Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is the most frequently used excipient for direct compaction of tablets within the pharmaceutical industry. It has earlier been indicated that the interactions between the hydration shell – surrounding the drug molecules in an MCC tablet – and the cellulose regulate the speed of the drug release process. These interactions, and the [...]
Growth and Characterization of Ti-Si-N Thin Films
Ti-Si-N and Ti-Al-Si-N thin solid films have been studied by analytical electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elastic recoil detection analysis, nanoindentation, and ab initio calculations. I find that arc evaporated (Ti1-xSix)Ny films can be grown as cubic solid solutions up to x = 0.09 with a dense columnar microstructure. Films [...]
Controlling the Formation and Stability of Alumina Phases
In this work, physical phenomena related to the growth and phase formation of alumina, Al2O3, are investigated by experiments and computer calculations. Alumina finds applications in a wide variety of areas, due to many beneficial properties and several existing crystalline phases. For example, the α and κ phases are widely used as wear-resistant coatings due [...]
Synthesis of carbon-covered iron nanoparticles by photolysis of ferrocene
One important driving force in nanotechnology today is the change which can be made in the properties of a material when the dimensions of its individual building blocks are decreased below approximately 100 nm. Such small building blocks, typically nanoparticles, may induce new and unique properties compared to those of the corresponding bulk material. The [...]
A Structural Viewpoint of Magnetism in Fe and Co Based Superlattices
In order to understand the properties of thin film devices, knowledge of the material’s structure is essential. The work presented here combines magnetic and structural characterization of the systems studied to gain a deeper physical understanding. The magnetic properties have been studied with a combination of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, SQUID magnetometry and magneto-optical Kerr [...]
Synthesis and Characterization of Diblock Copolymer Templated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles
Templating ordered assemblies of magnetic oxide nanoparticles within self-assembled diblock copolymers of varying morphologies is an important problem with a wide applicability such as in electromagnetics, optical devices, metal catalysts, medicine and biology. In this thesis, the effects of different polymer structures on particle ordering and resultant magnetic properties have been investigated using various microstructure [...]
Chemical Processes at the Water-Manganite (γ-MnOOH) Interface
The chemistry of mineral surfaces is of great importance in many different areas including natural processes occurring in oceans, rivers, lakes and soils. Manganese (hydr)oxides are one important group to these natural processes, and the thermodynamically most stable trivalent manganese (hydr)oxide, manganit (γ-MnOOH), is studied in this thesis. This thesis summarises six papers in which [...]
The Use of Landweber Algorithm in Image Reconstruction
Ill-posed sets of linear equations typically arise when discretizing certain types of integral transforms. A well known example is image reconstruction, which can be modelled using the Radon transform. After expanding the solution into a finite series of basis functions a large, sparse and ill-conditioned linear system arises. We consider the solution of such systems. [...]