic metal oxide nanoparticles for phase transfer and self‐assembly applications Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Chemistry-A European Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem-Eur J  
  Volume Issue Pages chem.202100029-15  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); AXES (Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation); Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)  
  Abstract Functionalization of photocatalytic metal oxide nanoparticles of TiO 2 , ZnO, WO 3 and CuO with amine‐terminated (oleylamine) and thiol‐terminated (1‐dodecanethiol) alkyl chained ligands was studied under ambient conditions. A high selectivity was observed in the binding specificity of a ligand towards nanoparticles of these different oxides. It was observed that oleylamine binds stably to only TiO 2 and WO 3 , while 1‐dodecanethiol binds stably only to ZnO and CuO. Similarly, polar to non‐polar solvent phase transfer of TiO 2 and WO 3 nanoparticles could be achieved by using oleylamine, but not by 1‐dodecanethiol, while the contrary holds for ZnO and CuO. The surface chemistry of ligand functionalized nanoparticles was probed by ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy, that enabled to elucidate the occupation of the ligands at the active sites. The photo‐stability of the ligands on the nanoparticle surface was determined by the photocatalytic self‐cleaning properties of the material. While TiO 2 and WO 3 degrade the ligands within 24 hours under both UV and visible light, ligands on ZnO and CuO remain unaffected. The gathered insights are also highly relevant from an application point of view. As an example, since the ligand functionalized nanoparticles are hydrophobic in nature, they can thus be self‐assembled at the air‐water interface, for obtaining nanoparticle films with demonstrated photocatalytic as well as anti‐fogging properties.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000652651400001 Publication Date 2021-04-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0947-6539 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 5.317 Times cited 15 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes R.B. and S.W.V. acknowledge financial support from the University of Antwerp Special Research Fund (BOF) for a DOCPRO4 doctoral scholarship. S.B. and A.P.-T. acknowledge financial support from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Program by means of the grant agreement no. 731019 EUSMI and the ERC Consolidator grant no. 815128 REALNANO.; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 5.317  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:177495 Serial 6787  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Peeters, H.; Keulemans, M.; Nuyts, G.; Vanmeert, F.; Li, C.; Minjauw, M.; Detavernier, C.; Bals, S.; Lenaerts, S.; Verbruggen, S.W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Plasmonic gold-embedded TiO2 thin films as photocatalytic self-cleaning coatings Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Applied Catalysis B-Environmental Abbreviated Journal Appl Catal B-Environ  
  Volume 267 Issue 267 Pages 118654  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); AXES (Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation); Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)  
  Abstract Transparent photocatalytic TiO2 thin films hold great potential in the development of self-cleaning glass sur-

