Electronic and optical properties of quaternary selenides for optoelectronic applications: Insights from DFT+U-computations

The optical properties, electronic charge density, electronic structure of the new layered selenides materials, BaGdCuSe₃, CsUCuSe₃, CsZrCuSe₃, and CsGdZnSe₃ compounds have been calculated by using the full potential and linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) methods as applied in the WIEN2k package, which is based on the density functional theory. The ALnMSe3 compound's structure of these was (A = Cs, Ba; Ln = Zr, Gd, U; M = Cu, Zn) is composed of (n = 1, 2) layers, which might be separated by A atoms. It is to be observed that there is strong hybridization between the s, p, and d states of Zr, Gd, and Cu atoms. Around the gadolinium atom, the charge density contours are completely circular, but the Gadolinium “Gd” atom shows an ionic nature. To calculate the refractive index, we used Kramer's Kronig correlations with the imaginary part dielectric function. The decrease in the refractive index is due to the lack of probability for direct excitation of the electrons, resulting in a loss of energy. The value of the static refractive index for all reference compounds is about 1.75–2.25, which is indication that the material used in optoelectronic devices.     

碱性介质中氢氧化反应电催化剂的开发:从机理认识到材料设计

阴离子交换膜(AEM)燃料电池因具有使用非贵金属作为催化剂的优点而受到广泛关注.然而,在碱性体系中,AEM燃料电池中氢氧化反应(HOR)的反应动力学比在酸性介质中的慢两个数量级.针对HOR在碱中动力学缓慢的问题,有两种主要的理论来解释,(1)pH相关的氢结合能作为主要影响因素来控制HOR动力学的理论;(2)质子和氢氧根离子的吸附共同作为影响因子来控制HOR在碱性条件下的动力学的双功能理论.本文首先讨论了在碱性电解质中可能的HOR反应机理及其Tafel性能变化.除了传统的Tafel-Volmer和Heyrovsky-Volmer-HOR机理外,还讨论了最新提出的氢氧根离子吸附参与的HOR机理来说明在酸性和碱性介质中HOR机理的差异.然后,总结了具有代表性的碱性HOR催化剂(如贵金属、合金、金属间化合物、镍基合金、碳化物、氮化物等),简要介绍了它们相应的HOR反应机理,从而进一步理解在碱性介质中不同基元反应步骤给HOR性能带来的差异.最后,提出了一种未来设计HOR碱性催化剂的可行性方案,为今后碱性环境下的HOR催化剂设计提供参考.     

钼酸根阴离子在增强聚苯胺包覆的镍钴层状氢氧化物的电容和析氧行为中的关键作用

理论容量大且过电位低的层状氢氧化物(LDHs)是极有前景的超级电容电池和析氧反应的电极材料;然而,体相LDHs的低电导率和活性位点不足增加了电极的内阻,降低了电极容量和产氧效率.本文采用两步法制备了聚苯胺包覆的MoO42?插层的镍钴层状双金属氢氧化物复合电极(M-LDH@PANI).随着LDH中MoO42?含量的增加,针状的LDH微球逐渐演化为具有较高比表面积的片状M-LDH微球,这为整个电极提供了更多的电化学位点.此外,非晶态的聚苯胺包覆提高了复合电极的电导率.在引入适量MoO42?插层离子时,M-LDH@PANI表现出显著强化的储能和催化性能.所获得的M-LDH@PANI-0.5在析氧反应中表现出优越的电催化活性(10 mA cm?2时的过电位为266 mV),作为超级电容电池电极则具有864.8 C g?1的高容量.采用M-LDH@PANI-0.5作为正极及以活性炭作为负极组装的超级电容电池在功率密度为8,300.0 W kg?1时能量密度为44.6 Wh kg?1,且具有优异的循环稳定性(10000次循环后保留83.9％的初始容量).本文为LDH基材料的阴离子插层改性增强材料性能的机理提供了一个非传统的解释.在上述研究基础上,采用射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)和比表面积测试(BET)等手段对样品进行了深入表征.XRD结果表明,MoO42?插层的LDH材料的层间晶面(003)的峰随着MoO42?含量的增加而逐渐消失,这是由于晶面间距越大越容易受到晶粒细化的影响,间距大的晶格更容易受到破坏,导致晶格的展宽和弱化,从而间接证明MoO42?的成功插层.SEM、HRTEM和BET测试结果表明,MoO42?的含量对材料的形貌和比表面积具有重大影响.利用XPS对样品的价态进行了研究,发现随着MoO42?含量的增加,Co和Ni的价态没有明显变化.电化学测试结果表明,电极的储能和催化性能随MoO42?含量的增加而先增加后减小.利用理论计算分析了MoO42?在LDH中的插层行为,发现少量的MoO42?有利于扩大LDH的层间间距,而过量的MoO42?则会与LDH的H原子结合,从而与电解液中的OH?竞争,导致复合电极的电化学性能下降.此外,MoO42?插层的片状微球能有效调节材料的去质子化能,大大加速电极表面的氧化还原反应.因此,MoO42?插层能够显著强化LDH基材料的超级电容电池电极和OER催化剂电化学性能.     

