Browsing by master's degree program "Materiaalitutkimuksen maisteriohjelma"
Now showing items 1-20 of 34
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(2021)Halide perovskites are a promising materials class for solar energy production. The photovoltaic efficiency of halide perovskites is remarkable but their toxicity and instability have prevented commercialization. These problems could be addressed through compositional engineering in the halide perovskite materials space but the number of different materials that would need to be considered is too large for conventional experimental and computational methods. Machine learning can be used to accelerate computations to the level that is required for this task. In this thesis I present a machine learning approach for compositional exploration and apply it to the composite halide perovskite CsPb(Cl, Br)3 . I used data from density functional theory (DFT) calculations to train a machine learning model based on kernel ridge regression with the many-body tensor representation for the atomic structure. The trained model was then applied to predict the decomposition energies of CsPb(Cl, Br)3 materials from their atomic structure. The main part of my work was to derive and implement gradients for the machine learning model to facilitate efficient structure optimization. I tested the machine learning model by comparing its decomposition energy predictions to DFT calculations. The prediction accuracy was under 0.12 meV per atom and the prediction time was five orders of magnitude faster than DFT. I also used the model to optimize CsPb(Cl, Br)3 structures. Reasonable structures were obtained, but the accuracy was qualitative. Analysis on the results of the structural optimizations exposed shortcomings in the approach, providing important insight for future improvements. Overall, this project makes a successful step towards the discovery of novel perovskite materials with designer properties for future solar cell applications.
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(2020)Due to its exceptional thermal properties and irradiation resistance, tungsten is the material of choice for critical plasma-facing components in many leading thermonuclear fusion projects. Owing to the natural retention of hydrogen isotopes in materials such as tungsten, the safety of a fusion device depends heavily on the inventory of radioactive tritium in its plasma-facing components. The proposed methods of tritium removal typically include thermal treatment of massive metal structures for prolonged timescales. A novel way to either shorten the treatment times or lower the required temperatures is based performing the removal under an H-2 atmosphere, effectively exchanging the trapped tritium for non-radioactive protium. In this thesis, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to study the mechanism of hydrogen isotope exchange in vacancy, dislocation and grain boundary type defects in tungsten. By comparing the results to simulations of purely diffusion-based tritium removal methods, we establish that hydrogen isotope exchange indeed facilitates faster removal of tritium for all studied defect types at temperatures of 500 K and above. The fastest removal, when normalising based on the initial occupation of the defect, is shown to occur in vacancies and the slowest in grain boundaries. Through an atom level study of the mechanism, we are able to verify that tritium removal using isotope exchange depends on keeping the defect saturated with hydrogen. This study also works to show that molecular dynamics indeed is a valid tool for studying tritium removal and isotope exchange in general. Using small system sizes and spatially-parallelised simulation tools, we have managed to model isotope exchange for timescales extending from hundreds of nanoseconds up to several microseconds.
