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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: G. Krieke, A. Sarakovskis, R. Ignatans, J. Gabrusenoks "Phase transitions and upconversion luminescence in oxyfluoride glass ceramics containing Ba4Gd3F17 nanocrystals", Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2017, 37 (4), which has been published in final form at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955221916306768 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Elsevier Terms and Conditions for Sharing and Self-Archiving. ; Novel transparent Er3+ doped oxyfluoride glass-ceramics containing Ba4Gd3F17 nanocrystals were prepared by melt quenching followed by heat treatment of as-prepared glasses. The phase composition and microstructure were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Intense upconversion luminescence (UCL) was detected. Longer characteristic decay times and splitting of the luminescence bands compared to the precursor glass indicated the incorporation of erbium ions in the crystalline phase. The spectroscopic properties of glass ceramics were compared with single phase cubic and rhombohedral Ba4Gd3F17 ceramics. The unit cell parameters and atomic positions in the rhombohedral phase were calculated using Rietveld refinement. The local environment of Er3+ and the phonon energy of both polymorphs were analyzed using luminescence and Raman spectroscopy. In the glass ceramics, a phase transition from distorted metastable fluorite to ordered rhombohedral Ba4Gd3F17 was observed and resulted in the enhancement of the efficiency of UCL. --- /// --- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: G. Krieke, A. Sarakovskis, R. Ignatans, J. Gabrusenoks "Phase transitions and upconversion luminescence in oxyfluoride glass ceramics containing Ba4Gd3F17 nanocrystals", Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2017, 37 (4), which has been published in final form at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955221916306768 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Elsevier Terms and Conditions for Sharing and Self-Archiving. ; This work was supported by National Research Program IMIS2. This research is being implemented thanks to Arnis Riekstins "MikroTik" donation. Donations are administered by the University of Latvia Foundation. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART²

We greatly acknowledge the financial support via the ERAF Project No. 1.1.1.1/18/A/073. ; We performed, for first time, ab initio calculations for the ReO2-terminated ReO3 (001) surface and analyzed systematic trends in the ReO3, SrZrO3, BaZrO3, PbZrO3 and CaZrO3 (001) surfaces using first-principles calculations. According to the ab initio calculation results, all ReO3, SrZrO3, BaZrO3, PbZrO3 and CaZrO3 (001) surface upper-layer atoms relax inwards towards the crystal bulk, all second-layer atoms relax upwards and all third-layer atoms, again, relax inwards. The ReO2-terminated ReO3 and ZrO2-terminated SrZrO3, BaZrO3, PbZrO3 and CaZrO3 (001) surface band gaps at the Γ–Γ point are always reduced in comparison to their bulk band gap values. The Zr–O chemical bond populations in the SrZrO3, BaZrO3, PbZrO3 and CaZrO3 perovskite bulk are always smaller than those near the ZrO2-terminated (001) surfaces. In contrast, the Re–O chemical bond population in the ReO3 bulk (0.212e) is larger than that near the ReO2-terminated ReO3 (001) surface (0.170e). Nevertheless, the Re–O chemical bond population between the Re atom located on the ReO2-terminated ReO3 (001) surface upper layer and the O atom located on the ReO2-terminated ReO3 (001) surface second layer (0.262e) is the largest. ; Latvian Government ERAF Grant number 1.1.1.1/18/A/073; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART²

Acknowledgement: Authors acknowledge financial support from Latvian National Program IMIS2 ; Leaching of Na+ ions in sodium oxide (Na2O) and silica (SiO2) containing glass is well investigated mainly due to its weak weathering. The object of this study was naturally (at room conditions) leached, steady state product on surface of sodium oxide-silica-alumina (Al2O3) glass fibers (in fabric) in a form of shell of "glyed" trona crystals as a result of interaction of leached Na+ ions and H2O and CO2 from atmosphere. There are presented results of continued former investigation of mass loss by isothermal heating of fabric and mass recovery in different atmospheres during the first phase of adsorption (at least 0.25h) without changes of state of crystals obtained during preheating at different temperatures. There are observed two ways of decomposition of trona (Na3H (CO3)2•2H2O) with its beginning at about 55-570C and 73-750C. The regression analysis of mass restoring in different atmospheres indicates to simultaneous and exponential mass increase by physical adsorption of CO2 and H2O having the different parameters of exponents vs time. Decomposition of trona is discussed in terms of parameters of exponent vs preheating temperature. ; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART²

