Abstract: The substitution of vanadium in vanadium dioxide VO2 influences the critical temperatures of structural and metal-to-insulator transitions in different ways depending on the valence of the dopant. Rhenium adopts valence states between + 4 and + 7 in an octahedral oxygen surrounding and is particularly interesting in this context. Structural investigation of V1-xRexO2 solid solutions (0.01 <= x <= 0.30) between 80 and 1200 K using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction revealed only two polymorphs that resemble VO2: the low-temperature monoclinic MoO2-type form (space group P2(1)/c), and the tetragonal rutile-like form (space group P4(2)/mnm). However, for compositions with 0.03 < x <= 0.15 a phase separation in the solid solution was observed below 1000 K upon cooling down from 1200 K, giving rise to two isostructural phases with slightly different lattice parameters. This is reflected in the appearance of two metal-toinsulator transition temperatures detected by magnetization and specific heat measurements. Comprehensive X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies showed that an increased amount of Re leads to a change in the Re valence state from solely Re6+ at a low doping level (<= 3 at% Re) via mixed-valence states Re4+/Re6+ for at least 0.03 < x <= 0.10, up to nearly pure Re4+ in V0.70Re0.30O2. Thus, compositions V1-xRexO2 with only one valence state of Re in the material (Re6+ or Re4+) can be obtained as a single phase, while intermediate compositions are subjected to a phase separation, presumably due to different valence states of Re.

Abstract: The size and lattice constant evolution of Pb nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by high fluence implantation in crystalline Si have been studied with a variety of experimental techniques. Results obtained from small-angle x-ray scattering showed that the Pb NPs grow with increasing implantation fluence and annealing duration. The theory of NP growth kinetics can be applied to qualitatively explain the size evolution of the Pb NPs during the implantation and annealing processes. Moreover, the lattice constant of the Pb NPs was evaluated by conventional x-ray diffraction. The lattice dilatation was observed to decrease with increasing size of the Pb NPs. Such lattice constant tuning can be attributed to the pseudomorphism caused by the lattice mismatch between the Pb NPs and the Si matrix.

Abstract: Highly homogeneous mullite-type solid solutions Bi2Fe4-xCrxO9 (x = 0.5, 1, 1.2) were synthesized using a soft chemistry technique followed by a solid-state reaction in Ar. The crystal structure of Bi2Fe3CrO9 was investigated using X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy (S.G. Pbam, a = 7.95579(9) angstrom , b = 8.39145(9) angstrom, c = 5.98242(7) angstrom, R-F(X-ray) = 0.022, R-F(neutron) = 0.057). The ab planes in the structure are tessellated with distorted pentagonal loops built up by three tetrahedrally coordinated Fe sites and two octahedrally coordinated Fe/Cr sites, linked together in the ab plane by corner-sharing forming a pentagonal Cairo lattice. Magnetic susceptibility measurements and powder neutron diffraction show that the compounds order antiferromagnetically (AFM) with the Neel temperatures decreasing upon increasing the Cr content from T-N similar to 250 K for x = 0 to T-N similar to 155 K for x = 1.2. The magnetic structure of Bi2Fe3CrO9 at T = 30 K is characterized by a propagation vector k = (1/2,1/2,1/2). The tetrahedrally coordinated Fe cations form singlet pairs within dimers of corner-sharing tetrahedra, but spins on the neighboring dimers are nearly orthogonal. The octahedrally coordinated (Fe, Cr) cations form antiferromagnetic up-up-down-down chains along c, while the spin arrangement in the ab plane is nearly orthogonal between nearest neighbors and collinear between second neighbors. The resulting magnetic structure is remarkably different from the one in pure Bi2Fe4O9 and features several types of spin correlations even on crystallographically equivalent exchange that may be caused by the simultaneous presence of Fe and Cr on the octahedral site.

Abstract: Three-dimensional cubic Fm (3) over barm mesoporous copper-containing ethane-bridged PMO materials have been prepared through a direct-synthesis method at room temperature in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as surfactant. The obtained materials have been unambiguously characterized in detail by several sophisticated techniques, including XRD, UV-Vis-Dr, TEM, elemental mapping, continuous- wave and pulsed EPR spectroscopy. The results show that at lower copper loading, the Cu2+ species are well dispersed in the Cu-PMO materials, and mainly exist as mononuclear Cu2+ species. At higher copper loading amount, Cu2+ clusters are observed in the materials, but the distribution of the Cu2+ species is still much better in the Cu-PMO materials prepared through the direct-synthesis method than in a Cu-containing PMO material prepared through an impregnation method. Moreover, the evolution of the copper incorporation during the PMO synthesis has been followed by EPR. The results show that the immobilization of the Cu2+ ion/complex and the formation of the PMO materials are taking place simultaneously. The copper ions are found to be situated on the inner surface of the mesopores of the materials and are accessible, which will be beneficial for the catalytic applications.

Abstract: Sylgard®184/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites have been prepared by in situ polymerization using purified and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWNTs) as fillers. Surface modification of the MWNTs has been carried out by silanization with 7-octenyltrichlorosilane (7OTCS) and n-octyltrichlorosilane (nOTCS). The modification and dispersion of the carbon nanotubes in composites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron spectroscopy (HRTEM). Youngs modulus results were derived from indentation testing. It is shown that the terminal-vinyl group of 7OTCS molecules plays an essential role for both the dispersion of the f-MWNTs in the composite and its mechanical properties. At loading as low as 0.2 wt%, the Youngs modulus is shown to increase up to 50%. This is interpreted as resulting from a combination of the good compatibility in the forming silicone matrix of the MWNTs coated with a siloxane network, on the one hand, and the covalent links created between the terminal-vinyl groups and the host matrix in formation, on the other hand.

Abstract: In this paper, an overview of the fabrication and properties of high-quality La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) thin films is given. A high-quality LSMO film combines a smooth surface morphology with a large magnetization and a small residual resistivity, while avoiding precipitates and surface segregation. In the literature, typically only a few of these issues are adressed. We therefore present a thorough characterization of our films, which were grown by pulsed laser deposition. The films were characterized with reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, x-ray diffraction, magnetization and transport measurements, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. The films have a saturation magnetization of 4.0 µB/Mn, a Curie temperature of 350 K and a residual resistivity of 60 µΩ cm. These results indicate that high-quality films, combining both large magnetization and small residual resistivity, were realized. A comparison between different samples presented in the literature shows that focussing on a single property is insufficient for the optimization of the deposition process. For high-quality films, all properties have to be adressed. For LSMO devices, the thin-film quality is crucial for the device performance. Therefore, this research is important for the application of LSMO in devices.

Abstract: This paper discusses the possibility of retrieving the electron distribution (with highlighted valence electron distribution information) of materials from recorded HREM images. This process can be achieved by solving two inverse problems: reconstruction of the exit wave and reconstruction of the electron distribution from exit waves. The first inverse problem can be solved using a focal series reconstruction method. We show that the second inverse problem can be solved by combining a series of exit waves recorded at different thickness conditions. This process is designed based on an improved understanding of the dynamical scattering process. It also explains the fundamental difficulty of obtaining the valence electron distribution information and the basis of our solution.