Some insights in the sonochemical preparation of cobalt nano-particles

The preparation of cobalt nano-particles from a solution of Co(CO)₃(NO) in n-decane under ultrasonication with a frequency of 20 kHz yielded cobalt particles of a size of ca. 5 nm. The presence of either silica or oleic acid in the solution reduced the particle size to ca. 3 and 2 nm, respectively. The resulting particle size is independent of the ultrasonication time, initial Co(CO)₃(NO) concentration, ultrasound intensity and solution temperature. It is postulated that bubble collapse generates multiple nucleation sites resulting in the formation of cobalt particles with a rather uniform particle size distribution.     

Electrodeposition and properties of Zn-nanosized TiO2 composite coatings

Nanosized TiO₂ particles were prepared by sol-gel method. The TiO₂ particles were co-deposited with zinc from a sulphate bath at pH 4.5 using electrodeposition technique. The corrosion behavior of the coatings was assessed by electrochemical polarization, impedance, weight-loss and salt spray tests. Wear resistance and microhardness of the composite coating was measured. The smaller grain size of the composite coatings was observed in the presence of TiO₂ and it was confirmed by the images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques.     

Preparation and characterization of nickel nano-Al2O3 composite coatings by sediment co-deposition

Ni-Al₂O₃ composite coatings were prepared by using sediment co-deposition (SCD) technique and conventional electroplating (CEP) technique from Watt's type electrolyte without any additives. The microstructure, hardness, and wear resistance of resulting composites were investigated. The results show that the incorporation of nano-Al₂O₃ particles changes the surface morphology of nickel matrix. The preferential orientation is modified from (2 0 0) plane to (1 1 1) plane. The microhardness of Ni-Al₂O₃ composite coatings in the SCD technique are higher than that of the CEP technique and pure Ni coating and increase with the increasing of the nano-Al₂O₃ particles concentration in plating solution. The wear rate of the Ni-Al₂O₃ composite coating fabricated via SCD technique with 10 g/l nano-Al₂O₃ particles in plating bath is approximately one order of magnitude lower than that of pure Ni coating. Wear resistance for SCD obtained composite coatings is superior to that obtained by the CEP technique. The wear mechanism of pure Ni and nickel nano-Al₂O₃ composite coatings are adhesive wear and abrasive wear, respectively.     

Synthesis of 1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorescent nano-probes and their application in pH detection

Fluorescent nano-probes with particle sizes of 20 nm, 120 nm and 300 nm for proton were prepared through click reaction. The photophysical properties of the nano-probes were mainly affected by the particle size.     

镶嵌有纳米硅的氮化硅薄膜键合特性分析

采用螺旋波等离子体化学气相沉积(HWPCVD)技术制备了非化学计量比的氢化氮化硅薄膜,对所沉积样品及氮气环境中920 ℃退火样品的微观结构及键合特性进行了分析。Raman散射结果表明,薄膜中过量硅以非晶纳米粒子形式存在,退火样品呈现纳米晶硅和氮化硅的镶嵌结构。红外吸收和可见光吸收特性比较结果显示,薄膜样品的微观结构依赖于化学计量比以及退火过程,硅含量较低样品因高的键合氢含量而表现出低的纳米硅表面缺陷态密度;退火过程将引起Si—H和N—H键合密度的减少,因晶态纳米颗粒的形成,退火样品表现出更高的结构无序度。     

Cation distribution and magnetic properties in chromium-substituted nickel ferrites prepared using aerosol route

Cation distribution have been investigated using X-ray diffraction, magnetic and Mössbauer spectral studies in chromium-substituted nickel ferrites prepared by aerosol route. Cation distribution indicates that the chromium atom occupy octahedral site upto x=0.8, and then also enters into tetrahedral site. The saturation magnetization decreases linearly with the increase of chromium concentration due to the diamagnetic nature of the Cr³⁺. However, interesting behaviour is observed in the coercivity. Initially it increases slowly with the chromium concentration but when x>0.8 a very large increase has been observed. This was attributed to the specific cation distribution of Cr³⁺ which results an unquenched orbital angular momentum and a large anisotropy. Room temperature Mössbauer spectra of as obtained samples exhibited a broad doublet resolved into two doublets corresponding to the surface and internal region atoms. The samples annealed at 1200 °C show broad sextets, which were fitted with different sextets, indicating different local environment of both tetrahedral and octahedral coordinated iron cation.     

