Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:54:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:07:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Neste trabalho foi estudado o crescimento de fibras monocristalinas de LiYF4 (YLF) dopadas com Er3+ ou Nd3+ pelo método de micro-pulling-down (-PD) no modo resistivo. Para otimização do processo de crescimento foi, desenvolvida nova metodologia de confecção de cadinhos, de forma a torná-los mais rígidos permitindo sua utilização em mais de uma experiência, aumentando a reprodutibilidade do processo. A câmara de crescimento também foi modificada para obtenção de vácuo da ordem de 10-7 torr. Devido ao tratamento térmico do sistema sob alto vácuo, antes da fusão do material, não foram observados transientes iniciais no processo de puxamento das fibras de YLF dopadas. Foram crescidas fibras de YLF:Nd com concentrações de 0,5, 1 e 1,5 mol% e fibras de YLF:Er com 1, 10, 20 mol %, com diâmetros da ordem de 0,7 mm e comprimentos de até 120mm. Devido a problemas mecânicos do sistema, o ancoramento das fibras, ou seja, o equilíbrio na interface sólidoliquido, mostrou-se muito difícil, sendo necessárias várias correções nos parâmetros de crescimento para estabilização da interface sólido-líquido resultando na formação de defeitos, principalmente na superfície, em regiões ao longo das fibras. Nas condições do presente estudo, o uso de uma atmosfera estática mostrou-se desfavorável. Testes de ganho efetuados com a fibra de YLF:Nd dopada com 1,5mol%, mostraram um ganho superior às perdas comprovando seu potencial para ação laser. / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:26:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:09:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Neste trabalho, foram realizadas sínteses dos tungstatos duplos NaLa(WO4)2 (NLW), NaGd(WO4)2 (NGW) e LiLa(WO4)2 (LLW) puros e simplesmente dopados com os íons Nd3+ e Yb3+; comparando-se dois métodos de obteção: o de reação no estado sólido e o sol-gel modificado (Pechini). Verificou-se que o envelhecimento do reagente La2O3 (adsorção de umidade ambiente) é um fator determinante na formação dos materiais desejados. Ambos os métodos testados são análogos para obtenção desses materiais se a proporção estequiométrica dos reagentes for a correta. Um estudo empírico foi realizado para crescimento, a partir da fusão, de fibras cristalinas, através do método de micro-pulling-down (µ-PD) (nos modos de aquecimento resistivo e indutivo), de NLW, NGW e LLW puros e simplesmente dopados com os íons Nd3+ e Yb3+. Neste estudo observou-se a evaporação do líquido durante o processo, o efeito da variação das taxas de puxamento e a interação do líquido com o material do cadinho e com a interface de cristalização. Foram obtidas fibras monocristalinas para todos os compostos. Amostras destas fibras foram caracterizadas por difratometria de raios-X (DRX) para verificação da fase formada, por microscopia ótica (MO) e eletrônica de varredura (MEV) para caracterização do diâmetro das fibras, espectrometria por dispersão em energia (EDS/EDX) para determinação da concentração dos dopantes; e também espectroscopia ótica de absorção no VIS-IR para determinação da incorporação do dopante na forma trivalente. / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP / FAPESP:06/58686-1

Neste trabalho de tese é apresentado um estudo sistemático do crescimento e das propriedades magnéticas e estruturais dos compostos semicondutores magnéticos diluídos (SMD) Zn1-xMnxIn2Se4. Amostras monocristalinas com concentrações de Mn $0leqslant xleqslant 1.00$ foram obtidas pela técnica de transporte químico em fase vapor (CVT). Através de técnicas de difração de raios-X (padrões de pó e diagramas de Laue), estudou-se a evolução da estrutura desde a fase romboédrica do MnIn2Se4, até a fase tetraédrica do ZnIn2Se4. Observou-se a existência de uma fase pura romboédrica para $xgeqslant 0.87$, uma fase pura tetragonal para$xleqslant 0.25$ e uma mistura destas duas fases para x entre 0.67 e 0.35. Espectros de ressonância paramagnética eletrônica (EPR) foram obtidos em temperaturas T desde 4 K até 300 K, para diversas concentrações de Mn. Todos os espectros têm o pico de absorção principal centrado em g=2. A largura pico a pico da linha de ressonância, $deltaHpp$, decresce com o aumento da concentração de manganês e com o aumento da temperatura. Este comportamento está intimamente