Conveners
CMPMS1: PhD For Awards 1
- Japie Engelbrecht (NMMU)
CMPMS1: PhD For Awards 2
- Jonathan Keartland (University of the Witwatersrand)
CMPMS1: PhD For Awards 3
- Johan Malherbe (University of Pretoria)
CMPMS1: PhD For Awards 4
- Joseph Asante (Tshwane University of Technology)
CMPMS1
- Francis Dejene (University of the Free State)
CMPMS1
- Aletta Prinsloo (University of Johannesburg)
CMPMS1
- Japie Engelbrecht (NMMU)
We report on studies of thermodynamic, structural and electronic properties of substitutional defects involving C, B, N and vacancies in models of single-walled carbon and boron nitride nanotubes. Using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for the exchange-correlation functional, we perform first principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory to optimize...
The adsorption of Sb on the (111) plane of noble metals surfaces such as copper and silver has long been of practical interest in the fields of surface science and technology. The electronic properties of such surface alloys are important for several surface and interface related applications like metal-metal or semiconductor-metal heteroepitaxy, heterogeneous catalysis, sensors and...
Most properties of polycrystalline materials are controlled by the structure and interfaces they possess – e.g., grain boundaries. When a Cu surface is alloyed with antimony, the Sb atoms appear to diffuse to the growth surface and continuing to act as a surfactant throughout the growth process. Copper alloys are important commercial materials, which are often used at temperatures where...
We carried out ab initio self-consistent calculations to study the modification of the band offsets by polar layers. We considered a double line of C in a monolayer of hexagonal BN, also known as Boronitrene. This effectively introduces a line of dipoles at the interface. We considered BN/C zigzag and armchair configurations. The BN/C zigzag-short is found to be energetically most...
Black chromium-chromium (III) oxide cermet (Ceramic-Metal) nano-composites exhibit attractive solar absorbance characteristics. They are used widely as selective solar heat thermal collector nano-coatings. These black chromium-chromium (III) oxide selective solar absorbers are produced by various physical vapor deposition techniques such as DC and RF reactive sputtering, pulsed sputtering...
Control of diameter, length and level of nitrogen doping in synthesis of nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) can be achieved by careful selection of catalyst, precursor mixture and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) synthesis temperature. Solutions of ethanol and acetonitrile (20% acetonitrile) were pyrolysed over a Fe/Al/MgO catalyst in a CVD reactor at temperatures from 700 OC to 1000...
Si, C and SiC are very well known technologically important materials. They have been extensively studied in their multitude of structures and polytypes, but there is a surprising dearth of information for off-50:50 compounds involving Si and C. What are the possible stable structures for such compounds? Using ab initio techniques, we investigate two proposed structures for...
Cerium-based ternary compounds demonstrate different and interesting phenomena depending on the valence of the Ce ion. The hybridization between Ce-4f electrons and the neighbouring conduction electrons is responsible for the anomolous properties observed in different systems. Depending on the strength of the f-ligand hybridization, one observes in these compounds phenomena such as magnetic...
Highly crystalline nano-spherical Fe-Pt systems were produced by 248 nm laser irradiation of liquid precursor at different laser fluence ranging from 100 – 375 mJ/cm2. The influence of laser intensity on the particle size, iron composition and vibrational properties was systematically investigated. The study reveals that the larger particles have higher iron content. The prepared precursor...
Alq3 is widely used in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as emission and electron transport layer. During the fabrication of OLEDs the current trend is to use solution-processing; however, Alq3 must be vacuum deposited. One possible way to overcome this problem is to use different polymers containing the Alq3. In this study blended thin films of Alq3...
The discovery of the giant magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in Gd5Si2Ge2, a member of the substitution series Gd5Si4-xGex has generated significant interest into MCE phenomena in rare earth intermetalic compounds. Much recent effort has gone into determining how the MCE in such systems is influenced by the many salient features...
The investigation of low voltage electron induced cathodoluminescence (CL) degradation of Zn3(PO4)2:Tb phosphor has been extended for possible application in low voltage field emission displays (FED). There are two important reasons for studying phosphate based phosphors. These are their chemical, thermal stability and variation in emission colour, which is influenced by the site occupied...
Semiconductors are important because of their numerous technological applications. As such, there have been a number of investigations on the recrystallization of amorphous GaAs. We present results of the isochronal annealing of an ̴ 140nm amorphous layer of GaAs on a crystalline substrate produced by bombarding with 100 KeV argon ions with a fluence of 5×1015 ions/cm2. Raman measurements...
Ever since the inception of the quantum computing idea, many technologies for its realization have been tried. The fundamental intention is to implement and manipulate a two-dimensional quantum mechanical unit of information that is termed a quantum bit (qubit). In this context during the past decade, solid-state fluorescing defects have drawn huge interest. The promising candidates for...
The dispersion relation of surface acoustic waves in TiC thin hard films of various thicknesses on silicon and silicon carbide substrate is studied using Surface Brillouin scattering. Simulations of surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) spectra of TiC thin hard films on silicon and SiC substrates have been carried out over a range of film thickness from 5nm to 1000nm. The simulations are based...