This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, grant number 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/558. The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, grant number 739508. ; Thermal etching is a widely accepted surface treatment method for studying microstructure in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based compositions. Surprisingly, besides the flat pattern of grains (suitable for evaluating ceramics' microstructure), images illustrating well-expressed relief and even microstructure consisting of partly bonded cubic-shaped grains are also found among the micrographs presented in various publications. The present paper shows that this different surface character in Eu-modified Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 can be obtained through thermal treatment across a wide range of temperatures. At higher temperatures, remarkable growth of cubic-shaped grains on the surface is observed. This growth affects the grain size distribution on the surface more than it does within the bulk of a sample. Such micrographs cannot be used to characterise the microstructure of dense ceramics. Intensive growth of TiO2 inclusions at high thermal treatment temperatures is also observed, revealing substantial evaporation of Bi and Na from the surface of a ceramic sample, but not from its core part. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). ; European Regional Development Fund 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/558; The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, grant number 739508.

Tungsten trioxide (WO3) is a well-known electrochromic material with a wide band gap, while rhenium trioxide (ReO3) is a "covalent metal" with an electrical conductivity comparable to that of pure metals. Since both WO3 and ReO3 oxides have perovskite-type structures, the formation of their solid solutions (ReO3–WO3 or RexW1–xO3) can be expected, which may be of significant academic and industrial interest. In this study, layered WO3/ReO3, ReO3/WO3, and mixed ReO3–WO3 thin films were produced by reactive DC magnetron sputtering and subsequent annealing in air at 450 °C. The structure and properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy, Hall conductivity measurements, conductive atomic force microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. First-principles density functional theory calculations were performed for selected compositions of RexW1–xO3 solid solutions to model their crystallographic structure and electronic properties. The calculations predict metallic conductivity and tetragonal distortion of solid solutions in agreement with the experimental results. In contrast to previously reported methods, our approach allows us to produce the WO3–ReO3 alloy with a high Re content (>50%) at moderate temperatures and without the use of high pressures. --//-- Article published under the CC BY license. ; The financial support was provided by ERAF Project Nr. 1.1.1.1/18/A/073. The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (Latvia) as the Centre of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD01-2016-2017-Teaming Phase2 under grant agreement no. 739508, project CAMART2.

Zn-Ir-O (Zn/Ir ≈ 1/1) thin films have been reported to be a potential p-type TCO material. It is, however, unknown whether it is possible to achieve p-type conductivity at low Ir content, and how the type and the magnitude of conductivity are affected by the film structure. To investigate the changes in properties taking place at low and moderate Ir content, this study focuses on the structure, electrical and optical properties of ZnO:Ir films with iridium concentration varying between 0.0 and 16.4 at.%. ZnO:Ir thin films were deposited on glass, Si, and Ti substrates by DC reactive magnetron co-sputtering at room temperature. Low Ir content (up to 5.1 at.%) films contain both a nano-crystalline wurtzite-type ZnO phase and an X-ray amorphous phase. The size of the crystallites is below 10 nm and the lattice parameters a and c are larger than those of pure ZnO crystal. Structural investigation showed that the film's crystallinity declines with the iridium concentration and films become completely amorphous at iridium concentrations between 7.0 and 16.0 at.%. An intense Raman band at approximately 720 cm− 1 appears upon Ir incorporation and can be ascribed to peroxide O22– ions. Measurable electrical conductivity appears together with a complete disappearance of the wurtzite-type ZnO phase. The conduction type undergoes a transition from n- to p-type in the Ir concentration range between 12.4 and 16.4 at.%. Absorption in the visible range increases linearly with the iridium concentration. ; VMTKC project 18, agreement No. 1.2.1.1/16/A/005; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART²