热激活延迟荧光材料的光物理行为及性能预测

热激活延迟荧光(Thermally activated delayed fluorescence, TADF)材料由于三线态激子可通过反系间窜越(Reverse intersystem crossing, RISC)转换为单线态激子,在有机发光二极管(Organic light-emitting diodes, OLEDs)中理论上可达到100%的激子利用率而被广泛关注。但实验上开发设计高性能TADF材料较为复杂且研究周期较长,理论研究可以从本质上建立材料结构-性能的关系,预测材料的性质并提供一定的分子设计策略。本文围绕高性能TADF材料的开发,从发光原理出发,系统阐述了分子的设计策略及光物理参数如材料单-三线态能级差(Single-triplet energy gap, ΔE_ST)、系间/反系间窜越速率、吸收/发射光谱、辐射/非辐射速率等的计算原理、计算方法和研究进展。最后我们探讨了TADF材料理论研究面临的机遇和挑战,通过对TADF材料的理论研究综述和研究前景的展望,期待吸引更多的研究工作者,推动该领域的发展和突破。     

Regulating the Oxygen Affinity of Single Atom Catalysts by Dual-atom Design for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

This work chooses Cu/Fe single-atom catalysts(SACs) with weak/strong oxygen affinity to clarify the effect of dual-atom configuration on oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) performance based on density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The stability and ORR activity of single or dual Cu/Fe atomic sites anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene sheets(Cu-N₄-C, Cu₂-N₆-C, Fe-N₄-C, and Fe₂-N₆-C) are investigated, and the results indicate the dual-atom catalysts(Cu₂-N₆-C and Fe₂-N₆-C) are thermodynamically stable enough to avoid sintering and aggregation. Compared with single-atom active sites of Cu-N₄-C, which show weak oxygen affinity and poor ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.58 V, the dual-Cu active sites of Cu₂-N₆-C exhibit enhanced ORR activity with a limiting potential up to 0.87 V due to strengthened oxygen affinity. Interestingly, for Fe SACs with strong oxygen affinity, the DFT results show that the dual-Fe sites stabilize the two OH^* ligands structure[Fe₂(OH)₂-N₆-C], which act as the active sites during ORR process, resulting in greatly improved ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.90 V. This study suggests that the dual-atom design is a potential strategy to improve the ORR performance of SACs, in which the activity of the single atom active sites is limited with weak or strong oxygen affinity.     

Mixed Quantum Classical Reaction Rates based on the Phase Space Formulation of the Hierarchical Equations of Motion

In a previous work [J. Chem. Phys. 140 , 174105 (2014)], we have shown that a mixed quantum classical (MQC) rate theory can be derived to investigate the quantum tunneling effects in the proton transfer reactions. However, the method is based on the high temperature approximation of the hierarchical equation of motion (HEOM) with the Debye-Drude spectral density, and results in a multi-state Zusman type of equation. We now extend this theory to include quantum effects of the bath degrees of freedom. By writing the full HEOM into a multidimensional partial differential equation in phase space, we can define a new reaction coordinate, and the previous method can be generalized to the full quantum regime. The validity of the new method is demonstrated by using numerical examples, including the spin-Boson model, and the double well model for proton transfer reaction. The new method is found to resolve some key problems of the previous theory based on high temperature approximation, including possible numerical instability in long time simulation and wrong rate constant at low temperatures.     

Delocalized \begin{document}$\pi_3^6$\end{document} Bond in OX\begin{document}$_2$\end{document} (X=Halogen) Molecules

OX\begin{document}$_2$\end{document} (X=halogen) molecules was studied theoretically. Calculation results show that delocalized \begin{document}$\pi_3^6$\end{document} bonds exist in their electronic structures and O atoms adopt the sp\begin{document}$^2$\end{document} type of hybridization, which violates the prediction of the valence shell electron pair repulsion theory of sp\begin{document}$^3$\end{document} type. Delocalization stabilization energy is proposed to measure the contribution of delocalized \begin{document}$\pi_3^6$\end{document} bond to energy decrease and proves to bring extra-stability to the molecule. These phenomena can be summarized as a kind of coordinating effect.     

Kinetics and Mechanism of Catalytic Reduction of U(VI) with Hydrazine on Platinum Catalysts in Nitric Acid Media

The kinetics of U(IV) produced by hydrazine reduction of U(VI) with platinum as a catalyst in nitric acid media was studied to reveal the reaction mechanism and optimize the reaction process. Electron spin resonance (ESR) was used to determine the influence of nitric acid oxidation. The effects of nitric acid, hydrazine, U(VI) concentration, catalyst dosage and temperature on the reaction rate were also studied. In addition, the simulation of the reaction process was performed using density functional theory. The results show that the influence of oxidation on the main reaction is limited when the concentration of nitric acid is below 0.5 mol/L. The reaction kinetics equation below the concentration of 0.5 mol/L is found as: -dc(UO₂²⁺)/dt)=kc^0.5323(UO₂²⁺)c^0.2074(N₂H₅⁺)c^-0.2009(H⁺). When the temperature is 50 ℃, and the solid/liquid ratio r is 0.0667 g/mL, the reaction kinetics constant is k=0.00199 (mol/L)^0.4712/min. Between 20 ℃ and 80 ℃, the reaction rate gradually increases with the increase of temperature, and changes from chemically controlled to diffusion-controlled. The simulations of density functional theory give further insight into the influence of various factors on the reaction process, with which the reaction mechanisms are determined according to the reaction kinetics and the simulation results.     

