Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), and Copper (Cu) are ubiquitous in soils as a result of anthropogenic and geogenic processes. The fate of As, Cr, and Cu in the environment is largely governed by their speciation, which is influenced by soil physiochemical properties. This study investigated the influence of soil physiochemical properties and landscape position on As, Cr, and Cu concentration and speciation in soils adjacent to Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) treated lumber fence posts. Concentration gradients showed elevated total As and Cu adjacent to the three fence posts, which decreased with increasing distance from the posts. In addition, As and Cu had higher concentrations in the surface soil samples than the subsoil samples possibly due to enhanced weathering of the CCA treated posts at the surface. Concentrations of As, Cr, and Cu were similar among the Maury and Donerail silt loam, however, they were closer to the background concentration in the Newark silt loam, a partially hydric soil, indicating mobility of the metals. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy indicates As(V) is the predominate species which is principally coordinated with Fe and Al whereas, Cu(II) is coordinated with soil organic matter. Overall, the use of CCA treated lumber as a metal source can help determine how soil properties influence mobility and speciation of As, Cr, and Cu across the soil landscape.

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [153]-167).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-236).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [139]-145).

Orientadores: Gustavo Fernandes Lopes, Eduardo Granado Monteiro da Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T22:47:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabbris_GilbertoFernandesLopes_M.pdf: 3782519 bytes, checksum: d66cd36be4756310d108388eaef23b5e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Materiais multiferróicos apresentam pelo menos duas propriedades ferróicas na mesma temperatura: (anti) ferroeletricidade, (anti) ferromagnetismo, ou ferroelasticidade. Esses materiais têm atraído grande atenção da comunidade científica nos últimos anos devido às suas potenciais aplicações e ao complexo acoplamento entre suas propriedades, o que ainda não é bem compreendido. Neste trabalho, nos concentramos nos materiais multiferróicos da família RMn2O5, que possuem estrutura ortorrômbica com grupo espacial Pbam. Nestes compostos, a transição antiferromagnética acontece a ~40K e a ferroelétrica em torno de 39K para todos os membros da família. A ferroeletricidade vista nesse material é incompatível com o centro de simetria existente no grupo espacial Pbam. Resultados de EXAFS para o composto TbMn2O5 existentes na literatura indicam uma distribuição bimodal de Tb-O na primeira camada de coordenação. Este desdobramento da primeira camada de coordenação independe da temperatura e indica uma possível variação do grupo espacial Pbam. Tais resultados nos motivaram a empreender o estudo da estrutura local da família RMn2O5 a fim de entendermos a correlação entre a estrutura local e a natureza do íon R. Medidas do espectro de XAFS como função da temperatura foram realizadas na linha XAFS2 do Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (LNLS). Foram realizadas varreduras na borda K do Mn e em torno da borda L3 dos íons R (Bi, Gd, Pr, Tb). Os resultados para a borda do manganês em todos os compostos indicam que os poliedros de MnO são rígidos. Já na borda do íon R há comportamentos distintos. Enquanto no composto com bismuto observamos uma possível vibração rígida dos poliedros de MnO, para os outros compostos estudados identificamos uma distorção rígida desses poliedros. O comportamento distinto do composto com Bi, em relação aos demais membros da família, parece estar relacionado ao lone pair do bismuto / Abstract: Multiferroic materials present, at the same temperature, at least two of the so-called ferroic properties: (anti) ferroelectricity, (anti) ferromagnetism and ferroelasticity. They have attracted great attention in the last few years due to their potential applications as well as from the basic science point of view, given the intricate coupling between their physical properties, which remains poorly understood. In this work, we have focused on the study of the RMn2O5 family multiferroic materials. Their crystalline structure belongs to the Pbam orthorhombic space group, with an antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric phase transition temperatures below 40 K and 39K, respectively. Such ferroelectric phase is incompatible with the inversion center of symmetry in the Pbam space group. Recently published EXAFS results for TbM n2O5 revealed a first coordination shell with a bimodal Tb-O bond length distribution. Such bond length splitting is temperature-independent and may be related to a change of the Pbam space group. Such results were our main motivation to undertake a systematic study of the local structure of the RMn2O5 multiferroic family, aiming at a better understanding the correlation between the ion R and the local structure. Mn K-Edge and R-ion L3 Edge (R=Bi, Gd, Pr, Tb) temperature-dependent XAFS measurements were performed at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory XAFS2 beam line. Results for the Mn K-edge in all studied compounds reveal the Mn-O coordination polyhedral are rigid. The R-ion results reveal distinct behaviours. For the R=Bi compound, we identified that low energy Mn-O rigid unit vibrational modes are likely to be operative. For the other compounds, we have identified a rigid distortion of the Mn-O polyhedra. The distinct behavior of the BiMn2O5 seems to be related to the Bi 6s2 lone pair / Mestrado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Mestre em Física

