Characterization of Nanostructured Materials

Demokritos" (NCSR) Institute of Materials Science works on preparation characterization of nanostructured materials, metallic and metal - oxide contacts, preparation of thin/thick films, and hydrogen storage. 

In this commentary the research developments and future perspectives of XPS characterization of nanostructured materials will be reviewed, with particular attention to surface and interface effects for nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes. Reports on these extremely important topics will be addressed. 

A. Kopp Alves et at.. Novel Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured Materials, Engineering Materiais, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-41275-2 l,... 

We hope that the clear language and the application-oriented perspective will be suitable for professionals and students who want to access foremost knowledge about Science and Technology concerning the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials. 

In conclusion, nanorods are a potentially interesting material, but present results still do not allow understanding of whether the nanostructure leads to an improvement of the intrinsic photocatalytic behaviour, or whether other factors (accessible surface area, enhanced adsorption, etc) are responsible for the observed differences. In ZnO nanorods have been shown quite recently by surface photovoltage spectroscopy that the built-in electrical field is the main driving force for the separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs.191 This indicates that the nano-order influences the photophysical surface processes after photogeneration of the electron-hole pairs. A similar effect could be expected for Titania nanorods. However, present data do not support this suggestion, mainly due to the absence of adequate photo-physical and -chemical characterization of the materials and surface processes. 

Preparation, characterization, and fabrication of nanostructured materials have elicited great interest in view of their possibility of innovation in science, industry, environment, and in our daily lives in the twenty-first century. The research field called nanoscience or nanotechnology has been expanded and widespread since the end of the last century, and the trend is expected to be wider and accelerated in this and in the next decade. Current interest in the nanostructured materials predominantly comes from their unique physicochemical properties on account of their finite small sizes giving peculiar effects such as... 

K. C. Kwiatkowski and C. M. Lukehart, Nanocomposites Prepared by Sol-gel Methods Synthesis and Characterization, in Handbook of Nanostructured Materials and... 

Today nanotechnology includes the synthesis, characterization, and application of a variety of nanostructured materials. Different carbon nanostrucmres exist simultaneously at the nanoscale, including carbon nanotubes, carbon onions, nanodiamond (ND), and diamondoids, all showing unique and novel properties [1]. 

Characterization of Nanophase Materials, ed. Z.-L. Wang, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Germany, 2000 R135 L.-Q. Wang, G. J. Exarhos and J. Liu, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Characterization of Self-Assembled Nanostructural Materials , p.243... 

Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured M02C on carbon material by carbothermal hydrogen reduction... 

Structural entities observed in fiber materials. In recent publications [34,258,259] several authors demonstrate, both how this concept is flexibly modified, and how it helps to characterize the perfection of nanostructured materials. 

Access to ultrahigh fields will also allow the detection of quadrupolar nuclei bound on large structures. See, for example, the recent direct detection by solid-state NMR of potassium cations bound to G-quadruplex struc-tures. The Zn or Mg NMR, for example, will become more accessible in biological systems, an achievement that was still a dream only 20 years ago. The main challenge in the development of new nanohybrid materials is their characterization, many being amorphous. The precise characterization of nanostructures will also strongly rely on the current developments of NMR spectroscopy. 

Yuan, A. B., M. Zhou, X. L. Wang, Z. H. Sun, and Y. Q. Wang. 2008. Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured manganese dioxide used as positive electrode material for electrochemical capacitor with lithium hydroxide electrolyte. Chinese Journal of Chemistry 26 65-69. 

Block copolymers containing crystaUizable blocks have been studied not only as alternative TPEs with improved properties but also as novel nanostructured materials with much more intricate architectures compared to those produced by the simple amorphous blocks. As the interplay of crystallization and microphase segregation of crystalline/amorphous block copolymers greatly influences the final equihbrium ordered states and results in a diverse morphological complexity, there has been a continued high level of interest in the synthesis and characterization of these materials. 

The volume is organized into three sections, each of which addresses fundamental and practical realization of the production of nanostructured materials. The first section deals with the preparation, characterization, and transport properties of this unique class of materials. Structural and chemical heterogeneity are the result of preparation protocols, and various spectroscopies can be used to characterize these properties. Transport of adsorbates is affected by both intraparticle and interparticle resistance, which can greatly influence applications in practical processes. Each of these topics is represented as a case study that is general enough in scope that cautious application of the reported results can be extended to other systems of technological importance. 

This review focuses on the acid-base properties of surfaces of porous solids. In the context of the above discussion, it is inevitable that established practices will require some modifications. It is obvious that solids possess acidity and basicity. The challenge in characterizing their acid-base behavior results from the presence of two phases and from location of the acid-base sites at the interface between the solid and either a gaseous or liquid phase. Moreover, when acid-base chemistry occurs in spaces confined to the micropores or interlayers of nanostructured materials, the rules are broken a second time because all references to acid-base properties of macroscopically honlogeneous phases based on the classical approach become inconsistent. 

B.D. Wirth, G.R. Odette, P. Asoka-Kumar, R.H. Howell and P.A. Sterne, Characterization of nanostructural features in irradiated reactor pressure vessel model alloys , 10th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems-Water Reactors, G.S. Was, ed., NACE International, Houston, TX, 2002 (CD). 

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