Amorphous molybdenum sulfide ( MoSx) has been regarded as a promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst due to its mild preparation conditions and low-cost precursor materials. In this work, we report a simple strategy combining the growth of amorphous MoSx on the surface of metal organic frameworks (ZIF-67) and annealing treatment to prepare Co-doped MoSx nanopolyhedrons (denoted as CoMoSx NPs). The CoMoSx NPs exhibit excellent HER activity in acid condition with an overpotential of 188 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm− 2 (η10), and a relatively stable overpotential after 2000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles testing. The excellent HER performance of the CoMoSx NPs can be attributed to the doping of Co element adjust the electronic structure and increase the conductivity of catalyst, and the nanopolyhedrons structure which can expose more active sites for HER electrocatalytic. This study offers a low-cost and simple strategy to prepare high-activity HER catalyst, which holds great promises in developing advanced electrocatalysts for energy storage.

Essential macleod program (EMP) was used to optimize the transmittance of the transparent conducting layers in an oxidemetal- oxide structure. For EMP simulation, the optical coefficient of the material was extracted using an ellipsometer. Following the simulation studies, oxide-metal-oxide samples were fabricated experimentally, and their optical and electrical properties were analyzed. Multilayer SiInZnO/Ag/Siinzno (S/A/S) structures were grown on glass substrates using radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) sputtering at room temperature. Due to the occurrence of destructive interference at the metal and oxide interface, the S/A/S structure exhibited excellent optical properties. As the thickness of the top and bottom oxide layers was increased, the transmittance spectrum was red-shifted due to partial wave interference at the Ag interface. Change in thickness of the top oxide layer had a greater effect on the transmittance than that of the bottom oxide layer. This was due to the difference in refractive index occurring at each interface. Change in Ag thickness shifted the absorption edge in the short wavelength region. Whereas electrical properties, such as sheet resistance and carrier concentration, were found to be dependent on thickness of the sandwiched metal layer. An excellent figure of merit of 63.20 ×10−3Ω−1 was obtained when the thickness of the Ag layer was 11 nm, and the top and bottom oxide layer thickness were 45 and 60 nm, respectively. These values suggest promising optoelectronic properties and are encouraging for future transparent electrode applications.

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate amorphous spray-dried microparticles (SDM) containing levosulpiride to increase its solubility. SDM are prepared via solvent evaporation using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the water-soluble polymer and Cremophor RH40 as the surfactant. The SDM is prepared by varying the amounts of PVP and Cremophor RH40, and its physicochemical properties, solubility, and dissolution are confirmed. All levosulpiride-loaded SDMs converted the crystalline drug into an amorphous form, significantly improving drug solubility and dissolution compared with the drug alone. SDM consisting of drug/PVP/Cremophor RH40 in a weight ratio of 5:10:3, with increased solubility (720 ± 36 vs. 1822 ± 51 μg/mL) and dissolution rate (10.3 ± 2.2 vs. 92.6 ± 6.0%) compared with drug alone, shows potential as a commercial drug for improved oral bioavailability of levosulpiride.

A new Fe-Cr-Mo-B-C amorphous alloy is designed, which offers high mechanical strength, corrosion resistance as well as high glass-forming ability and its gas-atomized amorphous powder is deposited on an ASTM A213-T91 steel substrate using the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process. The hybrid coating layer, consisting of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases, exhibits strong bonding features with the substrate, without revealing significant pore formation. By the coating process, it is possible to obtain a dense structure in which pores are hardly observed not only inside the coating layer but also at the interface between the coating layer and the substrate. The coating layer exhibits good adhesive strength as well as good wear resistance, making it suitable for coating layers for biomass applications.

As the size of market for electric vehicles and energy storage systems grows, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is increasing. Currently, commercial LIBs are fabricated with liquid electrolytes, which have some safety issues such as low chemical stability, which can cause ignition of fire. As a substitute for liquid electrolytes, solid electrolytes are now being extensively studied. However, solid electrolytes have disadvantages of low ionic conductivity and high resistance at interface between electrode and electrolyte. In this study, Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO), one of the best ion conducting materials among oxide based solid electrolytes, is fabricated through RF-sputtering and various electrochemical properties are analyzed. Moreover, the electrochemical properties of LLZO are found to significantly improve with co-sputtered Li2O. An all-solid thin film battery is fabricated by introducing a thin film solid electrolyte and an Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) cathode; resulting electrochemical properties are also analyzed. The LLZO/Li2O (60W) sample shows a very good performance in ionic conductivity of 7.3  108 S/cm, with improvement in c-rate and stable cycle performance.

