Abstract: A numerical model for NxOy remediation in humid air plasma produced with a dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure is presented. Special emphasis is given to NO2 and N2O reduction with the decrease of O2 content in the feedstock gas. A detailed reaction mechanism including electronic and ionic processes, as well as the contribution of radicals and excited atomic/molecular species is proposed. The temporal evolution of the densities of NO, NO2 and N2O species, and some other by-products, is analyzed, and the major pathways for the NxOy remediation are discussed for one pulse. Subsequently, simulations are presented for a multi-pulses case, where three O2 contents are tested for optimization of the remediation process. It is found that when the gas mixture O2/N2/H2O/NOx has no initial O2 content, the best NOx and N2O remediation is achieved.

Abstract: Pb cations in PbS quantum rods made from CdS quantum rods by successive complete cationic exchange reactions are partially re-exchanged for Cd cations. Using STEM-HAADF, we show that this leads to the formation of unique multiple dot-in-rod PbS/CdS heteronanostructures, with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 4555%. We argue that the formation of multiple dot-in-rods is related to the initial polycrystallinity of the PbS quantum rods, where each PbS crystallite transforms in a separate PbS/CdS dot-in-dot. Effective mass modeling indicates that electronic coupling between the different PbS conduction band states is feasible for the multiple dot-in-rod geometries obtained, while the hole states remain largely uncoupled.

Abstract: In this letter, CMOS-compatible Ni/HfO2/TiN resistive random access memory stacks demonstrated attractive unipolar switching properties, showing >10(3) endurance and long retention at 150 degrees C. The Ni bottom electrode (BE) improved the switching yield over the NiSiPt BE. To better understand the unipolar forming mechanism, ab initio simulation and time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy were utilized. Compared to the NiSiPt BE, Ni BE gives larger Ni diffusion in the HfO2 and lower formation enthalpy of Ni2+ species during electrical forming. Both the electrical and physical results supported a Ni-injection mechanism for the filament formation. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3695078]

Abstract: Small stationary diesel engines, like in generator sets, have limited emission control measures and are therefore responsible for 44% of the particulate matter (PM) emissions in the United States. The diesel exhaust composition depends on operating conditions of the combustion engine. Furthermore, the measurements are influenced by the used sampling method. This study examines the effect of engine loading and exhaust gas dilution on the composition of small-scale power generators. These generators are used in different operating conditions than road-transport vehicles, resulting in different emission characteristics. Experimental data were obtained for gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOC) and PM mass concentration, elemental composition and nitrate content. The exhaust composition depends on load condition because of its effect on fuel consumption, engine wear and combustion temperature. Higher load conditions result in lower PM concentration and sharper edged particles with larger aerodynamic diameters. A positive correlation with load condition was found for K, Ca, Sr, Mn, Cu, Zn and Pb adsorbed on PM, elements that originate from lubricating oil or engine corrosion. The nitrate concentration decreases at higher load conditions, due to enhanced nitrate dissociation to gaseous NO at higher engine temperatures. Dilution on the other hand decreases PM and nitrate concentration and increases gaseous VOC and adsorbed metal content. In conclusion, these data show that operating and sampling conditions have a major effect on the exhaust gas composition of small-scale diesel generators. Therefore, care must be taken when designing new experiments or comparing literature results.

Abstract: Flexible graphite foil produced by rolling expanded graphite impregnated with boron oxide was analyzed by laser mass spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetry. It was shown that the modification of the graphite foil by boron oxide increases the onset temperature of oxidation by ∼ 150 °C. Impregnation of less than 2 mass% boron oxide also increased the tensile strength of the materials. The observed improvement was attributed to the blocking of active sites by boron oxide, which is probably chemically bonded to the edges of graphene sheets in expanded graphite particles.

Abstract: Perovskite oxide heteroepitaxy receives much attention because of the possibility to combine the diverse functionalities of perovskite oxide building blocks. A general boundary condition for the epitaxy is the presence of polar discontinuities at heterointerfaces. These polar discontinuities result in reconstructions, often creating new functionalities at the interface. However, for a significant number of materials these reconstructions are unwanted as they alter the intrinsic materials properties at the interface. Therefore, a strategy to eliminate this reconstruction of the polar discontinuity at the interfaces is required. We show that the use of compositional interface engineering can prevent the reconstruction at the La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/SrTiO3 (LSMO/STO) interface. The polar discontinuity at this interface can be removed by the insertion of a single La0.33Sr0.67O layer, resulting in improved interface magnetization and electrical conductivity.

