I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Jianwei
Zheng
,
Lilin
Lu
,
Konstantin
Lebedev
,
Simson
Wu
,
Pu
Zhao
,
Ian J.
Mcpherson
,
Tai-Sing
Wu
,
Ryuichi
Kato
,
Yiyang
Li
,
Ping-Luen
Ho
,
Guangchao
Li
,
Linlu
Bai
,
Jianhui
Sun
,
Dharmalingam
Prabhakaran
,
Robert A.
Taylor
,
Yun-Liang
Soo
,
Kazu
Suenaga
,
Shik Chi Edman
Tsang
Abstract: Current industrial production of ammonia from the Haber-Bosch process and its transport concomitantly produces a large quantity of CO2. Herein, we successfully synthesize inorganic-structure-based catalysts with [Fe-S2-Mo] motifs with a connecting structure similar to that of FeMoco (a cofactor of nitrogenase) by placing iron atoms on a single molecular layer of MoS2 at various loadings. This type of new catalytic material functionally mimics the nitrogenase to convert N2 to ammonia and hydrogen in water without adding any sacrificial agent under visible-light illumination. Using the elevated temperature boosts the ammonia yield and the energy efficiency by one order of magnitude. The solar-to-NH3 energy-conversion efficiency can be up to 0.24% at 270°C, which is the highest efficiency among all reported photocatalytic systems. This method of ammonia production and the photocatalytic materials may open up an exciting possibility for the decentralization of ammonia production for fertilizer provision to local farmlands using solar illumination.
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Apr 2021
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E02-JEM ARM 300CF
I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Adam F.
Sapnik
,
Duncan N.
Johnstone
,
Sean M.
Collins
,
Giorgio
Divitini
,
Alice M.
Bumstead
,
Christopher W.
Ashling
,
Philip A.
Chater
,
Dean S.
Keeble
,
Timothy
Johnson
,
David A.
Keen
,
Thomas D.
Bennett
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[20038, 20198]
Open Access
Abstract: Defect engineering is a powerful tool that can be used to tailor the properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Here, we incorporate defects through ball milling to systematically vary the porosity of the giant pore MOF, MIL-100 (Fe). We show that milling leads to the breaking of metal–linker bonds, generating additional coordinatively unsaturated metal sites, and ultimately causes amorphisation. Pair distribution function analysis shows the hierarchical local structure is partially retained, even in the amorphised material. We find that solvents can be used to stabilise the MIL-100 (Fe) framework against collapse, which leads to a substantial retention of porosity over the non-stabilised material.
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Mar 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Zheyi
An
,
Hiroko
Yokota
,
Nan
Zhang
,
Marek
Paściak
,
Jan
Fábry
,
Miloš
Kopecký
,
Jiří
Kub
,
Guanjie
Zhang
,
Mike
Glazer
,
Thomas R.
Welberry
,
Wei
Ren
,
Zuo-guang
Ye
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17368, 19968]
Abstract: Antiferroelectric perovskites form an important family of functional electric materials, which have high potential in energy storage and conversion applications. However, a full understanding of their crystal structural formation is still lacking.
PbZrO
3
-based materials can serve as a model system for investigation, not only because
PbZrO
3
was the first discovered antiferroelectric, but also because it undergoes a typical phase transition sequence from a high-temperature paraelectric to the low-temperature antiferroelectric phase, passing through a possible intermediate phase that is poorly understood. Here we employ a combination of optical and scattering experiments and theoretical calculations to reveal the nature of the intermediate state. Evidence is found that this peculiar state consists of multiple short-range and long-range structural components, and their competition is crucial in stabilizing the antiferroelectric phase. External stimuli such as temperature change or chemical substitution can easily alter each component's energy landscape and thereby change the materials' electrical properties. These findings provide insights into understanding antiferroelectric-ferroelectric competition and can be useful in designing alternative antiferroelectric materials.
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Feb 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16536]
Abstract: Neutron diffraction and x-ray pair distribution function experiments were performed to investigate the magnetic and local crystal structures of
Ba
2
FeSb
Se
5
and to compare them with the average (i.e., long range) structural model previously obtained by single-crystal x-ray diffraction. Changes in the local crystal structure (i.e., in the second coordination sphere) are observed upon cooling from 295 to 95 K, resulting in deviations from the average (i.e., long range) crystal structure. In this paper, we demonstrate that these observations cannot be explained by local or long-range magnetoelastic effects involving Fe-Fe correlations. Instead, we found that the observed differences between local and average crystal structure can be explained by Sb-
5
s
lone pair dynamics. We also find that, below the Néel temperature
(
T
N
=
58
K
)
, the two distinct magnetic
Fe
3
+
sites order collinearly, such that a combination of antiparallel and parallel spin arrangements along the
b
axis results. The nearest-neighbor arrangement
(
J
1
=
6
Å
)
is fully antiferromagnetic, while next-nearest-neighbor interactions are ferromagnetic in nature.
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Feb 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[23152]
Open Access
Abstract: Tantalum‐doped lithium lanthanum zirconate garnet (Li7‐xLa3Zr2‐xTaxO12, LLZTO) has received interest as a solid electrolyte for solid‐state lithium batteries due to its good electrochemical properties and ionic conductivity. However, the source of discrepancies for reported values of ionic conductivity in nominally or nearly equivalent compositions of LLZTO is not completely clear. Herein, synthesis‐related factors that may contribute to the differences in performance of garnet electrolytes are systematically characterized. The conductivity of samples with composition Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 prepared by various methods including solid‐state reaction, combustion, and molten salt synthesis are compared. Varying levels of elemental inhomogeneity, comprising a variation in Ta and Zr‐content on the level of individual LLZTO particles, are identified. The elemental inhomogeneity is found to be largely preserved even after high temperature sintering and correlated with reduced ionic conductivity. We show that the various synthesis and processing‐related variables in each of the preparation methods play a role in these compositional variations, and that even LLZTO synthesized via conventional, high‐temperature solid‐state reaction can exhibit substantial variability in local composition. However, by improving reagent mixing and employing LLZTO powder with low agglomeration and small particle size distribution, the compositional uniformity, and hence ionic conductivity, of sintered garnet electrolytes can be improved.
