Le marché des accumulateurs lithium-ion est en expansion. Cette croissance repose partiellement sur la multiplication des niches d’utilisation et l’amélioration constante de leurs performances. En raison de leur durabilité exceptionnelle, de leur faible coût, de leur haute densité de puissance et de leur fiabilité, les anodes basées sur les titanates de lithium, et plus particulièrement le spinelle Li4Ti5O12, présentent une alternative d’intérêt aux matériaux classiques d’anodes en carbone pour de multiples applications. Leur utilisation sous forme de nanomatériaux permet d’augmenter significativement la puissance disponible par unité de poids. Ces nanomatériaux ne sont typiquement pas contraints dans une direction particulière (nanofils, nanoplaquettes), car ces formes impliquent une tension de surface plus importante et requièrent donc généralement un mécanisme de synthèse dédié. Or, ces nanostructures permettent des réductions supplémentaires dans les dimensions caractéristiques de diffusion et de conduction, maximisant ainsi la puissance disponible, tout en affectant les propriétés habituellement intrinsèques des matériaux. Par ailleurs, les réacteurs continus reposant sur la technologie du plasma thermique inductif constituent une voie de synthèse démontrée afin de générer des volumes importants de matériaux nanostructurés. Il s’avère donc pertinent d’évaluer leur potentiel dans la production de titanates de lithium nanostructurés. La pureté des titanates de lithium est difficile à jauger. Les techniques de quantification habituelles reposent sur la fluorescence ou la diffraction en rayons X, auxquelles le lithium élémentaire se prête peu ou pas. Afin de quantifier les nombreuses phases (Li4Ti5O12, Li2Ti3O7, Li2TiO3, TiO2, Li2CO3) identifiées dans les échantillons produits par plasma, un raffinement de Rietveld fut développé et validé. La présence de γ-Li2TiO3 fut identifiée, et la calorimétrie en balayage différentiel fut explorée comme outil permettant d’identifier et de quantifier la présence de β-Li2TiO3. Différentes proportions entre les phases produites et différents types de morphologies furent observés en fonction des conditions d’opération du plasma. Ainsi, des conditions de trempe réductrice et d’ensemencement en Li4Ti5O12 nanométrique semblent favoriser l’émergence de nanomorphologies en nanofils (associés à Li4Ti5O12) et en nanoplaquette (associées à Li2TiO3). De plus, l’ensemencement et les recuits augmentèrent significativement le rendement en la phase spinelle Li4Ti5O12 recherchée. Les recuits sur les poudres synthétisées par plasma indiquèrent que la décomposition du Li2Ti3O7 produit du Li4Ti5O12, du Li2TiO3 et du TiO2 (rutile). Afin d’approfondir l’investigation de ces réactions de décomposition, les paramètres cristallins du Li2Ti3O7 et du γ-Li2TiO3 furent définis à haute température. Des mesures continues en diffraction en rayon X à haute température furent réalisées lors de recuits de poudres synthétisées par plasma, ainsi que sur des mélanges de TiO2 anatase et de Li2CO3. Celles-ci indiquent la production d’un intermédiaire Li2Ti3O7 à partir de l’anatase et du carbonate, sa décomposition en Li4Ti5O12 et TiO2 (rutile) sur toute la plage de température étudiée, et en Li2TiO3 et TiO2 (rutile) à des températures inférieures à 700°C.

We developed a model to investigate the dielectric properties of the BaTiO₃ − Bi(Zn₁/₂Ti₁/₂)O₃ (BT-BZT) solid solution, which is a relaxor ferroelectric and exhibits long range disorder. The model uses ab initio methods to determine all polarization states for every atomic configuration of 2 x 2 x 2 supercells of BT-BZT. Each supercell is placed on a lattice with an Ising-like interaction between neighboring cell polarizations. This method allows us to consider long range disorder, which is not possible with ab initio methods alone, and is required to properly understand relaxor ferroelectric materials. We analyze the Monte Carlo data for a single lattice configuration using the multiple histogram method, and develop a modified histogram technique to combine data from multiple lattice configurations. Our calculated values of dielectric constant, specific heat, and polarization agree reasonably well with experiment. / Graduation date: 2012

No description available.

