Nitrogen Plasma Enhanced Low Temperature Atomic Layer Deposition of Magnesium Phosphorus Oxynitride (MgPON) Solid-State Electrolytes

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) that use solid electrolytes instead of flammable liquid electrolytes have the potential to generate higher specific capacity and offer better safety. Magnesium (Mg) based SSBs with Mg metal anodes are considered to be one of the most promising energy storage candidates, because it gives high theoretical volumetric capacities of 3830 mAh cm⁻³. Here, we demonstrate an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process with a double nitrogen plasma process that successfully produces nitrogen-incorporated magnesium phosphorus oxynitride (MgPON) solid-state electrolyte (SSE) thin films at a low deposition temperature of 125 °C. The ALD MgPON SSEs exhibit an ionic conductivity of 0.36 and 1.2 μS cm⁻¹ at 450 and 500 °C, respectively. The proposed ALD strategy shows the ability of conformal deposition nitrogen-doped SSEs on pattered substrates and is attractive for using nitride ion-conducing films as protective or wetting interlayers in solid-state Mg and Li batteries.     

Mössbauer study of new vanadate glass with large charge-discharge capacity

Charge-discharge capacity and cyclicity of lithium ion battery (LIB) was evaluated in which 15Li₂O·10Fe₂O₃·xSnO₂·5P₂O₅·(70–x)V₂O₅ glass (x?=?0 and 20 in mol%, abbreviated as xLFSPV) was used as a cathode. A local structure of xLFSPV glass before and after charging was investigated by ⁵⁷Fe- and ¹¹⁹Sn-Mössbauer spectroscopies. ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectrum of xLFSPV glass with ‘x’ of 20 was composed of a doublet with isomer shift (δ) of 0.35_±0.02 mm s^???1 and quadrupole splitting (Δ) of 0.88_±0.03 mm s^???1 due to distorted Fe^IIIO₄ tetrahedra. ¹¹⁹Sn-Mössbauer spectrum of this glass consisted of a doublet with δ of 0.08_±0.01 and Δ of 0.52_±0.01 mms^???1 due to distorted Sn^VIO₆ octahedra. After discharging the battery from 4.5 to 1.0 V, larger δ of 0.40_±0.03 mm s^???1 and Δ of 0.94_±0.04 mm s^???1 were obtained, indicating that both iconicity of Fe-O bonds and local distortion of Fe^IIIO₄ tetrahedra were increased. On the contrary, identical δ of 0.09_±0.01 mm s^???1 and Δ of 0.50_±0.01 mm s^???1 were observed in the ¹¹⁹Sn-Mössbauer spectrum of 20LFSPV glass after the discharge, indicating that chemical environment of Sn^IVO₆ octahedra was not affected after the discharge. Charge-discharge curve of LIB containing 20LFSPV glass as a cathode active material recorded under the current density of 8.3 mA g^???1 (0.011 mA cm^???2) between 1.0 and 4.5 V showed a large initial charge capacity of 431.1 mAh g^???1 and discharge capacity of 382.3 mAh g^???1, respectively. These results indicate that 20LFSPV glass could be a new cathode active material for LIB.     

Fusion of Different Crosslinked Polymers Based on Dynamic Disulfide Exchange

Crosslinked polymers (CLPs) exhibit exceptional mechanical properties as well as good chemical and solvent resistance. However, their reprocessing, recycling, and modification remain difficult. One promising approach to overcome this limitation is to introduce dynamic covalent bonds that enable chain‐exchange reactions and network‐structure rearrangements in identical polymer networks (A–A fusion), resulting in self‐healing and reprocessing properties. Reported here is the fusion of two distinct polymer networks (A–B fusion) by the dynamic behavior of bis(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐1‐yl)disulfide (BiTEMPS) at the interface between different CLPs. The appearance, swelling behavior, and mechanical properties of the fused samples indicate exchange reactions of the BiTEMPS units and the formation of topological bonds at the interface, commensurate with the generation of a CLP that exhibits tunable properties.     