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(2020)Further proof of the unique morphologies of water-soluble poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(DL-lactide) and poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(L-lactide) (PiPOx-b-PDLLA and PiPOx-b-PLLA) nanoparticles was obtained via Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Additionally, loading and release studies were carried out with hydrophobic curcumin molecules to outline the potential of the amphiphilic block copolymers in drug delivery applications. To study the morphology of the nanoparticles, absorption and emission spectra of pyrene were measured in water dispersions of the nanoparticles at several concentrations. The obtained I1/I3, I337/I333.5 and partitioning constant (Kv) values were compared to corresponding data from a control core/shell nanoparticle poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(DL-lactide) (PEG-b-PDLLA). Of the three different amphiphilic polymers, PEG-b-PDLLA showed the smallest and PiPOx-b-PDLLA the highest Kv value. This indicates, that PiPOx-b-PDLLA core is less hydrophobic and looser compared to the dense cores of PEG-b-PDLLA and PiPOx-b-PLLA, making it capable of encapsulating the greatest amount of pyrene. In the loading and release studies, the nanoparticles were loaded with curcumin and placed in dialysis against PBS Tween® 80 solution. Curcumin content of the samples was monitored over a week by measuring the emission spectra of curcumin. PiPOx-b-PDLLA showed greater potential as a drug delivery agent: It formed more stable nanoparticles, showed higher loading capacities, higher encapsulation efficiencies and slower release rates. Flash nanoprecipitation method (FNP) was also used to prepare the same nanoparticles with and without encapsulated curcumin. In addition to the encapsulation efficiencies, sizes of the nanoparticles were determined via dynamic light scattering (DLS). PiPOx-b-PLLA forms the smallest nanoparticles with lowest encapsulation efficiencies, thus agreeing well with the higher density of PLLA core. All three investigated amphiphilic copolymers formed stable nanoparticles in water at room temperature. On the contrary, stability of the nanoparticles was found to be poor in saline solutions at body temperature. Mixing PEG-b-PDLLA with PiPOx-b-PLA in a ratio of 20:80 w-% increased the stability of the nanoparticles in physiological conditions simultaneously uncovering the thermoresponsive character of the PiPOx-blocks. Turbidity measurements of PEG-b-PDLLA mixed with PiPOx-b-PDLLA in ratio of 20:80 w-% showed slight decrease in transmittance at the 30 °C, which corresponds to the cloud point of PiPOx-b-PDLLA in PBS solution. However, it remains unclear, whether the increased stability is due to the PEG-b-PDLLA mixing in the same micelles with PiPOx-b-PDLLA, thus hindering the aggregation of the nanoparticles upon the cloud point of the PiPOx-blocks.
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(2019)Ion beams have been the subject of significant industry interest since the 1950s. They have gained usage in many fields for their ability to modify material properties in a controlled manner. Most important has been the application to semiconductor devices such as diodes and transistors, where the necessary doping is commonly achieved by irradiation with appropriate ions, allowing the development of the technology that we see in everyday use. With the ongoing transition to ever smaller semiconductor devices, the precision required of the manufacturing process correspondingly increases. A strong suite of modeling tools is therefore needed to advance the understanding and application of ion beam methods. The binary collision approximation (BCA) as a simulation tool was first introduced in the 1950s. It allows the prediction of many radiation-related phenomena for single collision cascades, and has been adopted in many experimental laboratories and industries due to its efficiency. However, it fails to describe chemical and thermodynamic effects, limiting its usefulness where ballistic effects are not a sufficient description. Parallel to BCA, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation algorithm was developed. It allows a more accurate and precise description of interatomic forces and therefore chemical effects. It is, however, orders of magnitude slower than the BCA method. In this work, a new variant of the MD algorithm is developed to combine the advantages of both the MD and the BCA methods. The activation and deactivation of atoms involved in atomic cascades is introduced as a way to save computational effort, concentrating the performed computations in the region of interest around the cascade and ignoring surrounding equilibrium regions. By combining this algorithm with a speedup scheme limiting the number of necessary relaxation simulations, a speedup of one order of magnitude is reached for covalent materials such as Si and Ge, for which the algorithm was validated. The developed algorithm is used to explain the behavior of Ge nanowires under Xe ion irradiation. The nanowires were shown experimentally to bend towards or away from the ion beam, and computational simulations might help with the understanding of the underlying physical processes. In this thesis, the high-fluence irradiation of a Ge nanowire is simulated and the resulting defect structure analyzed to study the bending, doubling as a second test of the developed algorithm.
