Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), with the highest reported specific surface area of all current forms of calcium carbonate (over 350 m(2) g(-1)), was synthesized using a surfactant-free, one-pot method. Electron microscopy, helium pycnometry, and nitrogen sorption analysis revealed that this highly mesoporous ACC, with a pore volume of similar to 0.86 cm(3) g(-1) and a pore-size distribution centered at 8-9 nm, is constructed from aggregated ACC nanoparticles with an estimated average diameter of 7.3 nm. The porous ACC remained amorphous and retained its high porosity for over 3 weeks under semi-air-tight storage conditions. Powder X-ray diffraction, large-angle X-ray scattering, infrared spectroscopy, and electron diffraction exposed that the porous ACC did not resemble any of the known CaCO3 structures. The atomic order of porous ACC diminished at interatomic distances over 8 angstrom. Porous ACC was evaluated as a potential drug carrier of poorly soluble substances in vitro. Itraconazole and celecoxib remained stable in their amorphous forms within the pores of the material. Drug release rates were significantly enhanced for both drugs (up to 65 times the dissolution rates for the crystalline forms), and supersaturation release of celecoxib was also demonstrated. Citric acid was used to enhance the stability of the ACC nanoparticles within the aggregates, which increased the surface area of the material to over 600 m(2) g(-1). This porous ACC has potential for use in various applications where surface area is important, including adsorption, catalysis, medication, and bone regeneration.

Fe65Co35 thin films have been deposited on SiO2 substrates using sputtering technique with different choices of seed layer; Ru, Ni82.5Fe17.5, Rh, Y and Zr. Best soft magnetic properties were observed with seed layers of Ru, Ni82.5Fe17.5 and Rh. Adding these seed layers, the coercivity of the Fe65Co35 films decreased to values of around 1.5 mT, which can be compared to the value of 12.5 mT obtained for films deposited without seed layer. Further investigations were performed on samples with these three seed layers in terms of dynamic magnetic properties, both on as prepared and annealed samples, using constant frequency cavity and broadband ferromagnetic resonance measurements. Damping parameters of around 8.0 x 10(-3) and 4.5 x 10(-3) were obtained from in-plane and out-of-plane measurements, respectively, for the as prepared samples, values that were reduced to about 6.5 x 10(-3) and 4.0 x 10(-3) for annealed samples.

The temperature-dependence of superstructure reflections, diffuse scattering intensity, and ferroelectric domain morphology for 95Na(0.5)Bi(0.5)TiO(3)-5BaTiO(3) ceramics was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy. A subtle local structural phase transition was observed around 110 degrees C. This local phase transition is characterized by a transformation in the dominant octahedral-tilt system from antiphase to in-phase tilting and was correlated with the depolarization mechanism common in this type of materials. Simulations of the octahedral-tilt disorder were developed at different temperatures which enabled us to provide a comprehensive structural model that explains the temperature-dependence of superstructure reflections and electron diffuse scattering intensity. This model revealed that plate-like in-phase nanodomains tilted about three orthogonal axes coexist with an antiphase tilted matrix, even at room temperature. With increasing temperature, the concentration of in-phase nanodomains is increased till a critical volume fraction is reached. We propose that these plate-like in-phase nanodomains are an inherent characteristic of NBT-based compounds and that the local phase transition observed around 110 degrees C leads to a disruption in the long-range ferroelectric order and is responsible for the depolarization mechanism.

Local structural disorder in crystalline materials plays a crucial role in understanding their properties. The means to study structural disorder is diffuse scattering (DS). Even though DS was observed since the early days of X-ray diffraction the weak intensity and the sheer number of different kinds of disorder hindered the development of a unique solution strategy. However, the advent of X-ray and neutron synchrotron sources together with recent advances in automated electron diffraction techniques have unraveled a new world in between Bragg peaks where a wealth of information is available.

