This paper is NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; but the author's final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in th citation below.

This paper is NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; but the author's final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in the citation below.

Catalyst-assisted growth of single-crystal strontium hexaboride (SrB6) nanowires was achieved by pyrolysis of diborane (B2H6) over SrO powders at 760-800 degrees C and 400 mTorr in a quartz tube furnace. Raman spectra demonstrate that the nanowires are SrB6, and transmission electron microscopy along with selected area diffraction indicate that the nanowires consist of single crystals with a preferred [001] growth direction. Electron energy loss data combined with the TEM images indicate that the nanowires consist of crystalline SrB 6 cores with a thin (1 to 2 nm) amorphous oxide shell. The nanowires have diameters of 10-50 nm and lengths of 1-10 microm.

An organically-modified clay has been prepared using ammonium salts which contain an oligomeric material consisting of vinylbenzyl chloride, styrene and dibromostyrene. The presence of dibromostyrene enhances the flame retardancy of polystyrene nanocomposites compared to both the virgin polymer and polystyrene nanocomposites prepared from non-halogen-containing organically-modified clays. The nanocomposites were prepared both by bulk polymerization and melt blending and they were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimetry measurements. Bulk polymerization produced nanocomposites with reduced peak heat release rate, reduced total heat release and improved thermal stability. It is noteworthy that all these improvements were obtained with clay loading as low as 3% and bromine content less than 4%.

Tantalum oxynitride (TaON) is a visible photocatalyst (λ < 520 nm) that has been investigated for green energy applications, specifically, the solar production of hydrogen gas. Metal oxynitrides are often generated by the ammonolysis of metal oxides at very high temperatures. We have investigated an alternative synthetic procedure to produce gram-scale quantities of photocatalytically active TaO x N y materials using room-temperature sol–gel chemistry. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirm that nitrogen was incorporated into materials with a Ta2O5 crystal structure. Optical characterization reveals that sol–gel-synthesized TaO x N y has a 2.3 eV bandgap, in agreement with bulk TaON. Furthermore, photoluminescence experiments reveal that two distinct material systems are being created during the initial sol phase of the synthesis: one species is primarily metal oxide, while the other is a N-doped species. This observation may lead to synthetic methods that improve the doping content of sol–gel-derived materials.