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(2019)Tailoring a hybrid surface or any complex material to have functional properties that meet the needs of an advanced device or drug requires knowledge and control of the atomic level structure of the material. The atomistic configuration can often be the decisive factor in whether the device works as intended, because the materials' macroscopic properties - such as electrical and thermal conductivity - stem from the atomic level. However, such systems are difficult to study experimentally and have so far been infeasible to study computationally due to costly simulations. I describe the theory and practical implementation of a 'building block'-based Bayesian Optimization Structure Search (BOSS) method to efficiently address heterogeneous interface optimization problems. This machine learning method is based on accelerating the identification of a material's energy landscape with respect to the number of quantum mechanical (QM) simulations executed. The acceleration is realized by applying likelihood-free Bayesian inference scheme to evolve a Gaussian process (GP) surrogate model of the target landscape. During this active learning, various atomic configurations are iteratively sampled by running static QM simulations. An approximation of using chemical building blocks reduces the search phase space to manageable dimensions. This way the most favored structures can be located with as little computation as possible. Thus it is feasible to do structure search with large simulation cells, while still maintaining high chemical accuracy. The BOSS method was implemented as a python code called aalto-boss between 2016-2019, where I was the main author in co-operation with Milica Todorović and Patrick Rinke. I conducted a dimensional scaling study using analytic functions, which quantified the scaling of BOSS efficiency for fundamentally different functions when dimension increases. The results revealed the target function's derivative's important role to the optimization efficiency. The outcome will help people with choosing the simulation variables so that they are efficient to optimize, as well as help them estimate roughly how many BOSS iterations are potentially needed until convergence. The predictive efficiency and accuracy of BOSS was showcased in the conformer search of the alanine dipeptide molecule. The two most stable conformers and the characteristic 2D potential energy map was found with greatly reduced effort compared to alternative methods. The value of BOSS in novel materials research was showcased in the surface adsorption study of bifenyldicarboxylic acid on CoO thin film using DFT simulations. We found two adsorption configurations which had a lower energy than previous calculations and approximately supported the experimental data on the system. The three applications showed that BOSS can significantly reduce the computational load of atomistic structure search while maintaining predictive accuracy. It allows material scientists to study novel materials more efficiently, and thus help tailor the materials' properties to better suit the needs of modern devices.
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(2020)Tutkielman kirjallisuusosuudessa on käyty läpi erilaisia kaupallisia biopolymeerejä, niiden synteesiä, käyttöä ja biohajoamista. Tutkielman pääpaino on erilaisten materiaalien biohajoamisessa ja näiden materiaalien kaupallisessa käytössä. Biohajoamisen evaluointiin tarkoitettuja standardeja, tutkimusmenetelmiä ja hyväksyntäkriteerejä on esitelty laajasti. Tutkimusosuudessa on valmistettu PLA:n ja PBAT:n seoksesta puukomposiitti ja materiaalin termomekaaniset ominaisuudet on karakterisoitu. Tavoitteena oli luoda biohajoava materiaali, jonka ominaisuudet ovat sellaisia, että sen kaupallinen hyödyntäminen kertakäyttömuovin korvikkeena on järkevää. Materiaalin mekaaniset ominaisuudet karakterisoitiin lopputuotteen kestävyyden, ja sulaominaisuudet kaupallisen tuotannon mahdollistamisen takia. Termomekaanisia analyysejä tehtiin materiaalin säilyvyyden ja lämpöominaisuuksien karakterisoimiseksi. Työssä on tutkittu myös puhtaan PLA/puukomposiitin biohajoamista meriympäristössä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena saatiin luotua riittävällä nopeudella biohajoava puukomposiitti, jonka mekaaniset ominaisuudet ovat riittäviä korvaamaan erilaisia kertakäyttöisiä muovituotteita ja joka on prosesoitavissa nykyisillä ekstruusiolaitteistoilla.
