Layered lithium-rich oxides have several serious shortcomings such as fast voltage fading and poor cyclic stability of energy density which greatly hinder their practical applications. Fabrication of a stable framework of layered lithium-rich oxides during charging-discharging is crucial for addressing the above problems. In this work, we show that Ti modification is a promising way to realize ...

Results from an ongoing study of the high temperature oxidation of intermetallic compounds in the Ti-Al system are presented. The oxidation behavior of alloys based on TiAl (y) has been found to be extremely complex depending on temperature and atmosphere composition. Protective alumina scales are formed in pure O2 up to a critical temperature above which a mixed Ti02/A1203 scale forms and grow...

Silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) is an industrial ceramic used in spinal fusion and maxillofacial reconstruction. Maximizing bone formation and minimizing bacterial infection are desirable attributes in orthopedic implants designed to adhere to living bone. This study has compared these attributes of Si(3)N(4) implants with implants made from two other orthopedic biomaterials, i.e. poly(ether ether ...

A color-bounded hypergraph is a hypergraph (set system) with vertex set X and edge set E = {E1, . . . , Em}, together with integers si and ti satisfying 1 ≤ si ≤ ti ≤ |Ei| for each i = 1, . . . ,m. A vertex coloring φ is proper if for every i, the number of colors occurring in edge Ei satisfies si ≤ |φ(Ei)| ≤ ti. The hypergraph H is colorable if it admits at least one proper coloring. We consid...

Thin films of SiO2–TiO2 composite oxides with various SiO2:TiO2 compositions were prepared by the sol-gel method, using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) as precursors. The composition, crystal structure, and chemical bonding configuration of the as-deposited and annealed SiO2–TiO2 thin films were analyzed using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), gl...

ii The cover image is based on a photograph of arc spots moving on the surface of a Ti cathode, taken during the first experimental session in our new PVD research system, Hydra. The explosive plasma generation in the arc spots is central to the cathodic arc deposition technique, studied and used extensively for synthesis in the Thesis. Abstract This Thesis explores the arc deposition process a...

The heterostructures of five monolayers B1-Ti x Zr1-x N(111), x = 1.0, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.0 (where B1 is a NaCl-type structure) with one monolayer of a Si3N4-like Si2N3 interfacial layer were investigated by means of first-principles quantum molecular dynamics and a structure optimization procedure using the Quantum ESPRESSO code. Slabs consisting of stoichiometric TiN and ZrN and random, as well a...

Evolution of the Ti/a-GelSi trilayer reactions has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. Instead of amorphous phase formation, as usually observed in the Ti/Si bilayer reaction, the crystalline Ti,GeS is the first phase observed during the reaction. Preceding the equilibrium C5CTi(Si,Ge),, a substitutional solid solution type C49-Ti(Si,Ge), fo...

Thin films of phase-pure perovskite PLT (Pb0.95La0.05Ti0.9875O3) were deposited in situ onto Si, Pt/Ti/SiO2 /Si, and SrTiO3 /Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition from stoichiometric targets. No Pb loss was observed in the near-surface region. The blocking of the interdiffusion between inner Si substrate and the outer PLT films by SrTiO3 buffer layer was evidenced using x-ray diffraction ~XR...