Liang Zuo

Tailoring size and structural distortion of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for the purification of contaminated water.

Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles with different particle sizes were synthesized using two methods, i.e., a co-precipitation process and a polyol process, respectively. The atomic pair distribution analyses from the high-energy X-ray scattering data and TEM observations show that the two kinds of nanoparticles have different sizes and structural distortions. An average particle size of 6-8 nm with a narrow size distribution was observed for the nanoparticles prepared with the co-precipitation method. Magnetic measurements show that those particles are in ferromagnetic state with a saturation magnetization of 74.3 emu g(-1). For the particles synthesized with the polyol process, a mean diameter of 18-35 nm was observed with a saturation magnetization of 78.2 emu g(-1). Although both kinds of nanoparticles are well crystallized, an obviously higher structural distortion is evidenced for the co-precipitation processed nanoparticles. The synthesized Fe(3)O(4) particles with different mean particle size were used for treating the wastewater contaminated with the metal ions, such as Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Cr(VI). It is found that the adsorption capacity of Fe(3)O(4) particles increased with decreasing the particle size or increasing the surface area. While the particle size was decreased to 8 nm, the Fe(3)O(4) particles can absorb almost all of the above-mentioned metal ions in the contaminated water with the adsorption capacity of 34.93 mg/g, which is approximately 7 times higher than that using the coarse particles. We attribute the extremely high adsorption capacity to the highly-distorted surface.

Enzyme-free amperometric sensing of hydrogen peroxide and glucose at a hierarchical Cu2O modified electrode

In this paper, an enzyme-free amperometric electrochemical sensor was fabricated by casting Nafion-impregnated Cu(2)O particles onto a glassy carbon electrode. A dual dependence of peak current on sweeping rate, which can be attributed for the accumulation of reaction products, was observed on the sensor. Electrochemical analysis of the particulate Cu(2)O for detecting H(2)O(2) and glucose is described, showing remarkable sensitivity in both cases. The estimated detection limits and sensitivities for H(2)O(2) (0.0039 μM, 52.3 mA mM(-1) cm(-2)) and glucose (47.2 μM, 0.19 mA mM(-1) cm(-2)) suggest that the response for H(2)O(2) detection was much higher than for glucose detection. Electron microscopy observation suggested that the hierarchical structures of Cu(2)O resulting from self-assembly of nanocrystals are responsible for the specific electrochemical properties.

Giant magnetocaloric effect in melt-spun Ni-Mn-Ga ribbons with magneto-multistructural transformation

Magnetic refrigeration based on the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) may provide an energy-efficient and environment-friendly alternative to the conventional gas compression/expansion cooling technology. For potential applications, low-cost and high-performance magnetic refrigerants are in great need. Here, we demonstrate that giant MCE can be achieved in annealed Ni52Mn26Ga22 ribbons with magneto-multistructural transformation. It yields a maximum magnetic entropy change of −30.0 J kg−1 K−1 at the magnetic field change of 5 T, being almost three times as that of initial melt-spun ribbons and comparable to or even superior to that of polycrystalline bulk alloys.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical activity for Cu and Ti doped hematite: The first principles calculations

To improve photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity of hematite, the modification of energy band by doping 3d transition metal ions Cu and Ti into α-Fe2O3 were studied via the first-principles calculations with density function theory (DFT)+U method. The results show that the band gap of hematite is ∼2.1 eV and n-type dopant Ti improves the electric conductivity, confirmed by recent experiments. The p-type dopant Cu enhances the utilization ratio of solar energy, shifts both valance, and conduction band edges to a higher energy level, satisfying hydrogen production in the visible light driven PEC water splitting without voltage bias.

Structural transition of ferromagnetic Ni2MnGa nanoparticles

We report here that the ball-milling process induces the phase transformation from the tetragonal structure to the disordered face-centered-cubic structure in Ni2MnGa ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys. The in situ high-energy x-ray diffraction analyses reveal that an intermediate phase, which is characterized by amorphous structure, controls the transformation kinetics during the postannealing process. Completely different from their coarse-grained counterparts, the ferromagnetic Ni2MnGa nanoparticles undergo various sequences of structural transitions that are tailored by the crystallite size, atomic order, and intrinsic magnetic structure.

