The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident and restoration works have produced significant volume of radioactive waste. The waste has very different characteristics from usual radioactive waste produced in nuclear power stations and it requires extensive research and development for management of the waste. R&D works such as analysis of the waste properties, hydrogen generation by radiolysis and diffusion in a storage vessel and corrosion of storage vessels, etc. have been performed for characterization and safe storage of the waste. The detailed R&D plan for processing and disposal waste will be established by the end of FY2012.

In the last decades many techniques have been proposed to manufacture thin (<50µm) silicon solar cells. The main issues in manufacturing thin solar cells are the unavailability of a reliable method to produce thin silicon foils with contained material losses (kerf-losses) and the difficulties in handling and processing such fragile foils. A way to solve both issues is to grow an epitaxial foil on top of a weak sintered porous silicon layer. The porous silicon layer is formed by electrochemical etching on a thick silicon substrate and then annealed to close the top surface. This surface is employed as seed layer for the epitaxial growth of a silicon layer which can be partially processed while attached on the substrate that provides mechanical support. Afterward, the foil can be bonded on glass, detached and further processed at module level. The efficiency of the final solar cell will depend on the quality of the epitaxial layer which, in turn, depends on the seed layer smoothness.

Several parameters can be adjusted to change the morphology and, hence, the properties of the porous layer, both in the porous silicon formation and the succeeding thermal treatment. This work focuses on the effect of the parameters that control the porous silicon formation on the structure of the porous silicon layer after annealing and, more specifically, on the roughness of the top surface. The reported analysis shows how the roughness of the seed layer can be reduced to improve the quality of the epitaxial growth.

Thin silicate nanoplatelets, derived from the exfoliation of natural Sodium montmorillonite (Na+-MMT) clays, show an unexpected antimicrobial property. A physical trapping mechanism has been proposed because the clay nanoplatelets can indiscriminately inhibit the growth of a broad spectrum of bacteria, including drug-resistant species such as methicillin-resistance S. aureus (MRSA) and silver ion-resistant E. coli. The ability to generate singlet oxygen species was first observed for the clay platelets that showed a high-aspect-ratio geometric shape and the presence of surface ionic charges. By comparison, the pristine clay with a multilayered structure failed to generate any singlet oxygen species. The ability to emit singlet oxygen species provides direct evidence for the antimicrobial ability of clay through a non-chemical mechanism, which opens the potential for medical use.

The report presents the results of research and development on cementation technology of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) generated in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing in Experimental Demonstration Center (EDC) at the Mountain Chemical Combine, Russian Federation.

Papers in this Volume were published in print format as an Appendix of Volume 1617

http://journals.cambridge.org/issue_MRS Online Proceedings Library/OPL1617no-1

In this study the strain states in alternating multilayers of an extrinsic O2− ion conductor yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and an insulator RE2O3 (RE = Er, Y) are investigated as a function of the layer thickness. Multilayers with narrow columnar crystallites and coherent phase boundaries were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). A detailed strain analysis is performed by X-Ray Diffraction XRD, measuring distinct reflections in and perpendicular to the interface planes. Because of small columnar crystallites in the layers, the interfacial strain decays by shear with increasing distance from the interface. The extent of the strained interface regions in the YSZ layers is estimated from XRD data. By using a quantitative analytical model based on the pressure dependence of the free migration enthalpy for vacancies the results are compared to former published experimental data on O2− ion conductivity and diffusion.

Energy storage is a key technology for establishing a stand-alone renewable energy system. Current energy-storage technologies are, however, not suitable for such an energy system. They are cost ineffective and/or are with low energy-conversion efficiency. Hydrogen generation and storage from water by sunlight is one of these technologies. In this study, a simple concept of hydrogen generation from water by using sunlight, “concentrated photovoltaic electrochemical cell (CPEC)” is proposed. It is experimentally shown that the CPEC operates stably and achieves conversion efficiency from light to hydrogen energy of over 12%.

The study of high quality YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) based superconducting films is a fundamental issue to be addressed when dealing with the realization of efficient coated conductors with large current carrying capacity. In this perspective the investigation of innovative buffer layers structures able to allow epitaxial YBCO film grow on metallic substrates and to prevent contamination and degradation issues holds a central role.

