GOALI: Magnetic Measurements to Characterize Chemistry and Structure in Nanoscale Doped Oxides

非技术描述：向陶瓷中添加少量金属原子或掺杂剂经常会导致显著的性能变化，从而影响燃料电池、气体分离和光催化等应用的性能。这些变化的原因被认为与掺杂剂的类型和状态及其空间分布有关，所有这些都会影响材料对磁场的响应。这种反应意味着每种材料都表现出独特的磁性特征，因此，磁性可以用来理解掺杂剂在陶瓷中的作用。pi正在对磁性特征进行基准测试和建模，最终目标是设计具有特殊性能的新材料。与领先的磁力计制造商量子设计公司的合作，意味着计量学的创新可以与材料发现紧密结合。此外，量子设计通过实习吸引学生。作为该项目的一部分，科罗拉多高级陶瓷中心的学生正在组织和举办一年一度的校园陶瓷会议，由工业界、大学教师和当地社区成员参加。该研究在许多与能源相关的应用中具有广泛的影响，这些应用存在着理解和控制纳米尺度现象的挑战。技术细节：这个大学-工业联合研究项目是纳米级掺杂氧化物磁强计测量技术的先驱，并利用这些技术来评估材料的行为。主要的科学目标是将陶瓷材料的磁响应与纳米级结构和组成特征（如第二相的尺寸和分布，包括离子聚集和偏析在内的固溶体排列，以及掺杂物的价态）联系起来。从磁强计区分各种纳米级结构的灵敏度出发，推导出一个特别新颖的方面，即可以研究内部还原过程中金属掺杂剂在陶瓷主体内的成核和生长的初始阶段。掺杂剂的行为正在两种技术上重要的过渡金属掺杂氧化物体系中进行研究：钇稳定氧化锆（YSZ）和钇掺杂锆酸钡-铈酸钡钙钛矿（BZY-BCY）。一套表征工具，包括一种新颖的原位拉曼光谱-磁强计技术，能够基于动力学和热力学描述内部还原和氧化。该研究为推进纳米尺度磁强计的发展奠定了基础。研究生正在参与和培训正在开发的具有潜在变革性的磁强计表征工具。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The addition of small amounts of metal atoms, or dopants, to ceramics frequently leads to remarkable property changes that can impact performance in applications such as fuel cells, gas separation, and photocatalysis. The reasons for these changes are believed to be related to the type and state of the dopant and its spatial distribution, all of which influence the material's response to a magnetic field. That response means every material exhibits a unique magnetic signature, and thus, magnetism may be used to understand the roles of dopants in ceramics. The PIs are benchmarking and modeling the magnetic signatures, with the ultimate goal to design new materials with exceptional properties. The collaboration with Quantum Design, a leading manufacturer of magnetometers, means innovations in metrology can be closely coupled with materials discoveries. Additionally, Quantum Design engages students through internships. As part of the project, students of the Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics are organizing and running an annual on-campus conference in ceramics with participation from industry, university faculty, and members of the local community. The research has broad impact in many energy-related applications where challenges exist in understanding and controlling nanoscale phenomena. TECHNICAL DETAILS: This combined university-industry research project is pioneering magnetometry measurement techniques for nanoscale doped oxides and is utilizing these techniques to assess material behavior. The main scientific objective is to correlate the magnetic response of ceramic materials with nanoscale structural and compositional features such as size and distribution of second phases, solid solution arrangement including ion clustering and segregation, and dopant valence state. From the sensitivity of magnetometry to differentiate the various nanoscale structures, a particularly novel aspect is derived, namely that it is possible to study the initial stages of nucleation and growth of the metal dopant within the ceramic host during internal reduction. The behavior of dopants is being examined in two technologically important transition metal-doped oxide systems: yttria-stablized zirconia (YSZ) and yttria-doped barium zirconate-barium cerate perovskites (BZY-BCY). A suite of characterization tools, including a novel in situ Raman spectroscopy-magnetometry technique, enables kinetic and thermodynamic based descriptions of internal reduction and oxidation. The research lays the foundation to advance the state of nanoscale metrology for magnetometry. Graduate students are being engaged and trained in the potentially transformative magnetometry characterization tools under development.