Abstract: Transition metal oxide-based resistor random access memory (RRAM) takes advantage of oxygen-related defects in its principle of operation. Since the change in resistivity of the material is controlled by the oxygen deficiency level, it is of major importance to quantify the kinetics of the oxygen diffusion, key factor for oxide stoichiometry. Ab initio accelerated molecular dynamics techniques are employed to investigate the oxygen diffusivity in amorphous hafnia (HfOx, x = 1.97, 1.0, 0.5). The computed kinetics is in agreement with experimental measurements. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3697690]

Abstract: Microscopic self-propelled swimmers capable of autonomous navigation through complex environments provide appealing opportunities for localization, pick-up and delivery of micro and nanoscopic objects. Inspired by motile cells and bacteria, man-made microswimmers have been fabricated, and their motion in patterned surroundings has been experimentally studied. We propose to use self-driven artificial microswimmers for the separation of binary mixtures of colloids. We revealed different regimes of separation, including one with a velocity inversion. Our findings could be of use for various biological and medical applications.

Abstract: Topotactic reduction of La1-xSrxMnO3 (0.67 <= x <= 1) phases with sodium hydride yields a series of isoelectronic materials of composition La1-xSrxMnO3-(0.5+x)/2. Lanthanum rich members of the series (0.67 <= x <= 0.83) adopt anion deficient perovskite structures with a 6-layer -OTOOT'O- stacking sequence of sheets of octahedra/square-based pyramids (O) and sheets of tetrahedra (T). The strontium rich members of the series (0.83 <= x <= 1) incorporate “step defects” into this 6-layer structure in which the OTOOT'O stacking sequence is converted into either OOTOOT' or TOOT'OO at a defect plane which runs perpendicular to the [201] lattice plane. The step defects appear to provide a mechanism to relieve lattice strain and accommodate additional anion deficiency in phases with x > 0.83. Magnetization and neutron diffraction data indicate La1-xSrxMnO3-(0.5+x)/2 phases adopt antiferromagnetically ordered states at low-temperature in which the ordered arrangement of magnetic spins is incommensurate with the crystallographic lattice.

Abstract: Altare was in the medieval and post-medieval period an important glassmaking center in the Liguria region in Northern Italy. The first historical evidence of glassmaking in Altare is dated to the twelfth century. In spite of that, due to the continuity of glassmaking up to the present time and the contemporaneous intensive urbanization of the territory, no medieval glass from Altare or its immediate vicinity has been analyzed up to now. In this work, glass from archaeological excavations in the center of Savona, city with close ties with the glassmaking center, was studied. Glass fragments, dated from the tenth to the sixteenth century were selected from the collections of the Archaeological Museum in Savona and non-destructively analyzed with quantitative PIXE-PIGE. The resulting compositions, compared with known glass productions of the same time and evaluated on the basis of historical documents, offer an interesting panorama on the variety of glass circulation in Liguria. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Oxygen deficient perovskites Sr0.75Y0.25Co1-xMnxO3-y, x=0.5 and 0.75, were prepared by using the citrate route at 1373-1573 K for 48 h. The cubic Pm-3m perovskite structure for x=0.5 was confirmed by electron diffraction study and refined using neutron powder diffraction (NPD) data. For x=0.75, the superstructure corresponding to a=root 2 x a(per), b=2 x a(per), c=root 2 x a(per) (a(0)b(-)b(-) tilt system, space group Imma) was revealed by electron diffraction. The solid solution Sr0.75-xCaxY0.25Co0.25Mn0.75O3-y, 0.1 <= x <= 0.6 and compound Ca0.75Y0.25Mn0.85Co0.15O2.92 were prepared in air at 1573 K for 48 h. The crystal structure of Ca0.75Y0.25Mn0.85Co0.15O2.92 was refined using NPD data (S.G. Pnma, a=5.36595(4), b=7.5091(6), c=5.2992(4) angstrom, R-p=0.057, R-wp=0.056, chi(2)=4.26). High-temperature thermal expansion properties of the prepared compounds were studied in air using both dilatometry and high-temperature X-ray powder diffraction data (HTXRPD). They expanding non-linearly at 298-1073 K due to the loss of oxygen at high temperatures. Calculated average thermal expansion coefficients (TECs) for Sr0.75Y0.25Co1-xMnxO3-y, x=0.5, 0.75 and Ca0.75Y0.25Mn0.85Co0.15O2.92(1) are 15.5, 15.1, and 13.8 ppm K-1, respectively. Anisotropy of the thermal expansion along different unit cell axes was observed for Sr0.15Ca0.6Y0.25Co0.25Mn0.75O3-y, and Ca0.75Y0.25Mn0.85Co0.15O2.92. Conductivity of Sr0.75Y0.25Co1-xMnxO3-y, x=0.5 and 0.75 increases with the temperature reaching 110 S/cm for x=0.5 and 44 S/cm for x=0.75 at 1173 K. Samples of Sr0.75-xCaxY0.25Co0.25Mn0.75O3-y, 0.1 <= y <= 0.6 were found to be n-type conductors at room temperature with the similar temperature dependence of the conductivity and demonstrated the increase of the sigma value from similar to 1 to similar to 50 S/cm as the temperature increases from 300 to 1173 K. Their conductivity is described in terms of the small polaron charge transport with the activation energy (E-p) increasing from 340 to 430 meV with an increase of the calcium content from x=0 to x=0.6. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Superconductivity in nanowires made of weak coupling superconductor materials is investigated using a Green function approach. We show that these are multigap systems in which the ratio Delta(T)/k(B)T(c) is to a large extent similar to what is observed in some high-T-c two-gap systems, such as MgB2 and some of the Fe-based superconductors. On the other hand, because of confinement, the superfluid density has a temperature behavior of the form n(s)(T) = 1 – (T/T-c)(3) near T-c, thus deviating from the BCS behavior for bulk superconductors.

