WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017
A research group in China recently made a discovery that may help in the development of new anti-corrosion coatings.
In the study first published in Nature Communications, researchers found that oxide nanostructures with a diameter smaller than 3 nanometers could exhibit better oxidation resistance over larger nanostructures.
Previously there has been a limited understanding of the underlying mechanism of oxidation in nanostructures with diameters smaller than 5 nanomaters because they have rarely been studied.
However, by investigating the oxidation mechanism at the atomic level, the team—led by professors Bao Xinhe and Yang Fan from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences—has proposed that a “dynamic size effect” determines the stability of supported nanoparticles.
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| Yang Fan |
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In the study first published in Nature Communications, researchers found that oxide nanostructures with a diameter smaller than 3 nanometers could exhibit better oxidation resistance over larger nanostructures. |
The research not only helps in understand the dynamic remodeling mechanism of nanocatalysts in oxygen, but also provides a new interface control for the development of an anti-corrosion and anti-oxidation nano-protective coating.
The Findings
The study showed that iron oxide nanostructures smaller than 3.2 nanometers could undergo a complete reconstruction, when oxygen dissociates at the coordinative unsaturated ferrous centers at the edges of FeO nanostructures. Accompanying the reconstruction, the dissociated oxygen atoms are stabilized at the edges of FeO nanostructures and could not penetrate the interface FeO and Pt, thereby inhibiting the further oxidation of FeO nanostructures. FeO nanostructures larger than 3.2 nanometers oxidize more easily because of their inability to complete the reconstruction.
Previously, several nanocrystalline materials were also reported to exhibit improved oxidation resistance with respect to bulk materials and have been applied as anti-corrosion coatings.
Tagged categories: Coating chemistry; Coating Materials; Coating Materials; Coating types; Corrosion protection; Iron oxide pigments; Nanotechnology
