Advanced Materials Research Vol. 501

Abstract: A series of Antimony Borate glass samples were investigated to determine the structural feature. The glass samples from the series of xSb2O3:(1-x)B2O3 with composition of 20≤x≤60 mol% and 0.6 Sb2O3:0.4B2O3:y with y is 0.01 mol% of Nb2O5, CuO, ZnO system have been prepared using melt-quenching technique. The structural properties of Sb2O3 host and the introduction of dopents onto the host sample has been investigated using Infrared and RAMAN Spectroscopy. The result of IR and Raman Spectroscopy revealed that the network structure of the studied glasses is mainly based on BO3 and BO4 units placed in different structural groups, the BO3 units being dominant. IR spectra obtained shows conversion of BO3 to BO4 units upon the introduction of Sb2O3 commonly known as boron anomaly effect. The glass network can be modified with the presence of Sb2O3 and activator ions. The significant behavior in Raman Spectra indicates the presence of boroxol groups consisting of pure BO3 groups and mixed BO3-BO4 structural units. This study shows that the vibrational spectroscopy (Infrared and Raman) provide useful method, and inter-complementary information about the structural properties of antimony modified borate glasses.

Abstract: LiCoO2 is a well established commercial Li-ion battery cathode. However, due to cost constraints and the toxicity of the metal, other layered compounds should be investigated. In this paper, layered LiMn0.3Co0.3Ni0.3Fe0.1O2 were prepared using sol-gel method with CH3COOLi•2H2O, (CH3CO2)2Mn•4H2O, (CH3CO2)2Co•4H2O, (CH3CO2)2Ni•4H2O and Fe (NO3)3•9H2O as starting materials. The sample was characterized by simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis, x-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical characteristics were studied by a charge-discharge cycle done on the fabricated cell using a charge current of 1.0 mA and a discharge current 0.5 mA between 4.2 and 0.5 V. The XRD results showed that the layered LiMn0.3Co0.3Ni0.3Fe0.1O2 were of pure phase with discharge capacity of about 136 mAhg-1. The batteries were then subjected to a series of charge-discharge cycling in the voltage range of 2.5 to 4.2 V. The results showed there was little loss of capacity after 10 cycles.

Abstract: Nanoparticles (NPs) size dependent enhancement of the infrared-to-visible frequency up-conversion (UC) and absorption coefficient in silver NPs embedded Er3+ doped tellurite glasses on pumping with the 976 nm radiation are investigated. Rate equations are derived by developing a comprehensive 4-level model in integrating the effects of quantum confinement and local field of silver NPs. Considering the spherical NPs size distribution as Gaussian, an analytical expression for the luminescence intensity and absorption coefficient are obtained for the first time. An enhancement in UC emission intensity of the green bands (2H11/2→4I15/2 and 4S3/2→4I15/2) and red band (4F9/2→4I15/2) emission of Er3+ ion at temperature 250 K and at optimized Er3+ concentration 1.0 mol% is observed up to few times in the presence of silver NPs. Furthermore, the green emission shows larger enhancement than the red emission. The observed of Er3+ luminescence is mainly attributed to the local field effects namely the surface plasmon resonance of silver NPs that causes an intensified electromagnetic field around NPs, resulting in enhanced optical transitions of Er3+ ions in the vicinity. The model is quite general and can be applied to other rare earth doped glasses containing metallic NPs. Our results on NPs size dependent emission intensity and absorption coefficient are in conformity with other findings. The present systematic study provides useful information for further development of UC lasers and sensors.

Abstract: Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) coatings on a medical grade 316L stainless steel substrate were prepared by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) using ethanol as a dispersive medium. The deposition voltage of 30V was applied for 1 min at 25, 40 and 60 °C, respectively. The coated substrates were sintered in a vacuum furnace at 800 °C for 1 h. The surface morphology, structure and phase composition of the coatings was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that by increasing deposition conditions of voltage and temperature, crack occurrence and morphological changes increased in the produced coatings. The optimum condition for crack-free surface was at 30 V at 25 °C.

Abstract: A system of borate based glass with different modifier but similar dopant was investigated to determine both the structural and photoluminescence properties. The glass sample from the series of x(M):(1-x)B2O3 where 0.2 ≤ x ≤0.7 mole% and M was Li2O and SrO, and the metaborate composition of glass was doped withMn¬¬2+, Fe2+ and Zn2+ ions. The effect of the modifier towards the structural and photoluminescenceproperties in the glass samples was investigated using Fourier-Transfer Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Infrared spectrum revealed the traces of BO3 and BO4 units at different modifier and concentration. Significant changes in the host structure showed modification at specific region depending on the type of modifier.The photoluminescence of the samples were studied using the luminescence spectrophotometer. The samples were excited at different emission wavelength to compare the results. This study showed that with the introduce Mn2+, Fe2+ and Zn2+ ions as activators within the host material enhancedphotoluminescence characteristic.