In this thesis electron diffraction is used to explore the different kinds of DS in three-dimensions, for several perovskite ferroelectric ceramics. Based on the information presented in the reconstructed 3D reciprocal space volumes, disordered atomic structures were proposed and verified by the calculated electron diffraction patterns. A complex structural model for the local disorder in 85Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-10K_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-5BaTiO₃ piezoceramic was developed by analyzing the morphology and intensity of electron DS in 3D. Next, the influence of potassium-content on the octahedral-tilt disorder for three different piezoceramics was studied by a combination of dark-field imaging and electron diffraction. Further on, the temperature-dependence of electron DS for 95Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-5BaTiO₃ piezoceramic revealed a local structural phase transition that was correlated with the depolarization mechanism. Lastly, strong electron DS was recorded from a Pb-based relaxor and simulations of disordered atomic structures showed that the local structure resembles a dipolar glass state. These demonstrate that electron diffraction is a powerful tool for the study of local structural disorder in crystalline materials, especially for ceramics. The major advantage is that we are able to record single-crystal electron diffraction data from individual grains. Moreover, since we are analyzing a 3D reciprocal volume several orientations can be studied simultaneously and we are not limited to zero-Laue zones. Finally, the models for local structural disorder provided valuable insight into how macroscopic properties are influenced by local structural disorder, in addition to the average structure.

A semi-quantitative comparison of 3D electron diffraction data revealed structural differences at the nanoscale for three (95-x)Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-xK_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-5BaTiO₃ solid solutions close to the morphotropic phase boundary, with x = 0, 5, 10. Using a novel rotation electron diffraction technique, diffuse scattering intensity was recorded in 3D as continuous rods along hk0.5 reciprocal-planes. By analyzing the different superstructure reflections and the intensity/morphology of diffuse scattering, a structural model of the local octahedral-tilt disorder for the different ceramics was developed. A good agreement was obtained between the experimental and simulated data with a model comprising of antiphase (a⁻a⁻a⁻) and plate-like in-phase (a⁰a⁰c⁺) nanodomains.

Herein, we report a simple, sustainable and low-cost approach to design Ag-CeO2 nanoheterostructures in pure aqueous and ethanol containing aqueous solutions via photochemical UV-light driven process with no capping agents nor stabilizers required. To this end, photochemically synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles were applied as photoactive compounds in order to generate formation of metallic silver nanoparticles. Irradiation of deaerated CeO2 suspensions in the presence of Ag+ resulted in the rise of a strong surface plasmon resonance band with a maximum at 393-422 nm in the absorption spectra of the solutions, indicating formation of small metallic silver particles. Faster formation of Ag nanoparticles with the lower amount of silver precursor being required was observed when ethanol was introduced to the reaction solution before the irradiation. This implies that oxidative reactions can be strongly suppressed in deaerated ethanol containing solutions with respect to the pure aqueous media. Not only was the overall efficiency of the process remarkably increased by the use of alcohol, but also smaller and more uniform silver nanoparticles with a size comparable to that of ceria nanoparticles (around 15 nm) were formed when compared to those synthesized without radical scavengers as revealed by TEM analysis. The proposed photochemical approach enables the production of silver-semiconductor system without employing organic stabilizers, thus resulting in formation of nanoparticles with clean, highly reactive metal surface. The as-synthesized silver-ceria nanoheterostructures demonstrated enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity on tributyltin (TBT) degradation if compared to pure ceria nanoparticles.

Local structural distortions in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based solid solutions have been proved to play a crucial role in understanding and tuning their enhanced piezoelectric properties near the morphotropic phase boundary. In this work all local structural disorders in a lead-free ternary system, namely 85% Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-10% Bi0.5K0.5TiO3-5% BaTiO3, were mapped in reciprocal space by 3D electron diffraction. Furthermore, a comprehensive model of the local disorder was developed by analysing the intensity and morphology of the observed weak diffuse scattering. We found that the studied ceramics consists of plate-like in-phase oxygen octahedral nanoscale domains randomly distributed in an antiphase tilted matrix. In addition, A-site chemical short-range order of Na/Bi and polar displacements contribute to different kinds of diffuse scattering. The proposed model explains all the observed diffraction features and offers insight into the ongoing controversy over the nature of local structural distortions in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based solid solutions.

Au-Chi nanocomposites with different AuNPs additions were investigated. The dispersion of AuNPs in polymer matrix was observed using s-SNOM analysis. The dielectric properties as a function of temperature show two relaxation processes: (1) a primary alpha-relaxation process, at low temperatures; (2) a second low frequency relaxation at temperatures between 70 degrees C and 150 degrees C identified as the sigma-relaxation often associated with short range ion mobility. In nanocomposite films, the sigma-relaxation process overcomes the alpha-relaxation process so that the glass transition is no longer detected. The dielectric nonlinear properties (tunability) shown an increase of dipolar moment with AuNPs additions and this results are in good correlation with matrix modification in FTIR investigation.