faces, but suffer from a poor visible light response that hinders the application under actual sunlight. To alleviate this problem, the photocatalytic film can be modified with plasmonic nanoparticles that interact very effectively with visible light. Since the plasmonic effect is strongly concentrated in the near surroundings of the nano- particle surface, an approach is presented to embed the plasmonic nanostructures in the TiO2 matrix itself, rather than deposit them loosely on the surface. This way the interaction interface is maximised and the plasmonic effect can be fully exploited. In this study, pre-fabricated gold nanoparticles are made compatible with the organic medium of a TiO2 sol-gel coating suspension, resulting in a one-pot coating suspension. After spin coating, homogeneous, smooth, highly transparent and photoactive gold-embedded anatase thin films are ob- tained.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000518865300002 Publication Date 2020-01-18  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0926-3373 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 22.1 Times cited 57 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes H.P. is grateful to the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for an aspirant PhD scholarship. Approved Most recent IF: 22.1; 2020 IF: 9.446  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:165616 Serial 5446  
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Author Sheng, X.; Daems, N.; Geboes, B.; Kurttepeli, M.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T.; Hubin, A.; Vankelecom, I.F.J.; Pescarmona, P.P. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title N-doped ordered mesoporous carbons prepared by a two-step nanocasting strategy as highly active and selective electrocatalysts for the reduction of O2 to H2O2 Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2015 Publication Applied catalysis : B : environmental Abbreviated Journal Appl Catal B-Environ  
  Volume 176-177 Issue 176-177 Pages 212-224  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract A new, two-step nanocasting method was developed to prepare N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) electrocatalysts for the reduction of O2 to H2O2. Our strategy involves the sequential pyrolysis of two inexpensive and readily available N and C precursors, i.e. aniline and dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN), inside the pores of a SBA-15 hard silica template to obtain N-doped graphitic carbon materials with well-ordered pores and high surface areas (764 and 877 m2g−1). By tuning the ratio of carbon sources to silica template, it was possible to achieve an optimal filling of the pores of the SBA-15 silica and to minimise carbon species outside the pores. These NOMC materials displayed outstanding electrocatalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction, achieving a remarkably enhanced kinetic current density compared to state-of-the-art N-doped carbon materials (−16.7 mA cm−2 at −0.35 V vs. Ag/AgCl in a 0.1 M KOH solution as electrolyte). The NOMC electrocatalysts showed high selectivity toward the two-electron reduction of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide and excellent long-term stability.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Amsterdam Editor  
  Language Wos 000356549200022 Publication Date 2015-04-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0926-3373; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 9.446 Times cited 111 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes 335078 Colouratom; ECAS_Sara; (ROMEO:green; preprint:; postprint:can ; pdfversion:cannot); Approved Most recent IF: 9.446; 2015 IF: 7.435  
  Call Number c:irua:125370 Serial 2246  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Vanrenterghem, B.; Geboes, B.; Bals, S.; Ustarroz, J.; Hubin, A.; Breugelmans, T. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Influence of the support material and the resulting particle distribution on the deposition of Ag nanoparticles for the electrocatalytic activity of benzyl bromide reduction Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2016 Publication Applied catalysis : B : environmental Abbreviated Journal Appl Catal B-Environ  
  Volume 181 Issue 181 Pages 542-549  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract tSilver nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited on nickel, titanium and gold substrates using a potentiostaticdouble-pulse method. The influence of the support material on both the morphology and the electro-catalytic activity of Ag NPs for the reduction reaction of benzyl bromide was investigated and comparedwith previous research regarding silver NPs on glassy carbon. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) dataindicated that spherical monodispersed NPs were obtained on Ni, Au and GC substrate with an averageparticle size of respectively 216 nm, 413 nm and 116 nm. On a Ti substrate dendritic NPs were obtainedwith a larger average particle density of 480 nm. The influence of the support material on the electrocat-alytic activity was tested by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) for the reduction reaction of benzylbromide(1 mM) in acetonitrile + 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (Bu4NClO4). When the nucleation poten-tial (En) was applied at high cathodic overpotential, a positive shift of the reduction potential was obtained.The nucleation (tn) and growth time (tg) mostly had an influence on the current density whereas longerdeposition times lead to larger current densities. For these three parameters an optimum was present.The best electrocatalytic activity was obtained with Ag NPs deposited on Ni were a shift of the reduc-tion peak potential of 145 mV for the reaction of benzyl bromide was measured in comparance to bulksilver. The deposition on Au substrate yielded a positive shift of 114 mV. There was no indication of analtered reaction mechanism as the reaction was characterized as diffusion controlled and the transfercoefficients were in accordance with bulk silver. There was a beneficial catalitic activity measured due tothe interplay between support and NPs. This resulted in a shift of the reduction peak potential of 34 mV(Ag NPs on Au) and 65 mV (Ag NPs on Ni) compared to Ag NPs on a GC substrate.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000364256000052 Publication Date 2015-08-18  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0926-3373 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 9.446 Times cited 16 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The Quanta 250 FEG microscope of the Electron Microscopy forMaterial Science group at the University of Antwerp was fundedby the Hercules foundation of the Flemish Government. Sara Balsacknowledges financial support from European Research Council(ERC Starting Grant #335078-COLOURATOMS).; ECAS_Sara; (ROMEO:green; preprint:; postprint:can ; pdfversion:cannot); Approved Most recent IF: 9.446  
  Call Number c:irua:128345 Serial 4064  
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Author Vanrenterghem, B.; Papaderakis, A.; Sotiropoulos, S.; Tsiplakides, D.; Balomenou, S.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title The reduction of benzylbromide at Ag-Ni deposits prepared by galvanic replacement Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2016 Publication Electrochimica acta Abbreviated Journal Electrochim Acta  
  Volume 196 Issue 196 Pages 756-768  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract A two-step procedure was applied to prepare bimetallic Ag-Ni glassy carbon supported catalysts (Ag-Ni/GC). First Ni layers were prepared by means of electrodeposition in an aqueous deaerated nickel chloride + nickel sulfamate + boric acid solution. Second, the partial replacement of Ni layers by Ag was achieved upon immersion of the latter in solutions containing silver nitrate. Three different pretreatment protocols were used after preparation of the Ag/Ni deposits; as prepared, cathodised in alkali and scanned in acid. After the pretreatment the surface was characterised by means of spectroscopy techniques (scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray) and electrochemically in an alkali NaOH solution through cyclic voltammetry (CV). Afterwards the modified electrodes were tested for the reduction of benzylbromide in acetonitrile solutions by using CV and were found to show improved activity compared to bulk Ag electrode. The highest activity towards benzylbromide reduction was observed for pre-cathodised Ag-Ni electrodes. A final stage of the research focuses on the development of a practical Ag/Ni foam catalyst for the reduction of benzylbromide. Due to the high electrochemical active surface area of Ag/Ni foam, a higher conversion of benzyl bromide was obtained in comparison with bulk Ag.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000372877400083 Publication Date 2016-03-02  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0013-4686 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 4.798 Times cited 21 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The quanta 250 FEG microscope of the Electron Microscopy for Material Science group at the University of Antwerp was funded by the Hercules foundation of the Flemish government. Sara Bals acknowledges financial support from European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant #335078-COLOURATOMS).; ECAS_Sara; (ROMEO:green; preprint:; postprint:can ; pdfversion:cannot); Approved Most recent IF: 4.798  
