Inter-American Collaboration in Materials Research on the Atomic Resolution Structure Determination of Novel Nanomaterials - CIAM

NSERC CIAM项目将使由加拿大的Stefan Kycia、巴西的Daniela Zanchet和阿根廷的Felix Requejo组成的国际团队能够开发新的纳米颗粒并更详细地解决它们的结构。金属和双金属纳米粒子的合成，如银、镍、铂、铂/钯，以及更复杂的体系，如二氧化钛或氧化锆包裹的金纳米粒子将是拟议合作的目标，并将利用高分辨率透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)的快速反馈，随后通过扩展X射线吸收精细结构谱(EXAFS)和高能X射线散射、高分辨率径向分布函数(HR-RDF)测量获得高分辨率、详细的结构确定。关于电子结构的补充信息将通过X射线吸收近边结构谱(XANES)获得。结构结果将借助计算机模拟进行解释。三个私人投资机构在纳米粒子生产和表征的科学和技术方面的兴趣和专业知识有很大的重叠；然而，到目前为止，每个小组都从各自的角度处理这一科学问题。从晶体生长和HRTEM的角度，赞切特一直致力于纳米粒子的研究，Kycia在纳米结构的各种X射线衍射方面工作，在HR-RDF的开发方面进行了开创性的工作，最近在纳米粒子的分子动力学建模方面取得了进展。Requejo一直致力于核/壳纳米颗粒的合成，并通过X射线吸收技术(EXAFS和XANES)对其进行表征。本提案应成为建立合作的桥梁，以开发和表征专门为催化和量子信息应用量身定做的纳米颗粒系统。

The NSERC CIAM project will enable the international team, consisting of the groups of: Stefan Kycia from Canada, Daniela Zanchet from Brazil, and Felix Requejo from Argentina, to develop novel nanoparticles and solve their structure in greater detail. Synthesis of metallic and bimetallic nanoparticles, such as Ag, Ni, Pt, Pt/Pd, and more complex systems, such as TiO2 or ZrO2 capped Au nanoparticles will be the targets of this proposed collaboration and will take advantage of rapid feedback by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), followed by a high resolution, detailed structure determination obtained by Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy (EXAFS) and High Energy X-Ray Scattering, High-Resolution Radial Distribution Function (HR-RDF) measurements. Complementary information about electronic structure will be obtained by X-Ray Absorption Near Edge Structure Spectroscopy (XANES). The structure results will be interpreted with the aid of computer simulations. There is significant overlap of interest and expertise on the science and technology aspects of nanoparticles production and characterization by the three PIs; till now, however, each group has approached this scientific problem from its respective point of view. Zanchet has been working on nanoparticles from the crystal growth standpoint and HRTEM, Kycia has worked on a variety of x-ray diffraction aspects of nanostructures, has performed pioneering work on the development of HR-RDF and has been recently making progress with molecular dynamics modeling of nanoparticles. Requejo has been working on core/shell nanoparticle synthesis and their characterization by x-ray absorption techniques (EXAFS and XANES). The present proposal should serve as a bridge to establish a collaboration to develop and characterize nanoparticle systems that are specifically tailored for catalysis and quantum information applications.