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Now showing 1 - 10 of 68
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    Crystal structures of two ansa-titanocene tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate complexes bearing the Me2Si(C5Me4)2 ligand
    (Chester : International Union of Crystallography, 2016) Kessler, Monty; Godemann, Christian; Spannenberg, Anke; Beweries, Torsten
    The crystal structures of two ansa-titanocene tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate complexes bearing the Me2Si(C5Me4)2 ligand are reported, namely [di-methylbis-(η5-tetra-methyl-cyclo-penta-dien-yl)silane](tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonato-κ2O,O')titanium(III) toluene monosolvate, [Ti(CF3O3S)(C20H30Si)]·C7H8, 1, and chlorido-[di-methyl-bis-(η5-tetra-methyl-cyclo-penta-dien-yl)silane](tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonato-κO)titanium(IV), [Ti(CF3O3S)(C20H30Si)Cl], 2. Both complexes display a bent metallocene unit, the metal atom being coordinated in a distorted tetra-hedral geometry, with the tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate anion acting as a bidentate or monodentate ligand in 1 and 2, respectively. In 1, weak π-π stacking inter-actions involving the toluene solvent mol-ecules [centroid-to-centroid distance = 3.9491 (11) Å] are observed.
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    Influence of microwave plasma treatment on the surface properties of carbon fibers and their adhesion in a polypropylene matrix
    (London [u.a.] : Institute of Physics, 2016) Scheffler, C.; Wölfel, E.; Förster, T.; Poitzsch, C.; Kotte, L.; Mäder, G.; Madsen, Bo; Biel, A.; Kusano, Y.; Lilholt, H.; Mikkelsen, L.P.; Mishnaevsky Jr., L.; Sørensen, B.F.
    A commercially available carbon fiber (CF) with an epoxy-based sizing (EP-sized CF) and an unsized CF have been plasma treated to study the effect on the fiber-matrix adhesion towards a polypropylene matrix. The EP-sized fiber was chosen because of its predictable low adhesion in a polypropylene (PP) matrix. The fibers have been modified using a microwave low-pressure O2/CO2/N2-gas plasma source (Cyrannus®) developed at IWS in a batch process. One aim of this study was the evaluation of parameters using high energies and short time periods in the plasma chamber to see the effect on mechanical performance of CF. These results will be the fundamental work for a planned continuous plasma modification line. The CF surface was characterized by determining the surface energies, single fiber tensile strength and XPS analysis. The adhesion behavior before and after plasma treatment was studied by single fiber pull-out test (SFPO) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was shown that the CO2- and O2-plasma increases the number of functional groups on the fiber surface during short time plasma treatment of 30 s. Carboxylic groups on the unsized CF surface resulting from O2-plasma treatment lead to an enhanced fiber-matrix adhesion, whereas the fiber strength was merely reduced.
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    Strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in ion irradiated anatase TiO2 thin films
    (New York, NY : American Inst. of Physics, 2016) Stiller, M.; Barzola-Quiquia, J.; Esquinazi, P.; Spemann, D.; Meijer, J.; Lorenz, M.; Grundmann, M.
    The temperature and field dependence of the magnetization of epitaxial, undoped anatase TiO2 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates was investigated. Low-energy ion irradiation was used to modify the surface of the films within a few nanometers, yet with high enough energy to produce oxygen and titanium vacancies. The as-prepared thin film shows ferromagnetism which increases after irradiation with low-energy ions. An optimal and clear magnetic anisotropy was observed after the first irradiation, opposite to the expected form anisotropy. Taking into account the experimental parameters, titanium vacancies as di-Frenkel pairs appear to be responsible for the enhanced ferromagnetism and the strong anisotropy observed in our films. The magnetic impurities concentrations was measured by particle-induced X-ray emission with ppm resolution. They are ruled out as a source of the observed ferromagnetism before and after irradiation.
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    Surface, interphase and tensile properties of unsized, sized and heat treated basalt fibres
    (London [u.a.] : Institute of Physics, 2016) Förster, T.; Sommer, G.S.; Mäder, E.; Scheffler, C.