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(2021)X-ray absorption spectroscopy(XAS) measures the absorption response of the system as a function of incident X-ray photon energy. XAS can be a great tool for material characterization due to its ability to reveal characteristic information specific to chemical state of element by using the core level electrons as a probe for empty electronic states just above the Fermi level of the material (XANES) or for the neighboring atoms (EXAFS). For years, the highly brilliant synchrotron light sources remained the center of attention for these XAS experiments, but the increasing competition for available beamtime at these facilities led to an increased interest in laboratory scale X-ray spectroscopy instruments. However, the energy resolution of laboratory scale instruments still remains sometimes limited as compared to their synchrotron counterparts. When operating at low Bragg angles, the finite source size can greatly reduce the energy resolution by introducing the effects of dispersion in the beam focus at the detector. One method to overcome this loss in resolution can be to use a position sensitive detector and use the 'pixel compensation correction' method in the post-processing of the experimental data. The main focus of this study was to improve the energy resolution of a wavelength dispersive laboratory-scale X-ray absorption spectrometer installed at the University of Helsinki Center for X-ray Spectroscopy. The project focuses on the case of Fe K-absorption edge at 7.112 keV energy and a Bragg angle of 71.74 degrees when using Silicon (5 3 1) monochromator crystal. Our results showed that the data that had been corrected using this method showed sharper spectral features with reduced effects of broadening. Moreover, contribution of other geometrical factors to the energy resolution of this laboratory X-ray spectrometer were also estimated using ray-tracing simulation and an expected improvement in resolution due to pixel compensation correction was calculated. The same technique can be extended to other X-ray absorption edges where a combination of a large deviation of Bragg angle from 90 degrees and a large source size contributes a dominant factor to the energy resolution of the instrument.
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(2020)The aim of the thesis was to study enzymatic treatment as a way to modify paper grade pulp to be a suitable raw material for the future textile industry. Wood as a raw material is an environmentally friendly option for textile production but its sustainable exploitation is not easy. Currently, ionic liquids are assumed to enable a safe and sustainable process for the production of wood-based regenerated fibres. These processes commonly use dissolving pulp as their raw material but replacing dissolving pulp with a paper grade kraft pulp would decrease environmental impact and production expenses. In this work, molar mass distribution of softwood paper grade kraft pulp was selectively modified using enzymes. Enzymes were utilized instead of acids because of their favourable abilities to selectively modify targeted polymers and to increase fibre porosity. Enzymatic modifications of softwood kraft pulp were performed to decrease degree of polymerization of cellulose and lower the quantity of hemicellulose. Hydrolysis of cellulose was catalysed with endo-1,4-β-glucanase (endoglucanase) and hemicellulose was degraded using endo-1,4-β-mannanase and endo-1,4-β-xylanase. The treatments were carried out both at high (20%) and low (3%) pulp consistency to examine the synergistic effect of enzymatic and mechanical action arising in the high consistency treatment. Additionally, influence of different enzyme combinations on the pulp properties was studied. The modified pulp samples were characterized by determining intrinsic viscosity, molar mass distribution, yield loss, and its composition. The fibres were imaged with light microscopy. The degree of polymerization of the pulp cellulose was successfully decreased with a relatively small endoglucanase dose. The amount of hemicellulose was reduced by removing 11% of the total galactoglucomannan and 40% of the total arabinoglucuronoxylan. The high consistency treatments decreased intrinsic viscosity 1.9 times more on average than the low consistency treatments. The high consistency treatments were effective with low enzyme doses, easy to control, and reliably repeated. Therefore, enzymatic pulp treatment at high consistency seems to be a compatible way to modify paper grade kraft pulp to suitable raw material for textile production. Further studies related to pulp dissolution in ionic liquids, fibre spinning, and fibre regeneration should be concluded to confirm applicability of the modified fibres.
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(2021)High pressure inside e.g. blood vessels or other biological cavities is a major risk factor for many preventable diseases. Most of the measuring methods require physical contact or other kinds of projected forces. Both variants can be unpleasant for the patient and additionally physical contact might warrant for either continuous disinfecting or single-use probes, depending on the measurement method and the target body part. We have been experimenting with handheld non-contacting pressure measuring devices based on acoustic waves. These excite mechanical waves, whose velocity varies with pressure, on the surface of a biological cavity. The tried excitation methods are nearly unnoticeable for the patient, allowing for more pleasant and waste free measurements. Using the data from the latest clinical trial, a new analysis algorithm was devised to improve the accuracy of the pressure estimates. Instead of the time-of-flight (TOF) of the main mechanical wave (MMW), the new algorithm estimates the pressure using the MMW and a previously unseen feature, improving the R^2 from 0.60 to 0.72.