In this work we thoroughly study the properties of YBCO films grown by means of pulsed lasers deposition on CeO2 template on both bare MgO single crystal and MgO-homoepitaxial/MgO single crystal substrates. Due to its high chemical and temperature stability the MgO reduces the oxygen diffusion effects. On the other hand, the CeO2 layer, pulsed laser deposited, prevents the YBCO film from metallic contamination and facilitates its epitaxial growth. Morphology and crystalline structure of buffer layers and superconductors film are investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray and electrons back-scattered diffraction techniques (XRD and EBSD).

YBCO films show good critical temperature values (Tc > 87K) with sharp transitions. These encouraging results make our structures promising candidates in the realization of high quality YBCO based coated conductors.

Epitaxial rhombohedral Pb(Zr0.65Ti0.35)O3films with (100) and (110)/(10-1) and (111)/(11-1) orientations were grown on various kinds of singlecrystal substrates having different thermal expansion coefficient. Volume fractions of (110) and (111) orientations in respective (110)/(10-1) and (111)/(11-1)-oriented films were almost linearly increased with increasing thermal strain, ε thermal, applied to the films that wasgenerated under the cooling process after the deposition from the growth temperature to the Curie temperature.Observed saturationpolarization (P sat)was changed linearly with the volume fractions of (110) and (111) orientations, in the same manner asthe volume fractions of (001) and (101) orientations in (001)/(100) and (101)/(110) oriented tetragonal Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 filmsreported previously. These results showed that the volume fraction of the non-180o domains Pb(Zr,Ti)O3films of both tetragonal and rhombohedral symmetriescan be manipulated by ε thermal, which brings possibly to control the P sat value.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a label-free biosensing technique employing plasmonic nanostructures to detect local refractive index change induced by biomolecules in the vicinity of these nanostructures. In analogy to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor in a cuvette, LSPR is resistant to bulk refractive index fluctuation yet remains comparably sensitive for biosensing purpose. LSPR has the advantage over SPR in that the overall system size is smaller, and not affected by normal temperature fluctuations during measurement. However, mass production of a cheap but effective LSPR substrate remains challenging. In this paper, a self-assembly gold nanoisland structure was synthesized on transparent glass substrate by a simple two-step deposition-growth process. The first step involved depositing an ultra thin film of gold with nominal thickness of 5 nm by thermal evaporation at 1× 10-7 torr. Then the gold coated substrate was placed into a high temperature oven and annealed at 450°C for 10 hours. By first observation, the annealed substrate turned from pale green to dark pink. Upon scanning with atomic force microscopy, it was revealed that nanoislands of about 100 nm to 150 nm wide with average height of 60 nm were formed. Optical extinction measurements showed that the absorption peak was about 560 nm with fullwidth-half-maximum of 100 nm, so dark pink color was observed. For the biosensing demonstration, Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Anti-BSA bio-affinity interaction was measured using the self-assembly gold nanoisland LSPR sensor. Anti-BSA was functionalized onto the sensing site and BSA of known concentrations, i.e. 1 ug/ml was injected. The results showed LSPR spectral intensity change of 650 counts at the resonance slope of 634 nm. With standard deviation of spectral intensity fluctuation at 7 counts, the detection limit of BSA was estimated at about 0.5 nM which was comparable with that of LSPR systems with more elaborate nanostructures. The limit of detection of the present system can be further improved by implementing phase measurement and further nanostructure improvement.

We have investigated the effects of two different strain-relief bilayer shell structures on the luminescent properties of colloidal CdSe quantum dots (QDs). CdSe QDs with a strain-compensated ZnS/ZnCdS bilayer shell were synthesized using the successive ion layer adsorption and reaction technique and their crystallinity of was examined by X-ray diffraction. The QDs enjoyed the benefits of excellent exciton confinement by the ZnS intermediate shell and strain compensation by the ZnCdS outer shell. The resulting CdSe/ZnS/ZnCdS QDs exhibited 40% stronger photoluminescence and a smaller peak redshift upon shell growth compared to conventional CdSe/ZnCdS/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs with an intermediate lattice adaptor. CdSe/ZnS/ZnCdS QD light-emitting diodes (LEDs) had a luminance of 558 cd/m2 at 20 mA/cm2, 28% higher than that of CdSe/ZnCdS/ZnS QD-LEDs. The former also had better spectral purity. These results suggest that nanocrystal shells may be strain-engineered in a different way to achieve QDs of high crystalline and optical quality well suited for full-color display applications.

