We present results of the growth of thin films of crystalline H2O2 and H2O2*2H2O (dihydrate) in ultrahigh vacuum by distilling an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. We traced the process using infrared reflectance spectroscopy, mass loss on a quartz crystal microbalance, and in a few cases ultraviolet-visible reflectance. We find that the different crystalline phases-water, dihydrate, and h...

Understanding the evolution of amorphous and crystalline phases during atomic layer deposition (ALD) is essential for creating high quality dielectrics, multifunctional films/coatings, and predictable surface functionalization. Through comprehensive atomistic electron microscopy study of ALD TiO2 nanostructures at designed growth cycles, we revealed the transformation process and sequence of at...

Crystallization-driven self-assembly of polyethylene-b-poly(tert-butylacrylate) (PE-b-PtBA) block copolymers (BCPs) in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) was studied. It is found that all three PE-b-PtBA BCPs used in this work can self-assemble into one-dimensional crystalline cylindrical micelles. When the BCP solution is cooled to crystallization temperature (Tc) from 130 °C, the seed micelles may ...

in this paper, the nucleation and growth of diamond/diamond-like coatings on austenitic (aisi 316) and ferritic (aisi 430) stainless steel substrates have been investigated using torch technique. the effects of substrate surface preparation has also been studied. the quality of coatings produced has been examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, raman spectrosc...

Modifying crystal growth processes using additives is a well established approach to solving problems in many processes. Nature also makes extensive use of crystalline inorganic structures modified by soluble and insoluble organic materials. This Highlight discusses some of the recent and interesting developments in this area, with an emphasis on the control of crystal growth rates, covering bo...

Single crystalline tin oxide (SnO2) nanowires have been synthesized by carbothermal reduction of SnO2 nanopowder followed by thermal evaporation of the reduced precursor and growth via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism. The nanowires are deposited on single crystalline TiO2 substrates of orientations of (100) and (110) that are coated with a thin film and colloids of gold (Au) catal...

Zinc oxide twin nanorods, with two identical crystalline sections connected by an amorphous layer, were reproducibly grown using a simple one-step hydrothermal technique. The thickness of the amorphous layer between the crystalline segments was tunable with growth parameters, as confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The photoluminescence spectra of these twin nanorods e...

A novel high-temperature synthesis of niobium oxide nanostructures has been developed through an amorphous intermediate that crystallizes into anisotropic crystalline structures through a complex mechanism of nucleation-dissolution-selective growth induced by seeded growth. The amorphous materials formed by the thermolysis of niobium oleate transformed into crystalline platelets, wires or bundl...