SuperSTEM: HAADF/EELS Investigation of Multifunctional Ceramics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Materials
Abstract
Functional ceramics are important components in a wide range of domestic, leisure and industrial electronic systems. These include microwave dielectrics in mobile telephone systems, pressure sensitive materials used as detectors in control and positioning systems (for example cameras and automobiles), electrical protection devices in domestic and industrial environments, and novel materials which could be used in future device memory and energy generation systems. Improvement in these materials and the development of new materials depends critically on knowledge of the structure and chemistry of the materials at the atomic level. We will use the SuperSTEM electron microscope to investigate the structure and the position/distribution of individual dopant ions and vacancies in the lattice, in sub-grain features including twin boundaries, in anti-phase boundaries and domain boundaries, and the grain boundaries of functional ceramics including:microwave dielectrics, lead-free piezoelectrics, ceramics with grain boundary controlled properties, multiferroics and thermoelectrics .
Planned Impact
The impact of this programme is maximised through collaborative links with electroceramics manufacturers and other research groups, both within the UK and overseas. At the end of the project we will have established a firm understanding of the atomic level microstructure in a range of commercially important functional ceramics and its role in controlling functional properties. The information will be valuable to manufacturing industry in the design of new and enhanced functional ceramics. Specific information and results from this project will be publicised and disseminated via: presentations at national and international conferences, our University website research pages, and Manchester University's Technology Transfer Company, UMIP. All the preliminary investigations of the functional ceramics itemised in the proposal submitted to the SuperSTEM have been undertaken in association with UK electroceramic manufacturers including Morgan Electroceramics and Powerwave Ltd, and international research groups (including National University of Singapore, National Institute for Materials Science Japan, University of Oulu Finland, and Tokyo Tech Japan). The work is directly relevant to industry because we have chosen to study systems that are currently under manufacture by UK companies, either within the UK or overseas, or are new systems being considered for future exploitation. The UK manufacturers will be kept fully informed of important findings with a view to appropriate exploitation. We will pursue a basic science project within the context of industry driven requirements for each system, allowing the knowledge gained to be applied directly to improving the quality of a wide range of electroceramics and increasing the competitiveness of UK industry in this area. The work on piezoelectric ceramics and PTCR thermistors focuses directly on lead-free systems, with a target of replacing the existing products which are used extensively worldwide and contain a significant fraction of lead. Both the lead-free piezoelectrics and PTCR thermistors show encouraging properties but the factors limiting the performance need to be identified and routes to enhanced properties defined. Introduction of the lead-free products will have social and environmental benefits for the whole of the UK, enhancing quality of life and health. Details of the results acquired will be disseminated to the scientific and manufacturing communities via conference presentations and established, high impact, refereed scientific publications. Key results of this work will be fed into research led, final year undergraduate and MSc courses and projects to provide awareness and training in this area. Use will also be made of our research group web pages to publicise developments. The researchers involved with the project will gain experience of internationally-leading characterisation techniques. The primary contact for exploitation of research findings will be via the University of Manchester Technology Transfer Company, UMIP. The applicant has over twenty years experience with electronic ceramics, including semiconducting, dielectric materials, piezoelectric and grain boundary controlled materials, particularly structure-property relationships. Work on microwave dielectrics and semiconducting ceramics has focused on processing, microstructure development and understanding loss mechanisms in such materials. Extensive use has been made of transmission electron microscopy to understand the role of domain-level and grain-boundary level processes.
People |
ORCID iD |
Robert Freer (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Azough F
(2016)
Tungsten Bronze Barium Neodymium Titanate (Ba(6-3n)Nd(8+2n)Ti(18)O(54)): An Intrinsic Nanostructured Material and Its Defect Distribution.