In the geochemical field, the chemical speciation of hexavalent uranium (U(VI)) has been widely investigated by performing measurements to determine its luminescence properties, namely the excitation, emission, and lifetime. Of these properties, the excitation has been relatively overlooked in most time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) studies. In this study, TRLFS and continuous-wave excitation–emission matrix spectroscopy are adopted to characterize the excitation properties of U(VI) surface species that interact with amorphous silica. The luminescence spectra of U(VI) measured from a silica suspension and silica sediment showed very similar spectral shapes with similar lifetime values. In contrast, the excitation spectra of U(VI) measured from these samples were significantly different. The results show that distinctive excitation maxima appeared at approximately 220 and 280 nm for the silica suspension and silica sediment, respectively.

Many electronic applications require magnetic materials with high permeability and frequency properties. We improve the magnetic permeability of soft magnetic powder by controlling the shape magnetic anisotropy of the powders and through the preparation of amorphous nanoparticles. For this purpose, the effect of the shape magnetic anisotropy of amorphous Fe-B-P nanoparticles is observed through a magnetic field and the frequency characteristics and permeability of these amorphous nanoparticles are observed. These characteristics are investigated by analyzing the composition of particles, crystal structure, microstructure, magnetic properties, and permeability of particles. The composition, crystal structure, and microstructure of the particles are analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam analysis. The saturation magnetization and permeability are measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer and an LCR meter, respectively. It is confirmed that the shape magnetic anisotropy of the particles influences the permeability. Finally, the permeability and frequency characteristics of the amorphous Fe-B-P nanoparticles are improved.

In this study, factors considered to be causes of promotion of densification of sintered pellets identified during phase change are reviewed. As a result, conclusions shown below are obtained for each factor. In order for MA powder to soften, a temperature of 1,000 K or higher is required. In order to confirm the temporary increase in density throughout the sintered pellet, the temperature rise due to heat during phase change was found not to have a significant effect. While examining the thermal expansion using the compressed powder, which stopped densification at a temperature below the MA powder itself, and the phase change temperature, no shrinkage phenomenon contributing to the promotion of densification is observed. The two types of powder made of Ti-silicide through heat treatment are densified only in the high temperature region of 1,000 K or more; it can be estimated that this is the effect of fine grain superplasticity. In the densification of the amorphous powder, the dependence of sintering pressure and the rate of temperature increase are shown. It is thought that the specific densification behavior identified during the phase change of the Ti-37.5 mol.%Si composition MA powder reviewed in this study is the result of the acceleration of the powder deformation by the phase change from non-equilibrium phase to equilibrium phase.

Boron-doped amorphous carbon (BDAC) thin films with a regular oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activity were synthesized in a hot filament chemical vapor deposition device using a mixture of CH4 and H2 as a gas source and B2O3 as a boron source and then oxidized in air at 380–470 °C for 15–75 min. Scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical tests were used to characterize the physical and electrochemical properties of the BDAC catalysts. It was concluded that the BDAC catalyst oxidized at 450 °C for 45 min showed the best ORR catalytic activity in alkaline medium. The oxygen reduction potential and the transfer electron number n, respectively, are − 0.286 V versus Ag/AgCl and 3.24 from the rotating disk electrode experiments. The treated carbon film has better methanol resistance and stability than the commercial Pt/C catalyst.

In this study, the glass-forming ability and mechanical properties of newly developed Fe-Mn-Cr-Mo-B-C-P-Si-Al bulk amorphous alloys were investigated, and metalloid elements such as B, C, and P were found to have a strong influence on the properties of the Fe-based amorphous alloys. When the total metalloid content (B, C, and P) is less than 5%, only the crystal phase is formed, but the addition of more than 10% metalloid elements enhances the glass forming ability. In particular, the alloys with 10 % metalloid content exhibit the best combination of very high compressive strength (~2.8 GPa) and superior fracture elongation (~30 %) because they consist of crystal/amorphous composite phases.

