scholarly journals Direct visualization of anionic electrons in an electride reveals inhomogeneities

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. eabe6819
Author(s):  
Qiang Zheng ◽  
Tianli Feng ◽  
Jordan A. Hachtel ◽  
Ryo Ishikawa ◽  
Yongqiang Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Density Functional ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Charge Variation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Scanning Transmission ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Electrides are an unusual family of materials that feature loosely bonded electrons that occupy special interstitial sites and serve as anions. They are attracting increasing attention because of their wide range of exotic physical and chemical properties. Despite the critical role of the anionic electrons in inducing these properties, their presence has not been directly observed experimentally. Here, we visualize the columnar anionic electron density within the prototype electride Y5Si3 with sub-angstrom spatial resolution using differential phase-contrast imaging in a scanning transmission electron microscope. The data further reveal an unexpected charge variation at different anionic sites. Density functional theory simulations show that the presence of trace H impurities is the cause of this inhomogeneity. The visualization and quantification of charge inhomogeneities in crystals will serve as valuable input in future theoretical predictions and experimental analysis of exotic properties in electrides and materials beyond.

Secondary electron imaging of YBa2Cu3O7-x high-Tc superconductors in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 684-685
Author(s):  
D. R. Liu ◽  
D. B. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Secondary Electron ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Superconducting Phase ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
High Tc ◽  
Bright Contrast ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Scanning Transmission ◽  
Electron Imaging

The secondary electron imaging technique in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used first by Millman et al. in 1987 to distinguish between the superconducting phase and the non-superconducting phase of the YBa2Cu3O7-x superconductors. They observed that, if the sample was cooled down below the transition temperature Tc and imaged with secondary electrons, some regions in the image would show dark contrast whereas others show bright contrast. In general, the contrast variation of a SEM image is the variation of the secondary electron yield over a specimen, which in turn results from the change of topography and conductivity over the specimen. Nevertheless, Millman et al. were able to demonstrate with their experimental results that the dominant contrast mechanism should be the conductivity variation and that the regions of dark contrast were the superconducting phase whereas the regions of bright contrast were the non-superconducting phase, because the latter was a poor conductor and consequently, the charge building-up resulted in high secondary electron emission. This observation has since aroused much interest amoung the people in electron microscopy and high Tc superconductivity. The present paper is the preliminary report of our attempt to carry out the secondary electron imaging of this material in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) rather than in a SEM. The advantage of performing secondary electron imaging in a TEM is obvious that, in a TEM, the spatial resolution is higher and many more complementary techniques, e.g, diffraction contrast imaging, phase contrast imaging, electron diffraction and various microanalysis techniques, are available.

scholarly journals Palladium and Copper: Advantageous Nanocatalysts for Multi-Step Transformations

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1891
Author(s):  
Antonio Reina ◽  
Trung Dang-Bao ◽  
Itzel Guerrero-Ríos ◽  
Montserrat Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Solid Supports ◽  
Nanosized Materials ◽  
Nano Structures ◽  
Liquid Phases ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Synthetic Methodologies ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
A Current

Metal nanoparticles have been deeply studied in the last few decades due to their attractive physical and chemical properties, finding a wide range of applications in several fields. Among them, well-defined nano-structures can combine the main advantages of heterogeneous and homogenous catalysts. Especially, catalyzed multi-step processes for the production of added-value chemicals represent straightforward synthetic methodologies, including tandem and sequential reactions that avoid the purification of intermediate compounds. In particular, palladium- and copper-based nanocatalysts are often applied, becoming a current strategy in the sustainable synthesis of fine chemicals. The rational tailoring of nanosized materials involving both those immobilized on solid supports and liquid phases and their applications in organic synthesis are herein reviewed.