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(2021)High-intensity and -amplitude focused ultrasound has been used to induce cavitation for decades. Well known applications are medical (lithotripsy and histotripsy) and industrial ones (particle cleaning, erosion, sonochemistry). These applications often use low frequencies (0.1-5 MHz), which limits the spatial precision of the actuation, and the chaotic nature of inertial cavitation is rarely monitored or compensated for, constituting a source of uncertainty. We demonstrate the use of high-frequency (12 MHz) high-intensity (ISPTA=90 W/cm2 ) focused-ultrasound- induced cavitation to locally remove solid material (pits with a diameter of 20 µm to 200 µm) for non- contact sampling. We demonstrate breaking cohesion (aluminium) and adhesion (thin film on a substrate, i.e. marker ink on microscope glass). The eroded surfaces were analyzed with a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM). We present the assembly and the characterization of a focused ultrasound transducer and show quantification of the effect of different sonication parameters (amplitude, cycle count, burst count, defocus) on the size and shape of the resulting erosion pits. The quantitative precision of this method is achieved by systematic calibration measurements, linking the resulting erosion to acoustic parameters to ensure repeatability (sufficient probability of cavitation), and inertial cavitation monitoring of the focal echoes. We discuss the usability of this method for localized non-contact sampling.
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(2021)Plasmonic catalysis utilises light energy to drive chemical reactions. Compared to conventional catalytic processes, which are run by high temperatures and pressures, light-driven processes can lower energy consumption and increase selectivity. Conventional plasmonic nanoparticles (Ag, Au) are relatively scarce and expensive, and therefore the use of materials with earth-abundant elements in plasmonic catalysis is widely pursued. Despite their good optical properties, plasmonic nanoparticles are often unsuitable catalysts. Hybrid catalysts, structures consisting of a light-harvesting plasmonic part and a catalytical centre of different material, have emerged as an opportunity to address these challenges and obtain desired properties. This thesis consists of two parts: In the first part, properties of plasmonic materials are described, and previous studies of hybrid catalysts with earth-abundant plasmonic materials are reviewed. Experimental work on plasmonic-catalytic nanohybrids, with TiN as the plasmonic part and Pd as the catalytic entity, is described in the second part. In this context, a Pd/TiN (Pd nanoparticles supported into TiN) catalyst was synthesised, characterised and applied to test catalytical reactions. Contrary to the hypothesis, light-induced rate enhancement was not observed in our current catalytical studies. These results call for further optimisation of synthesis and reaction conditions to prepare an earth-abundant, light-active catalyst.
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(2021)Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a widely utilized characterization method capable of capturing atomic level detail in individual organic molecules. However, an AFM image contains relatively little information about the deeper atoms in a molecule and thus interpretation of AFM images of non-planar molecules offers significant challenges for human experts. An end-to-end solution starting from an AFM imaging system ending in an automated image interpreter would be a valuable asset for all research utilizing AFM. Machine learning has become a ubiquitous tool in all areas of science. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), a specific machine learning tool, have also arisen as a popular method many fields including medical imaging, self-driving cars and facial recognition systems. In recent years, progress towards interpreting AFM images from more complicated samples has been made utilizing ANNs. In this thesis, we aim to predict sample structures from AFM images by modeling the molecule as a graph and using a generative model to build the molecular structure atom-by-atom and bond-by-bond. The generative model uses two types of ANNs, a convolutional attention mechanism to process the AFM images and a graph neural network to process the generated molecule. The model is trained and tested using simulated AFM images. The results of the thesis show that the model has the capability to learn even slight details from complicated AFM images, especially when the model only adds a single atom to the molecule. However, there are challenges to overcome in the generative model for it to become a part of a fully capable end-to-end AFM process.
