Iron oxide microtubules produced by a species of iron-oxidizing bacteria, Leptothrix ochracea, have been expected to be useed as unique multifunctional materials such as catalysts scaffolds, pigments, and magnetic materials. However, their structural characteristics and formation mechanism are still ambiguous. The detailed features of the microtubules were characterized through electron microsc...

The magnetic and structural properties of an Si-rich grade FINEMET alloy with a composition of Fe73.5Si16.1B6.4Nb2.9Cu1.1 in at% [Fe82.7Si9.1B1.4Nb5.4Cu1.4 (wt%)] were investigated after primary and secondary crystallization of ribbon samples. Optimally annealed ribbons exhibited a homogeneous microstructure composed of B7 nm DO3 nanocrystals surrounded by the retained amorphous phase. This is ...

Due to their low cost, high abundance and eco-friendly features, Na-ion batteries are becoming alternative choices for rechargeable batteries, especially in large scale applications. Generally, the well-crystallized materials have many advantages over amorphous materials, such as long cycle life, high rate performance and other electrochemical properties. However, the amorphous FePO4 we report ...

Among numerous active electrode materials, nickel hydroxide is a promising electrode in electrochemical capacitors. Nickel hydroxide research has thus far focused on the crystalline rather than the amorphous phase, despite the impressive electrochemical properties of the latter, which includes an improved electrochemical efficiency due to disorder. Here we demonstrate high-performance electroch...

Particle displacements in the elastic deformation of amorphous materials: local fluctuations vs. non-affine field Abstract.-We study the local disorder in the deformation of amorphous materials by decomposing the particle displacements into a continuous, inhomogeneous field and the corresponding fluctuations. We compare these fields to the commonly used non-affine displacements, in an elastical...

The structures and magnetic properties of Pr–Fe–Al alloys produced by the metallic mold casting method were investigated. The Pr–Fe–Al alloy consisted of the amorphous phase together with the non-ferromagnetic Pr phase. Magnetic measurements confirmed that the origin of coercivity in the alloys was the amorphous phase. It was found that the Curie temperature and coercivity of the alloys were st...