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

Orientador: Francisco das Chagas Marques / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T16:01:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 OliveiraJunior_MyrianoHenriquesde_M.pdf: 3252159 bytes, checksum: a130bcbe767628c40a0600e14112a2a4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Neste trabalho foi preparada uma série de filmes de carbono amorfo pelo processo de IBAD (Ion Beam Assisted Deposition), onde foi utilizado um feixe iônico de Xe com energia fixa para todas as amostras em 1500eV para realizar sputtering em um alvo de grafite e, um segundo feixe de Xe + responsável pelo bombardeio do filme durante o crescimento. Para cada amostra foi utilizada uma energia de bombardeio diferente, de 0 a 400eV. Esse bombardeio, além de gerar uma compactação da matriz induzindo uma pressão na rede (stress intrínseco), faz com que uma certa quantidade de Xe seja incorporada pelo filme. Por medidas de RBS foram observadas concentrações de 3 a 4% desse gás nobre na matriz, que são as concentrações nas quais são observadas formações de aglomerados sólidos desse elemento quando implantado em metais ou semicondutores cristalinos. Por medidas de XAS realizadas com radiação com energias no intervalo que envolve a borda L3 do xenônio foi verificada a formação de tais aglomerados sólidos e, em conjunto com resultados obtidos por simulações computacionais obtivemos um entendimento melhor sobre a estrutura fina na região de XANES dessa borda de absorção. A partir da técnica de SAXS foram encontradas estruturas com dimensões características de cerca de 10 a 25nm de forma achatada. Como os filmes de a-C crescidos por essa técnica são altamente grafíticos, contendo uma concentração de cerca de 90% de ligações do tipo sp 2 essas estruturas parecem ser aglomerados grafíticos, cujas dimensões mostraram-se dependentes da energia de bombardeio utilizada na deposição / Abstract: In this work it was prepared a series of amorphous carbon thin films using the ion beam assisted deposition technique. We used a xenon ion beam in order to sputter a graphite target with a fixed energy of 1500eV for all samples set up. A second ion beam was used as an ion assisting beam during the deposition with different energy for each film but, always in the range of 0 to 400eV. As the bombardment energy is varied the film produced can have a structure more or less compact which implies in a pressure rising along the amorphous net, called intrinsic stress. Another consequence of the bombardment is the xenon incorporation. By RBS measurements it was observed a concentration of about 3 to 4% of this noble gas inside the films, which belong to the same range where is observed a condensation of this element in solid clusters when implanted in crystalline metals or semiconductors. From XAS measurements, with radiation energy within a range involving the Xe L3 absorption edge, those solid clusters formation were observed. With some computational simulations compared to those experimental results we were able to have a better comprehension about XANES fine structure. We used SAXS measurements to try to determine some geometrical parameters beyond those obtained by XAS. As the xenon clusters dimensions are too small (probably of about ten atoms) it is difficult to detect them by this technique with the experimental parameters used but, it was observed some structures that seem to be shaped and have characteristics dimensions varying from 10 to 25nm. What seem to be graphitic planes clusters, once amorphous carbon thin films prepared by IBAD are graphitic-like / Mestrado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Mestre em Física

This thesis work reports in depth analyses of measured µ-XRD and µ-XAS data from standard UO2, chromia (Cr2O3) doped UO2 and MOX fuels, and interpretation of the results considering the role of chromium as a dopant as well as several fission product elements. The lattice parameters of UO2 in fresh and irradiated samples and elastic strain energy densities in the irradiated UO2 samples have been measured and quantified. The µ-XRD patterns have further allowed the evaluation of the crystalline domain size and sub-grain formation at different locations of the irradiated fuel pellets. Attempts have been made to determine lattice parameter and next neighbor atomic environment in chromia-precipitates found in fresh chromia-doped fuel pellets. The local structure around Cr in as-fabricated chromia-doped UO2 matrix and the influence of irradiation on the state of chromium in irradiated fuel matrix have been addressed. Finally, for a comparative understanding of fission gases behavior and irradiation induced re-solution phenomenon in standard and chromia-doped UO2, the last part of the present work tries to clarify the fission gas Kr atomic environment in these irradiated fuels. The work performed on Kr, by micro-beam XAS, comprises the determination of Kr next neighbor distances, an estimation of gas atom densities in the aggregates, and apparent internal pressures in the gas bubbles.