  Call Number c:irua:132081 Serial 4065  
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Author Ustarroz, J.; Geboes, B.; Vanrompay, H.; Sentosun, K.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T.; Hubin, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Electrodeposition of Highly Porous Pt Nanoparticles Studied by Quantitative 3D Electron Tomography: Influence of Growth Mechanisms and Potential Cycling on the Active Surface Area Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2017 Publication ACS applied materials and interfaces Abbreviated Journal Acs Appl Mater Inter  
  Volume 9 Issue 9 Pages 16168-16177  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Nanoporous Pt nanoparticles (NPs) are promising fuel cell catalysts due to their large surface area and increased electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, we report on the infuence of the growth mechanisms on the surface properties of electrodeposited Pt dendritic NPs with large surface areas. The electrochemically active surface was studied by hydrogen underpotential deposition (HUPD) and compared for the rst time to high angle annular dark eld scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) quantitative 3D electron tomography of individual nanoparticles. Large nucleation overpotential leads to a large surface coverage of Pt roughened spheroids, which provide large roughness factor (Rf ) but low mass-speci c electrochemically active surface area (EASA). Lowering the nucleation overpotential leads to highly porous Pt NPs with pores protruding to the center of the structure. At the expense of smaller Rf , the obtained EASA values of these structures are in the range of these of large surface area supported fuel cell catalysts. The active surface area of the Pt dendritic NPs was measured by electron tomography and it was found that the potential cycling in the H adsorption/desorption and Pt oxidation/reduction region, which is generally performed to determine the EASA, leads to a signi cant reduction of that surface area due to a partial collapse of their dendritic and porous morphology. Interestingly, the extrapolation of the microscopic tomography results to macroscopic electrochemical parameters indicated that the surface properties measured by H UPD are comparable to the values measured on individual NPs by electron tomography after the degradation caused by the H UPD measurement. These results highlight that the combination of electrochemical and quantitative 3D surface analysis techniques is essential to provide insights into the surface properties, the electrochemical stability and, hence, the applicability of these materials. Moreover, it indicates that care must be taken with widely used electrochemical methods of surface area determination, especially in the case of large surface area and possibly unstable nanostructures, since the measured surface can be strongly a ected by the measurement itself.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000401782500028 Publication Date 2017-04-18  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1944-8244 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 7.504 Times cited 24 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Jon Ustarroz acknowledges funding from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek in Flanders (FWO, postdoctoral grant 12I7816N). S. Bals acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (Starting Grant No. COLOURATOMS 335078). S.B. and T.B. acknowledge the University of Antwerp for nancial support in the frame of a GOA project. H.V. gratefully acknowledges nancial support by the Flemish Fund for Scienti c Research (FWO Vlaanderen). All the authors acknowledge Laurens Stevaert for his contribution to the work presented in this manuscript. (ROMEO:white; preprint:; postprint:restricted 12 months embargo; pdfversion:cannot); ECAS_Sara Approved Most recent IF: 7.504  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @ c:irua:142345UA @ admin @ c:irua:142345 Serial 4552  
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Author Gonzalez-Rubio, G.; Kumar, V.; Llombart, P.; Diaz-Nunez, P.; Bladt, E.; Altantzis, T.; Bals, S.; Pena-Rodriguez, O.; Noya, E.G.; MacDowell, L.G.; Guerrero-Martinez, A.; Liz-Marzan, L.M. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Disconnecting Symmetry Breaking from Seeded Growth for the Reproducible Synthesis of High Quality Gold Nanorods Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2019 Publication ACS nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume 13 Issue 13 Pages 4424-4435  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract One of the major difficulties hindering the widespread application of colloidal anisotropic plasmonic nanoparticles is the limited robustness and reproducibility of multistep synthetic methods. We demonstrate herein that the reproducibility and reliability of colloidal gold nanorod (AuNR) synthesis can be greatly improved by disconnecting the symmetry-breaking event from the seeded growth process. We have used a modified silver-assisted seeded growth method in the presence of the surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and n-decanol as a co-surfactant to prepare small AuNRs in high yield, which were then used as seeds for the growth of high quality AuNR colloids. Whereas the use of n-decanol provides a more-rigid micellar system, the growth on anisotropic seeds avoids sources of irreproducibility during the symmetry breaking step, yielding uniform AuNR colloids with narrow plasmon bands, ranging from 600 to 1270 nm, and allowing the fine-tuning of the final dimensions. This method provides a robust route for the preparation of high quality AuNR colloids with tunable morphology, size, and optical response in a reproducible and scalable manner.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000466052900067 Publication Date 2019-04-02  
  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 100 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes ; This work has been funded by the Spanish MINECO (grant nos. FIS2017-89361-C3-2-P and MAT2017-86659-R), the Madrid Regional Government (grant no. P2018/NMT-4389) and the Complutense University of Madrid (grant no. PR75/18-21616). Funding is acknowledged from the European Commission (grant no. EUSMI 731019). G.G.-R. acknowledges receipt of FPI Fellowship from the Spanish MINECO. E.B. and T.A. acknowledge postdoctoral grants from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The authors are indebted to Profs. Justin Gooding, Watson Loh, Nicholas Kotov, Deqing Zhang, Mihaela Delcea, Maurizio Prato, and Krishna Ganesh, for providing milli-Q water samples. ; Approved Most recent IF: 13.942  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:160417 Serial 5246  
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Author Ramachandran, R.K.; Filez, M.; Solano, E.; Poelman, H.; Minjauw, M.M.; Van Daele, M.; Feng, J.-Y.; La Porta, A.; Altantzis, T.; Fonda, E.; Coati, A.; Garreau, Y.; Bals, S.; Marin, G.B.; Detavernier, C.; Dendooven, J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Chemical and Structural Configuration of Pt Doped Metal Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2019 Publication Chemistry of materials Abbreviated Journal Chem Mater  
  Volume 31 Issue 31 Pages 9673-9683  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Pt doped semiconducting metal oxides and Pt metal clusters embedded in an oxide matrix are of interest for applications such as catalysis and gas sensing, energy storage and memory devices. Accurate tuning of the dopant level is crucial for adjusting the properties of these materials. Here, a novel atomic layer deposition (ALD) based method for doping Pt into In2O3 in specific, and metals in metal oxides in general, is demonstrated. This approach combines alternating exposures of Pt and In2O3 ALD processes in a single ‘supercycle’, followed by supercycle repetition leading to multilayered nanocomposites. The atomic level control of ALD and its conformal nature make the method suitable for accurate dopant control even on high surface area supports. Oxidation state, local structural environment and crystalline phase of the embedded Pt dopants were obtained by means of X-ray characterization methods and high angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). In addition, this approach allows characterization of the nucleation stages of metal ALD processes, by stacking those states multiple times in an oxide matrix. Regardless of experimental conditions, a few Pt ALD cycles leads to the formation of oxidized Pt species due to their highly dispersed nature, as proven by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and highresolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (HR-STEM/EDXS) show that Pt is evenly distributed in the In2O3 metal oxide matrix without the formation of clusters. For a larger number of Pt ALD

