Search

Iron-enriched ferroelectrics are of particular interest as piezoactive components of piezoelectric-ferrite ME ceramics. This is due to the phase composition similarity and the reduction of expected interfacial doping effects during high-temperature calcination. This idea seems attractive, but laborious due to the significantly limited number of possible piezoelectric–ferrite combinations. Therefore, there is practically no data on such systems in the literature. ME composite ceramics based on the highly efficient Fe-containing Pb(Fe 0.5 Nb 0.5) 0.935 Ti 0.065 O 3 (PFNPT) ferroelectric has been studied. (100-х) wt.% Pb(Fe 0.5 Nb 0.5) 0.935 Ti 0.065 O 3 (PFNPT) + х wt.% Ni 0.9 Co 0.1 Cu 0.1 Fe 1.9 O 4-d (NCCF) composite systems has been obtained by the solid-state method at 1050 °C, with no foreign phases. The specimens densities amounted to ∼80% of the theoretical. It has been shown that the ME conversion efficiency and other composites properties are significantly influenced by the PFNPT precursor pre-treatment method. The maximum value of the ME coefficient ΔΕ/ΔΗ = 75 mV/(cm Oe) has been observed for specimens with x = 50–60 made from PFNPT powder with the addition of Li 2 CO 3. An increase in the ME composites sintering temperature to 1150 °C leads to the formation of Pb 2 Nb 2 O 7 foreign phase with a pyrochlore structure along the grain boundaries. The ME coefficient ΔΕ/ΔΗ does not exceed 15 mV/(cm⋅Oe). There is an threefold decrease in the composites piezoelectric parameters (piezoelectric coefficients d ij , g ij), as well as in their magnetic properties (magnetizations M S , M R) due to piezophase degradation, which is presumably associated with a change in the cations distribution over A and B sublattices of the spinel structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pervaporation is considered the most promising technology for dehydration of bioalcohols, attracting increasing attention as a renewable energy source. In this regard, the development of stable and effective membranes is required. In this study, highly efficient membranes for the enhanced pervaporation dehydration of ethanol were developed by modification of sodium alginate (SA) with a polyethylenimine (PEI) forming polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) and graphene oxide (GO). The effect of modifications with GO or/and PEI on the structure, physicochemical, and transport characteristics of dense membranes was studied. The formation of a PEC by ionic cross-linking and its interaction with GO led to changes in membrane structure, confirmed by spectroscopic and microscopic methods. The physicochemical properties of membranes were investigated by a thermogravimetric analysis, a differential scanning calorimetry, and measurements of contact angles. The theoretical consideration using computational methods showed favorable hydrogen bonding interactions between GO, PEI, and water, which caused improved membrane performance. To increase permeability, supported membranes without treatment and cross-linked were developed by the deposition of a thin dense layer from the optimal PEC/GO (2.5%) composite onto a developed porous substrate from polyacrylonitrile. The cross-linked supported membrane demonstrated more than two times increased permeation flux, higher selectivity (above 99.7 wt.% water in the permeate) and stability for separating diluted mixtures compared to the dense pristine SA membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A family of ionic ferric catecholate complexes 1–4 bearing a disubstituted 3,6-di-tert-butyl-catecholate ligand (3,6-DBCatH2) and tetradentate tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA) was prepared and its spin transitions were investigated. Variation of the outer-sphere counteranions (PF6, BPh4, ClO4, BF4) is accompanied by changes in the magnetic behavior of the compounds under consideration. The crystal structures of complexes 1, 3 and 4 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis at 100 K and 293 K. The complexes were characterized by the occurrence of a thermally induced spin-crossover process in the solid state with different degrees of completeness, which was confirmed by the comprehensive spectroscopic investigation (EPR, magnetic susceptibility, Mössbauer, and XAS) of the isolated compounds. Complex 4 containing BF4 anions was found to demonstrate valence tautomeric transition along with spin-crossover. This finding makes compound 4 the first salt-like mononuclear ferric catecholate complex exhibiting valence tautomerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was the first to present the results of studying the influence of structural defects on the physical properties of pre-synthesized ytterbium iron garnet (YbIG). The concentration and type of structural defects were controlled by mechanically activating the powders using Bridgman anvils. Using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), it was revealed that the particle morphology, the unit cell parameters, mean size of the coherent scattering regions (D ) and microstrains ( Δ d / d ) vary in a wide range. Using optical spectroscopy, XRD and FTIR to study the dynamic properties of the crystal lattice, showing that the bandgap and force constants of dodecahedral-coordinated ytterbium (Yb–O)d and octahedral-coordinated iron (Fe–O)o change non-monotonically with decreasing crystallite size. By analyzing the dependence of the magnetic hysteresis loop M (H) on the crystallite size D , it was concluded that there was a critical crystallite size ( D crit = 75 nm) of YbIG, at which the coercive force H c has a maximum value. For the first time, changes in g-factor and the half-width Δ H of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of nanoscale crystallites were found to be correlated with the parameters of the magnetic hysteresis loop M (H) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • New catalyst with low Co-content and high activity was obtained. • Pure cobalt and bimetallic zinc/cobalt ZIF-67 were used as precursors. • Polyvinylidene fluoride was used to provide a porous carbon shell after annealing. • This shell promotes the p-nitrophenol catalytic reduction. We report the synthesis of a new effective cobalt-based composite for catalytic reduction of water pollutant - p-nitrophenol. ZIF-67 and its Zn-substituted analog have been used as precursors for the catalyst preparation. Their pyrolysis has resulted in cobalt nanoparticles embedded into N-doped carbon substrates. We have used polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as an additive to ZIF-substrates to produce mesoporous carbon shells on the surface of the catalysts. We have found that PVDF-additive enhanced the catalytic properties of the obtained composite material. Firstly, this additive reduces the total cobalt concentration in the composite by increasing carbon content. Secondly, a porous carbon shell improves the rate of catalytic reactions. According to the experimental data, PVDF additive has allowed us to obtain materials with lower Co-content but with high catalytic activity towards p-nitrophenol reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic properties of noble-metal nanoparticles (NPs) are largely determined by their surface morphology. The latter is probed by surface-sensitive spectroscopic techniques in different spectra regions. A fast and precise computational approach enabling the prediction of surface–adsorbate interaction would help the reliable description and interpretation of experimental data. In this work, we applied Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for the task of adsorption-energy approximation for CO on Pd nanoclusters. Due to a high dependency of binding energy from the nature of the adsorbing site and its local coordination, we tested several structural descriptors for the ML algorithm, including mean Pd–C distances, coordination numbers (CN) and generalized coordination numbers (GCN), radial distribution functions (RDF), and angular distribution functions (ADF). To avoid overtraining and to probe the most relevant positions above the metal surface, we utilized the adaptive sampling methodology for guiding the ab initio Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The support vector machines (SVM) and Extra Trees algorithms provided the best approximation quality and mean absolute error in energy prediction up to 0.12 eV. Based on the developed potential, we constructed an energy-surface 3D map for the whole Pd55 nanocluster and extended it to new geometries, Pd79, and Pd85, not implemented in the training sample. The methodology can be easily extended to adsorption energies onto mono- and bimetallic NPs at an affordable computational cost and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]