@misc{10498/36480,
year = {2017},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36480},
abstract = {A novel and simple transcription strategy has been designed for the template-synthesis
of CePO4·xH2O nanofibers having an improved nanofibrous morphology using a pH-sensitive
nanofibrous hydrogel (glycine-alanine lipodipeptide) as structure-directing scaffold. The phosphorylated
hydrogel was employed as a template to direct the mineralization of high aspect ratio nanofibrous
cerium phosphate, which in-situ formed by diffusion of aqueous CeCl3 and subsequent drying (60 ◦C)
and annealing treatments (250, 600 and 900 ◦C). Dried xerogels and annealed CePO4 powders were
characterized by conventional thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA/TG), and Wide-Angle
X-ray powder diffraction (WAXD) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) techniques. A molecular
packing model for the formation of the fibrous xerogel template was proposed, in accordance with
results from Fourier-Transformed Infrarred (FTIR) and WAXD measurements. The morphology,
crystalline structure and composition of CePO4 nanofibers were characterized by electron microscopy
techniques (Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission Electron
Microscopy/High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM/HRTEM), and Scanning
Transmission Electron Microscopy working in High Angle Annular Dark-Field (STEM-HAADF))
with associated X-ray energy-dispersive detector (EDS) and Scanning Transmission Electron
Microscopy-Electron Energy Loss (STEM-EELS) spectroscopies. Noteworthy, this templating
approach successfully led to the formation of CePO4·H2O nanofibrous bundles of rather co-aligned
and elongated nanofibers (10–20 nm thick and up to ca. 1 µm long). The formed nanofibers
consisted of hexagonal (P6222) CePO4 nanocrystals (at 60 and 250 ◦C), with a better-grown and
more homogeneous fibrous morphology with respect to a reference CePO4 prepared under similar
(non-templated) conditions, and transformed into nanofibrous monoclinic monazite (P21/n) around
600 ◦C. The nanofibrous morphology was highly preserved after annealing at 900 ◦C under N2,
although collapsed under air conditions. The nanofibrous CePO4 (as-prepared hexagonal and
900 ◦C-annealed monoclinic) exhibited an enhanced UV photo-luminescent emission with respect to
non-fibrous homologues.},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {transcription},
keywords = {templating},
keywords = {hydrogel},
keywords = {cerium phosphate nanofibers},
keywords = {hexagonal rhabdophane},
keywords = {monazite},
keywords = {FE-SEM},
keywords = {TEM/HRTEM},
keywords = {STEM-HAADF},
keywords = {UV-photo-luminescence},
title = {Transcription of nanofibrous cerium phosphate using a ph-sensitive lipodipeptide hydrogel template},
doi = {10.3390/gels3020023},
author = {Llusar, Mario and Escuder, Beatriu and López Castro, Juan de Dios and Trasobares Llorente, Susana and Monrós, Guillermo},
}