Due to the ongoing improvement in nanostructuring technology, ultrathin metallic nanofilms have recently gained substantial attention in plasmonics, e.g. as building blocks of metasurfaces. Typically, noble metals such as silver or gold are the materials of choice, due to their excellent optical properties, however they also possess some intrinsic disadvantages. Here, we introduce niobium nanof...

The size of photochemically-prepared niobium nanoparticles (NbNP) can be controlled by varying the concentration of the photoinitiator in the reaction mixture. The particles, which may be metallic in nature, are readily oxidized upon air exposure to form stable niobium(v) oxide nanoparticles (NbONP) that act as strong Brønsted acids.

At CERN a compact Quadrupole Resonator has been developed for the RF characterization of superconducting samples at different frequencies. In this contribution measurements on bulk niobium and niobium film on copper samples are presented. Surface resistance results are being correlated to surface analyses measurements carried out on the same samples.

In this paper we show a very simple route for the incorporation of catalytically active niobium species on the surface of carbon materials, such as graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes and activated carbon. Some existing methods of incorporating a transition metal on a support have involved co-precipitation or wet impregnation, to obtain the corresponding oxides. These methods, however, cause reduc...

The mechanical properties of monolithic metallic glasses depend on the structures at atomic or subnanometer scales, while a clear correlation between mechanical behavior and structures has not been well established in such amorphous materials. In this work, we find a clear correlation of (27)Al NMR isotropic shifts with a microalloying induced ductile-to-brittle transition at ambient temperatur...

In the present research, to form niobium carbide coating on the surface of AISI L2 steel Thermo-Reactive Deposition method (TRD) in a molten bath was used. Niobium carbide coating treatment was carried out at 1173 K, 1273 K, and 1373 K for 2, 4, and 8 hours. The molten bath contained 20wt.% borax (Na2B4O7), 5 wt.% boric acid (B2O3), and 75 wt.% ferro-niobium. The presence and properties of...

The promoting effect of niobium in a Li/MgO catalyst for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) and for the oxidattve dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) has been studied in some detail. it has been found that a Li/Nb/MgO catalyst with 16 wt % niobium showed the highest activity for the C, production in the OCM reaction; the activity at 600 “C was ten times that of the Li/MgO catalyst at the same...

In order to test the microwave properties of superconductors, we are developing a disk resonator, to be operated in the TM010 mode at 3.36 GHz. The goal is a measurement of microwave surface resistance at both low and high power, initially for niobium thin films, but eventually for other thin film superconductors. The currents in a disk resonator flow in and out radially. Edge currents are zero...

After a very active period of Niobium Titanium superconductor strand development in the mid 1980s, progress slowed as the SSC scaled up for production and emphasis moved towards guaranteeing, rather than enhancing performance. However, this period also produced several advances in the understanding of flux pinning in Niobium Titanium alloys and in the fabrication of composites containing artifi...