A Mechanistic Switch in C-H Bond Activation by Elusive Fe\begin{document}$^\text{V}$\end{document}(O)(TAML) Reaction Intermediate: A Theoretical Study

The divergent behavior of C-H bond oxidations of aliphatic substrates compared to those of aromatic substrates shown in Gupta's experiment was mechanistically studied herein by means of density functional theory calculations. Our calculations reveal that such difference is caused by different reaction mechanisms between two kinds of substrates (the aliphatic cyclohexane, 2, 3-dimethylbutane and the aromatic toluene, ethylbenzene and cumene). For the aliphatic substrates, C-H oxidation by the oxidant Fe\begin{document}$^{\rm{V}}$\end{document}(O)(TAML) is a hydrogen atom transfer process; whereas for the aromatic substrates, C-H oxidation is a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) process with a proton transfer character on the transition state, that is, a proton-coupled electron transfer process holding a proton transfer-like transition state (PCET(PT)). This difference is caused by the strong \begin{document}$\pi$\end{document}-\begin{document}$\pi$\end{document} interactions between the tetra-anionic TAML ring and the phenyl ring of the aromatic substrates, which has a "pull" effect to make the electron transfer from substrates to the Fe=O moiety inefficient.     

Effects of Coverage,Water, and Defects on Catechol/TiO2 Interface

Catechol adsorbed on TiO₂ is one of the simplest models to explore the relevant properties of dye-sensitized solar cells. However, the effects of water and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface have been rarely explored. Here, we investigate four catechol/TiO₂ interfaces aiming to study the influence of coverage, water, and defects on the electronic levels and the excitonic properties of the catechol/TiO₂ interface through the first-principles many-body Green's function theory. We find that the adsorption of catechol on the rutile (110) surface increases the energies of both the TiO₂ valence band maximum and conduction band minimum by approximately 0.7 eV. The increasing coverage and the presence of water can reduce the optical absorption of charge-transfer excitons with maximum oscillator strength. Regarding the reduced hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate, the conduction band minimum decreases greatly, resulting in a sub-bandgap of 2.51 eV. The exciton distributions in the four investigated interfaces can spread across several unit cells, especially for the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate. Although the hydroxylated TiO₂ substrate leads to a lower open-circuit voltage, it may increase the separation between photogenerated electrons and holes and may therefore be beneficial for improving the photovoltaic efficiency by controlling its concentration. Our results may provide guidance for the design of highly efficient solar cells in future.     

Adatom Defect Induced Spin Polarization of Asymmetric Structures

The spin polarization of carbon nanomaterials is crucial to design spintronic devices. In this paper, the first-principles is used to study the electronic properties of two defect asymmetric structures, Cap-(9, 0)-Def [6, 6] and Cap-(9, 0)-Def [5, 6]. We found that the ground state of Cap-(9, 0)-Def [6, 6] is sextet and the ground state of Cap-(9, 0)-Def [5, 6] is quartet, and the former has a lower energy. In addition, compared with Cap-(9, 0) CNTs, the C adatom on C₃₀ causes spin polarization phenomenon and Cap-(9, 0)-Def [6, 6] has more spin electrons than Cap-(9, 0)-Def [5, 6] structure. Moreover, different adsorb defects reveal different electron accumulation. This finding shows that spin polarization of the asymmetric structure can be adjusted by introducing adatom defects.     

Effect of selected dopants on conductivity and moisture stability of Li3PS4 sulfide solid electrolyte: a first-principles study

The first principle computational screening was performed to investigate the effect of selected dopants for Li₃PS₄ sulfide solid electrolyte on its ionic conductivity and stability toward moisture. The results suggest that substitution P⁵⁺ using isovalent cations whose electronegativity (EN) value is closer to the value of S has more significant effects on the ionic conductivity, whereby W⁵⁺ and Sb⁵⁺ can improve most. Similarly, aliovalent cation substitutions with compensating changes in the lithium-ion concentration, particularly those with a lower oxidation state and higher EN, such as Cu²⁺, effectively enhance the lithium-ion conductivity in this structure. For cation dopants, it is found that ionic conductivity improvement of Li₃PS₄ is the synergetic effect of EN and oxidation number of the dopant as well as the material's lattice parameter change. Oxides of the considered cation dopants can also improve the ionic conductivity of the material but have much lower lithium-ion conductivity than the cases of cation dopants. However, the metal oxide dopants, particularly those derived from soft Lewis' acid cations, show a marginal improvement in moisture stability of the Li₃PS₄ electrolyte. The effect of halides and metal halide dopants on the lithium-ion conductivity and moisture stability of Li₃PS₄ electrolyte are also studied. It is found that metal halides are more effective than any other dopants in improving the ionic conductivity of Li₃PS₄.