Aligned Elongation of Ag Nanoparticles Embedded in Silica Irradiated with High Energy Ni Ions

Metallic nanoparticle （NP） shapes have a significant influence on the property of composite embedded with metallic NPs. Swift heavy ion irradiation is an effective way to modify shapes of metallic NPs embedded in an amorphous matrix. We investigate the shape deformation of Ag NPs with irradiation fluence, and 357 MeV Ni ions are used to irradiate the silica containing Ag NPs, which are prepared by ion implantation and vacuum annealing. The UV-vis results show that the surface plasmon resonance （SPR） peak from Ag NPs shifts from 400 to 377nm. The SPR peak has a significant shift at fluence lower than 1 × 10^14 ions/cm2 and shows less shift at fluence higher than 1 × 10^14 ions/cm2. The TEM results reveal that the shapes of Ag NPs also show significant deformation at fluence lower than 1 × 10^14 ions/cm2 and show less deformation at fluence higher than 1 × 10^14 ions/cm2. The blue shift of the SPR peak is considered to be the consequence of defect production and Ag NP shape deformation, Based on the thermal spike model calculation, the temperature of the silica surrounding Ag particles first increases rapidly, then the region of Ag NPs close to the interface of Ag/silica is gradually heated. Therefore, the driven force of Ag NPs deformation is considered as the volume expansion of the first heated silica layer surrounding Ag NPs.

Microstructure evolution of T91 steel after heavy ion irradiation at 550℃

Fe-Cr ferritic/martensitic(F/M)steels have been proposed as one of the candidate materials for the Generation IV nuclear technologies.In this study,a widely-used ferritic/martensitic steel,T91 steel,was irradiated by 196-MeV Kr^(+)ions at 550℃.To reveal the irradiation mechanism,the microstructure evolution of irradiated T91 steel was studied in details by transmission electron microscope(TEM).With increasing dose,the defects gradually changed from black dots to dislocation loops,and further to form dislocation walls near grain boundaries due to the production of a large number of dislocations.When many dislocation loops of primary a0/2<111>type with high migration interacted with other defects or carbon atoms,it led to the production of dislocation segments and other dislocation loops of a0<100>type.Lots of defects accumulated near grain boundaries in the irradiated area,especially in the high-dose area.The grain boundaries of martensite laths acted as important sinks of irradiation defects in T91.Elevated temperature facilitated the migration of defects,leading to the accumulation of defects near the grain boundaries of martensite laths.

PVA/PEG Hybrid Hydrogels Prepared by Freeze-thawing and High Energy Electron Beam Irradiation

In this paper, poly（vinyl alcohol）（PVA） and PVA/poly（ethylene glycol）（PEG） hybrid hydrogels were synthesized by freeze-thawing or freeze-thawing followed by high energy electron beam irradiation. The influence of PEG molecular weight, mass ratios of PVA to PEG, thawing temperature and number of freeze-thawing（FT） cycles on the mechanical strength of PVA/PEG hydrogel was investigated. Also, the thermal behaviors were examined by differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and the microstructttres were observed with scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The results suggest that the addition of PEG improves the mechanical strength of PVA hydrogel and the irradiation reduces both the strength of PVA/PEG hydrogel slightly and the degree of crystallinity. The improved properties suggest that PVA/PEG hydrogel can be a good candidate for the application in the biomedical.

Enhancement of hydroxyapatite dissolution through structure modification by Krypton ion irradiation

Hydroxyapatite(HA)synthesized by a wet chemical route was subjected to heavy ion irradiation,using4 Me V Krypton ion(Kr17+)with ion fluence ranging from 1×1013 to 1×1015 ions/cm2.Glancing incidence X-ray diffraction(GIXRD)results confirmed the phase purity of irradiated HA with a moderate contraction in lattice parameters,and further indicated the irradiation-induced structural disorder,evidenced by broadening of the diffraction peaks.High-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM)observations indicated that the applied Kr irradiation induced significant damage in the hydroxyapatite lattice.Specifically,cavities were observed with their diameter and density varying with the irradiation fluences,while a radiation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transition with increasing ion dose was identified.Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)analysis further indicated the presence of irradiationinduced defects.Ion release from pristine and irradiated materials following immersion in Tris(p H 7.4,37?)buffer showed that dissolution in vitro was enhanced by irradiation,reaching a peak at 0.1 dpa.We examined the effects of irradiation on the early stages of the mouse osteoblast-like cells(MC3 T3-E)response.A cell counting kit-8 assay(CCK-8 test)was carried out to investigate the cytotoxicity of samples,and viable cells can be observed on the irradiated materials.