The structure and magnetism of selected compounds of the pnictides iron based superconductors with chemical formula LnO{1-x}FeAsFx (Ln = La,Sm and Ce), commonly known as 1111, and of rare earth iron borates RFe3(BO3)4 (R = Tb, Gd, Nd and Y), were studied by means of hard x-ray diffraction. For the 1111 pnictides compounds, Rietveld refinement of powder x-ray diffraction measurements at room temperature reveals, that the ionic substitution of O by F has no effect on the structure of the FeAs layers of tetrahedra, whereas the major changes takes place in the LnO layer. These changes are reflected as a shrinkage of the crystal lattice, specially in the c direction. Additionally, a study of the temperature dependent structure of the Sm and Ce-1111 compounds was performed and an estimation of the the structural transition temperature was obtained. The results of the structural measurements, combined with electrical resistivity and µSR, were used to construct the Sm and Ce-1111 phase diagrams. These phase diagrams are characterized by two regions, consisting of a spin density wave (SDW) state and a superconducting state, which are sharply separated upon doping. Considering the different Ln ion, upon F doping the transition temperatures are more efficiently suppressed in Ce-1111 as compared to Sm-1111. More intriguingly, for the Ce case, a coexistence region between static magnetism and superconductivity without an orthorhombic distortion has been observed. Further analysis of the width of the Bragg peaks reveals strong lattice fluctuations towards phase transitions, which are reflected in magnetic and transport properties. Moreover, a strong damping of the lattice fluctuations is observed at Tc for superconducting Sm-1111 samples, giving experimental evidence of competing orders towards phase transitions in the iron pnictides. Regarding the iron borates, non-resonant x-ray scattering studies have shown several new diffraction features, from the appearance of additional reflections that violate the reflection conditions for the low temperature crystal structure, to the emerging of commensurate superlattice peaks that appear below TN. A detailed analysis of the structure factors and q dependencies of the earlier reflections, demonstrate their magnetic nature. Additional resonant x-ray magnetic scattering experiments on NdFe3(BO3)4 were performed at the Nd L2,3 and Fe K edges. The results show that the magnetization behavior is different for the Nd and for the Fe sublattices. Moreover, we find that the magnetization of the Nd sublattice is induced by the Fe magnetization. The temperature dependent measurements also show a commensurate to incommensurate transition where the magnetic structure changes from a commensurate collinear structure, where both Nd and Fe moments align in the hexagonal basal plane, to an incommensurate spin helix structure that propagates along c. When a magnetic field is applied, the spin helix is destroyed and a collinear structure is formed where the moments align in a direction perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. Moreover, the critical field at which the spin helix is destroyed is the same field at which the magnetic induced electric polarization is maximum, thus, showing that the spin helix is not at the origin of the electric polarization.

NiTi-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) offer a good combination of high-strength, ductility, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility that has served them well and attracted the attention of many researchers and industries. The alloys unique thermo-mechanical ability to recover their initial shape after relatively large deformations by heating or upon unloading due to a characteristic reversible phase transformation makes them useful as damping devices, solid state actuators, couplings, etc. However, there is a need to increase the temperature of the characteristic phase transformation above 150 °C, especially in the aerospace industry where high temperatures are often seen. Prior researchers have shown that adding ternary elements (Pt, Pd, Au, Hf and Zr) to NiTi can increase transformation temperatures but most of these additions are extremely expensive, creating a need to produce cost-effective high temperature shape memory alloys (HTSMAs). Thus, the main objective of this research is to examine the relatively unstudied NiTiZr system for the ability to produce a cost effective and formable HTSMA. Transformation temperatures, precipitation paths, processability, and high-temperature oxidation are examined, specifically using high energy X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements, in NiTi-20 at.% Zr. This is followed by an in situ XRD study of the phase growth kinetics of the favorable H-phase nano precipitates, formed in NiTiHf and NiTiZr HTSMAs, based on prior thermo-mechanical processing in a commercial NiTi-15 at.% Hf HTSMA to examine the final processing methods and aging characteristics. Through this research, knowledge of the precipitation paths in NiTiZr and NiTiHf HTSMAs is extended and methods for characterization of phases and strains using high energy XRD are elucidated for future work in the field.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a new generation material which exhibits unique nonlinear deformations due to a phase transformation which allows it to return to its original shape after removal of stress or a change in temperature. It shows a shape memory effect (martensitic condition) and pseudoelasticity (austenitic condition) properties depends on various heat treatment conditions. The reason for these properties depends on phase transformation through temperature changes or applied stress. Many technological applications of austenite SMAs involve cyclical mechanical loading and unloading in order to take advantage of pseudoelasticity, but are limited due to poor fatigue life. In this thesis, I investigated two important mechanical feature to fatigue behavior in pseudoelastic NiTi SMA wires using high energy synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD). The first of these involved simple bending and the second of these involved relaxation during compression loading. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to identify the phase transformation temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were collected for the initial condition of the NiTi SMA wires and during simple bending, SEM revealed that micro-cracks in compression regions of the wire propagate with increasing bend angle, while tensile regions tend to not exhibit crack propagation. SR-XRD patterns were analyzed to study the phase transformation and investigate micromechanical properties. By observing the various diffraction peaks such as the austenite (200) and the martensite (100), (110), and (101) planes, intensities and residual strain values exhibit strong anisotropy depending upon whether the sample is in compression or tension during simple bending. This research provides insight into two specific mechanical features in pseudoelastic NiTi SMA wires.