relacionado com a interação de troca entre os íons magnéticos. A partir de análises da dependência de $deltaHpp$ com a temperatura se extraíram estimativas para a temperatura de Curie-Weiss, $ heta$ e para a temperatura de congelamento Tf das fases de vidro de spin. Medidas da susceptibilidade magnética em modo DC foram realizadas para temperaturas $2Kleqslant Tleqslant 300K$. Dos dados de alta temperatura (T>100 K), resultaram estimativas para o parâmetro $ heta$, bem como para a concentração x de Mn. Os valores de $ heta$ obtidos destas medidas concordam bem com os obtidos de EPR e foram utilizados para estimar as constantes de troca antiferromagnéticas nos dois extremos de concentração da série. Nas amostras com alta concentração de Mn, $xgeqslant 0.67$, irreversibilidades características de uma transição para uma fase de vidro de spin foram observadas em temperaturas abaixo de 4K. Para melhor caracterizar estas transições, medidas da susceptibilidade AC e DC para diversas freqüências e campos magnéticos foram realizadas em temperaturas entre 2 e 20 K. A susceptibilidade DC em baixos campos mostra picos agudos em Tf ~ 2.5, 3.0 e 3.5 K, respectivamente para as amostras com x=0,67; 0,87 e 1,00. Nas três amostras, observa-se irreversibilidade entre medidas com esfriamento na ausência de campo (ZFC) e em presença de campo (FC). Evidência de um verdadeiro fenômeno de transição de fase é fornecida pelo crescimento da susceptibilidade não linear, $chiNL$, próximo de Tf.. Análises de escala estáticas de $chiNL$ e análises de escala dinâmicas desenvolvidas a partir de dados da susceptibilidade AC resultaram em expoentes críticos consistentes com os obtidos em outros vidros de spin com interação de curto alcance. / This work reports a systematic study on the crystal growth and magnetic and structural properties of the diluted magnetic semiconductors (SMD) Zn1-xMnxIn2Se4. Crystals with Mn concentrations $0leqslant xleqslant 1.00$ were grown by chemical vapour transport (CVT). Through x-ray powder diffraction patterns and Laue diagrams of single crystal we studied the transformation from the layered rhombohedral structure of MnIn2Se4 to the tetragonal structure of ZnIn2Se4. We observe the presence of a purely rhombohedral phase for $xgeqslant 0.87$, a purely tetragonal phase for $xleqslant 0.25$ and a two-phase mixture for x between 0.67 and 0.35. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been performed in the temperature range 4.2 K to 300 K for various concentrations of Mn. All the spectra had the main absorption peak centered at g=2. The resonance peak-to-peak line width, ÄHpp, decreases with increasing concentration of manganese and with increasing temperature. This behavior is intimately related with the exchange interaction between magnetic ions. The analysis of the temperature dependence of ÄHpp resulted in estimates for the Curie-Weiss temperature $ heta$ and for the freezing temperature Tf of the spin glass phase. The DC magnetic susceptibility has been investigated in the range between $2Kleqslant Tleqslant 300K$. The high temperature data (T>100 K) gave estimates for the parameter $ heta$, as well as for the concentration x of Mn. The values of $ heta$ obtained in this way are in good agreement with those obtained from EPR and were used to estimate the antiferromagnetic exchange constants for the two extremes of concentration of the system. For the samples with high concentration of Mn, $xgeqslant 0.67$, irreversibilities characteristic of a spin glass transition have been observed at temperatures below 4K. To better characterize this transition, AC and DC susceptibility measurements for different frequencies and magnetic fields were made in the temperature range between 2 and 20 K. The low field AC susceptibility displayed sharp peaks at Tf ~2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 K for samples with x= 0.67, 0.87 and 1.00, respectively. Irreversibility between zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) DC measurements was observed in the three samples. Evidence of a true phase transition phenomenon is given by the steep increase of the nonlinear susceptibility $chiNL$ when approaching Tf from above. Static scaling analysis of $chiNL$ and dynamic scaling analysis of the AC susceptibility data have been carried out, which yielded critical exponents consistent with those obtained in other spin-glasses with short-range interactions.

Ph.D. (Chemistry) / This study focuses on the morphology and crystal-growth behaviour of polyactide (PLA)-based blends and blends modified with organoclay thin films. The study further examined the effect of blending and the incorporation of organoclays on the enzymatic degradation behaviour. Thin films of unmodified and nanoclay-modified PLA/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) blends were cast on a glass substrate by a spin coater, while thin films of biodegradable PLA/poly[(butylene succinate)-coadipate] PBSA blends and blends containing organoclays were cast on a silicon (100) wafer substrate. The morphology and crystal growth behaviour of the thin films crystallized at different temperatures were examined with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) equipped with a hot-stage scanner. In PLA/PBS blend thin films, AFM images showed that the size of the dispersed PBS phase was influenced by C30B clay loading on the blends. The dispersed size reduced on the addition of C30B clay up to 2 wt%, beyond which, dispersed size began to increase. Transmission electron microscopy studies indicated that this behaviour was due to the preferential location of silicates in the PBS phase than in the PLA phase. For thin films annealed at 60 °C, the additi on of organoclays to the blend quenched the growth of edge-on lamellae. The crystalline morphologies at 120 °C were dominated by edge-on lamellae grown, around the PBS phase to form spherulites. Morphologies of thin films crystallized at 120 °C from melt were dominated by the flat-on lamellae, while those crystallized at 70 °C from melt were dominated by the edge-on lamellae. In the case of PLA/PBSA blend thin films, the results indicated that the size and distribution of the dispersed phase were directly related to the blend composition. The crystal growth behaviours indicated the presence of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleations, and the nature of nucleation was directly related to the blend ratio and the temperature at which crystallization occurred. Therefore, this study will facilitate the understanding of crystal growth behaviour in a confined environment and will enable the modulation of the blend properties.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemical Engineering / James H. Edgar / Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a wide bandgap III-V semiconductor that has seen new interest due to the development of other III-V LED devices and the advent of graphene and other 2-D materials. For device applications, high quality, low defect density materials are needed. Several applications for hBN crystals are being investigated, including as a neutron detector and interference-less infrared-absorbing material. Isotopically enriched crystals were utilized for enhanced propagation of phonon modes. These applications exploit the unique physical, electronic and nanophotonics applications for bulk hBN crystals. In this study, bulk hBN crystals were grown by the flux method using a molten Ni-Cr solvent at high temperatures (1500°C) and atmospheric pressures. The effects of growth parameters, source materials, and gas environment on the crystals size, morphology and purity were established and controlled, and the reliability of the process was greatly improved. Single-crystal domains exceeding 1mm in width and 200μm in thickness were produced and transferred to handle substrates for analysis. Grain size dependence with respect to dwell temperature, cooling rate and cooling temperature were analyzed and modeled using response surface morphology. Most significantly, crystal grain width was predicted to increase linearly with dwell temperature, with single-crystal domains exceeding 2mm in at 1700°C. Isotopically enriched ¹⁰B and ¹¹B hBN crystal were produced using a Ni-Cr-B flux method, and their properties investigated. ¹⁰B concentration was evaluated using SIMS and correlated to the shift in the Raman peak of the E[subscript 2g] mode. Crystals with enrichment of 99% ¹⁰B and >99% ¹¹B were achieved, with corresponding Raman shift peaks at 1392.0 cm⁻¹ and 1356.6 cm⁻¹, respectively. Peak FWHM also decreased as isotopic enrichment approached 100%, with widths as low as 3.5 cm⁻¹ achieved, compared to 8.0 cm⁻¹ for natural abundance samples. Defect selective etching was performed using a molten NaOH-KOH etchant at 425°C-525°C, to quantify the quality of the crystals. Three etch pit shapes were identified and etch pit width was investigated as a function of temperature. Etch pit density and etch pit activation energy was estimated at 5×10⁷ cm⁻² and 60 kJ/mol, respectively. Screw and mixed-type dislocations were identified using diffraction-contrast TEM imaging.

Thermoelectric devices make it possible for direct energy conversion between heat and electricity. In order to achieve a high energy conversion efficiency, materials with a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT = S2σT/κ, where S is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and κ is the thermal conductivity) are in great demand. The standard approach is to optimize charge carrier transport while at the same time scatter the heat transport, a task that is easier said than done. Improving the electrical properties in order to increase ZT is limited since electrons also carry heat, among other reasons, resulting in higher κ with a higher σ. Low κ materials, whether through complexity or lattice distortion, are therefore of great interest in optimizing the materials’ thermoelectric properties. In this thesis I will present my investigations on certain material systems that have intrinsically low κ, materials with cage-like or layer-like crystal structure and complex chalcogenides, as well as investigations on nanostructured bulk chalcogenides in order to further lower the κ. In addition, unique transport phenomena that can be described as polaronic-type conduction and lone-pair distortion have been observed in certain materials. This too will be extensively described in this thesis.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第16852号 / 工博第3573号 / 新制||工||1540(附属図書館) / 29527 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科材料工学専攻 / (主査)教授 田中 功, 教授 乾 晴行, 准教授 宇田 哲也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

