Thesis (doctoral)--Techn. Hochsch., Aachen, 2004.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / In the wide search for advanced materials for next generation lithium-ion batteries, lithium manganese orthosilicate, Li₂MnSiO₄ is increasingly gaining attention as a potential cathode material by virtue of its ability to facilitate the extraction of two lithium ions per formula unit, resulting in a two-electron redox process involving Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ and Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ redox couples. This property confers on it, a higher theoretical specific capacity of 333 mAhg⁻¹ which is superior to the conventional layered LiCoO₂ at 274 mAhg⁻¹ and the commercially available olivine LiFePO₄ at 170 mAhg⁻¹. Its iron analogue, Li₂FeSiO₄ has only 166 mAhg⁻¹ capacity as the Fe⁴⁺ oxidation state is difficult to access. However, the capacity of Li₂MnSiO₄ is not fully exploited in practical galvanostatic charge-discharge tests due to the instability of the delithiated material which causes excessive polarization during cycling and its low intrinsic electronic conductivity. By reducing the particle size, the electrochemical performance of this material can be enhanced since it increases the surface contact between the electrode and electrolyte and further reduces the diffusion pathway of lithium ions. In this study, a versatile hydrothermal synthetic pathway was employed to produce nanoparticles of Li₂MnSiO₄, by carefully tuning the reaction temperature and the concentration of the metal precursors. The nanostructured cathode material was further coated with a thin film of aluminium oxide in order to modify its structural and electronic properties. The synthesized materials were characterized by microscopic (HRSEM and HRTEM), spectroscopic (FTIR, XRD, SS-NMR, XPS) and electrochemical techniques (CV, SWV and EIS). Microscopic techniques revealed spherical morphologies with particle sizes in the range of 21-90 nm. Elemental distribution maps obtained from HRSEM for the novel cathode material showed an even distribution of elements which will facilitate the removal/insertion of Li-ions and electrons out/into the cathode material. Spectroscopic results (FTIR) revealed the vibration of the Si-Mn-O linkage, ascertaining the complete insertion of Mn ions into the SiO₄⁴⁻ tetrahedra. XRD and ⁷Li MAS NMR studies confirmed a Pmn21 orthorhombic crystal pattern for the pristine Li₂MnSiO₄ and novel Li₂MnSiO₄/Al₂O₃ which is reported to provide the simplest migratory pathway for Li-ions due to the high symmetrical equivalence of all Li sites in the unit cell, thus leading to high electrochemical reversibility and an enhancement in the overall performance of the cathode materials. The divalent state of manganese present in Li₂Mn²⁺SiO₄ was confirmed by XPS surface analysis. Scan rate studies performed on the novel cathode material showed a quasi-reversible electron transfer process. The novel cathode material demonstrated superior electrochemical performance over the pristine material. Charge/discharge capacity values calculated from the cyclic voltammograms of the novel and pristine cathode materials showed a higher charge and discharge capacity of 209 mAh/g and 107 mAh/g for the novel cathode material compared to 159 mAh/g and 68 mAh/g for the pristine material. The diffusion coefficient was one order of magnitude higher for the novel cathode material (3.06 x10⁻⁶ cm2s⁻¹) than that of the pristine material (6.79 x 10⁻⁷ cm2s⁻¹), with a charge transfer resistance of 1389 Ω and time constant (τ) of 1414.4 s rad⁻¹ for the novel cathode material compared to 1549 Ω and 1584.4 s rad-1 for the pristine material. The higher electrochemical performance of the novel Li₂MnSiO₄/All₂O₃ cathode material over the pristine Li₂MnSiO₄ material can be attributed to the alumina nanoparticle surface coating which considerably reduced the structural instability intrinsic to the pristine Li₂MnSiO₄ cathode material and improved the charge transfer kinetics.

