(2010) 'Self-catalyzed, pure zincblende GaAs nanowires grown on Si (111) Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. We report on the Au-free molecular beam epitaxy growth of coherent GaAs nanowires directly on Si͑111͒ substrates. The growth is catalyzed by liquid Ga droplets formed in the openings of a native oxide layer at the initial growth stage. Transmission electron microscopy studies demonstrate that the nanowires are single crystals having the zincblende structure along their length ͑apart from a thin wurtzite region directly below the Ga droplet͒, regardless of their diameter ͑70-80 nm͒ and the growth temperature range ͑560-630°C͒. We attribute the observed phase purity to a much lower surface energy of liquid Ga than that of Au-Ga alloys, which makes triple line nucleation energetically unfavorable. The change in growth catalyst to a liquid metal with a lower energy suppresses the ͑more usual͒ formation of wurtzite nuclei on surface energetic grounds. These results can provide a distinct method for the fabrication of chemically pure and stacking-fault-free zincblende nanowires of III-V compounds on silicon.

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Titanium-based implants are ubiquitous in the healthcare industries and often suffer from bacterial attachment which results in infections. An innovative method of reducing bacterial growth is to employ nanostructures on implant materials that cause contact-dependent cell death by mechanical rupture of bacterial cell membranes. To achieve this, we synthesized nanostructures with different architectures on titanium surfaces using hydrothermal treatment processes and then examined the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis on these surfaces. The structure obtained after a two-hour hydrothermal treatment (referred to as spear-type) showed the least bacterial attachment at short times but over a period of 6 days tended to support the formation of thick biofilms. By contrast, the structure obtained after a three-hour hydrothermal treatment (referred to as pocket-type) was found to delay biofilm formation up to 6 days and killed 47% of the initially attached bacteria by penetrating or compressing the bacteria in between the network of intertwined nano-spears. The results point to the efficacy of pocket-type nanostructure in increasing the killing rate of individual bacteria and potentially delaying longer-term biofilm formation.

Minerals stabilize organic carbon (OC) in sediments, thereby directly affecting global climate at multiple scales, but how they do it is far from understood. Here we show that manganese oxide (Mn oxide) in a water treatment works filter bed traps dissolved OC as coatings build up in layers around clean sand grains at 3%w/wC. Using spectroscopic and thermogravimetric methods, we identify two main OC fractions. One is thermally refractory (>550 °C) and the other is thermally more labile (<550 °C). We postulate that the thermal stability of the trapped OC is due to carboxylate groups within it bonding to Mn oxide surfaces coupled with physical entrapment within the layers. We identify a significant difference in the nature of the surface-bound OC and bulk OC . We speculate that polymerization reactions may be occurring at depth within the layers. We also propose that these processes must be considered in future studies of OC in natural systems.

Thin film solar cells based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) are complex devices which have great potential for achieving high conversion efficiencies. Lack of understanding in materials issues and device physics slows down the rapid progress of these devices. This paper combines relevant results from the literature with new results from a research programme based on electro-plated CdS and CdTe. A wide range of analytical techniques was used to investigate the materials and device structures. It has been experimentally found that n-, i-and p-type CdTe can be grown easily by electroplating. These material layers consist of nano-and micro-rod type or columnar type grains, growing normal to the substrate. Stoichiometric materials exhibit the highest crystallinity and resistivity, and layers grown closer to these conditions show n → p or OPEN ACCESSCoatings 2014, 4 381 p → n conversion upon heat treatment. The general trend of CdCl 2 treatment is to gradually change the CdTe material's n-type electrical property towards i-type or p-type conduction. This work also identifies a rapid structural transition of CdTe layer at 385 ± 5 °C and a slow structural transition at higher temperatures when annealed or grown at high temperature. The second transition occurs after 430 °C and requires more work to understand this gradual transition. This work also identifies the existence of two different solar cell configurations for CdS/CdTe which creates a complex situation. Finally, the paper presents the way forward with next generation CdTe-based solar cells utilising low-cost materials in their columnar nature in graded bandgap structures. These devices could absorb UV, visible and IR radiation from the solar spectrum and combine impact ionisation and impurity photovoltaic (PV) effect as well as making use of IR photons from the surroundings when fully optimised.

