Photoluminescence Enhancement of Titanate Nanotubes by Insertion of Rare Earth Ions in Their Interlayer Spaces

The optical properties of titanate nanotubes (TiNts) intercalated with rare earths (RE) ions were intensively investigated in this study. To prepare the nanomaterials, sodium titanate nanotubes (Na-TiNts) were submitted to ion exchange reactions with different rare earth elements (RE: Pr3+, Er3+, Nd3+, and Yb3+). To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that these RE-TiNts were synthesized. All samples were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Furthermore, the optical properties were examined using photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy. The PL intensity (visible range) of the RE-TiNt samples showed a strong dependence when the temperature was decreased down to 20 K. This PL enhancement probably was promoted by electronic modifications in titanate layer band gap and/or interface charge transfers due to RE ions intercalation

Novel scanning magnetic microscopy method for the characterization of magnetic nanoparticles

In this paper, a new method is presented for the magnetic characterization of nanoparticles that is especially suitable for samples with a low mass, on the order of tens of micrograms. We investigated the magnetic and morphological properties of the colloidal dispersions of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles that were synthesized by two methods: chemical precipitation (co-precipitation) and pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLA). We measured the stray field generated above the samples by scanning magnetic microscopy (SMM) and used a nonstandard model to obtain the magnetization of the nanoparticles. We assessed the performance of the method by comparing the magnetization curves with measurements obtained using commercial magnetometers. The errors in the saturation and remanent magnetization were found to be approximately +/- 0.18 Am-2/kg and +/- 0.6 Am-2/kg, respectively. As the samples exhibited a superparamagnetic state, we also used the magnetization curves to estimate the average size of the synthesized nanoparticles, which were found to be consistent with the results obtained using other techniques

The effect of temperature on the synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles by the coprecipitation method

Magnetic nanoparticles, such as magnetite (Fe3O4), exhibit superparamagnetic properties below 15 nm at room temperature. They are being explored for medical applications, and the coprecipitation technique is preferred for cost-effective production. This study investigates the impact of synthesis temperature on the nanoparticles' physicochemical characteristics. Two types of magnetic analysis were conducted. Samples T 40, T 50, and T 60 displayed superparamagnetic behavior, as evidenced by the magnetization curves. The experiments verified the development of magnetic nanoparticles with an average diameter of approximately dozens of nanometers, as determined by various measurement methods such as XDR, Raman, and TEM. Raman spectroscopy showed the characteristic bands of the magnetite phase at 319, 364, 499, and 680 cm−1. This was confirmed in the second analysis with the ZFC-FC curves, which showed that the samples' blocking temperatures were below ambient temperature. ZFC-FC curves revealed a similar magnetization of about 30 emu/g when applying a magnetic field of 5 kOe

Characterizing Complex Mineral Structures in Thin Sections of Geological Samples with a Scanning Hall Effect Microscope

We improved a magnetic scanning microscope for measuring the magnetic properties of minerals in thin sections of geological samples at submillimeter scales. The microscope is comprised of a 200 µm diameter Hall sensor that is located at a distance of 142 µm from the sample; an electromagnet capable of applying up to 500 mT DC magnetic fields to the sample over a 40 mm diameter region; a second Hall sensor arranged in a gradiometric configuration to cancel the background signal applied by the electromagnet and reduce the overall noise in the system; a custom-designed electronics system to bias the sensors and allow adjustments to the background signal cancelation; and a scanning XY stage with micrometer resolution. Our system achieves a spatial resolution of 200 µm with a noise at 6.0 Hz of 300 nTrms/(Hz)1/2 in an unshielded environment. The magnetic moment sensitivity is 1.3 × 10−11 Am2. We successfully measured the representative magnetization of a geological sample using an alternative model that takes the sample geometry into account and identified different micrometric characteristics in the sample slice

One-Pot Synthesis of Titanate Nanotubes Decorated with Anatase Nanoparticles Using a Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Reaction

A nanoheterostructure of titanate nanotubes decorated with anatase nanoparticles (TiNT@AnNP) was synthesized for the first time by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal one-pot reaction. Characterization by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed highly crystalline and nanometer-sized TiNT@AnNP. The synthesized TiNT@AnNP degraded an anionic dye (Remazol blue) more efficiently under UV-visible light (380–780 nm) than a commercial anatase-TiO2 precursor. We correlated this increased efficiency of photodegradation to the large surface area and the efficient separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Finally, we propose a mechanism to highlight the influence of a microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis in the production of TiNT@AnNP for environmental applications

Magnetic characterization by scanning microscopy of functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles

This study aimed to systematically understand the magnetic properties of magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles functionalized with different Pluronic F-127 surfactant concentrations (Fe(3)O(4)@Pluronic F-127) obtained by using an improved magnetic characterization method based on three-dimensional magnetic maps generated by scanning magnetic microscopy. Additionally, these Fe(3)O(4) and Fe(3)O(4)@Pluronic F-127 nanoparticles, as promising systems for biomedical applications, were prepared by a wet chemical reaction. The magnetization curve was obtained through these three-dimensional maps, confirming that both Fe(3)O(4) and Fe(3)O(4)@Pluronic F-127 nanoparticles have a superparamagnetic behavior. The as-prepared samples, stored at approximately 20 °C, showed no change in the magnetization curve even months after their generation, resulting in no nanoparticles free from oxidation, as Raman measurements have confirmed. Furthermore, by applying this magnetic technique, it was possible to estimate that the nanoparticles’ magnetic core diameter was about 5 nm. Our results were confirmed by comparison with other techniques, namely as transmission electron microscopy imaging and diffraction together with Raman spectroscopy. Finally, these results, in addition to validating scanning magnetic microscopy, also highlight its potential for a detailed magnetic characterization of nanoparticles