I09-Surface and Interface Structural Analysis
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[21432]
Abstract: This work reports a systematical study on the relationship of electronic structure to oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of NixCo3-xO4 (x=0-1) mixed oxides. The specific OER activity is substantially increased by 16 times from 0.02 mA cm-2BET for pure Co3O4 to 0.32 mA cm-2BET for x=1 at an overpotential of 0.4 V and exhibits a strong correlation with the amount of Ni ions in +3 oxidation state. X-ray spectroscopic study reveals that inclusion of Ni3+ ions upshifts the occupied valence band maximum (VBM) by 0.27 eV toward the Fermi level (EF), and creates a new hole (unoccupied) state located ~1 eV above the EF. Such electronic features favour the adsorption of OH surface intermediates on NixCo3-xO4, resulting in enhanced OER. Furthermore, the emerging hole state effectively reduces the energy barrier for electron transfer from 1.19 eV to 0.39 eV, and thereby improves the kinetics for OER. The electronic structure features that lead to a higher OER in NixCo3-xO4 can be extended to other transition metal oxides for rational design of highly active catalysts.
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Aug 2019
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16508]
Abstract: The reaction between ceria and hydrogen has been subject to numerous theoretical and experimental studies due to its importance as a catalytic material. Here we present dynamic and reversible evolution of the cerium oxidation states observed through X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy experiments in addition to the investigation of associated lattice expansion and contraction through X-ray diffraction and PDF methods. Employing a novel calculation of the temperature dependence of the Gibbs free energy through consideration of the relationship between the instantaneous thermal lattice expansion and the rate of change of the cerium oxidation state, the unusual redox chemistry is reported here. This unusual behaviour is interpreted as due to the formation of a metastable cerium oxyhydride as suggested.
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Aug 2019
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I09-Surface and Interface Structural Analysis
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17901]
Abstract: Sodium ion batteries based on Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) are ideal for large scale energy storage applications due to the ability to meet the huge volumes and low costs required. For Na2-xFe[Fe(CN)6]1-y.zH2O realising its commercial potential means fine control of the concentration of sodium, Fe(CN)6 vacancies and water content. To date, there is a huge variation in the literature of composition leading to variable electrochemical performance. In this work, we break down the synthesis of Prussian blue analogous (PBAs) into three steps for controlling the sodium, vacancy and water content via an inexpen-sive, scalable synthesis method. We produce rhombohedral Prussian white Na1.88(5)Fe[Fe(CN)6].0.18(9)H2O with an initial capacity of 158 mAhg-1 retaining 90% capacity after 50 cycles. Subsequent characterisation revealed that the increased polarisation on the 3 V plateau is coincident with a phase transition and reduced utilisation of the high spin Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple. This reveals a clear target for subsequent improvements of the material to boost long term cycling stability. These results will be of great interest for the myriad of applications PBAs are suited towards such as catalysis, magnetism, electrochromics and gas sorption.
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Aug 2019
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I19-Small Molecule Single Crystal Diffraction
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Marta
Mon
,
Rosaria
Bruno
,
Estefanía
Tiburcio
,
Aida
Grau-atienza
,
Antonio
Sepulveda-escribano
,
Enrique V
Ramos-fernandez
,
Alessio
Fuoco
,
Elisa
Esposito
,
Marcello
Monteleone
,
Johannes Carolus
Jansen
,
Joan
Cano
,
Jesus
Ferrando-soria
,
Donatella
Armentano
,
Emilio
Pardo
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[18768]
Abstract: Understand/visualize the established interactions between gases and adsorbents is mandatory to implement better per-formant materials in adsorption/separation processes. Here we report the unique behavior of a rare example of a hemila-bile chiral three-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF) with an unprecedented qtz-e-type topology, with formula CuII2(S,S)-hismox . 5H2O (1) (hismox = bis[(S)-histidine]oxalyl diamide). 1 exhibits a continuous and reversible breath-ing behavior, based on the hemilability of carboxylate groups from L-histidine. In-situ powder (PXRD) and single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) using synchrotron radiation allowed to unveil the crystal structures of 4 different host-guest adsorbates (Ar, N2, CO2 and C3H6@1), the rationalization of the breathing motion and unravel the mechanisms govern-ing the adsorption of these gases. Then, this information has been transferred to implement efficient separations of mix-tures of industrial and environmental relevance –CO2/N2, CO2/CH4 and C3H8/C3H6 using 1 in packed columns as the sta-tionary phase and dispersed in a mixed matrix membrane.
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Jul 2019
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I09-Surface and Interface Structural Analysis
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[19602]
Abstract: The strive for increased energy density in Li-ion batteries is particularly dependent on the cathode materials, that so far have been limiting for the overall battery performance. A new class of materials, Li-rich disordered rock-salts, has recently been brought forward as promising candidates for next-generation cathodes due to their ability to reversibly cycle more than one Li-ion per transition metal. Several variants of these Li-rich cathode materials have been developed recently and show promising initial capacities, but challenges concerning capacity fade and voltage decay during cycling need yet to be overcome. Mechanisms behind the significant capacity fade of some materials must be understood to allow for the design of new materials in which detrimental reactions can be mitigated. In this study the origin of the capacity fade in the Li-rich material Li2VO2F is investigated and it is shown to begin with a degradation of the particle surface that spreads inwards with continued cycling.