cycles, typ. > 10, the oxidation state gradually evolves towards fully metallic, and metallic Pt clusters are obtained within the In2O3 metal oxide matrix. This work reveals how tuning of the ALD supercycle approach for Pt doping allows controlled engineering of the Pt compositional and structural configuration within a metal oxide matrix.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000502418000010 Publication Date 2019-11-11  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0897-4756 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 9.466 Times cited 6 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This research was supported by the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO-Vlaanderen), the Flemish Government (Long term structural funding – Methusalem funding and Medium scale research infrastructure funding-Hercules funding), the Special Research Fund BOF of Ghent University (GOA 01G01513) and the CALIPSO Trans National Access Program funded by the European Commission in supplying financing of travel costs. We are grateful to the SIXS and SAMBA-SOLEIL staff for smoothly running the beamline facilities. J.D. and R.K.R. are postdoctoral fellows of the FWO. Approved Most recent IF: 9.466  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:164056 Serial 5380  
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Author Daems, N.; De Mot, B.; Choukroun, D.; Van Daele, K.; Li, C.; Hubin, A.; Bals, S.; Hereijgers, J.; Breugelmans, T. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Nickel-containing N-doped carbon as effective electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 to CO in a continuous-flow electrolyzer Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2019 Publication Sustainable energy & fuels Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 4 Issue 4 Pages 1296-1311  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Nickel-containing N-doped carbons were synthesized for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO, which is a promising approach to reduce the atmospheric CO2 levels and its negative impact on the environment. Unfortunately, poor performance (activity, selectivity and/or stability) is still a major hurdle for the economical implementation of this type of materials. The electrocatalysts were prepared through an easily up-scalable and easily tunable method based on the pyrolysis of Ni-containing N-doped carbons. Ni–N–AC–B1 synthesized with a high relative amount of nitrogen and nickel with respect to carbon, was identified as the most promising candidate for this reaction based on its partial CO current density (4.2 mA cm−2), its overpotential (0.57 V) and its faradaic efficiency to CO (>99%). This results in unprecedented values for the current density per g active sites (690 A g−1 active sites). Combined with its decent stability and its high performance in an actual electrolyzer setup, this makes it a promising candidate for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO on a larger scale. Finally, the evaluation of this kind of material in a flow-cell setup has been limited and to the best of our knowledge never included an evaluation of several crucial parameters (e.g. electrolyte type, anode composition and membrane type) and is an essential investigation in the move towards up-scaling and ultimately industrial application of this technique. This study resulted in an optimal cell configuration, consisting of Pt as an anode, Fumatech® as the membrane and 1 M KHCO3 and 2 M KOH as catholyte and anolyte, respectively. In conclusion, this research offers a unique combination of electrocatalyst development and reactor optimization.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000518690900030 Publication Date 2019-12-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor Times cited 14 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes ; The authors acknowledge sponsoring from the research foundation of Flanders (FWO) in the frame of a post-doctoral grant (12Y3919N – ND). J. Hereijgers was supported through a postdoctoral fellowship (28761) of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). This project was co-funded by the Interreg 2 Seas-Program 2014-2020, co-.nanced by the European Fund for Regional Development in the frame of subsidiary contract nr 2S03-019. This work was further performed in the framework of the Catalisti cluster SBO project CO2PERATE (“All renewable CCU based on formic acid integrated in an industrial microgrid”), with the.nancial support of VLAIO (Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship). This project.nally received funding from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant 815128, REALNANO). We thank Karen Leyssens for helping with the N<INF>2</INF> physisorption measurements and Kitty Baert (VUB) for analyzing the samples with XPS and Raman. ; sygma Approved Most recent IF: NA  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:165482 Serial 6311  
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Author Agrawal, H.; Patra, B.K.; Altantzis, T.; De Backer, A.; Garnett, E.C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Quantifying Strain and Dislocation Density at Nanocube Interfaces after Assembly and Epitaxy Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces Abbreviated Journal Acs Appl Mater Inter  
  Volume 12 Issue 7 Pages 8788-8794  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Nanoparticle self-assembly and epitaxy are utilized extensively to make 1D and 2D structures with complex shapes. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has shown that single-crystalline interfaces can form, but little is known about the strain and dislocations at these interfaces. Such information is critically important for applications: drastically reducing