La cryopréservation engendre des dégradations variables de l’activité biologique et des fonctionnalités des bactéries lactiques, notamment chez Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, un starter de l’industrie laitière. Le but de ce travail a été d’identifier les marqueurs cellulaires de cryorésitance et de cryosensibilité afin de mieux comprendre les mécanismes de dégradation sous-jacents et d’améliorer les performances industrielles des bactéries lactiques. La cryopresérvation a ici été considérée comme une combination de deux stress majoritaires : froid et osmotique. Une attention particulière a été portée à l’analyse de la membrane cellulaire, un site majeur de dégradation lié à la congélation, mais également à la paroi cellulaire et aux protéines. De plus, les cellules ont été analysées à différentes échelles d’observation, de la population jusqu’à la cellule unique, afin de quantifier l’hétérogénéité des propriétés cellulaires existant au sein de populations. Dans une première partie de ce travail, des conditions de culture ont été comparées pour identifier deux souches de L. bulgaricus présentant des résistances contrastées vis-à-vis de la congélation. Une analyse génomique comparative des souches a également été menée dans le but de fournir des pistes de compréhension de ces comportements différents. Dans une seconde partie, des propriétés membranaires des cellules ont été évaluées en réponse aux stress froid et osmotique : composition en acides gras, organisation au niveau des chaînes d’acides gras et des têtes phospholipidiques, et fluidité.Leur fluidité membranaire a également été caractérisée à une échelle subcellulaire par microscopie de fluorescence au moyen du rayonnement synchrotron, permettant la quantification des hétérogénéités inter- et intra-cellulaires. Enfin, un développement technique et méthodologique a été entrepris afin de permettre l’analyse de bactéries individuelles en milieu aqueux par spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier, et ainsi leur signature biochimique en conditions natives. Ces approches complémentaires et multidisciplinaires ont révélé l’existence de propriétés et d’organisation différentes de la membrane des deux souches de L. bulgaricus. Différents types d’interaction entre les molécules cryoprotectrices du milieu extracellulaire et la membrane des deux souches a été proposé, pouvant être à l’origine des dommages causés à la souche sensible. De plus, une hétérogénéité plus importante au sein de la population sensible a été identifiée, attribuée à des différences en termes de composition biochimique et d’organisation au niveau de la membrane et de la paroi. Finalement, ce travail suggère quelques marqueurs cellulaires d’évaluation de la cryorésistance des bactéries lactiques, et fournit des méthodes de caractérisation de l’hétérogénéité biochimique au sein des populations. Ceux-ci pourraient être appliqués à l’étude de toute autre étape critique du procédé de production des bactéries lactiques, et pourraient être utiles pour aller vers la production de ferments homogènes au niveau de leur résistance. / Cryopreservation leads to variable degradation of the biological activity and functionality among lactic acid bacteria (LAB), particularly Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, a dairy starter of industrial relevance. The aim of this work was to identify cellular markers of cryoresistance or cryosensitivity for better understanding the mechanisms of cell cryoinjury and increasing LAB industrial performances. Cryopreservation was here considered as a combination of cold and osmotic stresses. A particular focus was given to the analysis of the cell membrane, recognised as a primary site of cryoinjury, but also of the cell wall and proteins. Moreover, cells were analysed from the population level down to the single-cell level to quantify the heterogeneity of cell properties within populations. In the first part of this work, bacterial cultivation conditions were compared to identify two L. bulgaricus strains with markedly different cell cryoresistance. Moreover, a comparative genomic analysis of the strains was performed to provide some clues for the explanation of their different behaviours. In the second part of this work, the membrane properties were evaluated in response to the cold and osmotic stresses: fatty acid composition, organisation of fatty acyl and phospholipid headgroups, and fluidity.Subcellular membrane fluidity was also characterised by fluorescence microscopy using synchrotron radiation, enabling the quantification of inter- and intra-cellular heterogeneities. Finally, original methodological and technical developments were undertaken to achieve the analysis of individual bacterial cells in an aqueous environment by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, for the analysis of the biochemical signature of cells under native conditions. These complementary multidisciplinary approaches revealed different properties and organisation of the membrane of both L. bulgaricus strains. It was proposed that different types of interaction between cryoprotectants of the extracellular matrix and the membrane of both strains could be at the origin of cryoinjury for the sensitive strain. Moreover, a high population heterogeneity characterised the cryosensitive strain, ascribed to differences in terms of biochemical composition and organisation of the membrane and cell wall. Altogether, this work suggests some cellular markers to evaluate LAB cryoresistance and provides methods to characterize population biochemical heterogeneity. These could be applied to any other stressful step of their production process, and should be useful for future production of homogeneous populations of resistant LAB.