An Efficient Novel Electrochemical Sensor for Simultaneous Determination of Vitamin C and Aspirin Based on a PMR/Zn-Al LDH/GCE

A sensitive, low-cost, and simple electrochemical sensor based on Zn−Al layered double hydroxide (Zn−Al LDH) combined with a polymer film of methyl red (PMR) to modify a GCE has been created for the first time. Using cyclic voltammetry (CV), the electrochemical characteristics of the newly fabricated sensor were investigated. The characterised PMR/Zn−Al LDH/GCE shows high electro-catalytic activity towards the vitamin C (AA) and aspirin (ASA) oxidation. Schematic fabrication of PMR/Zn−Al LDH/GCE for the determination of AA or ASA was presented. The new sensor demonstrated superior analytical efficiency for the simultaneous identification of AA and ASA traces in well-spaced anodic peaks, even in the presence of certain intervening species. According to experimental results, the fabricated sensor represented two well-separated oxidation peaks for AA and ASA oxidation with potential difference of 799 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl). The linear dependences of the anodic peak currents of AA and ASA on their concentrations in the ranges of 0.10–53.17 μM are good. The detection limits of AA and ASA at the PMR/Zn−Al LDH/GCE were found to be 1.26 and 1.27 μM, respectively. Meanwhile, the quantification limits of AA and ASA were calculated as 4.21 and 4.25 μM, respectively. On other hand, the limit of detection (LODs) of AA and ASA oxidation were determined to be 0.47 and 0.21 μM, respectively, according to DPV method. The effect of scan rate (100 to 800 mV/s) on the anodic peak currents of AA and ASA was examined. A sensing model mechanism has been suggested and discussed in detail. Finally, the proposed sensor displayed a good reproducibility, stability and selectivity. The developed sensor was eventually used to successfully detect AA and ASA in urine samples.     

Toxicity of Zn-Fe Layered Double Hydroxide to Different Organisms in the Aquatic Environment

The application of layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanomaterials as catalysts has attracted great interest due to their unique structural features. It also triggered the need to study their fate and behavior in the aquatic environment. In the present study, Zn-Fe nanolayered double hydroxides (Zn-Fe LDHs) were synthesized using a co-precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses. The toxicity of the home-made Zn-Fe LDHs catalyst was examined by employing a variety of aquatic organisms from different trophic levels, namely the marine photobacterium Vibrio fischeri, the freshwater microalga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna, and the duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza. From the experimental results, it was evident that the acute toxicity of the catalyst depended on the exposure time and type of selected test organism. Zn-Fe LDHs toxicity was also affected by its physical state in suspension, chemical composition, as well as interaction with the bioassay test medium.     

Slow Relaxation of the Magnetization in Anilato-Based Dy(III) 2D Lattices

The search for two- and three-dimensional materials with slow relaxation of the magnetization (single-ion magnets, SIM and single-molecule magnets, SMM) has become a very active area in recent years. Here we show how it is possible to prepare two-dimensional SIMs by combining Dy(III) with two different anilato-type ligands (dianions of the 3,6-disubstituted-2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone: C₆O₄X₂²⁻, with X = H and Cl) in dimethyl sulfoxide (dmso). The two compounds prepared, formulated as: [Dy₂(C₆O₄H₂)₃(dmso)₂(H₂O)₂]·2dmso·18H₂O (1) and [Dy₂(C₆O₄Cl₂)₃(dmso)₄]·2dmso·2H₂O (2) show distorted hexagonal honeycomb layers with the solvent molecules (dmso and H₂O) located in the interlayer space and in the hexagonal channels that run perpendicular to the layers. The magnetic measurements of compounds 1, 2 and [Dy₂(C₆O₄(CN)Cl)₃(dmso)₆] (3), a recently reported related compound, show that the three compounds present slow relaxation of the magnetization. In compound 1 the SIM behaviour does not need the application of a DC field whereas 2 and 3 are field-induced SIM (FI-SIM) since they show slow relaxation of the magnetization when a DC field is applied. We discuss the differences observed in the crystal structures and magnetic properties based on the X group of the anilato ligands (H, Cl and Cl/CN) in 1–3 and in the recently reported derivative [Dy₂(C₆O₄Br₂)₃(dmso)₄]·2dmso·2H₂O (4) with X = Br, that is also a FI-SIM.     

