Solid-state synthesis of amorphous iron(III) phosphate at room temperature and its absorption properties for Hg(II) and Ag(I) ions

Amorphous iron(III) phosphate has been synthesized by solid-state reaction at room temperature and was characterized by several methods. The non-crystalline sample displayed the particle size within the range of 100-200 nm, and it had a strong fluorescence emission peak centered at 306.6 nm. Moreover, its absorption properties for Hg(II) and Ag(I) heavy metal ions have been investigated. The experimental research results revealed that its excellent absorption capacity for Hg(II) and Ag(I) could reach to 1.831 mmol/g and 1.354 mmol/g, respectively, at pH = 5.98 and the absorption time t = 6 h. The absorption properties for Hg(II) were usually stronger that those for Ag(I).     

Manifestations of strain-relaxation in the structure of nano-sized Co-2 × 2 islands grown on Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface

We have examined strain-relaxation of Co-2 × 2 islands grown on the Ag/Ge(111)-√3 × √3 surface by analyzing scanning tunneling microscopy images. We have found that the Co-2 × 2 islands commonly adopt a more compact arrangement as compared to that of the Ge(111) substrate, however they differ in a degree of an atomic compactness. We have not found a distinct relation between strain-relaxation and the island height. Three groups of islands have been identified upon analyzing a correspondence between strain-relaxation and the island size: (i) small islands (not bigger than 80 nm²) with a high atomic compactness, displaying fixed inter-row distances, (ii) small islands with unfixed distances between atomic rows, and (iii) big islands (bigger than 80 nm²) with fixed inter-row distances, but with a less compact atomic arrangement compared to that of the first two groups. We propose a model to account for the relation between the relaxation and the island size.