Abstract: Quantum confinement of the perpendicular motion of electrons in single-crystalline metallic superconducting nanofilms splits the conduction band into a series of single-electron subbands. A distinctive feature of such a nanoscale multi-band superconductor is that the energetic position of each subband can vary significantly with changing nanofilm thickness, substrate material, protective cover and other details of the fabrication process. It can occur that the bottom of one of the available subbands is situated in the vicinity of the Fermi level. We demonstrate that the character of the superconducting pairing in such a subband changes dramatically and exhibits a clear molecule-like trend, which is very similar to the well-known crossover from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer regime to Bose-Einstein condensation (BCS-BEC) observed in trapped ultracold fermions. For Pb nanofilms with thicknesses of 4 and 5 monolayers (MLs) this will lead to a spectacular scenario: up to half of all the Cooper pairs nearly collapse, shrinking in the lateral size (parallel to the nanofilm) down to a few nanometers. As a result, the superconducting condensate will be a coherent mixture of almost molecule-like fermionic pairs with ordinary, extended Cooper pairs.

Abstract: 1D CuO/ZnO nanocomposites were grown on Si(100) substrates by means of an original two-step synthetic strategy. ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays were initially deposited by plasma enhanced-chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) from an ArO2 atmosphere. Subsequently, tailored amounts of CuO were dispersed over zinc oxide matrices by radio frequency (RF)-sputtering of Cu from Ar plasmas, followed by thermal treatment in air. A thorough characterization of the obtained systems was carried out by X-ray photoelectron and X-ray excited-Auger electron spectroscopies (XPS and XE-AES), glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction (ED) and energy filtered-TEM (EF-TEM). Pure and highly oriented CuO/ZnO NR arrays, free from ternary ZnCuO phases and characterized by a copper(II) oxide content controllable as a function of the adopted RF-power, were successfully obtained. Interestingly, the structural relationships between the two oxides at the CuO/ZnO interface were found to depend on the overall CuO loading. The obtained nanocomposites displayed promising photocatalytic performances in H2 production by reforming of ethanolwater solutions under simulated solar illumination, paving the way to the sustainable conversion of solar light into chemical energy.

Abstract: The critical current of a thin superconducting strip of width W much larger than the Ginzburg-Landau coherence length xi but much smaller than the Pearl length Lambda = 2 lambda(2)/d is maximized when the strip is straight with defect-free edges. When a perpendicular magnetic field is applied to a long straight strip, the critical current initially decreases linearly with H but then decreases more slowly with H when vortices or antivortices are forced into the strip. However, in a superconducting strip containing sharp 90 degrees or 180 degrees turns, the zero-field critical current at H = 0 is reduced because vortices or antivortices are preferentially nucleated at the inner corners of the turns, where current crowding occurs. Using both analytic London-model calculations and time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations, we predict that in such asymmetric strips the resulting critical current can be increased by applying a perpendicular magnetic field that induces a current-density contribution opposing the applied current density at the inner corners. This effect should apply to all turns that bend in the same direction.