Oxidation of copper nanotubes embedded in the PET template

Copper oxide based nanostructures possess excellent physical and chemical properties and has many practical applications such as an medicine, sensors, catalysis, solar cell technology and photovoltaic as well as nanoelectronic. Different approaches have been used to synthesize CuO nanostructures: thermal oxidation of copper, hydrothermal route, aqueous reaction, vapor-liquid-solid synthesis, solution-liquid-solid synthesis as well as physical methods such as laser ablation, arc discharge, precursor thermal decomposition, electron beam lithography, and template-assisted synthesis. However, all these methods require high temperatures, complicated equipment or long reaction time

Study of the Influence of the Irradiation Flux Density on the Formation of a Defect Structure in AlN in the Case of the Effect of Overlapping of the Heavy Ion Motion Trajectories in the Near-Surface Layer

This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. AP14972854). Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.The aim of this paper is to test the previously stated hypothesis and several experimental facts about the effect of the ion flux or ion beam current under irradiation with heavy ions on the radiation damage formation in the ceramic near-surface layer and their concentration. The hypothesis is that, when considering the possibilities of using ion irradiation (usually with heavy ions) for radiation damage simulation at a given depth, comparable to neutron irradiation, it is necessary to consider the rate factor for the set of atomic displacements and their accumulation. Using the methods of X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman and UV–Vis spectroscopy, alongside photoluminescence, the mechanisms of defect formation in the damaged layer were studied by varying the current of the Xe23+ ion beam with an energy of 230 MeV. As a result of the experimental data obtained, it was found that, with the ion beam current elevation upon the irradiation of nitride ceramics (AlN) with heavy Xe23+ ions, structural changes have a pronounced dependence on the damage accumulation rate. At the same time, the variation of the ion beam current affects the main mechanisms of defect formation in the near-surface layer. It has been found that at high values of flux ions, the dominant mechanism in damage to the surface layer is the mechanism of the formation of vacancy defects associated with the replacement of nitrogen atoms by oxygen atoms, as well as the formation of ON–VAl complexes. © 2023 by the authors. --//-- Bikhert Y.V., Kozlovskiy A.L., Popov A.I., Zdorovets M.V.; Study of the Influence of the Irradiation Flux Density on the Formation of a Defect Structure in AlN in the Case of the Effect of Overlapping of the Heavy Ion Motion Trajectories in the Near-Surface Layer; (2023) Materials, 16 (15), art. no. 5225; DOI: 10.3390/ma16155225; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85167788062&doi=10.3390%2fma16155225&partnerID=40&md5=8456d5572e735de9d929ce9191431926. Published under the CC BY 4.0 licence.This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. AP14972854). Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

Study of the Effect of Two Phases in Li4SiO4–Li2SiO3 Ceramics on the Strength and Thermophysical Parameters

This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. BR11765580). The research of the team from Latvia (A.M., V.P. and A.I.P.) has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme (Grant Agreement No. 101052200—EUROfusion). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them. The research was partly (A.M., V.P. and A.I.P.) performed in the Center of Excellence of the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, supported through European Unions Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.The paper studies the effect of Li2SiO3/Li4SiO4 phase formation in lithium-containing ceramics on the strength and thermophysical characteristics of lithium-containing ceramics, which have great prospects for use as blanket materials for tritium propagation. During the phase composition analysis of the studied ceramics using the X-ray diffraction method, it was found that an increase in the lithium component during synthesis leads to the formation of an additional orthorhombic Li2SiO3 phase, and the main phase in ceramics is the monoclinic Li4SiO4 phase. An analysis of the morphological features of the synthesized ceramics showed that an increase in the Li2SiO3 impurity phase leads to ceramic densification and the formation of impurity grains near grain boundaries and joints. During determination of the strength characteristics of the studied ceramics, a positive effect of an increase in the Li2SiO3 impurity phase and dimensional factors on the strengthening and increase in the resistance to external influences during compression of ceramics was established. During tests for resistance to long-term thermal heating, it was found that for two-phase ceramics, the decrease in strength and thermophysical characteristics after 500 h of annealing was less than 5%, which indicates a high resistance and stability of these ceramics in comparison with single-phase orthosilicate ceramics. © 2022 by the authors. --//-- This is an open access article Kozlovskiy A., Shlimas D.I., Zdorovets M.V., Moskina A., Pankratov V., Popov A.I. "Study of the Effect of Two Phases in Li4SiO4–Li2SiO3 Ceramics on the Strength and Thermophysical Parameters" (2022) Nanomaterials, 12 (20), art. no. 3682, DOI: 10.3390/nano12203682 published under the CC BY 4.0 licence.European Commission 101052200—EUROfusion; Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan BR11765580; institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Latvia has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-Teaming Phase 2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.

