The effect of fluorine termination on the stability and bonding structure of diamond (111) surfaces were studied using first-principles calculations and compared with hydrogen termination by creating mixed F- and H-containing diamond surfaces. Surface F atoms, similar to H, formed sp3-type bonding with C atoms, which resulted in a more stable 1 × 1 configuration. The surface phase diagram built showed that the F-terminated surface was more stable in a larger-phase space than H termination, because of the formation of strong ionic C–F bonds and the development of attractive forces between F atoms, resulting in close packing of large F atoms. Hence, the F-terminated diamond surface was more chemically inert. A large repulsive force was required to bring two F-terminated surfaces together, because of the negative charge on F atoms, resulting in reduced adhesion tendency between two F-terminated diamond surfaces compared with H-terminated surfaces.

As the outer surface of a nanoporous carbon is treated with 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid, the carbon particles can form a stable suspension in water. When the water phase is compressed, the liquid infiltration behavior in the nanopores becomes significantly different from that of untreated material, suggesting that the inner surface is also modified. After the treatment, the infiltration pressure does not decrease. Therefore, the surface-chain configurations at the inner and outer surfaces must be different, which explains the variations in infiltration pressure and volume.

X-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscopy images, and transmission electron microscopy images showed that one-dimensional GaN nanorods with [0001]-oriented single-crystalline wurtzite structures were grown on Al2O3 (0001) substrates by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy without a catalyst. The tip morphology of the GaN nanorods became flat with increasing temperature difference between the gas mixing and the substrate zones. The gas mixing temperature significantly affected the formation of the nanorods, and the substrate temperature influenced the morphology and the strain of the GaN nanorods near the GaN/Al2O3 heterointerface. The strain and the stress existing in the GaN layer near the heterointerface were decreased with increasing growth rate. The formation mechanisms of the GaN nanorods grown on the Al2O3 (0001) substrates are described on the basis of the experimental results.

(Ti1–xSix)Ny (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.20; 0.99 ≤ y(x) ≤ 1.13) thin films deposited by arc evaporation have been investigated by analytical transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nanoindentation. Films with x ≤ 0.09 are single-phase cubic (Ti,Si)N solid solutions with a dense columnar microstructure. Films with x > 0.09 have a featherlike microstructure consisting of cubic TiN:Si nanocrystallite bundles separated by metastable SiNz with coherent-to-semicoherent interfaces and a dislocation density of as much as 1014 cm−2 is present. The films exhibit retained composition and hardness between 31 and 42 GPa in annealing experiments to 1000 °C due to segregation of SiNz to the grain boundaries. During annealing at 1100–1200 °C, this tissue phase thickens and transforms to amorphous SiNz. At the same time, Si and N diffuse out of the films via the grain boundaries and TiN recrystallize.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and brushite (DCPD) are two important compounds of the calcium apatite family with excellent bioactivity and osteoconductive properties in vivo. This work aimed to investigate the stability of HAp nanorods synthesized by the hydrothermal method in acetic acid aqueous solution. The results illuminated that HAp nanorods were converted into hollow nanospheres, and it was found that the concentration and amount of the acetic acid and the reaction time significantly affected the degree of the morphological evolution. Transmission electron microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscope, and x-ray diffraction were performed for characterizing the samples.

Nanometer-sized intermetallic Mg-Ni and Mg-Cu compound powders were prepared by a physical vapor deposition method (arc discharge) and characterized by means of x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Based on an empirical specific heat equation, the effective heat of formation and its temperature dependence were calculated to explain phase formation in nanoscale powders of the binary Mg-Ni and Mg-Cu systems. It is shown that theoretic calculations are in good agreement with the experimental observations.