In order to achieve waste heat recovery using thermoelectric systems, thermoelectric materials showing high conversion efficiency over wide temperature range and high resistance against oxidation are indispensable. A silicide material with good n-type thermoelectric properties and oxidation resistance has been discovered. The composition and crystal structure of the silicide are found out Mn3Si4Al2 (abbreviated as 342 phase) and hexagonal CrSi2 structure, respectively. Element substitution of Mn with 3d transition metals is succeeded. Enhancement of Seebeck coefficient is observed in a Cr-substituted sample. The maximum dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit ZT is 0.3 at 573 K in air for the Mn2.7Cr0.3Si4Al2 sample. Electrical resistivity of the Mn3Si4Al2 bulk sample holds constant value for 48 h at 873 K in air. This is due to formation of oxide passive layer on the surface of the bulk sample. The 342 phase is a promising n-type material with a good oxidation resistance in the middle temperature range of 500-800 K.

Environmental issues steadily receive more and more attention at EU policy level. This can for example be seen in the Raw Materials Initiative by DG Enterprise and Resource Efficient Europe by DG Environment which goes back to the theme of a sustainable economy as expressed by the Europe 2020 growth strategy. DG Research and Innovation supports related research activities. The Nanotechnology, Materials & Production (NMP) Theme in the FP7 Cooperation scheme has taken stock of this, by for example including aspects such as substitution, life cycle assessment, improved resource efficiency and better performance materials in the NMP calls for proposals. This is done with the aim to achieve a more green economy and fostering more sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Research on better performing and sustainable materials will more than ever be a pre-condition to meeting such challenges. Progress will come through the development of intelligent materials that embed and transfer knowledge into products and processes or perform certain tasks, when in use or during manufacturing. Already, some 70 per cent of all technical innovations hinge directly or indirectly on the properties of the materials employed. We have passed from the perception "materials are in the drawer" to the perception "materials are the bottleneck". The next step can be "materials are the solution".

At least 60 % of the total proposed Horizon 2020 budget is related to sustainable development, the vast majority of this expenditure contributing to mutually reinforcing climate and environmental objectives. In a resource-scarce Europe, new products must have low material / energy resource needs and high knowledge content. As stated in the Europe 2020 strategy, endorsed by EU leaders: “Europe must promote technologies and production methods that reduce natural resource use, and increase investment in the EU's existing natural assets”.

Materials can have a large environmental impact in many of its stages, from sourcing, extraction, processing, auxiliary materials and processes, use and end of life fate. The choice or design of material solutions can thus have a great impact on the technologies in which they are used. Implying that a material could be an integral part of the solution to a problem created by the use of a specific technology. Such solutions could require entirely new materials either to replace a material or be part of a new technology based on better performing materials and eco-designed products.

The “pad-in-a-bottle” (PIB) approach to planarization is a non-traditional chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process in which slurry containing polymer beads is used. The approach is hypothesized to be able to perform polishing by mixing polymer beads with similar chemical and mechanical properties as pad asperities into the slurry to provide force application and polishing contacts, so that a traditional CMP pad is not needed. Pad-in-a-bottle could provide predictable and controllable mechanical contacts through bead size control, which could substantially reduce process variability. Pad-in-a-bottle also has the potential to reduce the CMP consumable cost. In this work, we propose a physical model to understand the behavior of the pad-in-a-bottle approach and estimate the relationship of applied pressure and material removal rate in this variant of CMP. Two specific cases of polymer bead formation are considered in our modeling work, bead packing and bead stacking. Model prediction shows that the two bead formation cases generate distinctly different polishing mechanisms: material removal is applied pressure driven in bead packing, but contact event driven in bead stacking. The physical model suggests that in future experiments or applications of pad-in-a-bottle, a polymer bead size distribution or shape variation may be needed to achieve efficient material removal.

First principle calculations were performed to evaluate stress effect on the diffusion process of oxygen vacancy in ZrO2 film, and oxidation rate of Zr was evaluated by solving simple diffusion equations. Our calculation results have indicated that both the vacancy formation and migration energies of ZrO2 increase with increasing compressive applied stress. The energy increase causes a decrease in the diffusion coefficient of oxygen vacancy in ZrO2, leading to a decrease in oxidation rate of Zr. The stress effect on diffusion process may explain the experimental fact that Zr is oxidized in proportion to the cubic root of time.