A new family of perovskite titanates with formulae La4+nSr8-nTi12-nMnnO38 and La4Sr8Ti12-nMnnO38-δ have been investigated as potential fuel electrode materials for SOFCs. The series La4+nSr8-nTi12-nMnnO38 present layered domains within their structure. As such layers appear to have a large negative effect over the electrochemical properties only a few compounds have been characterised. The series La4Sr8Ti12-nMnnO38-δ present a rhombohedral (R-3c) unit cell at room temperature which becomes cubic when increasing the temperature up to 900°C both in air and in reducing conditions. The primitive volume correlates with the oxygen content for the reduced samples. TGA and magnetic studies have revealed that the Mn present is mainly as Mn⁺³. Preliminary HRTEM investigations have revealed that some crystallographic shears distributed randomly within a perovskite matrix remain in the structure, which implies that the oxygen overstoichiometry is compatible with rhombohedral distortions in the oxygen sublattice. Mn substitution does not have a large impact on the bulk conductivity of the phases studied, which remains close to the values observed in other related titanates, although the grain boundary contributions are largely improved. Relatively low polarisation resistances were observed under both hydrogen and methane conditions for the lowest n compounds of the series. The anodic overpotential for n=1 was fairly low to those reported in the literature for other materials and especially for titanate-based anodes, i.e. a value of 55mV at 0.5A/cm2, at 950°C, under wet hydrogen was obtained. Additionally, a value 72mV was obtained in the same conditions under methane. These values indicate that the use of Mn as dopant for perovskite-related titanates enhanced electrochemical performance of these anodes, especially at high temperatures.

Hydrogen exposure of insulating d0-titanates, such as SrTiO3 (STO), has displayed the formation of intriguing conducting states. These conducting states form through the use of forming gas (N2/H2) annealing or hydrogen plasma exposure, where hydrogen gas is exposed to high energy microwaves. The exposure of STO to hydrogen causes metallic conductivity due to the introduction of hydrogen cations on some of the oxygen sites. However, the optical properties of this hydrogen-exposed STO have not been well-studied. Further, Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST), an insulating dielectric, also shows changes in its conductivity upon hydrogen exposure. Unlike STO where the conductivity of the hydrogen-exposed material has been characterized, the optical, electronic, and transport properties of hydrogen exposed BST have not been studied. Thus, by studying hydrogen-exposed BST and STO, our understanding of the effects of hydrogen on insulators can be enhanced. In the first study, the effects of the exposure of insulating dielectric BST thin films to a hydrogen plasma is presented. These BST thin films are deposited on GdScO3 (GSO) substrates via Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). After deposition, the thin films are exposed to a hydrogen plasma. Just five minutes of hydrogen plasma exposure is enough to induce conductivity in the BST thin film. This conducting state is dominated by the interplay of disorder and strong electron correlations introduced during hydrogen exposure. Further, the optical properties indicate the formation of a transparent conductor, as the introduction of disorder and strong correlations has not changed the optical properties of the BST thin film in the visible spectrum. BST demonstrates an example of a new type of transparent conductor that utilizes large effective mass carriers to generate conductivity. In the second study, the effects of hydrogen doping on the surface of STO is explored. The conducting heterointerface that forms between PLD-deposited thin films of LaAlO3 (LAO) on STO is used as the standard to explore this hydrogen surface doping. The optical, electronic, and transport properties of water-leached and buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF) etched heterointerfaces are characterized and compared. The recently developed water-leaching method is compared with the well-known BHF etching method, which has been shown to unintentionally dope the STO surface with fluorine and hydrogen. Both methods generate single-terminated atomically flat STO substrate surfaces that are ideal for heterointerface formation. After deposition, the optical, electronic, and transport properties of both the water-leached and BHF-etched heterointerfaces show no meaningful difference, demonstrating that water-leaching may also unintentionally dope the STO substrate surface with hydrogen. However, these results confirm that water-leaching generates a high-quality conducting heterointerface without the safety concerns of BHF.