Linear viscoelastic properties of electro-rheological nano-suspension confined to narrow gap between electrodes

The linear viscoelastic properties of a suspension composed of titanium dioxide nanoparticles were measured under the direct current (dc) electric field with narrow gap distances between the electrodes. The yielding behavior under no external electric fields was also discussed. The wall slip at the interface between the parallel plates and the nano-suspension was briefly discussed. Under the dc electric field, a fine chain-like microstructure was optically found within a narrow gap of 50 μm between the electrodes in the quiescent state. The nano-suspension confined to a narrow gap of 65 μm between the parallel plates was rather viscoelastic even at the highest strength of the electric field of 16 kV·mm⁻¹. Furthermore, fast and slow relaxations of the dynamic moduli were found after removal of the electric field. It was pointed out that the linear viscoelasticity was an appropriate measure of the microstructure before yielding.     

Occurrence of particle debris field during focused Ga ion beam milling of glassy carbon

To explore the machining characteristics of glassy carbon by focused ion beam (FIB), particles induced by FIB milling on glassy carbon have been studied in the current work. Nano-sized particles in the range of tens of nanometers up to 400 nm can often be found around the area subject to FIB milling. Two ion beam scanning modes - slow single scan and fast repetitive scan - have been tested. Fewer particles are found in single patterns milled in fast repetitive scan mode. For a group of test patterns milled in a sequence, it was found that a greater number of particles were deposited around sites machined early in the sequence. In situ EDX analysis of the particles showed that they were composed of C and Ga. The formation of particles is related to the debris generated at the surrounding areas, the low melting point of gallium used as FIB ion source and the high contact angle of gallium on glassy carbon induces de-wetting of Ga and the subsequent formation of Ga particles. Ultrasonic cleaning can remove over 98% of visible particles. The surface roughness (R_a) of FIB milled areas after cleaning is less than 2 nm.     

Study of water properties in nanospace

Here we report an anomalous behavior of water, especially its viscosity and hydrodynamic flow, in a nanometer-confined space. As a typical model of a nanometer-confined space, the nanopillar chip, which was developed for DNA size-based separation was used, and single-particle tracking (SPT) technique was applied to investigate water viscosity and hydrodynamic flow in the nanopillar chip. The diffusion coefficients of nanospheres were almost one-third of the theoretical value derived from the Stokes-Einstein equation. This result gave indirect proof that water viscosity in a nanometer-confined space is higher than in a bulk solution. In order to improve resolution and throughput of the nanopillar chip for DNA separation, these potential factors affecting performance should be seriously considered.     

Incorporation of clay nano-particles in aqueous foams

During the process of crude oil/gasoline loading and storage, significant amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be emitted to the environment. Stable aqueous foams can be spread as a flexible blanket on the top of the oil to control the VOC emission by providing a mass transfer barrier during the loading process. In this work, novel aqueous foams have been formulated by incorporating clay nano-particles in an aqueous solution of surfactants and polymers. The stability and mass transfer resistance of these foams were investigated at temperatures up to 125 F. In the presence of VOC, clay decreases the rate at which the liquid is drained out of the foam lamellae and increases the foam drainage half-life. These foams were found to be very stable in the presence of gasoline and crude oil and can last much longer than one day at the room temperature. The use of clay in the foam formulation reduces vapor diffusion through the lamellae and vapor emission through the foam column significantly for the first 10 h. Increase in temperature increases the rate of foam breakage due to higher water evaporation and lower liquid viscosity. In spite of this increase, the 0.5% polymer and 0.5% clay foam suppresses vapor emission from a gasoline longer than 3600, 1500 and 1100 min at 75 F, 105 F and 125 F, respectively. This foam also suppresses vapor emission from a crude oil longer than 4200, 2000 and 700 min at 75 F, 105 F and 125 F, respectively.