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Jun 2019
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I11-High Resolution Powder Diffraction
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16297]
Abstract: There has been significant recent interest in exploiting the large dimension changes that can occur in molecular materials as a function of temperature, stress or under optical illumination. Here we report the remarkable thermal expansion properties of chloranilic acid pyrazine (CA-Pyz) co-crystals. We show that the compound shows uniaxial negative thermal expansion over a wide temperature range with a linear contraction coefficient as low as (−)1500×10−6 K−1 at 250 K. The corresponding 10% contraction between 200 and 300 K is an order of magnitude larger than in the so-called colossal contraction materials. We adopt a symmetry-inspired approach to describe both the structural changes that occur (using rotational-symmetry modes) and the thermal expansion (using strain modes). This allows an extremely compact description of the phase transition and detailed understanding of its atomic origins. We show how the coupling of primary and secondary strain modes in materials showing extreme expansion and contraction can lead to unusual reversals in the temperature dependence of cell parameters.
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May 2019
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17315]
Abstract: The recent introduction of organometal halide perovskites to solar cells has significantly enhanced the power conversion efficiency of alternative photovoltaic devices, revolutionizing the development of photovoltaic technologies. To produce perovskite thin films with high device performances, various fabrication methodologies have been developed leading to thin films with different surface structures and crystal morphologies. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to characterizing macro- and microscopic structures within these films to better understand the processing-property-performance relationship. However, their atomic structure and its influence on device performance remains poorly understood. To this end, we employed pair distribution function analysis of X-ray total scattering data to obtain crystallographic and compositional information of methylammonium-lead-iodide (MAPbI3) thin films. This analysis revealed the ubiquitous presence of two near-amorphous intermediate phases with local structures that share subtle but significant correlations with the PbI2 precursor and the desired perovskite phase. The structure transformation from these intermediates to the perovskite deviates from the intuitive belief where the molecular cations get inserted between the sheets of layered PbI2 upon the crystallization of perovskite. This knowledge offers critical insight into the perovskite formation thermodynamics and reveals an important link between the short-range structure of the thin films and their corresponding device performance.
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Apr 2019
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B18-Core EXAFS
I09-Surface and Interface Structural Analysis
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Robert A.
House
,
Urmimala
Maitra
,
Liyu
Jin
,
Juan G.
Lozano
,
James W.
Somerville
,
Nicholas H.
Rees
,
Andrew J.
Naylor
,
Laurent C.
Duda
,
Felix
Massel
,
Alan V.
Chadwick
,
Silvia
Ramos
,
David M.
Pickup
,
Daniel E.
Mcnally
,
Xingye
Lu
,
Thorsten
Schmitt
,
Matthew R.
Roberts
,
Peter G.
Bruce
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[14239, 20870]
Abstract: It is possible to increase the charge capacity of transition metal oxide cathodes in alkali-ion batteries by invoking redox reactions on the oxygen. However, oxygen loss often occurs. To explore what affects oxygen loss in oxygen redox materials, we have compared two analogous Na-ion cathodes, P2-Na0.67Mg0.28Mn0.72O2 and P2-Na0.78Li0.25Mn0.75O2. On charging to 4.5 V, >0.4 e- are removed from the oxide ions of these materials, but neither compound exhibits oxygen loss. Li is retained in P2-Na0.78Li0.25Mn0.75O2 but displaced from the transition metal to the alkali metal layers, showing that vacancies in the transition metal layers, which also occur in other oxygen redox compounds that exhibit oxygen loss such as Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2, is not a trigger for oxygen loss. On charging at 5 V, P2-Na0.78Li0.25Mn0.75O2 exhibits oxygen loss whereas P2-Na0.67Mg0.28Mn0.72O2 does not. Under these conditions both Na+ and Li+ are removed from P2-Na0.78Li0.25Mn0.75O2 resulting in underbonded oxygen (fewer than 3 cations coordinating oxygen) and surface localised O loss. In contrast, for P2-Na0.67Mg0.28Mn0.72O2, oxygen remains coordinated by at least 2 Mn4+ and 1 Mg2+ ions, stabilising the oxygen and avoiding oxygen loss.
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Apr 2019
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Abstract: Modification of TiO2 to increase its visible light activity and promote higher performance photocatalytic ability has become a key research goal for materials scientists in the past two decades. One of the most popular approaches proposed this as “passivated codoping”, whereby an equal number of donor and acceptor dopants are introduced into the lattice, producing a charge neutral system with a reduced band gap. Using the archetypal codoping pairs of [Nb+N] and [Ta+N] doped anatase, we demonstrate using hybrid density functional theory that compensated codoping is not achievable in TiO2. Our results indicate that the natural defect chemistry of the host system (in this case n-type anatase TiO2) is dominant, and so concentration parity of dopant types is not achievable under any thermodynamic growth conditions. The implications of compensated codoping for band gap manipulation in general are discussed.
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Mar 2019
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17257]
Abstract: Crystalline materials with ultralow thermal conductivity are essential for thermal barrier coating and thermoelectric energy conversion. Nontoxic n-type bulk cubic AgBiS2 exhibits exceptionally low lattice thermal conductivity (κlat) of 0.68-0.48 W/mK in the temperature range 298-820 K, which is near to the theoretical minimum (κmin). The low κlat is attributed to soft vibrations of predominantly Ag atoms and significant lattice anharmonicity due to local structural distortions along the [011] direction, arising due to the stereochemical activity of the 6s2 lone pair of Bi, as suggested by pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of the synchrotron X-ray scattering data. Low temperature heat capacity of AgBiS2 shows a broad hump due to the Ag-induced low energy Einstein modes as also suggested from phonon dispersion calculated by first principle density functional theory (DFT). Low energy optical phonons contributed by Ag and Bi strongly scatter heat carrying acoustic phonons, thereby decreasing the κlat to a low value. A maximum thermoelectric figure of merit of ~0.7 is attained at 820 K for bulk spark plasma sintered n-type AgBiS2.
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Mar 2019
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