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(2021)The rapidly increasing global energy demand has led to the necessity of finding sustainable alternatives for energy production. Fusion power is seen as a promising candidate for efficient and environmentally friendly energy production. One of the main challenges in the development of fusion power plants is finding suitable materials for the plasma-facing components in the fusion reactor. The plasma-facing components must endure extreme environments with high heat fluxes and exposure to highly energetic ions and neutral particles. So far the most promising materials for the plasma-facing components are tungsten (W) and tungsten-based alloys. A promising class of materials for the plasma-facing components is high-entropy alloys. Many high-entropy alloys have been shown to exhibit high resistance to radiation and other wanted properties for many industrial and high-energy applications. In materials research, both experimental and computational methods can be used to study the materials’ properties and characteristics. Computational methods can be either quantum mechanical calculations, that produce accurate results while being computationally extremely heavy, or more efficient atomistic simulations such as classical molecular dynamics simulations. In molecular dynamics simulations, interatomic potentials are used to describe the interactions between particles and are often analytical functions that can be fitted to the properties of the material. Instead of fixed functional forms, interatomic potentials based on machine learning methods have also been developed. One such framework is the Gaussian approximation potential, which uses Gaussian process regression to estimate the energies of the simulation system. In this thesis, the current state of fusion reactor development and the research of high-entropy alloys is presented and an overview of the interatomic potentials is given. Gaussian approximation potentials for WMoTa concentrated alloys are developed using different number of sparse training points. A detailed description of the training database is given and the potentials are validated. The developed potentials are shown to give physically reasonable results in terms of certain bulk and surface properties and could be used in atomistic simulations.
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(2021)Tutkielman kirjallisuusosassa tarkastellaan johtavien metalli-, oksidi- ja nitridikalvojen kasvattamista epitaksiaalisesti strontiumtitanaatille. Epitaksiaalisia kalvoja on kasvatettu fysikaalisilla kasvatusmenetelmillä, kuten laserpulssikasvatuksella, elektronisuihkuhöyrystyksellä ja sputteroimalla, sekä kemiallisilla kasvatusmenetelmillä, kuten atomikerroskasvatuksella, sooli-geeli-menetelmällä sekä metalliorgaanisella kemiallisella kaasufaasikasvatuksella. Useiden tekijöiden, kuten substraattien lämpötilan ja esikäsittelyn todettiin vaikuttavan kalvojen orientaatioon. Kokeellisessa osassa iridium- ja platinaohutkalvoja kasvatettiin (100)-orientoiduille strontiumtitanaattisubstraateille atomikerroskasvatuksella. Iridiumkalvojen lähtöaineina käytettiin iridiumasetyyliasetonaattia sekä happea tai otsonia ja vetyä. Platinakalvojen lähtöaineina käytettiin platina-asetyyliasetonaattia, otsonia ja vetyä tai metyylisyklopentadienyylitrimetyyliplatinaa ja happea. Kalvojen rakennetta ja tekstuuria tutkittiin θ-2θ- ja in plane -röntgendiffraktiolla. Osaa iridiumkalvojen poikkileikkauksista tutkittiin myös läpäisyelektronimikroskopialla. Iridiumkalvojen todettiin olevan vahvasti (100)-orientoituneita, mutta monikiteisiä. Platinan (h00)-piikkejä ei kyetty erottamaan substraatin (h00)-piikeistä, mutta vahvojen (111)-piikkien perusteella kalvot eivät olleet epitaksiaalisia. Kalvojen kuumentaminen lisäsi (111)-orientaatiota molemmissa metalleissa.