No description available.

<p>Multiphase flows, such as liquid/gas and solid/gas, dominate many different areas of life, including the medical, agricultural, propulsion, and chemical industries. Gaining insight into the dynamic processes that drive these multiphase flows can therefore have far-reaching impact in many sectors of scientific research. Of key interest is the non-invasive tracking of important state properties such as the mass and temperature distributions in high optical depth multiphase flows. To accomplish this, X-ray diagnostic approaches are utilized due to their ability to probe complex phenomena without being hampered by multiple scattering that arise from complex interactions at the flow surface boundaries.</p> <p>This work accomplishes the measurement of mass distribution through time-resolved tomographic reconstructions of the liquid mass distributions in fuel sprays within liquid/gas flows. The developed diagnostic tool shown here uses a novel multiple line of sight tube source tomography setup to obtain simultaneous time-resolved two-dimensional radiographs of different spray geometries at various perspectives. Through tomographic reconstruction, these radiographs are converted into volumetric reconstructions to give a true sense of mass distribution—where exactly is the liquid mass located in the <em>x</em>, <em>y</em>, <em>z</em> spatial extents at a specific moment in time <em>t</em>? This technique is first showcased in a simple spray as a feasibility test and later applied to a more complex spray geometry and compared against other state-of- the-art diagnostics for a full quantitative understanding of the developed technique. Outside of tomography, improvements in decreasing the uncertainties in line of sight averaged mass distribution measurements in radiography imaging experiments are also showcased through source characterization efforts both for tube source and synchrotron source experiments.</p> <p>Efforts in ascertaining the temperature distributions in liquid/gas flows is done through an application of wide angle X-ray scattering, a technique that is commonly used in the materials, chemistry, and biology sciences but has yet to be widely used in the propul- sion community. These newly developed X-ray scattering measurements are accomplished through the use of a focused monochromatic beam available at the Advanced Photon Source synchrotron facility, and is applied first in calibration jets and later towards more complex dynamic sprays and multi-species liquid solutions.</p>

Metastable austenitic and duplex stainless steels are widely used materials in industrial anddomestic applications, owing to their attractive characteristics such as good corrosion resistanceand favorable mechanical properties. Both types of steel experience enhanced mechanicalproperties during plastic deformation due to the formation of the martensite phase from theparent austenite phase, this is called deformation-induced martensitic transformation (DIMT).It is therefore of technical interest to study the transformation mechanism and its impact onmechanical properties for a better understanding and ultimately for developing new materialswith improved performance in certain applications. In the present thesis, two austenitic stainless steels (201Cu, HyTens® 301) and two duplexstainless steels (FDX25®, FDX27®) were investigated. Samples were tensile tested during insitusynchrotron radiation experiments performed at the Cornell High Energy SynchrotronSource (CHESS), Ithaca, USA. Tests were performed at both room temperature and at elevatedtemperatures. The collected diffraction data were then processed by software such as Fit2D andMATLAB. Quantitative phase fraction analysis based on the direct comparison method wasperformed successfully. Microstructural analysis of samples before deformation and after thefull tensile testing was also performed using electron microscopy. The deformation induced martensitic transformation took place in HyTens 301, FDX25 andFDX27, but in 201Cu the austenite was stable during the tensile tests conducted here. The a’-martensite formed in a significantly higher fraction than the ε-martensite in all alloys. At roomtemperature, the critical stress levels for martensitic transformation were 490 MPa, 700 MPaand 700MPa for HyTens 301, FDX25 and FDX27, respectively.