dislocation density was the key breakthrough enabling widespread implementation of light-emitting diodes, while strain engineering has been fundamental to modern high-performance transistors, solar cells, and thermoelectrics. In this work, the interfacial defect and strain formation after selfassembly and room temperature epitaxy of 7 nm Pd nanocubes capped with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is examined. It is observed that, during ligand removal, the cubes move over large distances on the substrate, leading to both spontaneous self-assembly and epitaxy to form single crystals. Subsequently, atomically resolved images are used to quantify the strain and dislocation density at the epitaxial interfaces between cubes with different lateral and angular misorientations. It is shown that dislocation- and strain-free interfaces form when the nanocubes align parallel to each other. Angular misalignment between adjacent cubes does not necessarily lead to grain boundaries but does cause dislocations, with higher densities associated with larger rotations.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000515214300101 Publication Date 2020-02-19  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1944-8244 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 9.5 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; H2020 Research Infrastructures, 731019 ; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 14846 ; The work at AMOLF is part of the research program of the “Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek” (NWO). This work was supported by the NWO VIDI grant (project no. 14846). The authors would like to thank Reinout Jaarsma and Dr. Sven Askes for helping with the XPS measurements. A.D.B. acknowledges a postdoctoral grant from the research foundation Flanders (FWO). The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Programme by means of the grant agreement no. 731019 EUSMI. Approved Most recent IF: 9.5; 2020 IF: 7.504  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:167770 Serial 6398  
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Author Milagres de Oliveira, T.; Albrecht, W.; González-Rubio, G.; Altantzis, T.; Lobato Hoyos, I.P.; Béché, A.; Van Aert, S.; Guerrero-Martínez, A.; Liz-Marzán, L.M.; Bals, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title 3D Characterization and Plasmon Mapping of Gold Nanorods Welded by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Acs Nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume 14 Issue Pages acsnano.0c02610  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Ultrafast laser irradiation can induce morphological and structural changes in plasmonic nanoparticles. Gold nanorods (Au NRs), in particular, can be welded together upon irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses, leading to dimers and trimers through the formation of necks between individual nanorods. We used electron tomography to determine the 3D (atomic) structure at such necks for representative welding geometries and to characterize the induced defects. The spatial distribution of localized surface plasmon modes for different welding configurations was assessed by electron energy loss spectroscopy. Additionally, we were able to directly compare the plasmon line width of single-crystalline and welded Au NRs with single defects at the same resonance energy, thus making a direct link between the structural and plasmonic properties. In this manner, we show that the occurrence of (single) defects results in significant plasmon broadening.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000586793400016 Publication Date 2020-08-19  
  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 17.1 Times cited 25 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (ERC Consolidator Grants #815128 – REALNANO and #770887 – PICOMETRICS). The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium) through project funding G.0381.16N and G.0267.18N. W.A. acknowledges an Individual Fellowship funded by the Marie 27 Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in Horizon 2020 program (grant 797153, SOPMEN). G.G.-R. acknowledge receipt of FPI Fellowship from the Spanish MINECO. This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) (Grants RTI2018-095844-B-I00 and MAT2017-86659-R) and the Madrid Regional Government (Grant P2018/NMT-4389). A.B. acknowledges funding from FWO project G093417N and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 823717 – ESTEEM3. L.M.L.-M. acknowledges the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program from the Spanish State Research Agency (Grant No. MDM-2017-0720); Comunidad de Madrid, P2018/NMT-4389 ; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, MAT2017-86659-R RTI2018-095844-B-I00 ; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, 797153 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, G.0267.18N G.0381.16N G093417N ; H2020 Research Infrastructures, 823717 ; H2020 European Research Council, 770887 815128 ; Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, MDM-2017-0720 ; sygma Approved Most recent IF: 17.1; 2020 IF: 13.942  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:172440 Serial 6426  
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Author Irtem, E.; Arenas Esteban, D.; Duarte, M.; Choukroun, D.; Lee, S.; Ibáñez, M.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Ligand-Mode Directed Selectivity in Cu–Ag Core–Shell Based Gas Diffusion Electrodes for CO2Electroreduction Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume Issue Pages 13468-13478  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Bimetallic nanoparticles with tailored size and specific composition have shown promise as stable and selective catalysts for electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2R) in batch systems. Yet, limited effort was devoted to understand the effect of ligand coverage and postsynthesis treatments on CO2 reduction, especially under industrially applicable conditions, such as at high currents (>100 mA/cm2) using gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) and flow reactors. In this work, Cu–Ag core–shell nanoparticles (11 ± 2 nm) were prepared with three different surface modes: (i) capped with oleylamine, (ii) capped with monoisopropylamine, and (iii) surfactant free with a reducing borohydride agent; Cu–Ag (OAm), Cu–Ag (MIPA), and Cu–Ag (NaBH4), respectively. The ligand exchange and removal was evidenced by infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis, whereas high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) showed their effect on the interparticle distance and nanoparticle rearrangement. Later on, we developed a process-on-substrate method to track these effects on CO2R. Cu–Ag (OAm) gave a lower on-set potential for hydrocarbon production, whereas Cu–Ag (MIPA) and Cu–Ag (NaBH4) promoted syngas production. The electrochemical impedance and surface area analysis on the well-controlled electrodes showed gradual increases in the electrical conductivity and active surface area after each surface treatment. We found that the increasing amount of the triple phase boundaries (the meeting point for the electron–electrolyte–CO2 reactant) affect the required electrode potential and eventually the C+2e̅/C2e̅ product ratio. This study highlights the importance of the electron transfer to those active sites affected by the capping agents—particularly on larger substrates that are crucial for their industrial application.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000592978900031 Publication Date 2020-11-04  
  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 12.9 Times cited 23 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors also acknowledge financial support from the University Research Fund (BOF-GOA-PS ID No. 33928). S.L. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie SkłodowskaCurie Grant Agreement No. 665385. Approved Most recent IF: 12.9; 2020 IF: 10.614  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:173803 Serial 6432  
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Author Pacquets, L.; Irtem, E.; Neukermans, S.; Daems, N.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Size-controlled electrodeposition of Cu nanoparticles on gas diffusion electrodes in methanesulfonic acid solution Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Journal Of Applied Electrochemistry Abbreviated Journal J Appl Electrochem  