Atualmente, os materiais luminescentes que apresentam a luminescência persistente tem ganhando um destaque devido a capacidade de emitir luz por um período de tempo que pode variar de minutos à horas depois de cessada a excitação. Todavia, não há um grande número de estudos quantitativos a respeito dos fatores que influenciam esse fenômeno. Dessa forma, para o estudar do efeito do band gap na luminescência persistente comparou-se as propriedades de duas matrizes similares. A matriz ortossilicato de cádmio, Cd2SiO4, foi comparada com a matriz metassilicato de cádmio, CdSiO3, já descrita na literatura. A matriz ortossilicato de cádmio não dopada e dopada com íons terra rara foi sintetizada via síntese de estado sólido pelo método cerâmico a 1050 °C. A caracterização e o estudo da pureza se deram através das técnicas difração de raios X (DRX) usando radiação Síncrotron e CuKα. O estado de oxidação foi estudado usando espectroscopia de absorção de raios X próximo a borda (XANES) com radiação Síncrotron. As propriedades luminescentes foram compreendidas pelos experimentos de fotoluminescência no UV-Vis e espectroscopia com radiação Síncrotron na região do UV vácuo. Os difratogramas mostraram a presença de pequenas porcentagens de impurezas e a obtenção da fase pura para o Cd2SiO4:Pr3+. O espectro de XANES mostrou a presença apenas de íons terras raras trivalentes. O valor do band gap para a matriz ortossilicato de cádmio em 4,1 eV foi determinado utilizando espectros de excitação e emissão em 77 K dos materiais Cd2SiO4 e Cd2SiO4:Gd3+. Os espectros de excitação e emissão dos materiais Cd2SiO4:Pr3+ e Cd2SiO4:Tb3+ permitiram a comparação das propriedades luminescentes entre a fase ortossilicato e metassilicato, além de indicar a posição de alguns níveis 5d dentro da banda de condução. Com os dados obtidos foi proposto um mecanismo de luminescência persistente para o íon Pr3+ que mostrou-se muito mais eficiente nessa matriz em relação ao metassilicato de cádmio, comportamento oposto ao observado com os íons Tb3+, devido às suas posições dentro do band gap da matriz / Persistent luminescence materials have gained special attention lately due to their special property of emitting light for long time after ceased irradiation. However, hitherto, there is no deep quantitative analysis on the factors that affects this phenomenon. On this way, we compared the persistent luminescence properties on two similar inorganic hosts differing only in their band gap energies. The cadmium orthosilicate (Cd2SiO4) was compared to the cadmium metasilicate (CdSiO3) already well described in literature. The non-doped and rare earth doped cadmium orthosilicate were prepared with solid state synthesis at 1050 °C. The characterization and phase purity study were made with X-ray diffraction techniques using both Synchrotron and CuαK radiation. The oxidation state was studied with Synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption Near Edge structure measurements (XANES). The photoluminescence study was done with UV-Vis and VUV-UV emission and excitation spectroscopies. The XRD patterns allowed the determination of the phase purity and confirmed the preparation of pure Cd2SiO4:Pr3+. XANES data confirmed the presence of only trivalent rare earths. The band gap was determined as 4.1 eV with the 77 K excitation spectra of Cd2SiO4 and Cd2SiO4:Gd3+. The excitation spectra of Cd2SiO4:Pr3+ and Cd2SiO4:Tb3+ allowed the comparation between the optical properties of meta- and orthosilicate crystal phases like the position of 5d levels which are inside Cd2SiO4 conduction band. The obtained data allowed the proposition of a persistent luminescence mechanism for Pr3+ ion, considerably more efficient on orthosilicate when compared to metasilicate. This behavior is on the opposite way to the one observed for Tb3+ ions, due to their position in the band gap.

Atualmente, os materiais luminescentes que apresentam a luminescência persistente tem ganhando um destaque devido a capacidade de emitir luz por um período de tempo que pode variar de minutos à horas depois de cessada a excitação. Todavia, não há um grande número de estudos quantitativos a respeito dos fatores que influenciam esse fenômeno. Dessa forma, para o estudar do efeito do band gap na luminescência persistente comparou-se as propriedades de duas matrizes similares. A matriz ortossilicato de cádmio, Cd2SiO4, foi comparada com a matriz metassilicato de cádmio, CdSiO3, já descrita na literatura. A matriz ortossilicato de cádmio não dopada e dopada com íons terra rara foi sintetizada via síntese de estado sólido pelo método cerâmico a 1050 °C. A caracterização e o estudo da pureza se deram através das técnicas difração de raios X (DRX) usando radiação Síncrotron e CuKα. O estado de oxidação foi estudado usando espectroscopia de absorção de raios X próximo a borda (XANES) com radiação Síncrotron. As propriedades luminescentes foram compreendidas pelos experimentos de fotoluminescência no UV-Vis e espectroscopia com radiação Síncrotron na região do UV vácuo. Os difratogramas mostraram a presença de pequenas porcentagens de impurezas e a obtenção da fase pura para o Cd2SiO4:Pr3+. O espectro de XANES mostrou a presença apenas de íons terras raras trivalentes. O valor do band gap para a matriz ortossilicato de cádmio em 4,1 eV foi determinado utilizando espectros de excitação e emissão em 77 K dos materiais Cd2SiO4 e Cd2SiO4:Gd3+. Os espectros de excitação e emissão dos materiais Cd2SiO4:Pr3+ e Cd2SiO4:Tb3+ permitiram a comparação das propriedades luminescentes entre a fase ortossilicato e metassilicato, além de indicar a posição de alguns níveis 5d dentro da banda de condução. Com os dados obtidos foi proposto um mecanismo de luminescência persistente para o íon Pr3+ que mostrou-se muito mais eficiente nessa matriz em relação ao metassilicato de cádmio, comportamento oposto ao observado com os íons Tb3+, devido às suas posições dentro do band gap da matriz / Persistent luminescence materials have gained special attention lately due to their special property of emitting light for long time after ceased irradiation. However, hitherto, there is no deep quantitative analysis on the factors that affects this phenomenon. On this way, we compared the persistent luminescence properties on two similar inorganic hosts differing only in their band gap energies. The cadmium orthosilicate (Cd2SiO4) was compared to the cadmium metasilicate (CdSiO3) already well described in literature. The non-doped and rare earth doped cadmium orthosilicate were prepared with solid state synthesis at 1050 °C. The characterization and phase purity study were made with X-ray diffraction techniques using both Synchrotron and CuαK radiation. The oxidation state was studied with Synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption Near Edge structure measurements (XANES). The photoluminescence study was done with UV-Vis and VUV-UV emission and excitation spectroscopies. The XRD patterns allowed the determination of the phase purity and confirmed the preparation of pure Cd2SiO4:Pr3+. XANES data confirmed the presence of only trivalent rare earths. The band gap was determined as 4.1 eV with the 77 K excitation spectra of Cd2SiO4 and Cd2SiO4:Gd3+. The excitation spectra of Cd2SiO4:Pr3+ and Cd2SiO4:Tb3+ allowed the comparation between the optical properties of meta- and orthosilicate crystal phases like the position of 5d levels which are inside Cd2SiO4 conduction band. The obtained data allowed the proposition of a persistent luminescence mechanism for Pr3+ ion, considerably more efficient on orthosilicate when compared to metasilicate. This behavior is on the opposite way to the one observed for Tb3+ ions, due to their position in the band gap.