Le capteur étudié est à base de NASICON et fonctionne en différentiel entre une électrode sensible à O2 et une électrode sensible à CO2 et à O2. La réponse ne dépend plus de la pression partielle d'oxygène.<br />Chaque élément du capteur (électrode de référence, électrolyte solide et électrode de travail) a été étudié séparément, par les techniques de caractérisations physiques et électriques, pour sélectionner les meilleurs matériaux.<br />La sérigraphie a été retenue parmi plusieurs techniques de dépôt d'électrodes testées pour noter l'influence sur la réponse des capteurs.<br />Au niveau de l'électrode de travail (Na2CO3/BaCO3), les compositions présentant un taux de carbonate de baryum de 25% ou de 0% ont abouti à des résultats satisfaisants au niveau de la sensibilité.<br />L'influence de la composition de l'électrode de référence a été étudiée pour différentes valeurs du rapport Na2Ti3O7/Na2Ti6O13. Seule la composition 55%-45% en masse a donné lieu à un capteur à comportement thermodynamique, avec des pentes expérimentales et des potentiels standards proches des valeurs théoriques jusqu'à des pressions partielles de l'ordre de 100 Pa.<br />L'étude des interférents a montré que l'oxygène présentait une influence sur la réponse du capteur seulement pour les faibles températures. Une interférence de la vapeur d'eau a été observée sur la valeur du potentiel standard quelle que soit la température, sans modification de la sensibilité. Le monoxyde d'azote ne modifie en rien la réponse du capteur.<br />Un modèle de temps de réponse limitée par la diffusion dans le matériau d'électrode a été proposé.<br />Le passage en technologie planaire a abouti à des capteurs thermodynamiques uniquement au-dessus de 10-3 bar.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1999. / Disk in pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-237). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-202).

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:55:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4803.pdf: 11534397 bytes, checksum: e43c3cb60651e156783571e5d850d5e8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-11 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / Three methods for the synthesis of sodium titanates were investigated: solid state treatment (800 oC), hydrothermal treatment (110 oC) and sol-gel method (55 oC). The titanium oxide was used as starting compound for xerothermal and hydrothermal treatments. The titanium (IV) n-butoxide was used in the sol-gel method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray, atomic absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry coupled to mass spectroscopy, nitrogen physisorption, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The materials synthesized were used as heterogeneous-basic catalysts in the transesterification reaction between ethyl acetate and methanol, performed under mild conditions: 50 oC, 30 min of reaction time, 4 wt. % of catalyst and molar ratio of ester:alcohol 1:6. The solid prepared by sol-gel method was the most active leading to esters yields around 30 %. This non-calcined material showed high catalytic stability. The loss of activity on the fourth cycle was accompanied by the appearance of a new species of oxygen, identified using XPS analysis. The XPS spectrum showed that the basic character of this oxygen species was inferior to that of the original species, which could explain the loss of catalytic activity. The deactivation was accompanied by the intensification of a second Na 1s component at higher binding energy. The migration of these ions to the catalyst surface reduced their availability for the formation of active Ti-O-Na+ sites, which explain the loss of catalytic activity after the fourth test cycle or after calcination of the material, both of which resulted in the same effect. / Três métodos de síntese de titanatos de sódio foram estudados: xerotérmico (800 ºC), hidrotérmico (110 ºC) e sol-gel (55 ºC). O óxido de titânio foi utilizado como precursor nos dois primeiros métodos e o tetrabutóxido de titânio (IV) no método sol-gel. Os sólidos foram caracterizados por difração de raios X, análise de energia dispersiva de raios X (EDX), espectrometria de absorção atômica com chama, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, análise termogravimétrica acoplada à espectrometria de massa, fisissorção de nitrogênio, espectroscopia Raman, espectroscopia de fotoelétrons excitados por Raios X (XPS) e foram aplicados como catalisadores heterogêneos básicos na reação de transesterificação. Como modelo da transesterificação foi escolhida a reação do acetato de etila e metanol realizada sob condições brandas: 50 ºC, tempo reacional de 30 min, 4 % (m/m) de catalisador e razão molar de éster: álcool 1:6. Os sólidos obtidos pelo método sol-gel foram os mais ativos frente a essa reação nas condições acima especificadas, dando conversões em torno de 30 %. Este material não calcinado mostrou alta estabilidade catalítica. A perda de sua atividade no quarto ciclo reacional foi acompanhada pelo surgimento de uma nova espécie de oxigênio, identificada por XPS. O espectro de XPS mostrou que a força básica desse oxigênio era inferior ao das espécies originais, explicando-se a perda da atividade catalítica. A desativação foi acompanhada pela intensificação de uma segunda componente de Na 1s e Ti 2p de maior energia de ligação. A migração dos íons sódio na superfície do sólido faz com que fiquem menos disponíveis para a formação do sítio ativo Ti-O-Na+. Desta forma, justifica-se a perda de atividade catalítica após o 4o uso do catalisador ou após a etapa de calcinação, na qual foi observado o mesmo efeito.