in Inorganic chemistry
Azough F
(2015)
On the Origin of Nanochessboard Superlattices in A-Site-Deficient Ca-Stabilized Nd 2/3 TiO 3
in Chemistry of Materials
Azough F
(2015)
Ba6-3x Nd8+2x Ti18O54 Tungsten Bronze: A New High-Temperature n-Type Oxide Thermoelectric
in Journal of Electronic Materials
Azough F
(2014)
The effect of cation ordering and domain boundaries on low loss Ba(BI1/3BII2/3)O3 perovskite dielectrics revealed by high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM)
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Baran J
(2016)
Role of Structure and Defect Chemistry in High-Performance Thermoelectric Bismuth Strontium Cobalt Oxides
in Chemistry of Materials
Baran J
(2015)
Tuning Thermoelectric Properties of Misfit Layered Cobaltites by Chemically Induced Strain
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Combe E
(2014)
Relationship between microstructure and thermoelectric properties of Bi 2 Sr 2 Co 2 O x bulk materials
in Journal of Materials Research
Jiang D
(2019)
The structure and thermoelectric properties of tungsten bronze Ba6Ti2Nb8O30
in Journal of Applied Physics
Jones L
(2018)
Managing dose-, damage- and data-rates in multi-frame spectrum-imaging.
in Microscopy (Oxford, England)
Kaneko Y
(2012)
( Ba 1+ x TiO 3 )-( Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 ) Lead-Free, Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity Ceramics: PTC Behavior and Atomic Level Microstructures
in Journal of the American Ceramic Society
Molinari M
(2014)
Structural, electronic and thermoelectric behaviour of CaMnO 3 and CaMnO (3-d)
in J. Mater. Chem. A
Srivastava D
(2015)
Crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of Sr-Mo substituted CaMnO3: a combined experimental and computational study.
in Journal of materials chemistry. C
Srivastava D
(2018)
Improving the thermoelectric properties of SrTiO3-based ceramics with metallic inclusions
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Srivastava D
(2014)
High-Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of (1 - x) SrTiO3 - (x) La1/3NbO3 Ceramic Solid Solution
in Journal of Electronic Materials
Description | Greater understanding of the structures of microwave dielectric ceramics and thermoelectric materials at the atom level and its impact on properties |
Exploitation Route | Development of new microwave ceramics and thermoelectric materials based on new understaning of the base materials |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy |
Description | New understanding of important functional materials and methods to develop better materials based on new knowledge of atomic structures |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £362,169 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I036230/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2011 |
End | 11/2014 |
Description | Lazarov York; Advanced Materials for harvesting energy from heat |
Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of York |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2015 |
End | 05/2016 |
Description | SuperSTEM |
Organisation | Daresbury Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of novel thermoelectrics |
Collaborator Contribution | Atom level electron microscopy |
Impact | publications |
Start Year | 2009 |
Description | Energy Materials Network Workshop, Edinburgh, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | One day international research workshop reviewing developments in energy materials and their applications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | European Microscopy Conference, Lyon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | talk reporting - Mapping cation-vacancy ordering and oxygen octahedral distortions in A-site deficient perovskites by monochromated core-loss EELS |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | European Microscopy Conference, Lyon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented talk - Recent applications of high energy and spatial resolution STEM-EELS to energy harvesting materials |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | European Microscopy Conference, Lyon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk reporting - New Opportunities in multi-frame STEM Spectroscopy & Fractional Beam-current EELS |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | European Thermoelectric Conference lLisbon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk reporting - Crystal Structure and High Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of La1/3NbO3 Perovskite |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | European Thermoelectric Conference lLisbon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk on - The effect of stoichiometry on the crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of Bi2+xSr2Co2Oy |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | India-UK Thermoelectric Workshop, India Bangalore |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Thre day international research workshop reviewing developments in thermoelectric materials and their applications. Explored possible bids for international collaboration |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | International Thermoelectric Symposium, Dresden |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk reporting - Tungsten Bronze Barium Neodymium Titanate (Ba6-3xNd8+2xTi18O54): A new high temperature oxide thermoelectric |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | PacRim International Conference Hawaii USA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | PacRim International Conference Hawaii USA; session concerned with energy materials |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Thermoelectric Network Workshop, Edinburgh, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | One day international research workshop reviewing developments in thermoelectric materials and their applications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.thermoelectricnetwork.com/home.html |
Description | Thermoelectric Network Workshop, Manchester, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Two day international research workshop reviewing developments in thermoelectric materials and their applications |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.thermoelectricnetwork.com/home.html |