The effects of the catalysts on the evolution of in-plane stress during heating were studied for silica gel coatings prepared from alkoxide solutions. Tetramethylorthosilicate was hydrolyzed in the presence of nitric acid, acetic acid, and ammonia as catalysts. Gel films were deposited on Si(100) wafers by spin coating, and heated at a constant rate of 5 °C/min up to 500 °C. During heating, in situ measurement of the in-plane stress was conducted by measuring the radius of curvature of the substrate. In-plane, tensile stress increased up to 560 and 370 MPa in the films prepared with HNO3 and CH3COOH, respectively. However, the stress was much smaller at 30–40 MPa, which remained almost constant during heating, for the films prepared with NH3. The much smaller stress resulted from the much lower degrees of the progress of densification during heating, which was revealed in the changes in thickness and infrared absorption spectra during heating. The low degrees of the progress of densification were caused by the colloidal nature of the gel films.

A series of Ti-B-C-N thin films were deposited on Si (100) at 500 °C by incorporation of different amounts of N into Ti-B-C using reactive unbalanced dc magnetron sputtering in an Ar-N2 gas mixture. The effect of N content on phase configuration, nanostructure evolution, and mechanical behaviors was studied by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and microindentation. It was found that the pure Ti-B-C was two-phased quasi-amorphous thin films comprising TiCx and TiB2. Incorporation of a small amount of N not only dissolved into TiCx but also promoted growth of TiCx nano-grains. As a result, nanocomposite thin films of nanocrystalline (nc-) TiCx(Ny) (x + y < 1) embedded into amorphous (a-) TiB2 were observed until nitrogen fully filled all carbon vacancy lattice (at that time x + y = 1). Additional increase of N content promoted formation of a-BN at the cost of TiB2, which produced nanocomposite thin films of nc-Ti(Cx,N1-x) embedded into a-(TiB2, BN). Formation of BN also decreased nanocrystalline size. Both microhardness and elastic modulus values were increased with an increase of N content and got their maximums at nanocomposite thin films consisting of nc-Ti(Cx,N1-x) and a-TiB2. Both values were decreased after formation of BN. Residual compressive stress value was successively decreased with an increase of N content. Enhancement of hardness was attributed to formation of nanocomposite structure and solid solution hardening.

In this study, the dense polycrystalline Ti2AlC was synthesized by self-propagating high-temperature combustion synthesis with the pseudo–hot isostatic pressing process (SHS/PHIP). The resultant phase purity is highly dependent on the mol ratio of raw powders. The Ti2AlC was densified by applying pressure after the SHS reaction. The resultant sample mainly contains typical plate-like nonstoichiometric Ti2AlCx (x = 0.69) with grain size of ∼6 µm. The sample shows the Vickers hardness of 5.5 GPa, highest flexural strength of 431 MPa, compressive strength of 1033 MPa, and fracture toughness of 6.5 MPa·m1/2. No indentation cracks in Ti2AlCx were observed, indicative of a damage material nature. The reaction mechanism for the formation of SHS/PHIP-derived Ti2AlC is also discussed based on differential thermal analysis and x-ray diffraction results.

Two types of novel bicrystalline ZnO nanowires have been synthesized by a thermal evaporation method. The morphology and microstructure of the nanowires have been extensively investigated. One type of the nanowires has agg twin boundary extending down its entire length with twinning plane and the zone axis. The other type is those nanowires with twin crystal-single crystal junction. The twin defects in the Sn-Zn alloy droplets in the initial growth process are proposed for interpreting the growth of these two kinds of bicrystalline nanowires.

ZrO2 thin films containing silver nanoparticles were prepared using the sol-gel method with Ag to Zr molar ratios [Ag]/[Zr] = 0.11, 0.25, 0.43, 0.67, 1.00, 1.50, and 2.33. After dip coating on glass substrate, coated films were annealed at 200 and 300 °C in air. X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to crystalline Ag were observed, but a specific peak corresponding to ZrO2 was not observed. At the molar ratio [Ag]/[Zr] = 0.25, the particle size of Ag distributed broadly centered at 17 nm for an annealing temperature of 200 °C and at 25 nm for 300 °C. The films annealed in air at 200 °C showed an absorption band centered at 450 nm because of the silver surface plasmon resonance, whereas films heated at 300 °C in air caused a red shift of the absorption to 500 nm. The absorption peak was analyzed using the effective dielectric function of Ag-ZrO2 composite films modeled with the Maxwell-Garnett expression.