In this work, we report on the fabrication of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/NiO nanocomposite thin films by the pulsed laser deposition technique on to aluminium substrates. Samples were prepared with different MWCNT content, and varying substrate temperatures. Structural and optical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy,...
Rare–earths (Tb3+ or Ce3+) doped zinc aluminate (ZnAl2O4) nanocrystals were successfully prepared by a modified combustion method using urea (CH4N2O, 99–99.5%) as fuel and characterized to investigate down-converted emission by energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ . The post-preparation annealing of the...
The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of sulphur passivated n-GaSb have been studied in the temperature range 80 K - 330 K using Au Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). The forward I-V characteristics have been analysed assuming that thermionic emission is the dominant current transport mechanism and that the barrier height patchiness takes on a Gaussian distribution. It has been found that...
Energetic stability of magnetically ordering dopants in diamond holds the prospect of achieving a diamond based diluted magnetic semiconductor which, in addition to diamond’s extreme properties may successfully be considered for spintronic device applications. However, one of the problems to be addressed is that of predicting the most energetically stable lattice configurations or charge...
Crystalline thin solid films of WO3 have been prepared on Corning glass, FTO and Si through the low temperature, wet chemistry method of Aqueous Chemical Growth. SEM images of the thin films produced show that the surface morphology of the films is influenced by the kind of substrate used for the synthesis. While nanoplatelet-containing flower-like structures were consistently obtained on...
Graphene is a two-dimensional crystal of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. It is a zero band gap semimetal with very unique electronic optical and mechanical properties which make it useful for many applications such as ultra-high-speed field-effect transistors, p-n junction diodes, terahertz oscillators, and low-noise electronic, NEMS and optical sensors. The high quality mass...
The successful incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles and Ce3+ ions in Pr3+ doped SiO2 using a sol-gel process is reported. SiO2:Pr3+ gels, with or without ZnO and Ce3+, were dried at room temperature and annealed at 600 oC. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) indicated clustered SiO2 nanoparticles with with particle size diameter ranging between 20 to 120 nm while the high...
Zinc oxide is a direct, wide bandgap semiconductor material with many promising properties for blue/UV optoelectronics, transparent electronics, spintronic devices and sensor applications. ZnO has been commonly used in its polycrystalline form in a wide range of applications such as sunscreens, catalysts, piezoelectric transducers, varistors, and as transparent conducting electrodes. ZnO...
The transition from intermediate valence (IV) behaviour in CeNi2Si2 to magnetically ordered Kondo lattice behaviour in CeAu2Si2 is investigated through measurements of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical resistivity &rho(T), magnetization &sigma(µ0H) and magnetic susceptibility &chi(T) on the polycrystalline...
The use of tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin films in bolometers depends strongly on the ability to tune its optical properties. This can be achieved by controlling the density of dangling bond defects and the disorder in the material. The pi-orbital axis vector theory is used in this study to investigate the phenomenon of rehybridization of the carbon bonding in tetrahedral amorphous...
Microcrystalline germanium-carbide formation was studied in germanium substrate using perturbed gamma-gamma angular correlation (PAC) method. Information about the lattice location of carbon atoms, in the host matrix, can be obtained via the interaction between carbon and unstable probe nucleus (111In). At high dose carbon implantation, in crystal germanium substrate, two defect complexes...
Block copolymers can self-assemble into lamellar and cylindrical phases with a fundamental period of 10-100nm. These nanoscopic phases are a basis for a great range of applications in nanotechnology. We describe how electric fields can be utilized to tune the lamellar period of copolymers that consist of liquid-crystal sub-units. Copolymers that are swollen in liquid-crystals have...
There have been tremendous inputs into improving the efficiencies of nanostructure solar cells by extending their absorption wavelength to the near-infrared. This can potentially be achieved by using colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots as the light-harvesting material, as their optical band gap can be tuned to a desired range. Copper selenide is an interesting semiconductor with a bulk band...
The world is experiencing an ever-growing demand for energy. This coupled with the demand to decrease the carbon-footprint have led to a reconsideration of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuel power stations. Many countries have either started again to build nuclear power plants while others, like South Africa, are planning to build ones in the near future. One of the most...
Iron oxide-based nanomagnets, such as maghemite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), have attracted a great deal of attention in nanomedicine over the past decade. On the nanoscale, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can only be magnetized in the presence of an external magnetic field. This property makes these nanoparticles capable of forming stable colloids in a physio-biological...
Carbon nanospheres were produced using two different sets of apparatus in the School of Chemistry at the University of the Witwatersrand. Nitrogen was introduced into the samples using a several sources of nitrogen, including pyridine. Electron magnetic resonance (EMR) was used to characterize a range of samples of varying concentrations of nitrogen at room temperature. The spheres doped...
The temperature dependence of the 35Cl quadrupolar resonance frequency has been measured in a high purity sample of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) over the temperature range 4 K - 460 K. The results allow the temperature dependence of the electric field gradient (efg) at the two inequivalent sites of the chlorine atoms to be determined. Several models were considered to...