Adsorption–Desorption Characteristics of ss-DNA on 2D TpTta-COF Studied by Fluorescently Labeled Oligonucleotides

NANO ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 2150050
Author(s):  
Zhaoyu Han ◽  
Sen Li ◽  
Shaoxian Yin ◽  
Zhi-Qin Wang ◽  
Yanfei Cai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Kinetic Mechanism ◽  
Optical Biosensors ◽  
Desorption Kinetic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Fluorescently Labeled Oligonucleotides ◽  
Adsorption Desorption ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
And Chemical Properties

Being the newest member of the 2D materials family, 2D-nanosheet possesses many distinctive physical and chemical properties resulting in a wide range of potential applications. Recently, it was discovered that 2D COF can adsorb single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) efficiently as well as usefully to quench fluorophores. These properties make it possible to prepare DNA-based optical biosensors using 2D COF. While practical analytical applications are being demonstrated, the fundamental understanding of binding between 2D COF and DNA in solution received relatively less attention. In this work, we carried out a systematic study to understand the adsorption and desorption kinetic, mechanism, and influencing factors of ss-DNA on the surface of 2D COF. We demonstrated that shorter DNAs are adsorbed more rapidly and bind more tightly to the surface of 2D COF. The adsorption is favored by a higher pH. The different buffer types also can affect the adsorption. In Tris-HCl solution, the adsorption reached highest efficiency. By adding the complementary DNA (cDNA), desorption of the absorbed DNA on 2D COF can be achieved. Further, desorption efficiency can also be exchanged by various surfactant in solution. These findings are important for further understanding of the interactions between DNA and COFs and for the optimization of DNA and COF-based devices and sensors.

scholarly journals AVALIAÇÃO DA ESTRUTURA ELETRÔNICA DA FASE MONOCLINICA DO ÓXIDO DE NIÓBIO COM BASE NO USO DE DIFERENTES FUNCIONAIS DE DENSIDADE

Química Nova ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Ody ◽  
João Jesus ◽  
Carlos Cava ◽  
Anderson Albuquerque ◽  
Ary Maia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Density Functional ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Physical And Chemical Properties ◽  
Density Functionals ◽  
Monoclinic Structure ◽  
Functional Theory ◽  
Periodic Models ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
And Chemical Properties

ASSESSMENT OF THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF THE MONOCLINIC PHASE OF NIOBIUM OXIDE BASED ON THE USE OF DIFFERENT DENSITY FUNCTIONALS. Niobium oxides, Nb2O5, are considered semiconductor materials with very attractive physical and chemical properties for applications in many areas, such as catalysis, sensors, medical, aerospace, etc. Especially, the characterization of Nb2O5-based nanostructures with monoclinic structure has received much attention in recent years. However, despite the great importance of this system, some of its fundamentals properties are still not fully understood. Hence, this work aims to apply the theoretical methodologies through Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations in periodic models based on the use of different density functionals (like B1WC, B3PW, B3LYP, PBE0, PBESOL0, SOGGAXC, and WC1LYP) to investigate the physical and chemical properties of the monoclinic structure of Nb2O5. The band structures, energy bandgap, density of state, and vibrational properties, as well as order-disorder effects on the monoclinic structure of Nb2O5 are investigated in this study. Our theoretical results show a better agreement with experimental data for the B3LYP functional and hence lead to new perspectives on the deeper physicochemical understanding of the monoclinic Nb2O5. From these computational tools, it is possible to unravel the relations between structure and properties, which may contribute to the future development of new devices and applications based on these materials.

scholarly journals Syntheses of Colloidal F:In2O3 Cubes: Fluorine-Induced Faceting and Infrared Plasmonic Response

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Hum Cho ◽  
Sandeep Ghosh ◽  
Zachariah J. Berkson ◽  
Jordan A. Hachtel ◽  
Jianjian Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Density Functional ◽  
Spectral Response ◽  
Visible Region ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Colloidal Synthesis ◽  
Localized Surface Plasmon ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Surface Binding ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Scanning Transmission