  Volume 51 Issue 2 Pages  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract In this paper electrodeposition is used to obtain Cu nanoparticles, as it allows good control over particle size and distribution. These Cu particles were deposited onto a gas diffusion electrode which increased the resulting surface area. Prior to deposition, the surface was pre-treated with NaOH, HNO3, MQ and TX100 to investigate the influence on the electrodeposition of Cu on the gas diffusion electrode (GDE). When using HNO3, the smallest particles with the most homogeneous distribution and high particle roughness were obtained. Once the optimal substrate was determined, we further demonstrated that by altering the electrodeposition parameters, the particle size and density could be tuned. On the one hand, increasing the nucleation potential led to a higher particle density resulting in smaller particles because of an increased competition between particles. Finally, the Cu particle size increased when applying a greater growth charge and growth potential. This fundamental study thus opens up a path towards the synthesis of supported Cu materials with increased surface areas, which is interesting from a catalytic point of view. Larger surface areas are generally correlated with a better catalyst performance and thus higher product yields. This research can contributed in obtaining new insides into the deposition of metallic nanoparticles on rough surfaces. [GRAPHICS] .  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000568651000001 Publication Date 2020-09-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0021-891x ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.9 Times cited 3 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes ; L. Pacquets was supported through a PhD fellowship strategic basic research (1S56918N) of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO). N. Daems was supported through a postdoctoral fellowship (12Y3919N-ND) of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO). S. Neukermans was supported through an FWO project grant (G093317N). This research was financed by the research counsel of the university of Antwerp (BOF-GOA 33928). The authors recognize the contribution of Thomas Kenis for analytical validation and methodology. ; Approved Most recent IF: 2.9; 2020 IF: 2.235  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:171588 Serial 6603  
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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 (down) 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.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  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 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 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 (down) 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 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 Wu, L.; Kolmeijer, K.E.; Zhang, Y.; An, H.; Arnouts, S.; Bals, S.; Altantzis, T.; Hofmann, J.P.; Costa Figueiredo, M.; Hensen, E.J.M.; Weckhuysen, B.M.; van der Stam, W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Stabilization effects in binary colloidal Cu and Ag nanoparticle electrodes under electrochemical CO₂ reduction conditions Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nanoscale Abbreviated Journal Nanoscale  
  Volume 13 Issue 9 Pages 4835-4844  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Nanoparticle modified electrodes constitute an attractive way to tailor-make efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction catalysts. However, the restructuring and sintering processes of nanoparticles under electrochemical reaction conditions not only impedes the widespread application of nanoparticle catalysts, but also misleads the interpretation of the selectivity of the nanocatalysts. Here, we colloidally synthesized metallic copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution (<10%) and utilized them in electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions. Monometallic Cu and Ag nanoparticle electrodes showed severe nanoparticle sintering already at low overpotential of -0.8 V vs. RHE, as evidenced by ex situ SEM investigations, and potential-dependent variations in product selectivity that resemble bulk Cu (14% for ethylene at -1.3 V vs. RHE) and Ag (69% for carbon monoxide at -1.0 V vs. RHE). However, by co-deposition of Cu and Ag nanoparticles, a nanoparticle stabilization effect was observed between Cu and Ag, and the sintering process was greatly suppressed at CO2 reducing potentials (-0.8 V vs. RHE). Furthermore, by varying the Cu/Ag nanoparticle ratio, the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) selectivity towards methane (maximum of 20.6% for dense Cu-2.5-Ag-1 electrodes) and C-2 products (maximum of 15.7% for dense Cu-1-Ag-1 electrodes) can be tuned, which is attributed to a synergistic effect between neighbouring Ag and Cu nanoparticles. We attribute the stabilization of the nanoparticles to the positive enthalpies of Cu-Ag solid solutions, which prevents the dissolution-redeposition induced particle growth under CO2RR conditions. The observed nanoparticle stabilization effect enables the design and fabrication of active CO2 reduction nanocatalysts with high durability.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000628024200011 Publication Date 2021-02-22  
  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 24 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work is funded by the Strategic UU-TU/e Alliance project ‘Joint Centre for Chemergy Research’ (budget holder B. M. W.). S. B. acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant #815128 REALNANO). S. A. and T. A. acknowledge funding from the University of Antwerp Research fund (BOF). We thank Eric Hellebrand (Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University) for the assistance in SEM measurements. Dr Ramon Oord (ARC Chemical Building Blocks Consortium, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University) is acknowledged for assisting with the grazing incidence XRD measurements; sygma Approved Most recent IF: 7.367  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:176723 Serial 6737  
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Author Duarte, M.; Daems, N.; Hereijgers, J.; Arenas Esteban, D.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Enhanced CO2 electroreduction with metal-nitrogen-doped carbons in a continuous flow reactor Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Journal Of Co2 Utilization Abbreviated Journal J Co2 Util  
  Volume 50 Issue Pages 101583-12  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract As part of a mitigation and adaptation approach to increasing carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations, we report superior performance of various metal-nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts, synthesized using an easily up-scalable method, for the electrochemical reduction to carbon monoxide and/or formate at industrially relevant current densities up to 200 mAcm−2. Altering the embedded transition metal (i.e. Sn, Co, Fe, Mn and Ni) allowed to tune the selectivity towards the desired product. Mn-N-C and Fe-N-C performance was compromised by its high CO* binding energy, while Co-N-C catalyzed preferentially the HER. Ni-N-C and Sn-N-C revealed to be promising electrocatalysts, the latter being evaluated for the first time in a flow reactor. A productivity of 589 L CO m-2 h-1 at -1.39 VRHE with Ni-N-C and 751 g HCOO- m-2 h-1 at -1.47 VRHE with Sn-N-C was achieved with no signs of degradation detected after 24 h of operation at industrially relevant current densities (100 mAcm−2). Stable operation at 200 mAcm−2 led to turnover frequencies for the production of carbon products of up to 5176 h-1. These enhanced productivities, in combination with high stability, constitute an essential step towards the scalability and ultimately towards the economical valorization of CO2 electrolyzers using metal-containing nitrogen-doped catalysts.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000670316000002 Publication Date 2021-05-28  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2212-9820 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 4.292 Times cited 14 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors acknowledge sponsoring from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) in the frame of a post-doctoral grant (12Y3919N – ND). This project was co-funded by the Interreg 2 Seas-Program 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development in the frame of subsidiary contract nr. 2S03-019. This work was further performed in the framework of the Catalisti MOT project D2M (“Dioxide to Monoxide (D2M): Innovative catalysis for CO2 to CO conversion”). We thank Lien Pacquets for analyzing the samples with SEM-EDX, Saskia Defoss´e for helping with the N2 physisorption measurements and Kitty Baert (VUB) for analyzing the samples with XPS and Raman. Approved Most recent IF: 4.292  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:178151 Serial 6779  
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Author Albrecht, W.; Arslan Irmak, E.; Altantzis, T.; Pedrazo‐Tardajos, A.; Skorikov, A.; Deng, T.‐S.; van der Hoeven, J.E.S.; van Blaaderen, A.; Van Aert, S.; Bals, S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title 3D Atomic‐Scale Dynamics of Laser‐Light‐Induced Restructuring of Nanoparticles Unraveled by Electron Tomography Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Advanced Materials Abbreviated Journal Adv Mater  
  Volume Issue Pages 2100972  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Understanding light–matter interactions in nanomaterials is crucial for

