Abstract: Low energy mechanical alloying of Ni35 at.%Al and Ni40 at.%Al material was performed and the resulting structures were investigated by XRD and TEM. The final intermetallics observed consist of two phases, NiAl(B2) and Ni3Al while 7R and 3R martensite was observed in post-annealed samples. Different integrated milling times were associated to the intermetallic consolidation and initial blend dissociation.

Abstract: Nanocrystalline diamond films have generated much interested due to their diamond-like properties and low surface roughness. Several techniques have been used to obtain a high re-nucleation rate, such as hydrogen poor or high methane concentration plasmas. In this work, the properties of nano-diamond films grown on silicon substrates using a continuous DC bias voltage during the complete duration of growth are studied. Subsequently, the layers were characterised by several morphological, structural and optical techniques. Besides a thorough investigation of the surface structure, using SEM and AFM, special attention was paid to the bulk structure of the films. The application of FTIR, XRD, multi wavelength Raman spectroscopy, TEM and EELS yielded a detailed insight in important properties such as the amount of crystallinity, the hydrogen content and grain size. Although these films are smooth, they are under a considerable compressive stress. FTIR spectroscopy points to a high hydrogen content in the films, while Raman and EELS indicate a high concentration of sp2 carbon. TEM and EELS show that these films consist of diamond nano-grains mixed with an amorphous sp2 bonded carbon, these results are consistent with the XRD and UV Raman spectroscopy data.

Abstract: A marker function designed to indicate in which regions of a generic flow field the results from linear eddy-viscosity turbulence models are plausibly inaccurate is introduced. The marker is defined to identify regions that deviate from parallel shear flow. For two different flow fields it is shown that these regions largely coincide with regions where the prediction of the Reynolds stress divergence is inaccurate. The marker therefore offers a guideline for interpreting results obtained from Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations and provides a basis for the further development of turbulence model-form uncertainty quantification methods. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Abstract: The Zn-carboxylate-based porous coordination polymer MOF-5 [Zn4O(bdc)3] and the metal oxide loaded materials ZnO@MOF-5 and TiO2@MOF-5 were loaded in a second step with the precursor [ClAuCO] to yield intermediate materials denoted as [ClAuCO]@MOF-5, [ClAuCO]/ZnO@MOF-5 and [ClAuCO]/TiO2@MOF-5. These composites were decomposed to Au@MOF-5, Au/ZnO@MOF-5 and Au/TiO2@MOF-5 under hydrogen at 100 °C. The nanoparticle-loaded hybrid materials were characterised by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), IR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2 sorption measurements, which reveal an intact MOF-5 structure that maintains a high specific surface area. For Au@MOF-5, crystalline Au nanoparticles were distributed over the MOF matrix in a homogeneous fashion with a size of ca. 13 nm, evidenced by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. In the case of Au/ZnO@MOF-5, the Au and metal oxide particles of a few nm in size were coexistent in a given volume of the MOF-5 matrix and were not separated in different crystalline MOF particles. For the TiO2 loaded materials the oxide is preferentially located near the outer surface of the MOF particles, leading to an increase of larger exterior Au particles in comparison to very small interior Au particles as observed for the other materials. Au@MOF-5, Au/ZnO@MOF-5 and Au/TiO2@MOF-5 were tested in liquid-phase oxidation of alcohols. Preliminary results show a high activity for the Au loaded materials in this reaction. This observation is attributed to the microstructure of the composites with very small Au particles distributed homogeneously over the MOF matrix.

Abstract: The synthesis of a new class of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials, carbon-dot-decorated nanodiamonds (CDD-ND), is reported. These CDD-NDs are produced by specific acid treatment of detonation soot, forming tiny rounded sp2 carbon species (carbon dots), 12 atomic layers thick and 12 nm in size, covalently attached to the surface of the detonation diamond nanoparticles. A combination of nanodiamonds bonded with a graphitic phase as a starting material and the application of graphite intercalated acids for oxidation of the graphitic carbon is necessary for the successful production of CDD-ND. The CDD-ND photoluminescence (PL) is stable, 20 times more intense than the intrinsic PL of well-purified NDs and can be tailored by changing the oxidation process parameters. Carbon-dot-decorated DNDs are shown to be excellent probes for bioimaging applications and inexpensive additives for PL nanocomposites.

Abstract: The assembly of multifunctional nanocomposite materials is demonstrated by exploiting the molecular sieving property of SBA-16 nanoporous silica and using it as a template material. The cages of the pore networks are used to host iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, leaving a pore volume of 0.29 cm3 g-1 accessible for drug storage. This iron oxide-silica nanocomposite is then functionalized with amine groups. Finally the outside of the particle is decorated with antibodies. Since the size of many protein molecules, including that of antibodies, is too large to enter the pore system of SBA-16, the amine groups inside the pores are preserved for drug binding. This is proven using a fluorescent protein, fluorescein-isothiocyanate-labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA), with the unreacted amine groups inside the pores dyed with rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RITC). The resulting nanocomposite material offers a dual-targeting drug delivery mechanism, i.e., magnetic and antibody-targeting, while the functionalization approach is extendable to other applications, e.g., fluorescence-magnetic dual-imaging diagnosis.

Abstract: The interaction and stability of Ru4POM on few layer graphene via functional groups is investigated by time-dependent imaging using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy. The Ru4POM demonstrates dynamic motion on the graphene surface with its frequency and amplitude of rotation related to the nature of the functional group used. The stability of the Ru4POMgraphene hybrid corroborates its long-term robustness when applied to multielectronic catalytic processes.

Abstract: Welding nanocrystals for assembly: The welding of Au domains grown on the tips of shape-controlled cadmium chalcogenide colloidal nanocrystals is used as a strategy for their assembly. Iodine-induced coagulation of selectively grown Au domains leads to assemblies such as flowerlike structures based on bullet-shaped nanocrystals, linear and cross-linked chains of nanorods, and globular networks with tetrapods as building blocks.