SiO2-ZrO2 sols have been prepared via acid catalysis using a commercial colloidal suspension of zirconia and two silica alkoxides; tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES). Suspensions with 10, 15 and 25-mol% of ZrO2 were prepared. The stability of the suspensions was followed by rheological measurements showing that the amount of water incorporated with the colloidal suspensio...

Zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles were synthesized by solution combustion using urea as an organic fuel. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements were performed in order to characterize the catalyst. The calculated crystallite size of ZrO2, calculated w...

A controllable transformation from interfacial to filamentary switching mode is presented on a ZrO2/ZrO2 - x /ZrO2 tri-layer resistive memory. The two switching modes are investigated with possible switching and transformation mechanisms proposed. Resistivity modulation of the ZrO2 - x layer is proposed to be responsible for the switching in the interfacial switching mode through injecting/retr...

Plasma sprayed zirconia deposits have been employed in wide applications for thermal protection. Recently, the use of nanostructural surface represents an alternative for improving the performance of these coatings. The present paper reviewed the works in this field at our research group, including synthesis of nanostructural ZrO2 powders, influence of spraying parameters on microstructure and ...

Transition metal cobalt (Co) nanoparticle was designed as catalyst to promote the conversion reaction of Sn to SnO2 during the delithiation process which is deemed as an irreversible reaction. The designed nanocomposite, named as SnO2/Co3O4/reduced-graphene-oxide (rGO), was synthesized by a simple two-step method composed of hydrothermal (1(st) step) and solvothermal (2(nd) step) synthesis proc...

Cobalt oxide that has high energy density, is the next-generation candidate as the anode material for LIBs. However, the practical use of Co3O4 as anode material has been hindered by limitations, especially, low electrical conductivity and pulverization from large volume change upon cycling. These features lead to hindrance to its electrochemical properties for lithium-ion batteries. To improve...

In this report, functional one-dimensional (1-D) Pt-Co3O4 heterostructures with enhanced electrochemical properties were synthesized via colloidal polymerization of polymer-coated ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles (PS-CoNPs). Colloidal polymerization of dipolar nanoparticles into hollow metal-semiconductor nanowires was achieved via a consecutive galvanic replacement reaction between Co and Pt...

ZrO2-based resistive switching memory has attracted much attention according to its possible application in the next-generation nonvolatile memory. The Al/ZrO2/Pt resistive switching memory with bipolar resistive switching behavior is revealed in this work. The thickness of the ZrO2 film is only 20 nm. The device yield improved by the non-lattice oxygen existing in the ZrO2 film deposited at ro...