Cube-shaped nanocrystals (NCs) of conventional metals like gold and silver generally exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the visible region with spectral modes determined by their faceted shapes. However, faceted NCs exhibiting LSPR response in the infrared (IR) region are relatively rare. Here, we describe the colloidal synthesis of nanoscale fluorine-doped indium oxide (F:In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) cubes with LSPR response in the IR region, wherein fluorine was found to both direct the cubic morphology and act as an aliovalent dopant. Single crystalline 160 nm F:In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> cubes terminated by (100) facets and concave cubes were synthesized using a colloidal heat-up method. The presence of fluorine was found to impart higher stabilization to the (100) facets through density functional theory (DFT) calculations that evaluated the energetics of F-substitution at surface oxygen sites. These calculations suggest that the cubic morphology results from surface binding of F-atoms. In addition, fluorine acts as an anionic aliovalent dopant in the cubic bixbyite lattice of In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, introducing a high concentration of free electrons leading to LSPR. We confirmed the presence of lattice fluorine dopants in these cubes using solid-state <sup>19</sup>F and <sup>115</sup>In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The cubes exhibit narrow, shape-dependent multimodal LSPR extinction peaks due to corner- and edge-centered modes. The spatial origin of these different contributions to the spectral response are directly visualized by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM).

scholarly journals Peculiarities of the Physicochemical Properties of Hydrated C60 Fullerene Solutions in a Wide Range of Dilutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Yablonskaya ◽  
E. Buravleva ◽  
K. Novikov ◽  
V. Voeikov
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Buffering Capacity ◽  
Deionized Water ◽  
Physical And Chemical Properties ◽  
Aqueous Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Dilutions ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Control Water ◽  
And Chemical Properties

Hydrated fullerene C60 (HyFn) is a supramolecular object in which the nanosized fullerene molecule is enclosed in a multilayer shell of water molecules. Despite the fact that fullerene C60 is chemically rather inert, aqueous solutions of HyFn exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activity in particular in low and ultra-low concentrations. Thus, physical and chemical properties of aqueous solutions of HyFn in a wide range of its dilutions are of interest. Here we compared some physical and chemical properties of aqueous systems prepared by successive 100-fold dilutions of HyFn (10–7 M) with deionized water, with their intensive shaking at each stage up to the calculated HyFn concentration of 10–31 M and of the corresponding “dilutions” of deionized water prepared in the same manner (controls). We studied the character of рН changes in dilutions when titrating them with HCl and NaOH. It turned out that HyFn dilutions had significantly higher buffering capacity against acidification with HCl than control water “dilutions.” At the highest acidity reached pH in all HyFn dilutions was almost 0.3 units higher than in the respective controls. Average buffering capacity of HyFn dilutions and water controls when titrated with NaOH did not differ. However, differences in buffering capacity could be seen between consecutive dilutions of HyFn at their titration either with NaOH or with HCl. Most prominent differences were observed between consecutive HyFn dilutions in the range of calculated concentrations 10–17–10–31 M titrated with NaOH while no significant differences in pH between equivalent “dilutions” of control water were observed. Similar though less prominent variations in buffering capacity between consecutive HyFn dilutions titrated with HCl were also noticed. Thus, titration with an acid and especially with an alkali made it possible to reveal differences between individual dilutions of HyFn, as well as differences between HyFn dilutions and corresponding dilutions of water. These features may be due to complexity in the structural properties of aqueous systems, which, supposedly, can arise due to the emergence of heterogenous aqueous regions (“clouds”) in the course of their dilutions with intensive mixing at each stage. In order to find out if such heterogeneity is a characteristic for HyFn dilutions we used the method of drying microsphere-containing droplets, whose aqueous base were either HyFn dilutions in the range of calculated HyFn concentration 10–7–10–31 M or respective water controls. It was found that a significant part of HyFn dilutions is characterized by mesoscopic heterogeneity. It showed up by the tendency of microspheres to concentrate in a specific way resembling ornaments once the droplets had dried. As the degree of HyFn dilution increased, the number of dried droplets with an ornament-like microsphere distribution increased. Same was also observed in water control drops. However, for the dilutions of HyFn equivalent to concentrations 10–19–10–31 M the percentage of complexly structured dried up droplets reached 60–80%, while for dried out drops of respective water controls it did not exceed 15–20%. Thus, the physicochemical properties of high dilutions of hydrated fullerene differ not only from each other dependently on the dilution level, but also from those of high dilutions of water, which can be explained by the structuredness and heterogeneity of these aqueous systems. Therefore, upon dilution process the properties of the solutions change according to complex and non-linear laws so that final dilutions cannot be identical in their properties and features to those of the initial solutions (before dilutions process) and to the untreated water. Dilution process, in view of the aforementioned, should not be underestimated when analyzing properties of the solutions, having shown to be able to affect dramatically properties of the solutions.