optoelectronic, photonic, and plasmonic applications. Specifically, metal

nanoparticles (NPs) strongly interact with light and can undergo shape

transformations, fragmentation and ablation upon (pulsed) laser excitation.

Despite being vital for technological applications, experimental insight into

the underlying atomistic processes is still lacking due to the complexity of

such measurements. Herein, atomic resolution electron tomography is performed

on the same mesoporous-silica-coated gold nanorod, before and after

femtosecond laser irradiation, to assess the missing information. Combined

with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on the experimentally

determined 3D atomic-scale morphology, the complex atomistic rearrangements,

causing shape deformations and defect generation, are unraveled.

These rearrangements are simultaneously driven by surface diffusion, facet

restructuring, and strain formation, and are influenced by subtleties in the

atomic distribution at the surface.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000671662000001 Publication Date 2021-07-11  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0935-9648 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 19.791 Times cited 8 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes W.A. and E.A.I. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (ERC Consolidator Grants No. 815128 – REALNANO and No. 770887 – PICOMETRICS), the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (ERC Advanced Grant No. 291667 – HierarSACol), and the European Commission (EUSMI). W.A. acknowledges an Individual Fellowship funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in the Horizon2020 program (Grant 797153, SOPMEN). T.-S.D. acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant No. 61905056). The authors also acknowledge financial support by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Grant G.0267.18N).; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 19.791  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:179781 Serial 6805  
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Author Hudry, D.; De Backer, A.; Popescu, R.; Busko, D.; Howard, I.A.; Bals, S.; Zhang, Y.; Pedrazo‐Tardajos, A.; Van Aert, S.; Gerthsen, D.; Altantzis, T.; Richards, B.S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Interface Pattern Engineering in Core‐Shell Upconverting Nanocrystals: Shedding Light on Critical Parameters and Consequences for the Photoluminescence Properties Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Small Abbreviated Journal Small  
  Volume Issue Pages 2104441  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Advances in controlling energy migration pathways in core-shell lanthanide (Ln)-based hetero-nanocrystals (HNCs) have relied heavily on assumptions about how optically active centers are distributed within individual HNCs. In this article, it is demonstrated that different types of interface patterns can be formed depending on shell growth conditions. Such interface patterns are not only identified but also characterized with spatial resolution ranging from the nanometer- to the atomic-scale. In the most favorable cases, atomic-scale resolved maps of individual particles are obtained. It is also demonstrated that, for the same type of core-shell architecture, the interface pattern can be engineered with thicknesses of just 1 nm up to several tens of nanometers. Total alloying between the core and shell domains is also possible when using ultra-small particles as seeds. Finally, with different types of interface patterns (same architecture and chemical composition of the core and shell domains) it is possible to modify the output color (yellow, red, and green-yellow) or change (improvement or degradation) the absolute upconversion quantum yield. The results presented in this article introduce an important paradigm shift and pave the way toward the emergence of a new generation of core-shell Ln-based HNCs with better control over their atomic-scale organization.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000710758000001 Publication Date 2021-10-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1613-6810 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 8.643 Times cited 17 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Helmholtz Recruitment Initiative Fellowship (B.S.R.) and the Helmholtz Association's Research Field Energy (Materials and Technologies for the Energy Transition program, Topic 1 Photovoltaics and Wind Energy). The authors would like to thank the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF) for STEM access. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant agreement no. 770887 PICOMETRICS to S.V.A. and Grant agreement no. 815128 REALNANO to S.B.). The authors acknowledge financial support from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium) through Projects no. G.0502.18N, G.0267.18N, and a postdoctoral grant to A.D.B. T.A. acknowledges funding from the University of Antwerp Research fund (BOF). This project had received funding (EUSMI proposal #E181100205) from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement no 731019 (EUSMI). D.H. would like to thank “CGFigures” for helpful tutorials on 3D graphics with Blender.; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 8.643  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:183285 Serial 6817  
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Author Coeck, R.; Meeprasert, J.; Li, G.; Altantzis, T.; Bals, S.; Pidko, E.A.; De Vos, D.E. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Gold and silver-catalyzed reductive amination of aromatic carboxylic acids to benzylic amines Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 11 Issue 13 Pages 7672-7684  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract The reductive amination of benzoic acid and its derivatives would be an effective addition to current synthesis methods for benzylamine. However, with current technology it is very difficult to keep the aromaticity intact when starting from benzoic acid, and salt wastes are often generated in the process. Here, we report a heterogeneous catalytic system for such a reductive amination, requiring solely H-2 and NH3 as the reactants. The Ag/TiO2 or Au/TiO2 catalysts can be used multiple times, and very little noble metal is required, only 0.025 mol % Au. The catalysts are bifunctional: the support catalyzes the dehydration of both the ammonium carboxylate to the amide and of the amide to the nitrile, while the sites at the metal-support interface promote the hydrogenation of the in situ generated nitrile. Yields of up to 92% benzylamine were obtained.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000670659900005 Publication Date 2021-06-10  