    Recycling of fibre reinforced polymers is in the focus of several investigations. Chemical and thermal treatments of composites are the common ways to separate the reinforcing fibres from the polymer matrices. However, most sizings on glass and basalt fibre are not designed to resist high temperatures. Hence, a heat treatment might also lead to a sizing removal, a decrease of mechanical performance and deterioration in fibre-matrix adhesion. Different basalt fibres were investigated using surface analysis methods as well as single fibre tensile tests and single fibre pull-out tests in order to reveal the possible causes of these issues. Heat treatment in air reduced the fibre tensile strength in the same level like heat treatment in nitrogen atmosphere, but it influenced the wetting capability. Re-sizing by a coupling agent slightly increased the adhesion strength and reflected a decreased post-debonding friction.
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    Development of a polymer composite with high electrical conductivity and improved impact strength for the application as bipolar plate
    (Melville, NY : AIP, 2016) Hopmann, C.; Windeck, C.; Cohnen, A.; Onken, J.; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Hickmann, T.
    Bipolar plates constitute the most important structural component in fuel cell stacks. Highly filled thermoplastic composites with high electrical conductivity obtain an increasing importance in the design of bipolar plates as alternative to conventional metallic systems. Thermoplastics (e.g. PP) have suitable properties such as a good processability, chemical resistance, light weight and low production costs. As thermoplastics have low electrical conductivities, conductive fillers have to be included in the matrix. A high content of such fillers (e.g. graphite) in excess of 80 wt.-% is necessary to achieve the desired electrical properties. However, materials with such high filler contents embrittle readily. The workability in injection and compression molding is difficult and the mechanical stability is insufficient in case of strain deformation. As consequence, material failure and an inacceptable amount of damaged goods can be observed during the processing. As no suitable thermoplastic system is available for better mechanical properties, the induction and dispersion of a rubber phase in the thermoplastic matrix can be used to increase the impact strength of the conductive composite. In this research work a ternary composite, based on PP as matrix, EPDM as impact modifier and synthetic graphite as conductive filler, was developed. The material was produced using a 26 mm co-rotating, intermeshing twin-screw extruder. The amounts of PP, EPDM and graphite were varied systematically and a process window was defined that enables improved impact strength and high electrical conductivity of the new material. The results indicate that impact strength can be enhanced by about 99 % with an EPDM content of 30 wt.-% in the PP matrix. The electrical conductivity decreases in a small range with increasing content of EPDM, but the conductivity is still excellent for producing bipolar plates.
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    Melt-mixed thermoplastic composites containing carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric applications
    (Springfield, Mo. : AIMS Press, 2016) Luo, Jinji; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra
    Flexible thermoelectric materials are prepared by melt mixing technique, which can be easily scaled up to industrial level. Hybrid filler systems of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and copper oxide (CuO), which are environmental friendly materials and contain abundant earth elements, are melt mixed into a thermoplastic matrix, namely polypropylene (PP). With the CNT addition, an electrical network could be built up inside the insulating PP for effective charge transport. The effect of CuO addition is determined by the corresponding CNT concentration. At high CNT concentration, largely above the percolation threshold (φc, ca. 0.1 wt%), the change in the TE properties is small. In contrast, at CNT concentration close to φc, the co-addition of CuO could simultaneously increase the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient. With 5 wt% CuO and 0.8 wt% CNTs where a loose percolated network is formed, the Seebeck coefficient was increased from 34.1 µV/K to 45 µV/K while the electrical conductivity was from 1.6 × 10−3 S/cm to 3.8 × 10−3 S/cm, leading to a power factor of 9.6 × 10−4 µW/mK2 (cf. 1.8 × 10−4 µW/mK2 for the composite with only 0.8 wt% CNTs).
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    Photoluminescence at room temperature of liquid-phase crystallized silicon on glass
    (New York, NY : American Inst. of Physics, 2016) Vetter, Michael; Schwuchow, Anka; Andrä, Gudrun
    The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum due band-to-band recombination in an only 8 μm thick liquid-phase crystallized silicon on glass solar cell absorber is measured over 3 orders of magnitude with a thin 400 μm thick optical fiber directly coupled to the spectrometer. High PL signal is achieved by the possibility to capture the PL spectrum very near to the silicon surface. The spectra measured within microcrystals of the absorber present the same features as spectra of crystalline silicon wafers without showing defect luminescence indicating the high electronic material quality of the liquid-phase multi-crystalline layer after hydrogen plasma treatment.