超微Ni(OH)2纳米粒子的合成及其对Li+的超高吸附性能

在葡萄糖水溶液中合成得到平均粒径为5 nm的α-Ni(OH)2超微纳米粒子。研究结果发现,在水溶液中葡萄糖浓度能够控制α-Ni(OH)2纳米粒子粒径的大小,我们对其中的原理进行了剖析。当没有葡萄糖存在时,合成得到的Ni(OH)2晶型为β型,且颗粒粒径尺寸分布为微米级别。另外,研究发现α-Ni(OH)2超微纳米粒子室温下对中性水溶液中Li^+具有较强的吸附性能,且这种吸附性能随粒径的减小而剧烈增大;粒径为5 nm的α-Ni(OH)2粒子对Li^+的最大吸附量为214 mg·g^-1(远大于文献报道的有关吸附剂对Li^+的吸附容量),而粒径为1μm的β-Ni(OH)2在相同条件下对Li^+的最大吸附量低于30 mg·g^-1。计算分析表明,Li^+在α-Ni(OH)2纳米粒子表面吸附满足Freundlich方程,符合层层吸附模型。     

服役温度对多壁碳纳米管/Li1.18Ni0.15Co0.15Mn0.52O2复合正极材料性能的影响

通过煅烧的方式制得多壁碳纳米管(MWCNT)质量分数为3%的MWCNT/Li1.18Ni0.15Co0.15Mn0.52O2锂离子电池复合正极材料,并测试了复合正极材料在不同服役温度环境下的电化学性能:-20和60℃下服役时,其放电容量分别高达169、303 mAh·g^-1,且展示出良好的倍率性能和循环稳定性。结合电化学阻抗测试结果可知,MWCNT均匀附着在层状粒子的表面,有效减少了电解液对电极材料的侵蚀,阻碍了表面膜的生成,同时提高了材料的电子电导率。     

以四乙基氢氧化铵为模板并通过转晶法合成高硅铝比的SSZ⁃13沸石分子筛

使用四乙基氢氧化铵为有机模板剂,以低硅铝比(nSiO2/nAl2O3)的Y分子筛为铝源,通过转晶法制备结晶度良好的SSZ?13沸石分子筛。从凝胶配比方面考察了不同原料组成对分子筛合成的影响,并通过X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)及电感耦合等离子体(ICP)表征水热反应过程中的物相、形貌、硅铝比等变化,揭示分子筛合成过程。氨选择性催化还原(NH3?SCR)反应显示该分子筛具有优异的催化活性,为其工业上的广泛应用提供了可能性。     

Robust nickel silicate catalysts with high Ni loading for CO2 methanation

CO₂ is the main component of greenhouse gases and also an important carbon source. The hydrogenation of CO₂ to methane using Ni-based catalysts can not only alleviate CO₂ emissions but also obtain useful fuels. However, Ni-based catalysts face one major problem of the sintering of Ni nanoparticles in the process of CO₂ methanation. Thus, this work has synthesized a series of efficient and robust nickel silicate catalysts (NiPS−X) with different nickel content derived from nickel phyllosilicate by the hydrothermal method. It was found that the Ni loading plays a critical role in the structure and catalytic performance of the NiPS−X catalysts. The catalytic performance gradually increases with the increase of Ni loading. In particular, the highly dispersed NiPS-1.6 catalyst with a high Ni loading of 34.3 wt% could obtain the CO₂ conversion greater than 80%, and the methane selectivity was close to 100% for 48 h at 330 °C and the GHSV of 40,000 mL g⁻¹ h⁻¹. The excellent catalytic property can be assigned to the high dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and the strong interaction between the active component and the carrier, which is derived from a unique layered silicate structure with lots of nickel phyllosilicate and a large number of Lewis acid sites.