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(2020)Röntgenabsorptiospektroskopia (X-ray absorption spectroscopy, XAS) kuvaa röntgensäteilyn absorboitumistodennäköisyyttä tutkittavaan materiaaliin röntgenfotonien energian funktiona. XAS-spektroskopiaa hyödynnetään monilla tieteenaloilla kuten fysiikassa, materiaalitutkimuksessa, kemiassa ja biologiassa. Menetelmällä saadaan yksityiskohtaista tietoa valitun alkuaineen ympäristöstä ja materiaalin rakenteesta atomitasolla. Kun röntgenfotonin energia vastaa tutkittavan atomin sidosenergiaa, absorptio kasvaa jyrkästi. Tämän nousun eli absorptioreunan paikkaa ei ole yksiselitteisesti määritelty, vaan kirjallisuudessa esiintyy yhä toisistaan poikkeavia menetelmiä absorptioreunan paikan määritykseen XAS-spektristä. Tutkielmassa hyödynnetään XANES-spektroskopiaa (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure), joka kuvaa absorptioreunan läheistä aluetta XAS-spektrissä, ja keskitytään koboltin K-kuoren XANES-spektroskopiaan. Työssä tutkitaan absorptioreunan paikan eri määritysmenetelmiä kobolttioksidien CoO, Co2O3, Co3O4 ja LiCoO2 XANES-spektreistä. Käytetyt reunan määritysmenetelmät ovat 1) absorptioreunan puolivälikorkeutta vastaavan energian etsiminen, 2) keskiarvon laskeminen niistä energioista, joilla reunan korkeus saavuttaa 20% ja 80% maksimiabsorptiosta, 3) reunan ensimmäisen käännepisteen etsiminen ja 4) reunan jyrkimmän käännepisteen etsiminen. Tutkielman kirjallisuuskatsauksessa käsitellään röntgenabsorptiospektroskopiaa keskittyen XANES-spektroskopiaan. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa esitellään eri menetelmiä absorptioreunan määritykseen. Kokeellisessa osiossa mitataan kobolttioksidien spektrit ja verrataan eri menetelmillä määritettyjä absorptioreunojen paikkoja tunnettuihin hapetustiloihin ja pyritään etsimään lineaarista riippuvuutta reunan paikan ja hapetustilan välille. Pienin epätarkkuus, noin 10%, suoran sovituksessa saatiin hapetustilojen ja jyrkimmän käännepisteen menetelmällä määritettyjen reunan paikkojen välille. Tällä menetelmällä sovitussuoran kulmakerroin oli myös suurin, joten voidaan todeta tämän menetelmän herkkyyden olevan suurin. Toisaalta kulmakerroin poikkeaa myös selvästi muilla menetelmillä määritetyistä kulmakertoimista.
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(2019)The spin-orbit-coupled insulator Sr 3 NiIrO 6 is a strongly correlated transition metal compound, where an interplay of geometric frustration and spin anisotropy gives rise to novel magnetic phases. Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) is a powerful probe of the low-lying quasi-particle excitations that underpin these emergent properties. In this work, we partition the active space into approximately non-interacting parts in order to introduce a tight-binding single-particle model Hamiltonian describing the distorted IrO6 octahedra in Sr3NiIrO6. We then use this model to calculate its RIXS spectrum at the Ir L3-edge in the sub-electronvolt range. The results of this calculation are compared with experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and with a multiplet crystal field model calculation. We find that this one electron model largely agrees with the full-multiplet model and describes the d-d excitations observed in experiment. The addition of an exchange field term explains the low-lying temperature-dependent magnetic feature, disambiguating the sign of the crystal-field term, and suggesting that the feature is well localized at low temperatures, and is best described as an orbitally- entangled local spin-flip excitation. However, the correspondence at room temperature diminishes, suggesting that dispersive description is necessary to model this regime. The drastic reduction in active space entailed by this model facilitates the creation of extended non-collinear Heisenberg-like models, which can be calculated at a lower computational cost than full multiplet extended models.