The development and application of a combinatorial sputtering thin film technique to screen potential scintillation material systems was investigated. The technique was first benchmarked by exploring the binary lutetium oxide-silicon oxide material system, which successfully identified the luminescence phases of the system, Lu2SiO5 (LSO) and Lu2Si2O7 (LPS). The second application was to optimize the activator concentration in cerium doped LSO. The successfully optimized cerium concentration in the thin film LSO of 0.34 atomic percent was much greater than the standard cerium concentration in single crystal LSO. This lead to an intensive study based on temperature dependent steady-state and lifetime photoluminescence spectroscopy to understand the different concentration quenching mechanisms involved in the bulk single crystal versus the thin film LSO. The results were used to develop configuration coordinate models which were employed to explain the observed concentration dependent behavior. The nature of single crystal LSO:Ce concentration quenching was determined to be due to radiative energy transfer, and ultimately self-absorption. For the thin films it was found self-absorption was not a dominant factor due to the thin dimension of the film and also its nano-crystalline nature. Instead, the photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra as a function of concentration demonstrated the concentration quenching behavior was due to an increase in defect-mediated non-radiative transitions with increasing cerium. The final application of the thin film screening technique was the exploration of the ternary Lu2O3-SiO2-Al2O3 material system doped with cerium. It was found that the presence of aluminum and silicon hindered LSO and Al5Lu3O12 (LuAG) emission, respectively. However, the presence of aluminum was found to increase LPS emission intensity. The percent of aluminum in the LPS phase was estimated at 2.5 atomic percent.

Se sintetizaron nanocompuestos híbridos en bloque de poli(etil metacrilato-co-hidroxietil acrilato) 70/30 wt%/sílice, P(EMA-co-HEA)/SiO2, con distintas proporciones de sílice hasta el 30 wt%. El procedimiento de síntesis consistió en la copolimerización de los monómeros orgánicos durante la polimerización sol-gel simultánea de tetraetoxisilano, TEOS como precursor de sílice. El TEOS se hidroliza eficientemente y condensa dando lugar a sílice, y presenta una distribución homogénea en forma de agregados inconexos de nanopartículas de sílice elementales en los híbridos con bajos contenidos de sílice (<10 wt%) o redes continuas interpenetradas con la red orgánica tras la coalescencia de los agregados de sílice (>10 wt%). La red polimérica orgánica se forma en los poros producidos en el interior de las nanopartículas elementales de sílice, y también en los poros formados entre los agregados de nanopartículas. Los nanohíbridos con contenidos de sílice intermedios (10-20 wt%) exhibieron las propiedades más equilibradas e interesantes: i) refuerzo mecánico de la matriz orgánica conseguida gracias a redes de sílice continuas e interpenetradas, ii) buena capacidad de hinchado debida a la expansión de la red orgánica no impedida todavía por un esqueleto de sílice rígido, y a un número alto de grupos silanol terminales hidrófilos (concentraciones inorgánicas en los alrededores de la coalescencia), y iii) mayor reactividad superficial debido a un contenido relativo bastante elevado de grupos polares silanol terminales disponibles en las superficies. La 'bioactividad' o capacidad de los materiales en bloque de formar hidroxiapatita (HAp) sobre sus superficies fue estudiada in vitro sumergiéndolos en fluido biológico simulado (simulated body fluid, SBF). La formación de la capa de HAp viene controlada por el mecanismo y el tiempo de inducción a la nucleación de la misma, que dependen a su vez de la estructura de la sílice. / Vallés Lluch, A. (2008). P(EMA-co-HEA)/SiO2 hybrid nanocomposites for guided dentin tissue regeneration: structure, characterization and bioactivity [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/3795