Investigation of the Efficiency of Shielding Gamma and Electron Radiation Using Glasses Based on TeO2-WO3-Bi2O3-MoO3-SiO to Protect Electronic Circuits from the Negative Effects of Ionizing Radiation

This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. AP09058081). EP, EE, and AIP thank the Institute of Solid State Physics, University for their support. ISSP UL as the Center of Excellence is supported through the Framework Program for European universities Union Horizon 2020, H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under Grant Agreement No. 739508, CAMART2 project.This article considers the effect of MoO3 and SiO additives in telluride glasses on the shielding characteristics and protection of electronic microcircuits operating under conditions of increased radiation background or cosmic radiation. MoO3 and SiO dopants were chosen because their properties, including their insulating characteristics, make it possible to avoid breakdown processes caused by radiation damage. The relevance of the study consists in the proposed method of using protective glasses to protect the most important components of electronic circuits from the negative effects of ionizing radiation, which can cause failures or lead to destabilization of the electronics. Evaluation of the shielding efficiency of gamma and electron radiation was carried out using a standard method for determining the change in the threshold voltage (∆U) value of microcircuits placed behind the shield and subjected to irradiation with various doses. It was established that an increase in the content of MoO3 and SiO in the glass structure led to an increase of up to 90% in the gamma radiation shielding efficiency, while maintaining the stability of microcircuit performance under prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation. The results obtained allow us to conclude that the use of protective glasses based on TeO2–WO3–Bi2O3–MoO3–SiO is highly promising for creating local protection for the main components of microcircuits and semiconductor devices operating under conditions of increased background radiation or cosmic radiation. © 2022 by the authors.--//-- This is an open access article Kozlovskiy A., Shlimas D.I., Zdorovets M.V., Popova E., Elsts E., Popov "Investigation of the Efficiency of Shielding Gamma and Electron Radiati licence.on Using Glasses Based on TeO2-WO3-Bi2O3-MoO3-SiO to Protect Electronic Circuits from the Negative Effects of Ionizing Radiation", Materials (2022), 15 (17), art. no. 6071, DOI: 10.3390/ma15176071 under the CC BY 4.0Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. AP09058081); Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Latvia has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01- 2016-2017-Teaming Phase 2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

Investigation of the Effect of PbO Doping on Telluride Glass Ceramics as a Potential Material for Gamma Radiation Shielding

This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. BR11765580). In addition, A.I.P. thanks the Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Latvia. ISSP UL as the Center of Excellence is supported through the Framework Program for European universities, Union Horizon 2020, H2020-WIDESPREAD-01–2016–2017-TeamingPhase2, under Grant Agreement No. 739508, CAMART2 project.The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of PbO doping of multicomponent composite glass-like ceramics based on TeO2, WO3, Bi2O3, MoO3, and SiO2, which are one of the promising materials for gamma radiation shielding. According to X-ray diffraction data, it was found that the PbO dopant concentration increase from 0.10 to 0.20–0.25 mol results in the initialization of the phase transformation and structural ordering processes, which are expressed in the formation of SiO2 and PbWO4 phases, and the crystallinity degree growth. An analysis of the optical properties showed that a change in the ratio of the contributions of the amorphous and ordered fractions leads to the optical density increase and the band gap alteration, as well as a variation in the optical characteristics. During the study of the strength and mechanical properties of the synthesized ceramics, depending on the dopant concentration, it was found that when inclusions in the form of PbWO4 are formed in the structure, the strength characteristics increase by 70–80% compared to the initial data, which indicates the doping efficiency and a rise in the mechanical strength of ceramics to external influences. During evaluation of the shielding protective characteristics of the synthesized ceramics, it was revealed that the formation of PbWO4 in the structure results in a rise in the high-energy gamma ray absorption efficiency. © 2023 by the authors.--//-- This is an open access article Kozlovskiy A.L., Shlimas D.I., Zdorovets M.V., Elsts E., Konuhova M., Popov A.I.; Investigation of the Effect of PbO Doping on Telluride Glass Ceramics as a Potential Material for Gamma Radiation Shielding (2023) Materials, 16 (6), art. no. 2366; DOI: 10.3390/ma16062366; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85152065176&doi=10.3390%2fma16062366&partnerID=40&md5=34067687ddfd88cbc2bd3e23cbedeb27 published under the CC BY 4.0 licence.Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. BR11765580); the Institute of Solid-State Physics, University of Latvia. ISSP UL as the Center of Excellence is supported through the Framework Program for European universities, Union Horizon 2020, H2020-WIDESPREAD-01–2016–2017-TeamingPhase2, under Grant Agreement No. 739508, CAMART2 project

