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    Analysis of catalyst surface wetting: The early stage of epitaxial germanium nanowire growth
    (Frankfurt, M. : Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften, 2020) Ernst, Owen C.; Lange, Felix; Uebel, David; Teubner, Thomas; Boeck, Torsten
    The dewetting process is crucial for several applications in nanotechnology. Even though not all dewetting phenomena are fully understood yet, especially regarding metallic fluids, it is clear that the formation of nanometre-sized particles, droplets, and clusters as well as their movement are strongly linked to their wetting behaviour. For this reason, the thermodynamic stability of thin metal layers (0.1-100 nm) with respect to their free energy is examined here. The decisive factor for the theoretical considerations is the interfacial energy. In order to achieve a better understanding of the interfacial interactions, three different models for estimating the interfacial energy are presented here: (i) fully theoretical, (ii) empirical, and (iii) semi-empirical models. The formation of nanometre-sized gold particles on silicon and silicon oxide substrates is investigated in detail. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of the three models are elucidated, the different substrates used are compared, and the possibility to further process the obtained particles as nanocatalysts is verified. The importance of a persistent thin communication wetting layer between the particles and its effects on particle size and number is also clarified here. In particular, the intrinsic reduction of the Laplace pressure of the system due to material re-evaporation and Ostwald ripening describes the theoretically predicted and experimentally obtained results. Thus, dewetting phenomena of thin metal layers can be used to manufacture nanostructured devices. From this point of view, the application of gold droplets as catalysts to grow germanium nanowires on different substrates is described. © 2020 Ernst et al.
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    Comparison of nano-structured transition metal modified tri-metal MgMAl–LDHs (M = Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co) prepared using co-precipitation
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2019) Gevers, Bianca R.; Naseem, Sajid; Leuteritz, Andreas; Labuschagné, Frederick J. W. J.
    Comparison of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) synthesised using different methods, conditions and post-treatment is difficult to achieve because these greatly modify their material properties. This paper aims to provide a comparison of material properties for modified quintinite, where all LDHs were synthesised at the same conditions-thus allowing for direct comparison of the material properties obtained. Nano-structured materials were formed in all cases. The nano-structured transition metal (TM) MgMAl-LDHs were synthesised using constant pH co-precipitation. Five TMs (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) were included in the LDH layers with molar substitutions of 0.5%, 1%, 5%, 10%, and 25% based on Mg-replacement for divalent TM cations and Al-replacement for trivalent TM cations. The materials were characterised using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared analysis (ATR-FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and particle size analysis (PSA). The modified LDHs were synthesised free of major by-products and with similar morphologies. It could be shown that the crystallite dimensions varied between the different TM substitutions, that morphological changes were visible for some of the TMs used, that the processability depended on the TMs substituted, and that the substitution of TMs influenced the thermal stability of the LDHs. This journal is © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.