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

非技术描述：在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，这些变化可能会影响燃料电池、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，磁性可能被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Quantum Design的合作意味着计量学的创新可以与材料发现紧密结合在一起。此外，量子设计还通过实习来吸引学生。作为该项目的一部分，科罗拉多州高级陶瓷中心的学生正在组织和运营一年一度的校园陶瓷会议，参加会议的有工业界、大学教师和当地社区成员。这项研究在许多与能源相关的应用中具有广泛的影响，在这些应用中，在理解和控制纳米级现象方面存在挑战。技术细节：这个大学和行业联合的研究项目开创了纳米级掺杂氧化物的磁测量测量技术，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结构和成分特征相关联，例如第二相的大小和分布、固溶体排列(包括离子聚集和偏析)以及掺杂价态。从磁测量区分各种纳米结构的灵敏度出发，得出了一个特别新颖的方面，即有可能研究内还原过程中金属掺杂在陶瓷主体内的成核和生长的初始阶段。在两个具有重要技术意义的过渡金属掺杂氧化物系统中，研究了掺杂剂的行为：氧化钇稳定的氧化锆(YSZ)和氧化钛掺杂的锆酸钡-陶瓷钙钛矿(BZY-BCY)。一套表征工具，包括一种新的原位拉曼光谱-磁测量技术，能够基于动力学和热力学描述内部还原和氧化。该研究为推进磁学纳米尺度计量的发展奠定了基础。研究生正在参与开发中的潜在变革性磁学表征工具并对其进行培训。

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.