Study of helium swelling and embrittlement mechanisms in SiC ceramics

This work is devoted to the study of the radiation damage kinetics and subsequent embrittlement of the near-surface layer of SiC ceramics subjected to irradiation with low-energy He2+ ions. Interest in these types of ceramics is due to their great prospects for use as structural materials for nuclear power, as well as for use in the creation of protective structures for longterm storage of spent nuclear fuel. During the study, the dependences of changes in the structural, mechanical,strength, and morphological characteristics of SiC ceramics depending on irradiation fluence were obtained. It has been established that the greatest changes in the strength properties are associated with the dominance of the crystal lattice swelling effect in the structure due to an increase in the concentration of implanted helium, and its further agglomeration with the formation of vacancy complexes of the He-V type. A model for changing the structural properties of ceramics irradiated with low-energy He2+ ions based on the change in the contributions of the dislocation density concentration, anisotropic distortion of the crystal lattice, and the effect of swelling as a result of implantation is proposed

Investigation of effect of template geometry on the crystal structure of Ni nanotubes

Modifications of geometric characteristics and structural properties of Ni nanotubes obtained by template synthesis were considered in this research study. Ion-track polyethylene membranes with pores diameters in the range from 180 to 380 nm were used as templates. Methods of scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive and X-ray analysis were used to find influence of the geometrical properties of templates on structure, phase and elemental composition. X-ray analysis showed polycrystalline FCC-structure of nanotubes with crystal lattice parameters different from the standard values, indicating the presence of microstresses in the structure and microdistortions of lattice. We have made a hypothesis of the effect of template parameters on the crystal structure. With the increase of pores diameter, a predominance tendency of traversal of NT axis growth to longitudinal appeared, which could be explained by the increase of the deposited atoms quality. In this case, a tangential crystallites growth dominates over the growth in the normal direction due to layer-by-layer growth process

Morphology and Microstructure Evolution of Gold Nanostructures in the Limited Volume Porous Matrices

The modern development of nanotechnology requires the discovery of simple approaches that ensure the controlled formation of functional nanostructures with a predetermined morphology. One of the simplest approaches is the self-assembly of nanostructures. The widespread implementation of self-assembly is limited by the complexity of controlled processes in a large volume where, due to the temperature, ion concentration, and other thermodynamics factors, local changes in diffusion-limited processes may occur, leading to unexpected nanostructure growth. The easiest ways to control the diffusion-limited processes are spatial limitation and localized growth of nanostructures in a porous matrix. In this paper, we propose to apply the method of controlled self-assembly of gold nanostructures in a limited pore volume of a silicon oxide matrix with submicron pore sizes. A detailed study of achieved gold nanostructures' morphology, microstructure, and surface composition at different formation stages is carried out to understand the peculiarities of realized nanostructures. Based on the obtained results, a mechanism for the growth of gold nanostructures in a limited volume, which can be used for the controlled formation of nanostructures with a predetermined geometry and composition, has been proposed. The results observed in the present study can be useful for the design of plasmonic-active surfaces for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-based detection of ultra-low concentration of different chemical or biological analytes, where the size of the localized gold nanostructures is comparable with the spot area of the focused laser beam