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    Electron beam induced dehydrogenation of MgH2 studied by VEELS
    (Cham : Springer International Publishing AG, 2016) Surrey, Alexander; Schultz, Ludwig; Rellinghaus, Bernd
    Nanosized or nanoconfined hydrides are promising materials for solid-state hydrogen storage. Most of these hydrides, however, degrade fast during the structural characterization utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM) upon the irradiation with the imaging electron beam due to radiolysis. We use ball-milled MgH2 as a reference material for in-situ TEM experiments under low-dose conditions to study and quantitatively understand the electron beam-induced dehydrogenation. For this, valence electron energy loss spectroscopy (VEELS) measurements are conducted in a monochromated FEI Titan3 80–300 microscope. From observing the plasmonic absorptions it is found that MgH2 successively converts into Mg upon electron irradiation. The temporal evolution of the spectra is analyzed quantitatively to determine the thickness-dependent, characteristic electron doses for electron energies of both 80 and 300 keV. The measured electron doses can be quantitatively explained by the inelastic scattering of the incident high-energy electrons by the MgH2 plasmon. The obtained insights are also relevant for the TEM characterization of other hydrides.
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    Cryogenic-temperature-induced structural transformation of a metallic glass
    (London [u.a.] : Taylor & Francis, 2016-11-30) Bian, Xilei; Wang, Gang; Wang, Qing; Sun, Baoan; Hussain, Ishtiaq; Zhai, Qijie; Mattern, Norbert; Bednarčík, Jozef; Eckert, Jürgen
    The plasticity of metallic glasses depends largely on the atomic-scale structure. However, the details of the atomic-scale structure, which are responsible for their properties, remain to be clarified. In this study, in-situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction and strain-rate jump compression tests at different cryogenic temperatures were carried out. We show that the activation volume of flow units linearly depends on temperature in the non-serrated flow regime. A plausible atomic deformation mechanism is proposed, considering that the activated flow units mediating the plastic flow originate from the medium-range order and transit to the short-range order with decreasing temperature.
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    Niobium carbide nanofibers as a versatile precursor for high power supercapacitor and high energy battery electrodes
    (London [u.a.] : RSC, 2016) Tolosa, Aura; Krüner, Benjamin; Fleischmann, Simon; Jäckel, Nicolas; Zeiger, Marco; Aslan, Mesut; Grobelsek, Ingrid; Presser, Volker
    This study presents electrospun niobium carbide/carbon (NbC/C) hybrid nanofibers, with an average diameter of 69 ± 30 nm, as a facile precursor to derive either highly nanoporous niobium carbide-derived carbon (NbC–CDC) fibers for supercapacitor applications or niobium pentoxide/carbon (Nb2O5/C) hybrid fibers for battery-like energy storage. In all cases, the electrodes consist of binder-free and free-standing nanofiber mats that can be used without further conductive additives. Chlorine gas treatment conformally transforms NbC nanofiber mats into NbC–CDC fibers with a specific surface area of 1508 m2 g−1. These nanofibers show a maximum specific energy of 19.5 W h kg−1 at low power and 7.6 W h kg−1 at a high specific power of 30 kW kg−1 in an organic electrolyte. CO2 treatment transforms NbC into T-Nb2O5/C hybrid nanofiber mats that provide a maximum capacity of 156 mA h g−1. The presence of graphitic carbon in the hybrid nanofibers enabled high power handling, maintaining 50% of the initial energy storage capacity at a high rate of 10 A g−1 (64 C-rate). When benchmarked for an asymmetric full-cell, a maximum specific energy of 86 W h kg−1 was obtained. The high specific power for both systems, NbC–CDC and T-Nb2O5/C, resulted from the excellent charge propagation in the continuous nanofiber network and the high graphitization of the carbon structure.