The methanol-to-olefins reaction is an important industrial process for the production of light olefins (C2-C4). Silicoaluminophosphates are the most common catalysts for this process with SAPO-34 (CHA), SAPO-18 (AEI) and their intergrowths being considered the most catalytically active and selective. Understanding the crystal growth of such materials is important for control of the structure and defect incorporation, which can have a large effect on the catalytic behaviour. In this thesis, the synthesis, characterisation, catalysis and crystal growth of such materials are investigated. A series of CHA/AEI intergrowth materials were synthesised by sequential increases in silicon content, where low silicon content led to formation of AEI and higher silicon content led to CHA and intergrowth formation. X-ray diffraction and MAS-NMR were used to quantify the amount of intergrowth and there was a strong correlation between both techniques. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) revealed the mechanism by which these intergrowth structures grow. There is competition at the surface between the spiral-growth and layer-growth mechanisms, which has a significant effect on the resulting intergrowth, as intergrowth formation is only permitted with a layer-growth mechanism. Intergrowth on screw dislocations is not allowed, and thus discrete blocks of pure-phase AEI or CHA form. These intergrowth materials were tested for their performance in the methanol-to-olefins reaction. With a higher level of silicon, the catalysts had a larger acid site density but equivalent acid strength. The conversion of methanol over the catalysts correlated with the acid site density, where a greater acid site density led to higher conversion and faster deactivation. The selectivity over time was similar for all catalysts, with a high selectivity to ethylene and propylene. However, at the same percentage conversion, the C2/C3 ratio showed a strong correlation to the cage shape. Catalysts with a higher ratio of AEI cages had a higher selectivity to C3 and C4 products than the other catalysts, owing to the larger size of the internal AEI cage compared to the CHA cage. The crystal growth mechanism on SAPO-18 was investigated in detail to interrogate the complex spiral pattern that forms on the surface. Spirals form in a triangular type pattern due to differences in growth rates in different crystallographic directions. Interlaced terraces were also present. The unit cell and the relative orientation of the AEI cages define the different growth rates. In-situ AFM was used to investigate the dissolution behaviour of SAPO-18 and SAPO-34. In both cases, dissolution occurred via classical step retreat. The similarity in the layer stacking in both materials led to equivalent structure dissolution in both cases. The 0.9 nm layers dissolved first to 0.7 nm (closed cages) then to 0.4 nm (unstable intermediates). Dissolution of SAPO-18 revealed unusual spiral dissolution pits near the core of the dislocations. CHA/AEI intergrowth materials were also prepared using a dual-template method, where two templates, morpholine for CHA and N,N-diisopropylethylamine for AEI, were combined during synthesis. The phase transition from CHA to AEI occurred at different molar ratios with different synthesis procedures. XRD modelling confirmed the synthesis of an intergrowth phase at a molar ratio of 70% morpholine and 30% DPEA. Changes in chemical shift in the 13C MAS-NMR were used to observe the different template interactions with the framework as the ratio of CHA and AEI cages changed.

No description available.

The crystal growth of nanoporous materials is different from most other classes of material in that their framework architectures contain periodic arrangement of pores or voids in which there is no direct bonding between adjacent units of the framework. This poses a variety of questions as to how such parts of framework develop during the crystallization process, atomistically and energetically. Here we use the nanoporous metal-organic framework, ZIF-8 as a prototypical material to obtain a basic understanding of the growth of a nanoporous material. The crystals of ZIF-8 produced in the N,N-dimethylformamide solvent [ZIF-8(DMF)] and methanol-co-N,N-dimethylformamide solvent [ZIF-8(MeOH)] are both rhombic dodecahedron in shape with a much smaller crystal size in the latter. In the study of the kinetics of ZIF-8(DMF) crystallization, we get a good agreement in the values of activation energies using both Avrami-Erofe’ev-Hancock-Sharp and Gualtieri’s models, i.e. about 120 kJ mol-1 for nucleation, and 95 kJ mol-1 for crystal growth process. The study of kinetics of ZIF-8 surface growth, by in situ AFM, with ZIF-8(DMF) as seed crystal that are grown in the methanolic growth solution we see faster rate in the <100> directions than the <110> directions, with the most probable activation energy of about 80 kJ mol-1 in both directions. This is the first example of in situ AFM being used to obtain activation energy for a surface growth in MOF. We also reveal here that growth process of ZIF-8 occurs through the nucleation and spreading of successive metastable unenclosed sub-steps to eventually form stable terrace steps of the enclosed framework structure in which this process is reliant on the presence of nonframework species to connect the framework species that have voids between them. The experiments also enable identification of some of the fundamental units in the growth process and the stable crystal surface plane. Further, the spreading of terraces at high supersaturation condition (early state) is fairly isotropic as is seen through the formation of almost-rounded terraces on the surface of ZIF-8. The growth direction becomes clear as the supersaturation condition nears to equilibrium (later stage) by the formation of rhombohedral terraces with pointy ends growing along the <100>, and <110> directions and straight edges growing perpendicular to the <111> direction. Formation of this rhombohedral morphology is explained by a coarse grain approach similar to that used in the Kossel model by making assumptions that the sodalite cage is the growth unit and attachment of one sodalite cage in each growth direction is the rate determining step for the formation of a new row of sodalite cages in each direction. Finally, based on the profiles of growth spirals formed from screw dislocations on the ZIF-8 surface obtained from the ex situ AFM images and ICE theory, plausible screw dislocations with Burgers’ vector of 1/2 <111> and <100>, but not <110>, are deduced. Some of the findings in this work will be applicable to numerous nanoporous materials, and the work in general will support efforts to synthesize and design new framework materials and to control the crystal properties of these materials.