Visible light photo-oxidation of model pollutants using CaCu3Ti4O12: an experimental and theoretical study of optical properties, electronic structure, and selectivity

Charge transfer between metal ions occupying distinct crystallographic sublattices in an ordered material is a strategy to confer visible light absorption on complex oxides to generate potentially catalytically active electron and hole charge carriers. CaCu3Ti4O12 has distinct octahedral Ti4+ and square planar Cu2+ sites and is thus a candidate material for this approach. The sol?gel synthesis of high surface area CaCu3Ti4O12 and investigation of its optical absorption and photocatalytic reactivity with model pollutants are reported. Two gaps of 2.21 and 1.39 eV are observed in the visible region. These absorptions are explained by LSDA+U electronic structure calculations, including electron correlation on the Cu sites, as arising from transitions from a Cu-hybridized O 2p-derived valence band to localized empty states on Cu (attributed to the isolation of CuO4 units within the structure of CaCu3Ti4O12) and to a Ti-based conduction band. The resulting charge carriers produce selective visible light photodegradation of 4-chlorophenol (monitored by mass spectrometry) by Pt-loaded CaCu3Ti4O12 which is attributed to the chemical nature of the photogenerated charge carriers and has a quantum yield comparable with commercial visible light photocatalysts.     

Artificial construction of the layered Ruddlesden-Popper manganite La2Sr2Mn3O10 by reflection high energy electron diffraction monitored pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition has been used to artificially construct the n = 3 Ruddlesden-Popper structure La(2)Sr(2)Mn(3)O(10) in epitaxial thin film form by sequentially layering La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO(3) and SrO unit cells aided by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction monitoring. The interval deposition technique was used to promote two-dimensional SrO growth. X-ray diffraction and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy indicated that the trilayer structure had been formed. A site ordering was found to differ from that expected thermodynamically, with the smaller Sr(2+) predominantly on the R site due to kinetic trapping of the deposited cation sequence. A dependence of the out-of-plane lattice parameter on growth pressure was interpreted as changing the oxygen content of the films. Magnetic and transport measurements on fully oxygenated films indicated a frustrated magnetic ground state characterized as a spin glass-like magnetic phase with the glass temperature T(g) ≈ 34 K. The magnetic frustration has a clear in-plane (ab) magnetic anisotropy, which is maintained up to temperatures of 150 K. Density functional theory calculations suggest competing antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic long-range orders, which are proposed as the origin of the low-temperature glassy state.     

Chemical Bonding and Atomic Structure in Y(2) O(3) :ZrO(2) -SrTiO(3) Layered Heterostructures

Repeating boundaries: The buried interfaces in artificial heterostructures produced by sequential deposition of nanosized units are critical to their properties. With density functional theory it was shown that in Y(2) O(3) :ZrO(2) (YSZ) and SrTiO(3) (STO) heterostructures reconstruction of the interfaces between the component units is required to access the most favorable structure.     

Chemical control of electronic structure and superconductivity in layered borides and borocarbides: understanding the absence of superconductivity in LixBC

The synthetic search for materials related to the 39 K superconductor MgB2 has been difficult. The most promising theoretical suggestion, hole doping of LiBC, does not lead to a new superconductor. We show here that a combination of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, materials synthesis, and structural characterization reveals the origin of the puzzling absence of superconductivity in Li1/2BC as a subtle change in the electronic structure driven by structural response to the introduction of holes. This indicates that the unique aspects of the electronic structure of MgB2 will be demanding to replicate in other systems.     

Layered cobalt hydroxysulfates with both rigid and flexible organic pillars: synthesis, structure, porosity, and cooperative magnetism.

The synthesis and characterization of two members of a family of porous magnetic materials is described. The structures of Co4(SO4)(OH)6(C2N2H8)0.5*3H2O and Co4(SO4)(OH)6(C6N2H12)0.5*H2O and their thermal stability can be tailored via the choice of organic pillar. The interactions between the pillaring agent and the compositionally complex inorganic layer are discussed. The influences of two pillaring agents i.e., the flexible ethylenediamine and the relatively rigid 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane, on thermal stability, rigidity upon guest loss, and magnetic behavior of the pillared solids are compared. The magnetism of the pillared layered cobalt hydroxides is complex due to the influences of multiple metal sites, inter- and intralayer exchange, spin-orbit coupling, and geometrical frustration. The wide variety of potential pillars, oxyanions, and possible metal substitutions at the octahedral and tetrahedral sites offers the possibility of tailoring the magnetic and porous properties of these materials.     

ChemInform Abstract: New Zirconium Titanium Oxynitrides Obtained by Ammonolysis of Zirconium Titanate.

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