We investigate optical properties of amorphous alumina (Al2O3) dust grains in the envelopes around O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars using laboratory measured optical data. We derive the optical constants of amorphous alumina over a wide wavelength range that satisfy the Kramers- Kronig relation and reproduce the laboratory data. Using the amorphous alumina and silicate dust, we compare the radiative transfer model results with the observed spectral energy distributions. Comparing the theoretical models with observations on various IR two-color diagrams for a large sample of O-rich AGB stars, we find that the amorphous alumina dust (about 10-40%) mixed with amorphous silicate better models the observed points for the O-rich AGB stars with thin dust envelopes.

Recently, amorphous granular starch (AGS) or non-crystalline granular starch (NGS) is of great interest because it has specific physicochemical properties compared to native starches. Various approaches have been taken to prepare gelatinized starch while still maintaining its granular shape. The granular cold-water soluble starch (GCWS) can be prepared by alcoholic-alkaline treatment or by using liquid ammonia and ethanol. However, these starches exhibit significant deformation and shrinking, and chemical treatments may raise safety issues for their potential food applications. Therefore, in this study, the optimization of preparation method for amorphous granular potato starch (AGPS) was investigated using ethanol and heat treatments. Response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) were used to find the optimum conditions for AGPS preparation based on granule integrity and birefringence. Optimum conditions were 53.3% ethanol and 93.87oC heat treatment for 15 min. Prepared AGPS maintained its granular structure and lost birefringence, crystallinity, and DSC amylopectin melting peak, suggesting that proper AGPS could be made using optimized conditions.

The self-propagating high temperature synthesis approach was applied to synthesize amorphous boron nanopowders in argon atmospheres. For this purpose, we investigated the characteristics of a thermally induced combustion wave in the B2O3 + α Mg system(α = 1.0-8.0) in an argon atmospheres. In this study, the exothermic nature of the B2O3-Mg reaction was investigated using thermodynamic calculations. Experimental study was conducted based on the calculation data and the SHS products consisting of crystalline boron and other compounds were obtained starting with a different initial molar ratio of Mg. It was found that the B2O3 and Mg reaction system produced a high combustion temperature with a rapid combustion reaction. In order to regulate the combustion reaction, NaCl, Na2B4O7 and H3BO3 additives were investigated as diluents. In an experimental study, it was found that all diluents effectively stabilized the reaction regime. The final product of the B2O3 + α Mg system with 0.5 mole Na2B4O7 was identified to be amorphous boron nano-powders(< 100 nm).

The purpose of this experimental research is to evaluate the workability and strength properties of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete containing amorphous steel fiber and organic fiber. For this purpose, the hybrid fiber reinforced concrete containing amorphous steel fiber(ASF) with polyamide(PA) and polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) fiber, respectively were made according to their total volume fraction of 0.5% for water-binder ratio of 33%, and then the characteristics such as the workability, compressive strength, and flexural strength of those were investigated. It was observed from the test results that the workability and compressive strength at 7 and 28 days were decreased and the flexural strength at 7 and 28 days was increased with increasing ASF and decreasing organic fiber.

Fe-based amorphous coatings were fabricated on a soda-lime glass substrate by the vacuum kinetic spray method. The effect of the gas flow rate, which determines particle velocity, on the deposition behavior of the particle and microstructure of the resultant films was investigated. The as-fabricated microstructure of the film was studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Although the activation energy for transformation from the amorphous phase to crystalline phase was lowered by severe plastic deformation and particle fracturing under a high strain rate, the crystalline phases could not be found in the coating layer. Incompletely fractured and small fragments 100~300 nm in size, which are smaller than initial feedstock material, were found on the coating surface and inside of the coating. Also, some pores and voids occurred between particle-particle interfaces. In the case of brittle Fe-based amorphous alloy, particles fail in fragmentation fracture mode through initiation and propagation of the numerous small cracks rather than shear fracture mode under compressive stress. It could be deduced that amorphous alloy underwent particle fracturing in a vacuum kinetic spray process. Also, it is considered that surface energy caused by the formation of new surfaces and friction energy contributed to the bonding of fragments.