Search the repository

A+ | A- | | SLO | ENG

Keywords: photocatalysts, TiO2, Cu/Zr, photodegradation, material characterization, photothermal spectrometry
Published in RUNG: 23.11.2021; Views: 2266; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

Abstract: In recent years a classification of materials based on their topological order gained popularity due to the discovery of materials with special topological character – topological insulators (TI). TI have different band structure than regular insulators or conductors. They are characterized by a band gap in the bulk of the material, but at the surface they possess conductive topological surface states (TSS) that cross the Fermi level. TSS are a consequence of the non-trivial bulk band structure and have properties that differ from ordinary surface states. They are robust toward contamination and deformation of the surface. Additionally, they are also spin polarized, which means that an electron spin is locked to a crystal momentum and, therefore, backscattering during transport is suppressed [1]. Due to their specific properties the TI could be used in fields of spintronics, quantum computing and catalysis [2]. The investigation of the interfaces between metals and the TI has not been given much attention even though its characterization is interesting from fundamental physics and applicative point of view. (In)stability of the contacts with metal electrodes, in a form of a chemical reaction or diffusion, has to be taken into account since it can affect the transport properties of the material or increase the contact resistance. Our research is dedicated to the study of the metal/TI interfaces, in particular to Bi2Se3 with deposited metals that are relevant for electrical contacts (Au, Ag, Pt, Cr, Ti). The thermal and chemical stability of the interfaces are of fundamental importance for understanding the contact behavior, therefore, we focused our work to the characterization of these properties. The metal/TI interfaces are investigated mainly with an electron microscopy (SEM, TEM, STM), EDX microanalysis and XRD. Our previous studies showed that the interface between Bi2Se3, and Ag deposited either chemically or from a vapor phase, results in the formation of new phases already at room temperature [3]. On the contrary, Au deposited on the Bi2Se3 surface shows very limited reactivity and is stable at RT, but diffusion and coalescence of the metal are observed starting from 100 °C [4]. In this contribution, we will present further characterization on the evolution of the Ag/Bi2Se3 and Au/Bi2Se3 interfaces, show preliminary results about recently investigated systems (Pt/Bi2Se3, Ti/Bi2Se3) and compare the thermal and chemical stability of the systems under investigation.
Keywords: thermal lens spectrometry, photothermal beam deflection spectroscopy, dye remediation, photothermal technique, photocatalytic degradation, reactive blue 19, TiO2 modification
Published in RUNG: 20.08.2021; Views: 2207; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

Keywords: cyanobacteria, nanobodies, fluobodies, phage display, thermal lens spectrometry
Published in RUNG: 19.04.2021; Views: 2185; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

Abstract: Recent field studies have found large discrepancies in the measured vs. modeled SOA mass loadings in both urban and regional polluted atmospheres. The reasons for these large differences are unclear. Here we revisit a case study of SOA formation in Mexico City described by Volkamer et al. (2006), during a photochemically active period when the impact of regional biomass burning is minor or negligible, and show that the observed increase in OA/Delta CO is consistent with results from several groups during MILAGRO 2006. Then we use the case study to evaluate three new SOA models: 1) the update of aromatic SOA yields from recent chamber experiments (Ng et al., 2007); 2) the formation of SOA from glyoxal (Volkamer et al., 2007a); and 3) the formation of SOA from primary semivolatile and intermediate volatility species (P-S/IVOC) (Robinson et al., 2007). We also evaluate the effect of reduced partitioning of SOA into POA (Song et al., 2007). Traditional SOA precursors (mainly aromatics) by themselves still fail to produce enough SOA to match the observations by a factor of similar to similar to 7. The new low-NOx aromatic pathways with very high SOA yields make a very small contribution in this high-NOx urban environment as the RO2 center dot+NO reaction dominates the fate of the RO2 center dot radicals. Glyoxal contributes several mu g m(-3) to SOA formation, with similar timing as the measurements. P-S/IVOC are estimated from equilibrium with emitted POA, and introduce a large amount of gas-phase oxidizable carbon that was not in models before. With the formulation in Robinson et al. (2007) these species have a high SOA yield, and this mechanism can close the gap in SOA mass between measurements and models in our case study. However the volatility of SOA produced in the model is too high and the O/C ratio is somewhat lower than observations. Glyoxal SOA helps to bring the O/C ratio of predicted and observed SOA into better agreement. The sensitivities of the model to some key uncertain parameters are evaluated.
Keywords: polycyclic aromatic-hydrocarbons, positive matrix factorization, mass-spectrometry, volatility measurements
Published in RUNG: 11.04.2021; Views: 2037; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

Abstract: In wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the awns—the bristle-like structures extending from lemmas—are photosynthetically active. Compared to awned cultivars, awnletted cultivars produce more grains per unit area and per spike, resulting in significant reduction in grain size, but their mineral element composition remains unstudied. Nine awned and 11 awnletted cultivars were grown simultaneously in the field. With no difference in 1000-grain weight, a larger calcium and manganese—but smaller iron (Fe) concentrations—were found in whole grain of awned than in awnletted cultivars. Micro X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis of different tissues of frozen-hydrated grain cross-sections revealed that differences in total Fe concentration were not accompanied by differences in Fe speciation (64% of Fe existed as ferric and 36% as ferrous species) or Fe ligands (53% were phytate and 47% were non-phytate ligands). In contrast, there was a distinct tissue-specificity with pericarp containing the largest proportion (86%) of ferric species and nucellar projection (49%) the smallest. Phytate ligand was predominant in aleurone, scutellum and embryo (72%, 70%, and 56%, respectively), while nucellar projection and pericarp contained only non-phytate ligands. Assuming Fe bioavailability depends on Fe ligands, we conclude that Fe bioavailability from wheat grain is tissue specific.
Keywords: biofortification, phytate, iron, awn, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray absorption spectrometry, phosphorus, sulphur, nicotianamine
Published in RUNG: 16.01.2020; Views: 2838; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...