A combined theoretical and experimental study of the low temperature properties of BaZrO3

Low temperature properties of BaZrO3 are revealed by combining experimental techniques (X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering and dielectric measurements) with theoretical first-principles-based methods (total energy and linear response calculations within density functional theory, and effective Hamiltonian approaches incorporating/neglecting zero-point phonon vibrations). Unlike most of the perovskite systems, BaZrO3 does not undergo any (long-range-order) structural phase transition and thus remains cubic and paraelectric down to 2 K, even when neglecting zero-point phonon vibrations. On the other hand, these latter pure quantum effects lead to a negligible thermal dependency of the cubic lattice parameter below ~ 40 K. They also affect the dielectricity of BaZrO3 by inducing an overall saturation of the real part of the dielectric response, for temperatures below ~ 40 K. Two fine structures in the real part, as well as in the imaginary part, of dielectric response are further observed around 50-65 K and 15 K, respectively. Microscopic origins (e.g., unavoidable defects and oxygen octahedra rotation occurring at a local scale) of such anomalies are suggested. Finally, possible reasons for the facts that some of these dielectric anomalies have not been previously reported in the better studied KTaO3 and SrTiO3 incipient ferroelectrics are also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Effect of sintering atmosphere on densification, morphology and elastic properties of natural origin hydroxyapatite

Naturalny hydroksyapatyt został wyekstrahowany z korowej części długich kości wieprzowych poprzez potraktowanie ich gorącym roztworem NaOH, przemycie H2O i wyprażenie w temperaturze 450°C. Pod ciśnieniem 200 MPa wyprasowano próbki, które spiekano w atmosferze powietrza, CO2 i argonu w temperaturze 1000°C. Stwierdzono, że atmosfera spiekania wpływa na zagęszczenie, morfologię, stabilność chemiczną i w konsekwencji na właściwości sprężyste spieków. W wyniku spiekania hydroksyapatytu w powietrzu uzyskano gęste spieki o dużych, wykształconych ziarnach. Próbki spiekane w argonie i w CO2 charakteryzują się mniejszym zagęszczeniem i drobnoziarnistą mikrostrukturą. Stwierdzono także, że atmosfera CO2 nie tylko przeciwdziała rozkładowi hydroksyapatytu (nie pojawia się wolne CaO), lecz powoduje wbudowywanie się grup CO3(2-) w strukturę.Natural hydroxyapatite was extracted from cortical part of long pig bones by treatment in hot sodium hydroxide solution. Material was washed with water, dried and calcined at 450°C. Cylindrical samples compacted under 200 MPa were sintered in air, CO2 and Ar atmospheres at 1000°C. Sintering atmosphere influences densification, microstructure, chemical stability and consequently elastic properties of the samples. Treatment in air atmosphere leads to the most dense material of the largest and faceted grains. Lower densification and smaller grains occur in CO2 and Ar atmospheres. Carbon dioxide atmosphere counteracts decomposition of the material, no free CaO appears, but additional CO3(-2) groups become built into the HAp structure