scholarly journals Proanthocyanidins: Oligomeric Structures with Unique Biochemical Properties and Great Therapeutic Promise

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1200700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanjie Xu ◽  
Peng Du ◽  
Peter Meiser ◽  
Claus Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Antioxidant Properties ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Cancer Chemoprevention ◽  
Biochemical Properties ◽  
Synthetic Methods ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Proanthocyanidins represent a unique class of oligomeric and polymeric secondary metabolites found ubiquitously and in considerable amounts in plants and some algae. These substances exhibit a range of rather surprising physical and chemical properties which, once applied to living organisms, are translated into a multitude of biological activities. The latter include antioxidant properties, cancer chemoprevention, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects as well as some exceptional, yet highly interesting activities, such as anti-nutritional and antimicrobial activity. Despite the wide range of activities and possible medical/agricultural applications of proanthocyanidins, many questions still remain, including issues related to bioavailability, metabolism and the precise biochemical, extra- and intracellular targets and mode(s) of action of these highly potent materials. Among the various physical and chemical interactions of such substances, strong binding to proteins appears to form the basis of many of their biological activities. Once easy-to-use synthetic methods to produce appropriate quantities of pure proanthocyanidins are available, it will be possible to identify the prime biological targets of these oligomers, study oligomer-protein interactions in more detail and develop possible practical applications in medicine and agriculture.

scholarly journals Subunit cell–level measurement of polarization in an individual polar vortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. eaav4355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanwei Sun ◽  
Adeel Y. Abid ◽  
Congbing Tan ◽  
Chuanlai Ren ◽  
Mingqiang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dipole Moments ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Polarization Distribution ◽  
Scanning Transmission ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Sound Foundation ◽  
Ferroelectric Vortex

Recently, several captivating topological structures of electric dipole moments (e.g., vortex, flux closure) have been reported in ferroelectrics with reduced size/dimensions. However, accurate polarization distribution of these topological ferroelectric structures has never been experimentally obtained. We precisely measure the polarization distribution of an individual ferroelectric vortex in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices at the subunit cell level by using the atomically resolved integrated differential phase contrast imaging in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. We find, in vortices, that out-of-plane polarization is larger than in-plane polarization, and that downward polarization is larger than upward polarization. The polarization magnitude is closely related to tetragonality. Moreover, the contribution of the Pb─O bond to total polarization is highly inhomogeneous in vortices. Our precise measurement at the subunit cell scale provides a sound foundation for mechanistic understanding of the structure and properties of a ferroelectric vortex and lattice-charge coupling phenomena in these topological ferroelectric structures.

Incoherent High-Resolution Z-Contrast Imaging of Silicon and Gallium Arsenide Using HAADF-STEM

1999 ◽  
Vol 589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Kotaka ◽  
T. Yamazaki ◽  
Y Kikuchi ◽  
K. Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Dark Field ◽  
Contrast Imaging ◽  
High Spatial Resolution Image ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Eigen Value ◽  
Scanning Transmission ◽  
Annular Dark Field ◽  
Convergent Beam ◽  
Z Contrast

AbstractThe high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) technique in a dedicated scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) provides strong compositional sensitivity dependent on atomic number (Z-contrast image). Furthermore, a high spatial resolution image is comparable to that of conventional coherent imaging (HRTEM). However, it is difficult to obtain a clear atomic structure HAADF image using a hybrid TEM/STEM. In this work, HAADF images were obtained with a JEOL JEM-2010F (with a thermal-Schottky field-emission) gun in probe-forming mode at 200 kV. We performed experiments using Si and GaAs in the [110] orientation. The electron-optical conditions were optimized. As a result, the dumbbell structure was observed in an image of [110] Si. Intensity profiles for GaAs along [001] showed differences for the two atomic sites. The experimental images were analyzed and compared with the calculated atomic positions and intensities obtained from Bethe's eigen-value method, which was modified to simulate HAADF-STEM based on Allen and Rossouw's method for convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED). The experimental results showed a good agreement with the simulation results.

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