Microstructure, texture, grain boundaries in recrystallization regions in pure Cu ECAE samples

By means of equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE), pure Cu single crystal samples were processed down to the submicron scale. In some parts of the samples, recrystallization occurs at room temperature. The recrystallization mechanism was analyzed by SEM-EBSP and SEM-ECC techniques. The grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) and orientation distribution function (ODF) of the regions undergoing recrystallization were computed. The results show that the nuclei can be formed at the intersections of two different shear bands, and the microstructures and the grain boundary characters in these locations contribute to growth of recrystallized nuclei. The recrystallized grains had grown according to the Felthams mechanism

Determination of microstructure and twinning relationship between martensitic variants in 53 at.%Ni–25 at.%Mn–22 at.%Ga ferromagnetic shape memory alloy

A recent study by high-resolution neutron powder diffraction provided accurate crystallographic information for the newly developed ferromagnetic shape memory alloy 53 at.%Ni–25 at.%Mn–22 at.%Ga. This made it possible to study by high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction the local microstructures and the twinning relationships between martensitic variants. The twin interfaces were also investigated and they are found to be coherent on the {112} planes.

One-step fabrication of sub-10-nm plasmonic nanogaps for reliable SERS sensing of microorganisms

Nanoscale gaps in noble metal films can produce intense electromagnetic enhancement. When Raman-active molecules are positioned in these regions, their surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals can be dramatically enhanced. However, the lack of convenient and reliable fabrication methods with ultrasmall nanogaps (<10 nm) severely block the application of SERS. Here, we propose a cost-effective and reproducible technique to fabricate the large-area Ag SERS-active substrates which are full of the high-density, sub-10-nm nanogaps by high pressure sputtering, and the enhancement factor (EF) is testified to improve by 10(3) times compared to the continuous Ag film with a smooth surface (the roughness is 0.5 nm) and without nanogaps. Since there are no chemicals used during fabrication, this substrate has a clean surface, which is crucial for acquiring reliable SERS spectra. This SERS-active substrate has then been applied to identify a series of microorganisms, and excellent, reproducible SERS spectra were obtained. Finally, a set of piecewise-linear equations is provided according to the correlation between SERS intensity and rhodamine 6G (R6G) concentration, and the detection limit is calculated to be 0.2×10(-8)M. These results suggest that the high pressure sputtering is an excellent, reliable technique for fabricating sub-10-nm plasmonic nanogaps, and the SERS-based methodology is very promising for being used in biological sensing field.

Crystallographic, magnetic, and electronic structures of ferromagnetic shape memory alloys Ni2XGa (X = Mn,Fe,Co) from first-principles calculations

The crystallographic, magnetic and electronic structures of the ferromagnetic shape memory alloys Ni2XGa (X=Mn, Fe, and Co), are systematically investigated by means of the first–principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory using the VIENNA AB INITIO SOFTWARE PACKAGE. The lattice parameters of both austenitic and martensitic phases in Ni2MnGa have been calculated. The formation energies of the cubic phase of Ni2XGa are estimated, and show a destabilization tendency if Mn atom is substituted by Fe or Co. From Ni2MnGa to Ni2CoGa, the down spin total density of states (DOS) at Fermi level is gradually increasing, whereas that of the up spin part remains almost unchanged. This is the main origin of the difference of the magnetic moment in these alloys. The partial DOS is dominated by the Ni and Mn 3d states in the bonding region below EF. There are two bond types existing in Ni2XGa: one is between neighboring Ni atoms in Ni2MnGa; the other is between Ni and X atoms in Ni2FeGa and ...

New approach to twin interfaces of modulated martensite

In Ni–Mn–Ga ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, the crystallographic nature of martensitic variant interfaces is one of the key factors governing the variant reorientation through field-induced interface motion and hence the shape memory performance. So far, the crystal structure studies of these materials – conducted by means of transmission electron microscopy – have suffered from uncertainties in determining the number of unit cells of modulated superstructure, and consequently improper interpretations of orientation correlations of martensitic variants. In this paper a new approach is presented for comprehensive analysis of crystallographic and morphological information of modulated martensite, using automated electron backscatter diffraction. As a first attempt, it has been applied for the unambiguous determination of the orientation relationships of adjacent martensitic variants and their twin interface characters in an incommensurate 7M modulated Ni–Mn–Ga alloy, from which a clear and full-featured image of the crystallographic nature of constituent twin interfaces is built up. Certainly, this new approach will make it feasible not only to generalize the statistical analysis of martensitic variant distributions for various materials with modulated superstructure, but also to give insight into the crystallographic characteristics of martensitic variant interfaces and the variant reorientation mechanism of new advanced materials for interface engineering.