Microwave-induced zero-resistance states appear when the associated B-1-periodic magnetoresistance oscillations grow in amplitude and become comparable to the dark resistance of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES). Existing theories have made differing predictions regarding the influence of the microwave polarization in this phenomenon. We have investigated the effect of rotating, in-situ, the polarization of linearly polarized microwaves relative to long-axis of Hall bars. The results indicate that the amplitude of the magnetoresistance oscillations is remarkably responsive to the relative orientation between the linearly polarized microwave electric field and the current-axis in the specimen. At low microwave power, P, experiments indicate a strong sinusoidal variation in the diagonal resistance Rxx vs. θ at the oscillatory extrema of the microwave-induced magnetoresistance oscillations. Interestingly, the phase shift θ0 for maximal oscillatory Rxx response under photoexcitation is a strong function of the magnetic field, the extremum in question, and the magnetic field orientation.

Bimodal Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a recently developed dynamic AFM technique. Recent work [1] has shown the existence of different regimes of operation in Bimodal AFM depending on the operating conditions. The current work focuses on the effects of different operating parameters while imaging an impact copolymer blend of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene-propylene (E-P) rubber. The higher mode amplitude and phase contrasts reverse at different points between the PP and rubber regions as the free amplitude of the higher eigenmode is increased. The observed contrast reversal suggests that the cantilever kinetic energy and its free air drive input energy play a role in determining the regimes of operation. Understanding the role of cantilever dynamics in determining these operation regimes will help guide a more rational operation of Bimodal AFM.

ZnO nanorods were grown up from as-deposited ZnO film on which the zinc self-catalysts generated by a novel reducing method. Well aligned ZnO nanorods with a uniform high aspect ratio were grown up on multi-annealed samples. The length of nanorods depended significantly on the reaction time in the hydrothermal synthesis.

Two-photon fabrication is a powerful method of fabricating complex microstructures. Superresolution by methods analogous to stimulated emission depletion (STED) has been described previously, enabling sub-100 nm imaging with 800 nm light. STED-related methods of enhancing imaging resolution require photoresists with exposure conditions for which the photoresist exhibits negative contrast, i.e., image density decreases with increasing exposure from the depletion beam. We have observed decreasing voxel size with increasing exposure during two-photon initiated polymerization of acrylate- and methacrylate-based photoresists, that is, negative imaging contrast, γ < 0, independent of the type of photoinitiator. Negative contrast is not observed in epoxy-type photoresists containing photoacid generators. An investigation of the exposure conditions has led us to conclude that radical-radical recombination at high exposure is responsible for negative contrast. Results of the investigation, discussion of the proposed mechanism for negative contrast and implications for two-photon superresolution will be presented.

In developing photovoltaic (PV) systems with reliable lifetime performances, it is critical to have quantitative knowledge of not just initial properties and performances, but also their performance over the warrantied 25 year lifetime. In 2010, the Science for Energy Technology Workshop, convened by U.S Department of Energy (DOE) Basic Energy Science, prioritized photovoltaic module lifetime and degradation science (L&DS), which serve as the basis for quantitative and mechanistic understanding of lifetime performance. In order to better understand degradation rates and mechanisms of PV systems in the real-world environment, the SDLE SunFarm at Case Western Reserve University has been created, which is a highly instrumented outdoor test facility with 148 PV modules and > 8000 samples on sun for weathering and degradation studies of materials components and systems designed for long-lived energy systems. I-V and power performance of 10 multi-crystalline silicon PV modules from different manufacturers, using baseline and continuous power monitoring and comprehensive weather and solar resource monitoring, to enable time series analysis for insights into performance characteristics and initial degradation.

Five modules from each manufacturer were exposed using mirror augmentation in typical (Cleveland, OH) climatic conditions. The mirror augmentation used geometric concentration factors of 1X, 1.5X and 1.9X of the nominal 1 sun. The effect of mirror augmentation on the modules' performance is reported. A Daystar multi-tracer was used to measure I-V curves of individual modules every 15 minutes while power output under maximum power point tracking was monitored continuously. Monitoring environmental factors (wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, and humidity), solar resource, and module temperatures allow for determination of the effects of these conditions on module power production. Power data was corrected to standard test condition (STC) according to climatic and solar irradiance. Changes in fill factor, short circuit current, open circuit voltage and maximum power are reported for each module. With time series analysis, a better understanding of the module's performance over time and under environmental conditions can be developed.