Highly reflective, continuous smooth surfaces, known as "mirror-like surfaces" (MSs), have been observed in experimental carbonate-hosted faults, which were sheared at both seismic and aseismic velocities. MSs produced during high-velocity friction experiments (>0.1 m s-1) are typically interpreted to be frictional principal slip surfaces, where weakening mechanisms are activated by shear heating. We reexamined this model by performing friction experiments in a rotary shear apparatus on calcite gouge, at seismic velocities up to v = 1.4 m s-1 and normal stress σ n = 25 MPa, to analyze the evolution of microstructures as displacement increases. After the onset of dynamic weakening, when the friction coefficients are low (µ << 0.6), sheared gouges consistently develop a welldefined, porosity-free principal slip zone (PSZ) of constant finite thickness (a few tens of micrometers) composed of nanometric material, which displays polygonal grain shapes. MSs occur at both boundaries of the PSZ, where they mark a sharp contrast in grain size with the sintered, much coarser material on either side of the PSZ. Our observations suggest that, with the onset of dynamic weakening, MSs partition the deformation by separating strong, sintered wall rocks from a central weak, actively deforming viscous PSZ. Therefore, the MSs do not correspond to frictional slip surfaces in the classical sense, but constitute sharp rheological boundaries, while, in the PSZ, shear is enhanced by thermal and grain-size-dependent mechanisms.

In a modern peritidal microbial mat from Qatar, both biomediated carbonates and Mg‐rich clay minerals (palygorskite) were identified. The mat, ca 5 cm thick, shows a clear lamination reflecting different microbial communities. The initial precipitates within the top millimetres of the mat are composed of Ca–Mg–Si–Al–S amorphous nanoparticles (few tens of nanometres) that replace the ultrastructure of extracellular polymeric substances. The extracellular polymeric substances are enriched in the same cations and act as a substrate for mineral nucleation. Successively, crystallites of palygorskite fibres associated with carbonate nanocrystals develop, commonly surrounding bacterial bodies. Micron‐sized crystals of low‐Mg calcite are the most common precipitates, together with subordinate aragonite, very high‐Mg calcite/dolomite and ankerite. Pyrite nanocrystals and framboids are present in the deeper layers of the mat. Calcite crystallites form conical structures, circular to triangular/hexagonal in cross‐section, evolving to crystals with rhombohedral terminations; some crystallite bundles develop into dumb‐bell and stellate forms. Spheroidal organo‐mineral structures are also common within the mat. Nanospheres, a few tens of nanometres in diameter, occur attached to coccoid bacteria and within their cells; these are interpreted as permineralized viruses and could be significant as nuclei for crystallite‐crystal precipitation. Microspheres, 1 to 10 μm in diameter, result from intracellular permineralization within bacteria or the mineralization of the bacteria themselves. Carbonates and clay minerals are commonly aggregated to form peloids, tens of microns in size, surrounded by residual organic matter. Magnesium silicate and carbonate precipitation are likely to have been driven by pH – saturation index – redox changes within the mat, related to microenvironmental chemical changes induced by the microbes – extracellular polymeric substances – viruses and their degradation.

Antimony selenide (Sb 2 Se 3) is an emerging chalcogenide photovoltaic absorber material that has been the subject of increasing interest in recent years, demonstrating rapid efficiency increases with a material that is simple, abundant, and stable. This paper examines the material from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. The theoretical viability of Sb 2 Se 3 as a solar photovoltaic material is assessed and the maximum spectroscopically limited performance is estimated, with a 200 nm film expected to be capable of achieving a photon conversion efficiency of up to 28.2%. By adapting an existing CdTe close-spaced sublimation (CSS) process, Sb 2 Se 3 material with large rhubarb-like grains is produced and solar cells are fabricated. We show that the established CdS window layer is unsuitable for use with CSS, due to intermixing during higher temperature processing. Substituting CdS with the more stable TiO 2 , a power conversion efficiency of 5.5% and an open-circuit voltage V o c of 0.45 V are achieved; the voltage exceeding current champion devices. This paper demonstrates the potential of CSS for scalable Sb 2 Se 3 deposition and highlights the Manuscript