A simple and convenient method for preparing visible light response photocatalyst polypyrrole/TiO2 (PPy/TiO2) nanocomposite was developed. The products were characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, ultraviolet-visible, and Fourier transform infrared techniques. The results indicated that the nanohybrid was composed of anatase TiO2 and PPy and exhibited an enhanced visible light-capturing ability. Average diameters of TiO2 and PPy/TiO2 were 18 and 35 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. In the presence of PPy/TiO2 nanocomposite, the degradation efficiency of methyl orange of 95.54% could be obtained under visible light irradiation within 120 min. The apparent rate constant was 2.19 × 10−2, which was better than that Degussa P25 nano-TiO2. The sensitization mechanism of PPy/TiO2 photocatalyst was discussed briefly.

Bulk hybrid polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/SiO2 glass with Sb2S3 nanocrystals was prepared by the sol-gel process. We tried to minimize the quantity of water as much as possible in tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) hydrolyzing, prepolymerized the organic monomers, mixed inorganic precursors, and prepolymerized organic monomers under a noncosolvent condition to reduce possible volume shrinkage. A silane coupling agent, which hydrolyzed simultaneously with TEOS, was introduced into the system to improve the miscibility of the organic and inorganic materials. The maximum dopant of Sb2S3 was 9 wt% in our experiments. The second-harmonic generation was observed in the hybrid PMMA/SiO2 glasses with electron-beam poling. Second-harmonic intensity increased with increase of accelerating voltage, current, and the content of Sb2S3 nanocrystals. The maximum χ2 in our study, as large as 1.64 p.m./V, was obtained under the optimized poling condition conducted at 25 kV, 20 nA, and 10 min. It was indicated from the thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements that the nonlinear layer was located in the thin 10-μm irradiated surface of the glass.

The composition, structure, morphology, and optical characteristics of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-oxycarbide (a-SiCxOyHz) materials were investigated as a function of experimental processing conditions and post-deposition thermal treatment. Thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) was applied to the growth of three different types of a-SiCxOyHz films, namely, SiC-like (SiC1.08O0.07H0.21), Si-C-O (SiC0.50O1.20H0.22), and SiO2-like (SiC0.20O1.70H0.24). The resulting films were subsequently annealed at temperatures ranging from 500 °C to 1100 °C for 1 h in an argon atmosphere. The composition, structure, and morphology of as-deposited and post-annealed films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), nuclear-reaction analysis (NRA), and scanning electron microscopy. Corresponding optical properties were assessed by spectroscopic ultraviolet-visible ellipsometry (UV-VIS-SE). These studies led to the identification of an optimized process window for the growth of Er doped silicon oxycarbide (SiC0.5O1.0:Er) thin film with strong room-temperature photoluminescence emission measured around 1540 nm within a broad (460 nm to 600 nm) wavelength band. Associated modeling studies showed that the effective cross section for Er excitation in the SiC0.5O1.0:Er matrix was approximately four orders of magnitude larger than its analog for direct optical excitation of Er ions.

Nanometric-sized nitrogen-doped titanium oxide (TiO2-xNy) powders were synthesized by the two-microemulsion technology. The dried precursor precipitate was characterized by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller, and x-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), and the mechanisms for the evolution of TiO2-xNy powders in this process were proposed and discussed in the context of the microstructure. It shows that a higher pH value solution results in obtaining a small size and much more homogeneous TiO2-xNy powder after calcinations. The powder prepared from a solution of pH 10–11 and calcined at 500 °C has a particle size of ∼4–6 nm with a specific surface area of 160 m2/g and exhibits a pure phase of anatase containing ∼5 mol% of N evidenced by XPS. However, the nanometric-sized TiO2-xNy powder shows the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue solution effectively by exposing the powders in aqueous solution under visible light.

Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphor was synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) from urea added nitrate based liquid precursor. In this study, urea serves as fuel and subsequently provides additional heat in the flame zone during the synthesis of phosphor particles. The end product shows cubic phase Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphor successfully prepared by FSP without heat treatment. The influence of synthesis conditions such as different mol of urea and nitrate source materials in aqueous solution, and doping concentration on luminescent properties, were investigated. The characteristics of nanophosphor such as crystallinity and morphology under various experiments of conditions were carried out by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The particle size of product was found to be in the range of 20–30 nm from transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In photoluminescence (PL) properties, Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphor emitted red light with a peak wavelength of 609 nm when excited with 398 nm wavelength photons.

The influences of (SiN)+ and Eu2+ concentration on the optical properties of BaAl2−xSixO4−xNx:Eu2+ were investigated. The lifetime results show that there are two different cation sites occupied by Eu2+ ions and the energy transfer occurs between them. The Huang–Rhys factor and the Stokes energy shift were determined, and thermal quenching with increasing temperature was observed. Finally, intense yellowish-green light emitting diodes (LED) with the color coordinate of (0.2936, 0.4483) under a forward-bias current of 20 mA was successfully fabricated on the basis of a structure consisting of BaAl2−xSixO4−xNx:Eu2+ phosphor and near-ultraviolet (∼395 nm) GaN chip.

The microstructure in AO-excess SrTiO3 (A = Sr2+, Ca2+, Ba2+) ceramics is strongly affected by the formation of Ruddlesden-Popper fault–rich (RP fault) lamellae, which are coherently intergrown with the matrix of the perovskite grains. We studied the structure and chemistry of RP faults by applying quantitative high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy analyses. We showed that the Sr2+ and Ca2+ dopant ions form RP faults during the initial stage of sintering. The final microstructure showed preferentially grown RP fault lamellae embedded in the central part of the anisotropic perovskite grains. In contrast, the dopant Ba2+ ions preferably substituted for Sr2+ in the SrTiO3 matrix by forming a BaxSr1−xTiO3 solid solution. The surplus of Sr2+ ions was compensated structurally in the later stages of sintering by the formation of SrO-rich RP faults. The resulting microstructure showed RP fault lamellae located at the surface of equiaxed BaxSr1-xTiO3 perovskite grains.

An in situ bulk ultrafine bimodal eutectic Al–Cu–Si composite was synthesized by solidification. This heterostructured composite with microstructural length scale hierarchy in the eutectic microstructure, which combines an ultrafine-scale binary cellular eutectic (α-Al + Al2Cu) and a nanometer-sized anomalous ternary eutectic (α-Al + Al2Cu + Si), exhibits high fracture strength (1.1 ± 0.1 GPa) and large compressive plastic strain (11 ± 2%) at room temperature. The improved compressive plasticity of the bimodal-nanoeutectic composite originates from homogeneous and uniform distribution of inhomogeneous plastic deformation (localized shear bands), together with strong interaction between shear bands in the spatially heterogeneous structure.

The reinforcing effects of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are investigated for aluminum matrix composites. The composites present a strong bonding between CNTs and the aluminum matrix using a controlled mechanical milling process, producing a network structure of aluminum atoms around CNTs. At the same time, CNTs that are dispersed during the milling process can be located inside aluminum powders, thereby providing an easy consolidation route via thermomechanical processes. A composite containing 4.5 vol% multiwalled CNTs exhibits a yield strength of 620 MPa and fracture toughness of 61 MPa·mm1/2, the values of which are nearly 15 and seven times higher than those of the corresponding starting aluminum, respectively.