  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 16 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes R.C. thanks the FWO for his SB PhD fellowship. D.E.D.V. acknowledges FWO for research project funding, as well as KU Leuven for funding in the Metusalem program Casas. S.B. acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator grant #815128 REALNANO). T.A. acknowledges funding from the University of Antwerp Research fund (BOF). E.A.P. acknowledges the support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator grant #725686 DeliCAT). J.M. acknowledges financial support through the Royal Thai Government Scholarship. DFT calculations on SURFsara supercomputer facilities were performed with support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 10.614  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:179851 Serial 6840  
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Author Choukroun, D.; Pacquets, L.; Li, C.; Hoekx, S.; Arnouts, S.; Baert, K.; Hauffman, T.; Bals, S.; Breugelmans, T. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Mapping composition–selectivity relationships of supported sub-10 nm Cu–Ag nanocrystals for high-rate CO₂ electroreduction Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Acs Nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume 15 Issue 9 Pages 14858-14872  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract Colloidal Cu–Ag nanocrystals measuring less than 10 nm across are promising candidates for integration in hybrid CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) interfaces, especially in the context of tandem catalysis and selective multicarbon (C2–C3) product formation. In this work, we vary the synthetic-ligand/copper molar ratio from 0.1 to 1.0 and the silver/copper atomic ratio from 0 to 0.7 and study the variations in the nanocrystals’ size distribution, morphology and reactivity at rates of ≥100 mA cm–2 in a gas-fed recycle electrolyzer operating under neutral to mildly basic conditions (0.1–1.0 M KHCO3). High-resolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy are used in order to characterize the morphology of sub-10 nm Cu–Ag nanodimers and core–shells and to elucidate trends in Ag coverage and surface composition. It is shown that Cu–Ag nanocrystals can be densely dispersed onto a carbon black support without the need for immediate ligand removal or binder addition, which considerably facilitates their application. Although CO2RR product distribution remains an intricate function of time, (kinetic) overpotential and processing conditions, we nevertheless conclude that the ratio of oxygenates to hydrocarbons (which depends primarily on the initial dispersion of the nanocrystals and their composition) rises 3-fold at moderate Ag atom % relative to Cu NCs-based electrodes. Finally, the merits of this particular Cu–Ag/C system and the recycling reactor employed are utilized to obtain maximum C2–C3 partial current densities of 92–140 mA cm–2 at −1.15 VRHE and liquid product concentrations in excess of 0.05 wt % in 1 M KHCO3 after short electrolysis periods.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000703553600082 Publication Date 2021-08-24  
  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 25 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes D.C. acknowledges Thomas Kenis for configuring the analytical instrumentation (HPLC/GC-FID/ICP-MS), Hannelore Andries for assistance with ICP-MS measurements, and Dr. Saeid Pourbabak and Dr. Tine Derez for assistance with Cu sputtering. L.P. was supported by Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO 1S56920N). S.B. acknowledges financial support from ERC Consolidator grant number 815128 REALNANO. S.B. and T.B. acknowledge financial support from the university research fund (BOF-GOA-PS ID no. 33928).; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 13.942  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:180305 Serial 6844  
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Author Wang, D.; van der Wee, E.B.; Zanaga, D.; Altantzis, T.; Wu, Y.; Dasgupta, T.; Dijkstra, M.; Murray, C.B.; Bals, S.; van Blaaderen, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Quantitative 3D real-space analysis of Laves phase supraparticles Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nature Communications Abbreviated Journal Nat Commun  
  Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 3980  
  Keywords (down) A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT)  
  Abstract 3D real-space analysis of thick nanoparticle crystals is non-trivial. Here, the authors demonstrate the structural analysis of a bulk-like Laves phase by imaging an off-stoichiometric binary mixture of hard-sphere-like nanoparticles in spherical confinement by electron tomography, enabling defect analysis on the single-particle level. Assembling binary mixtures of nanoparticles into crystals, gives rise to collective properties depending on the crystal structure and the individual properties of both species. However, quantitative 3D real-space analysis of binary colloidal crystals with a thickness of more than 10 layers of particles has rarely been performed. Here we demonstrate that an excess of one species in the binary nanoparticle mixture suppresses the formation of icosahedral order in the self-assembly in droplets, allowing the study of bulk-like binary crystal structures with a spherical morphology also called supraparticles. As example of the approach, we show single-particle level analysis of over 50 layers of Laves phase binary crystals of hard-sphere-like nanoparticles using electron tomography. We observe a crystalline lattice composed of a random mixture of the Laves phases. The number ratio of the binary species in the crystal lattice matches that of a perfect Laves crystal. Our methodology can be applied to study the structure of a broad range of binary crystals, giving insights into the structure formation mechanisms and structure-property relations of nanomaterials.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000687320200032 Publication Date 2021-06-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2041-1723 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.124 Times cited 10 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes M. Hermes is sincerely thanked for providing interactive views of the structures in this work. The authors thank I. Lobato, S. Dussi, L. Filion, E. Boattini, S. Paliwal, B. van der Meer and X. Xie for fruitful discussions. D.W., E.B.v.d.W. and A.v.B. acknowledge partial financial support from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP-2007-2013)/ERC Advanced Grant Agreement 291667 HierarSACol. T.D. and M.D. acknowledge financial support from the Industrial Partnership Program, “Computational Sciences for Energy Research” (Grant no. 13CSER025), of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), which was co-financed by Shell Global Solutions International B.V. S.B. acknowledges financial support from ERC Consolidator Grant No. 815128 REALNANO. T.A. acknowledges a post-doctoral grant from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium). C.B.M and Y.W. acknowledge support for materials synthesis from the Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Award ONR N00014-18-1-2497. The authors acknowledge EM Square center at Utrecht University for the access to the microscopes.; sygmaSB Approved Most recent IF: 12.124  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:181662 Serial 6845  
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