Abstract: The effect of annealing temperatures on the formation of pure perovskite Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) based ceramics prepared by sol gel method has been investigated. The NBT sol was prepared using NaCH3COO, C6H9BiO6 and Ti(C4H9)4 with 2-methoxyethanol and glacial acetic acid were used as solvents. The BaTiO3 sol was synthesized using C4H6BaO4 and Ti(C4H9)4 with acetic acid and ethanolamine were used as solvents. The (Na0.5Bi0.5)0.96Ba0.04TiO3 (NBBT) sol was prepared by mixing appropriate amount of NBT and BaTiO3 sols. Then NBT and NBBT sols were dried at 200oC for 24 h, ground and subsequently annealed at temperatures ranging from 440oC – 640oC for 5 min. Formation of NBT and NBBT ceramics was examined using XRD technique. X-ray diffractograms reveal that the NBT ceramic with rhombohedral structure starts to form at 540oC and complete crystallization is achieved at 620oC. Addition of 4vol% of BaTiO3 sols drastically reduces the crystallization temperature of NBBT ceramic to 460oC and a pure single phase ceramic is achieved at 520oC. Despite retaining the same rhombohedral structure, the NBBT exhibits lattice parameters expansion indicating a successful Ba substitution which is also confirms by the absence of BaTiO3 peaks in the diffractograms. Both ceramics exhibit great thermal stability with additional increment in annealing temperatures.

Abstract: Series of glass based on (80-x)TeO2-10PbO-10PbCl2-xYb2O3 where 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 3.0 has been successfully prepared by melt quenching technique. The amorphous nature of glass has been determined by X-ray diffraction method. Their corrosion behavior was investigated using the FTIR spectroscopy technique on the sample that has been immersed in distilled water and in aqueous solution of pH 4 and pH 9 for 10 days. There were three major absorption peaks around 3600 cm-1, 889 cm-1 and 470 cm-1 has been observed. The intensity of each peak was found to vary with the Yb3+ content.

Abstract: The structural and electrical transport properties of La0.67Ba0.33Mn1-yTiyO3 manganite, with y = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.40 and 0.60, prepared using the solid state reaction technique have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction spectra of the Ti substituted samples showed the formation of single phase compound with Pm3m cubic structure except for the y = 0.60 sample, which showed La2Ti2O7 phase formation. Lattice parameter increased with Ti content and then decreased at y = 0.60. Resistivity versus temperature study showed that only samples with y = 0.05 and 0.10 exhibited both metallic and semiconductor-like behaviour with the metal-insulator transition temperature, Tp of 167 K and 43 K, respectively. At higher Ti concentration the samples only showed the semiconducting behaviour. At T < Tp the resistivity curves followed the ρ = ρo1 + ρ1T2 relation and for T > Tp, the curves can be fitted with the nearest neighbour hopping (NNH), variable range hopping (VRH) or/and the small polaron hopping (SPH) models.

Abstract: In this study, α-Cordierite was synthesized via glass-route using kaolin, talc and dolomite as starting raw materials. All the materials were mixed using non-stoichiometric xCaO.21-xMgO-26Al2O3-53SiO2 and melted at 1540°C for 4 h followed by quenching. Various weight percentage (wt%) of CaO (0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15 wt %) from dolomite was used to study their effects on the formation of α-cordierite. Quantitative phase analysis of sintered samples was carried out using Rietveld method and the results demonstrated total weight percentage of α-cordierite as a function of various composition of CaO. The Rietveld results were normalized to 100 wt% of crystalline fraction, so the hypothetical amorphous content of samples was assumed to be negligible. Quantitative analysis showed that amount of α-cordierite decreased with increasing CaO. Forsterite phase increased with increasing amount of CaO and anorthite phase start to crystallize at 5 wt% CaO. The precipitation of anorthite may be attributing to the glass composition locating in the field of anorthite phase.

Abstract: Tellurite glasses of varying Er3+/Nd3+ concentration were successfully prepared by melt-quenching method. The X-Ray diffraction pattern was determined by using Siemens Diffractometer D5000 while the optical properties were measured using Shimadzu 3101 pc UV-VIS NIR scanning spectrophotometer. It was found that the diffraction patterns of all samples showed glasses characteristics. The optical band gap, Eopt¬ increased proportionally with the content of Er¬2O3 but Urbach energy, ∆E decreased due to the increasing Er2O3 contents.