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(2021)Several nuclear power plants in the European Union are approaching the ends of their originally planned lifetimes. Extensions to the lifetimes are made to secure the supply of nuclear power in the coming decades. To ensure the safe long-term operation of a nuclear power plant, the neutron-induced embrittlement of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) must be assessed periodically. The embrittlement of RPV steel alloys is determined by measuring the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and upper-shelf energy (USE) of the material. Traditionally, a destructive Charpy impact test is used to determine the DBTT and USE. This thesis contributes to the NOMAD project. The goal of the NOMAD project is to develop a tool that uses nondestructively measured parameters to estimate the DBTT and USE of RPV steel alloys. The NOMAD Database combines data measured using six nondestructive methods with destructively measured DBTT and USE data. Several non-irradiated and irradiated samples made out of four different steel alloys have been measured. As nondestructively measured parameters do not directly describe material embrittlement, their relationship with the DBTT and USE needs to be determined. A machine learning regression algorithm can be used to build a model that describes the relationship. In this thesis, six models are built using six different algorithms, and their use is studied in predicting the DBTT and USE based on the nondestructively measured parameters in the NOMAD Database. The models estimate the embrittlement with sufficient accuracy. All models predict the DBTT and USE based on unseen input data with mean absolute errors of approximately 20 °C and 10 J, respectively. Two of the models can be used to evaluate the importance of the nondestructively measured parameters. In the future, machine learning algorithms could be used to build a tool that uses nondestructively measured parameters to estimate the neutron-induced embrittlement of RPVs on site.
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(2021)Dendrite prevention can be achieved by manipulating the local chemical concentration gradient by ultrasound. An ultrasonic field, which generates acoustic streaming, can manipulate the ionic flux at the electrode surface by altering the local ion concentration gradient at said surface according to the streaming pattern. The pattern is determined by the ultrasonic field and the geometry of the sonication volume. The preventive action can be directed to an arbitrary point on the surface, or be swept across it to achieve a smoother electroplating. Dendritic growth is concentrated to areas of higher concentration gradient. This is because at the electrode surface both the electric and convective fluxes tend to zero. If the reduction of ions into their metallic form is fast enough, the metal layer growth rate is determined by the diffusive flux, which is determined by the ion concentration gradient and the diffusion constant of the ion in the electrolyte. In this study, tin was used as the transported ion instead of lithium for safety reasons. A custom-made battery mockup cell was constructed for the experiments. The anode was imaged with a usb microscope camera to determine the growth of the dendrites during the process. The electroplating current and piezo driving power were varied between 100 mA to 275 mA and 0 to 6.6 W, respectively. With piezo driving electrical power less than 10 W, it was possible to lower the maximum lengths of dendrites. Finite element method simulations were conducted to validate the hypothesis and experimental results. This ultrasonic method could be used to allow rechargeable, lightweight, high capacity lithium metal batteries. The piezos could be integrated into battery chargers.
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(2020)Ultrasonic transducers convert electric energy into mechanical energy at ultrasonic frequencies. High-power ultrasound is widely used in the industry and in laboratories e.g. in cleaning, sonochemistry and welding solutions. To be effective in these cases, a piezoelectric transducer must deliver maximal power to the medium. Most of these systems rely on having the power delivery maximized during long driving sequences where stable performance is critical. Power ultrasonic transducers are typically narrowband, featuring high Q-value, that are finely tuned to a specific resonance frequency. The resonance frequency can vary during driving due to temperature, mechanical loading and nonlinear effects. When the transducers resonance frequency changes, drastic changes in its impedance (resonance to anti-resonance) can lead quickly to damage or failure of the driving electronics or the transducers themselves. In this work we developed a multi-channel high-power ultrasonic system with a software-based resonance frequency tracking and driving frequency control. The implementation features a feedback loop to maximize power delivery during long driving sequences in an ultrasonic cleaning vessel. The achieved total real power increased from 6.5 kW to almost 10 kW in peak with our feedback loop. The feedback loop also protected the electronics and transducers from breaking due to heating and varying impedance.
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(2020)Acoustic levitation permits non-contacting particle manipulation. The position and orientation of the levitated particle can be controlled by altering the acoustic field. Existing acoustic levitators have employed a single frequency which limits the types of acoustic traps that can be created. The use of multiple frequencies makes it possible to control the forces acting on a particle independently in all directions. I predict theoretically the forces acting on particles placed in the acoustic fields created with multiple coexisting frequencies. I present two traps which demonstrate the benefits of multifrequency acoustic levitation. To realize the traps, I constructed a 450-channel phased array acoustic levitator with individual frequency, phase, and amplitude control for each channel.
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