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Feb 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17691]
Abstract: The local symmetry of (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xKNbO3 (NBT-xKN, x = 0.01-0.07) ceramics was thoroughly examined using high-energy synchrotron x-ray scattering and analysed using the Pair-Distribution Function (PDF) method. At room temperature, the structure of NBT-xKN (x = 0.01-0.07) ceramics was best refined using monoclinic C1c1 structures within the local-range (r<22 Å) and rhombohedral R3c within medium-range (22 Å 420 °C (above the temperature of the maximum dielectric peak, Tm), as confirmed by in-situ temperature-dependent PDF analysis.
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Jan 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[22115]
Open Access
Abstract: Binary metal oxides are attractive anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Despite sustained effort into nanomaterials synthesis and understanding the initial discharge mechanism, the fundamental chemistry underpinning the charge and subsequent cycles—thus the reversible capacity—remains poorly understood. Here, we use in operando X-ray pair distribution function analysis combining with our recently developed analytical approach employing Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations and non-negative matrix factorisation to study the charge reaction thermodynamics of a series of Fe- and Mn-oxides. As opposed to the commonly believed conversion chemistry forming rocksalt FeO and MnO, we reveal the two oxide series topotactically transform into non-native body-centred cubic FeO and zincblende MnO via displacement-like reactions whose kinetics are governed by the mobility differences between displaced species. These renewed mechanistic insights suggest avenues for the future design of metal oxide materials as well as new material synthesis routes using electrochemically-assisted methods.
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Jan 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Xiao
Hua
,
Alexander S.
Eggeman
,
Elizabeth
Castillo-martinez
,
Rosa
Robert
,
Harry S.
Geddes
,
Ziheng
Lu
,
Chris J.
Pickard
,
Wei
Meng
,
Kamila M.
Wiaderek
,
Nathalie
Pereira
,
Glenn G.
Amatucci
,
Paul A.
Midgley
,
Karena W.
Chapman
,
Ullrich
Steiner
,
Andrew L.
Goodwin
,
Clare
Grey
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17315]
Abstract: Metal fluorides, promising lithium-ion battery cathode materials, have been classified as conversion materials due to the reconstructive phase transitions widely presumed to occur upon lithiation. We challenge this view by studying FeF3 using X-ray total scattering and electron diffraction techniques that measure structure over multiple length scales coupled with density functional theory calculations, and by revisiting prior experimental studies of FeF2 and CuF2. Metal fluoride lithiation is instead dominated by diffusion-controlled displacement mechanisms, and a clear topological relationship between the metal fluoride F− sublattices and that of LiF is established. Initial lithiation of FeF3 forms FeF2 on the particle’s surface, along with a cation-ordered and stacking-disordered phase, A-LixFeyF3, which is structurally related to α-/β-LiMn2+Fe3+F6 and which topotactically transforms to B- and then C-LixFeyF3, before forming LiF and Fe. Lithiation of FeF2 and CuF2 results in a buffer phase between FeF2/CuF2 and LiF. The resulting principles will aid future developments of a wider range of isomorphic metal fluorides.
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Jan 2021
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[18638, 23164]
Open Access
Abstract: Biogenic and synthetic hydroxyapatites are confounding materials whose properties remain uncertain, even after years of study. Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis was applied to hydroxyapatites in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but this area of research has not taken full advantage of the relatively recent advances in synchrotron facilities. Here, synchrotron X-ray PDF analysis is compared to techniques commonly used to characterise hydroxyapatite (such as wide angle X-ray scattering, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis) for a range of biogenic and synthetic hydroxyapatites with a wide range of carbonate substitution. Contributions to the pair distribution function from collagen, carbonate and finite crystallite size were examined through principal component analysis and comparison of PDFs. Noticeable contributions from collagen were observed in biogenic PDFs when compared to synthetic PDFs (namely r < 15 Å), consistent with simulated PDFs of collagen structures. Additionally, changes in local structure were observed for PDFs of synthetic hydroxyapatites with differing carbonate content, notably in features near 4 Å, 8 Å and 19 Å. Regression models were generated to predict carbonate substitution from peak position within the PDFs.
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Nov 2020
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Louis
Longley
,
Courtney
Calahoo
,
René
Limbach
,
Yang
Xia
,
Joshua M.
Tuffnell
,
Adam F.
Sapnik
,
Michael F.
Thorne
,
Dean S.
Keeble
,
David A.
Keen
,
Lothar
Wondraczek
,
Thomas D.
Bennett
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[20038]
Open Access
Abstract: Metal-organic framework (MOF) glasses have become a subject of interest as a distinct category of melt quenched glass, and have potential applications in areas such as ion transport and sensing. In this paper we show how MOF glasses can be combined with inorganic glasses in order to fabricate a new family of materials composed of both MOF and inorganic glass domains. We use an array of experimental techniques to propose the bonding between inorganic and MOF domains, and show that the composites produced are more mechanically pliant than the inorganic glass itself.
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Nov 2020
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