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- ItemFlux Growth and Characterization of Bulk InVO4 Crystals(Basel : MDPI, 2023) Voloshyna, Olesia; Gorbunov, Mikhail V.; Mikhailova, Daria; Maljuk, Andrey; Seiro, Silvia; Büchner, BerndThe flux growth of InVO4 bulk single crystals has been explored for the first time. The reported eutectic composition at a ratio of V2O5:InVO4 = 1:1 could not be used as a self-flux since no sign of melting was observed up to 1100 °C. Crystals of InVO4 of typical size 0.5 × 1 × 7 mm3 were obtained using copper pyrovanadate (Cu2V2O7) as a flux, using Pt crucibles. X-ray powder diffraction confirmed the orthorhombic Cmcm structure. Rests of the flux material were observed on the sample surface, with occasional traces of Pt indicating some level of reaction with the crucible. X-ray absorption spectroscopy showed that oxidation states of indium and vanadium ions are +3 and +5, respectively. The size and high quality of the obtained InVO4 crystals makes them excellent candidates for further study of their physical properties.
- ItemFloating Zone Growth of Pure and Pb-Doped Bi-2201 Crystals(Basel : MDPI, 2024) Roslova, Maria; Büchner, Bernd; Maljuk, AndreyIn this review, we summarize recent progress in crystal growth and understanding of the influence of crystal structure on superconductivity in pure and Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CuOy (Bi-2201) materials belonging to the overdoped region of high-temperature cuprate superconductors. The crystal growth of Bi-2201 superconductors faces challenges due to intricate materials chemistry and the lack of knowledge of corresponding phase diagrams. Historically, a crucible-free floating zone method emerged as the most promising growth approach for these materials, resulting in high-quality single crystals. This review outlines the described methods in the literature and the authors’ synthesis endeavors encompassing Pb-doped Bi-2201 crystals, provides a detailed structural characterization of as-grown and post-growth annealed samples, and highlights optimal growth conditions that yield large-size, single-phase, and compositionally homogeneous Bi-2201 single crystals.
- ItemFlexible Piezoresistive Polystyrene Composite Sensors Filled with Hollow 3D Graphitic Shells(Basel : MDPI, 2023) Guzenko, Nataliia; Godzierz, Marcin; Kurtyka, Klaudia; Hercog, Anna; Nocoń-Szmajda, Klaudia; Gawron, Anna; Szeluga, Urszula; Trzebicka, Barbara; Yang, Ruizhi; Rümmeli, Mark H.The objective of this research was to develop highly effective conductive polymer composite (CPC) materials for flexible piezoresistive sensors, utilizing hollow three-dimensional graphitic shells as a highly conductive particulate component. Polystyrene (PS), a cost-effective and robust polymer widely used in various applications such as household appliances, electronics, automotive parts, packaging, and thermal insulation materials, was chosen as the polymer matrix. The hollow spherical three-dimensional graphitic shells (GS) were synthesized through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles serving as a support, which was removed post-synthesis and employed as the conductive filler. Commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as a reference one-dimensional graphene material. The main focus of this study was to investigate the impact of the GS on the piezoresistive response of carbon/polymer composite thin films. The distribution and arrangement of GS and CNTs in the polymer matrix were analyzed using techniques such as X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, while the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the composites were also evaluated. The results revealed that the PS composite films filled with GS exhibited a more pronounced piezoresistive response as compared to the CNT-based composites, despite their lower mechanical and thermal performance.
- ItemSteering of Vortices by Magnetic Field Tilting in Open Superconductor Nanotubes(Basel : MDPI, 2024) Bogush, Igor; Fomin, Vladimir M.; Dobrovolskiy, Oleksandr V.In planar superconductor thin films, the places of nucleation and arrangements of moving vortices are determined by structural defects. However, various applications of superconductors require reconfigurable steering of fluxons, which is hard to realize with geometrically predefined vortex pinning landscapes. Here, on the basis of the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equation, we present an approach for the steering of vortex chains and vortex jets in superconductor nanotubes containing a slit. The idea is based on the tilting of the magnetic field (Formula presented.) at an angle (Formula presented.) in the plane perpendicular to the axis of a nanotube carrying an azimuthal transport current. Namely, while at (Formula presented.), vortices move paraxially in opposite directions within each half-tube; an increase in (Formula presented.) displaces the areas with the close-to-maximum normal component (Formula presented.) to the close(opposite)-to-slit regions, giving rise to descending (ascending) branches in the induced-voltage frequency spectrum (Formula presented.). At lower B values, upon reaching the critical angle (Formula presented.), the close-to-slit vortex chains disappear, yielding (Formula presented.) of the (Formula presented.) type ((Formula presented.) : an integer; (Formula presented.) : the vortex nucleation frequency). At higher B values, (Formula presented.) is largely blurry because of multifurcations of vortex trajectories, leading to the coexistence of a vortex jet with two vortex chains at (Formula presented.). In addition to prospects for the tuning of GHz-frequency spectra and the steering of vortices as information bits, our findings lay the foundation for on-demand tuning of vortex arrangements in 3D superconductor membranes in tilted magnetic fields.
- ItemSelf-Healing Iron Oxide Polyelectrolyte Nanocomposites: Influence of Particle Agglomeration and Water on Mechanical Properties(Basel : MDPI, 2023) Oberhausen, Bastian; Plohl, Ajda; Niebuur, Bart-Jan; Diebels, Stefan; Jung, Anne; Kraus, Tobias; Kickelbick, GuidoSelf-healing nanocomposites can be generated by organic functionalization of inorganic nanoparticles and complementary functionalization of the polymer matrix, allowing reversible interactions between the two components. Here, we report on self-healing nanocomposites based on ionic interactions between anionic copolymers consisting of di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate, sodium 4-(methacryloyloxy)butan-1-sulfonate, and cationically functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles. The materials exhibited hygroscopic behavior. At water contents < 6%, the shear modulus was reduced by up to 90%. The nanoparticle concentration was identified as a second factor strongly influencing the mechanical properties of the materials. Backscattered scanning electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements showed the formation of agglomerates in the size range of 100 nm to a few µm in diameter, independent of concentration, resulting in the disordering of the semi-crystalline ionic polymer blocks. These effects resulted in an increase in the shear modulus of the composite from 3.7 MPa to 5.6 MPa, 6.3 Mpa, and 7.5 MPa for 2, 10, and 20 wt% particles, respectively. Temperature-induced self-healing was possible for all composites investigated. However, only 36% of the maximum stress could be recovered in systems with a low nanoparticle content, whereas the original properties were largely restored (>85%) at higher particle contents.
- ItemCapturing Unstable Metallofullerenes(Basel : MDPI, 2024) Liu, Fupin; Popov, Alexey A.Metallofullerenes are interesting molecules with unique structures and physicochemical properties. After they are formed in the arc-discharge process, they are first buried in the carbon soot, which requires solvent extraction to fish them out, normally followed by HPLC separation. In this minireview, we summarize the main procedures developed to obtain pure metallofullerenes, including well-established extraction with conventional fullerene solvents followed by HPLC (procedure (I) as well as several methods developed for isolation and purification of unstable fullerenes insoluble in conventional fullerene solvents, including chemical modification followed by dissolution (II.1), chemical functionalization during extraction followed by HPLC (II.2), and chemical functionalization of ionic EMFs after redox-extraction followed by HPLC (procedure II.3). The main focus here is on procedure II.3, for which the current status and future perspective are discussed.
- ItemFast-Response Micro-Phototransistor Based on MoS2/Organic Molecule Heterojunction(Basel : MDPI, 2023) Andleeb, Shaista; Wang, Xiaoyu; Dong, Haiyun; Valligatla, Sreeramulu; Saggau, Christian Niclaas; Ma, Libo; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Zhu, FengOver the past years, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been the most extensively studied two-dimensional (2D) semiconductormaterial. With unique electrical and optical properties, 2DMoS2 is considered to be a promising candidate for future nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, charge trapping leads to a persistent photoconductance (PPC), hindering its use for optoelectronic applications. To overcome these drawbacks and improve the optoelectronic performance, organic semiconductors (OSCs) are selected to passivate surface defects, tune the optical characteristics, and modify the doping polarity of 2D MoS2. Here, we demonstrate a fast photoresponse in multilayer (ML) MoS2 by addressing a heterojunction interface with vanadylphthalocyanine (VOPc) molecules. The MoS2/VOPc van der Waals interaction that has been established encourages the PPC effect in MoS2 by rapidly segregating photo-generated holes, which move away from the traps of MoS2 toward the VOPc molecules. The MoS2/VOPc phototransistor exhibits a fast photo response of less than 15 ms for decay and rise, which is enhanced by 3ordersof magnitude in comparison to that of a pristine MoS2-based phototransistor (seconds to tens of seconds). This work offers a means to realize high-performance transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-based photodetection with a fast response speed.
- ItemChemical and Structural Comparison of Different Commercial Food Supplements for Silicon Uptake(Basel : MDPI, 2023) Curto, Yannic; Koch, Marcus; Kickelbick, GuidoVarious food supplements for silicon uptake were compared in terms of their structures and chemical compositions. In particular, we analyzed the silanol group content, which can be an indicator of the uptake of the siliceous species in the human body. We analyzed the commercial products Original Silicea Balsam®, Flügge Siliceous Earth Powder, Pure Colloidal Silicon, and BioSil® by applying various methods such as FTIR, 29Si NMR, and TGA. The Si-OH group content of the samples containing pure silica was the highest for the Original Silicea Balsam followed by the Pure Colloidal Silicon. The siliceous earth powder revealed the lowest content of such groups and the densest structure. BioSil® contained a considerable concentration of organic molecules that stabilized orthosilicic acid. The study may help to understand the silicon uptake behavior of different food supplements depending on their chemical structure.