No description available.

Lanthanide-based nanoparticles are of interest for optical displays, catalysis, telecommunication, bio-imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, multimodal imaging, etc. These applications are possible partly because the preparation of lanthanide-based nanoparticles has made tremendous progress. Now, nanoparticles are routinely being made with a good control over size, crystal phase and even shape. Despite the achievements, little attention is given to the fundamental physical chemistry aspects, such as crystal structure, architecture, cation exchange, etc. The results of the study on the crystal structures of LnF3 nanoparticles show that the middle GdF3 and EuF3 nanoparticles have two crystal phases, which has then been tuned by doping with La3+ ions. However, the required doping level is very different from the bulk. While the results for the bulk are well explained by thermodynamic calculations, kinetics is actually responsible for the results of the undoped and doped GdF3 and EuF3 nanoparticles. The attempt to make LnF3 core-shell nanoparticles led to the finding of cation exchange, a phenomenon that upon exposure of LnF3 nanoparticles to an aqueous solution containing Ln3+ ions, the Ln3+ ions in the nanoparticles are replaced by the Ln3+ ions in the solution. The consequence of the cation exchange is that LnF3 core-shell nanoparticles are unlikely to form in aqueous media using a core-shell synthesis procedure. It has also been verified that nanoparticles synthesized using an alloy procedure do not always have an alloy structure. This means that the core-shell and alloy structure of nanoparticles in the literature may not be true. The investigation of the architecture of nanoparticles synthesized in aqueous media is extended to those synthesized in organic media. The dopant ion distribution in NaGdF4 nanoparticles has been examined. It has been found that they don’t have the generally assumed statistical dopant distribution. Instead, they have a gradient structure with one type of Ln3+ ions more concentrated towards the center and the other type more concentrated towards the surface of the nanoparticles. With the understanding of these physical insights, lanthanide-based core-shell nanoparticles are prepared using the cation exchange. These core-shell nanoparticles containing a photoluminscent core and a paramagnetic shell are promising candidates for multimodal imaging. / Graduate

In this thesis, multiple ionisation processes of free atoms and molecules upon single photon absorption are studied by means of a versatile multi-electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy method based on a magnetic bottle, primarily in combination with synchrotron radiation. The latter offered the possibility to access not only valence but also core levels, revealing processes, which promote the target systems into different charge states. One study focuses on double and triple ionisation processes of acetaldehyde (ethanal) in the valence region as well as single and double Auger decay of initial 1s core vacancies. The latter are investigated site-selectively for the two chemically different carbon atoms of acetaldehyde, scrutinising theoretical predictions specifically made for that system. A related study concentrates on core-valence double ionisation spectra of acetaldehyde, which have been investigated in the light of a previously established empirical model, and which have been used as test cases for analysing this kind of spectra by means of quantum chemical electronic structure methods of increasing sophistication. A third study investigates site-specific fragmentation upon 1s photoionisation of acetaldehyde using a magnetic bottle augmented with an in-line ion time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Experimental evidence is presented that bond rupture occurs with highest probability in the vicinity of the initial charge localisation and possible mechanisms are discussed. A site-specificity parameter P∆ is introduced to show that differences in fragmentation behavior between initial ionisations at chemically different carbon atoms probably persist even for identical internal energy contents in the nascent dications. In another study where both electrons and ions from Auger decay of core-excited and core-ionised states of CO2 are detected in coincidence, it is confirmed that O2+ is formed specifically in Auger decay from the C1s → π* and O1s → π* resonances, suggesting a decisive role of the π* orbital in the molecular rearrangement. Also, the molecular rearrangement is found to occur by bending in the resonant states, and O2+ is produced by both single and double Auger decay. A new version of the multi-electron-ion coincidence method, where the ion time-of-flight spectrometer is mounted perpendicularly to the electron flight tube, which affects less the electron resolution and which allows for position sensitive detection of the ions, is employed in combination with tunable soft X-rays to reveal the branching ratios to final Xen+ states with 2 &lt; n &lt; 9 from pure 4d-1, 4p-1, 4s-1, 3d-1 and 3p-1 Xe+ hole states. The coincident electron spectra give information on the Auger cascade pathways. / <p>Byte av lokal vid disputation till Polhemssalen.</p>