Structural and compositional studies of nanostructured materials by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) advanced techniques

• Grant number: 12/09200-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: November 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Elson Longo da Silva
• Grantee: Waldir Avansi Junior
• Supervisor: Raul Arenal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/20481-5 - Synthesis and characterization of heterostructures from vanadates obtained by the oxidant peroxo method, BP.PD

Abstract

Nanostructured materials have been extensively studied not only due to new properties and possible technological applications but also for better comprehension of their physical and chemical nature. Among the various methods of the characterizations employed in the study of these materials, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has emerged as a powerful characterization technique from the possible combination of images with structural and spectroscopic analysis in a unique experiment using atomic resolution. Accordingly, this project aims the characterization by advanced TEM techniques of the nanostructures obtained through the peroxide complex decomposition in hydrothermal conditions. The morphology as well as the physical and chemical properties of the nanostructures will be evaluated using the combinations of techniques, such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM/HRSTEM), X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Besides employing the synthesis method with great potential, the results will be correlated to the ones obtained from characterizations techniques already used in the main project (2010/20481-5 process), such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). (AU)