Comparisons of O-acylation and Friedel-Crafts acylation of phenols and acyl chlorides and Fries rearrangement of phenyl esters in trifluoromethanesulfonic acid: effective synthesis of optically active homotyrosines

Reactions involving phenol derivatives and acyl chlorides have to be controlled for competitive O-acylations and C-acylations (Friedel-Crafts acylations and Fries rearrangements) in acidic condition. The extent for these reactions in trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH), which is used as catalyst and solvent, is examined. Although diluted TfOH was needed for effective O-acylation, concentrated TfOH was required for effective C-acylations in mild condition. These results have been applied to the novel synthesis of homotyrosine derivatives. Both Fries rearrangement of N-TFA-Asp(OBn)-OMe and Friedel-Crafts acylation of phenol with N-TFA-Asp(Cl)-OMe in TfOH afforded the homotyrosine skeleton, followed by reduction and deprotection afforded homotyrosines maintaining stereochemistry of Asp as an optically pure form.     

Diffusion process of electrons injected from STM tip into AlGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

We have investigated the electron diffusion process in Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures by means of scanning tunneling microscope light emission (STM-LE) spectroscopy. The optical measurements were performed on a cleaved (1 1 0) surface at room temperature. The STM-LE spectra were measured by injecting hot electrons from the tip positioned at different distances from the QWs. The emission intensity from individual wells as a function of the tip-well distance was found to decay with two distinct decay constants. From comparison with Monte Carlo simulations for hot electron relaxation, we found that the intervalley scattering from the Γ valley to the L and X valleys has the most significant effect on the diffusion process of the injected electrons.     

Control of the optical properties of CdTe nanocrystals by selective exchange of Te with thiolate: effect of organic ligands on the formation of core-shell structures

Changes in the optical properties of CdTe nanocrystals through selective surface exchange reaction with thiolate molecules in the organic phase are studied with an aim to investigate the mechanism and the role of organic ligands. The reaction was mediated by dissociation of Te anions via oxidation in air from CdTe nanocrystals, followed by attachment of thiolate molecules in a 1:1 stoichiometric manner. This results in a gradual shell formation and a corresponding decrease in the size of the fluorescent CdTe cores, which induces a blue shift of both the absorption edge and emission wavelength in the visible region. A systematic study including the addition of ligands at different concentrations revealed that Te dissociation is the rate-determining step for the process and the degree of blue shift is significantly dependent on the amount of organic ligands present. The process could also be kinetically controlled through the addition of an excess amount of thiolate ligands, allowing systematic tuning of the emission properties of nanocrystals under ambient conditions.     

Band gap engineering of CdTe nanocrystals through chemical surface modification

We demonstrate band gap control of CdTe nanocrystals by selective surface modification using alkanethiol molecules. Both absorption and emission wavelengths can be tuned simply by mixing a dispersion of the nanocrystals with alkanethiol at room temperature, resulting in blue shifts in the optical spectra during reaction. The degree of blue shift depends on both the concentration of alkanethiols and the reaction time, thereby providing kinetic control over the emission peak wavelength of the nanocrystals in mild conditions. The observed spectral changes are suggested to be caused by a decrease in the size of the CdTe core through formation of CdTe1-x(SC10)x shells because of specific exchange of Te with alkanethiolates. The results reported herein provide a new band gap engineering scheme for semiconductor nanocrystals and offer opportunities for the design of ligand-stabilized semiconductor nanocrystals with tunable composition and optical properties.     

On searching for solutions of the Diophantine equation

We propose a new search algorithm to solve the equation for a fixed value of . By parametrizing min, this algorithm obtains and (if they exist) by solving a quadratic equation derived from divisors of . By using several efficient number-theoretic sieves, the new algorithm is much faster on average than previous straightforward algorithms. We performed a computer search for 51 values of below 1000 (except ) for which no solution has previously been found. We found eight new integer solutions for and in the range of .