Structure and stability of molybdenum sulfide fullerenes

MoS2 nanooctahedra are believed to be the smallest stable closed-cage structures of MoS2, i.e., the genuine inorganic fullerenes. Here a combination of experiments and density functional tight binding calculations with molecular dynamics annealing are used to elucidate the structures and electronic properties of octahedral MoS2 fullerenes. Through the use of these calculations MoS2 octahedra were found to be stable beyond nMo > 100 but with the loss of 12 sulfur atoms in the six corners. In contrast to bulk and nanotubular MoS2, which are semiconductors, the Fermi level of the nanooctahedra is situated within the band, thus making them metallic-like. A model is used for extending the calculations to much larger sizes. These model calculations show that, in agreement with experiment, the multiwall nanooctahedra are stable over a limited size range of 104-105 atoms, whereupon they are converted into multiwall MoS2 nanoparticles with a quasi-spherical shape. On the experimental side, targets of MoS2 and MoSe2 were laser-ablated and analyzed mostly through transmission electron microscopy. This analysis shows that, in qualitative agreement with the theoretical analysis, multilayer nanooctahedra of MoS2 with 1000-25 000 atoms (Mo + S) are stable. Furthermore, this and previous work show that beyond approximately 105 atoms fullerene-like structures with quasi-spherical forms and 30-100 layers become stable. Laser-ablated WS2 samples yielded much less faceted and sometimes spherically symmetric nanocages.     

Fast Synthesis of PbS Nanocrystals in Aqueous Solution with Shape Evolution from Cubic to Octahedral Structures and Their Assembled Structures

In this study, we have developed for the first time a fast and energy‐efficient method for the synthesis of PbS nanocrystals with systematic shape evolution from cubic to truncated cubic, cuboctahedral, truncated octahedral, and octahedral structures. The method involves the addition of a small volume of preheated lead acetate and thioacetamide (TAA) mixture to an aqueous growth solution of lead acetate, thioacetamide, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, and nitric acid. By varying the amount of thioacetamide added to the growth solution, PbS nanocrystals with different morphologies were generated in 2 h at 90 °C. Slight experimental modifications were adopted to generate truncated octahedra. The nanocrystals have very uniform dimensions with average sizes of 32–47 nm. Their structures have been extensively examined by electron microscopy. Nanocube sizes can also be tuned within a range. UV/Vis absorption spectra of PbS cubes, cuboctahedra, and octahedra all show decreasing but continuous absorption from 300 nm to beyond 1000 nm. By monitoring the speed of darkening of solution color, particle growth rate was found to be fastest for nanocubes, followed by truncated cubes, cuboctahedra, and octahedra. These monodisperse nanocrystals can readily form self‐assembled structures. Truncated cubes and octahedra that form monolayer and multilayer packing arrangements have also been studied. This green approach to the synthesis of PbS nanocrystals with fine size and shape control should allow for investigations of their facet‐dependent properties and the fabrication of novel heterostructures.     

Fabrication of Au-Pd core-shell heterostructures with systematic shape evolution using octahedral nanocrystal cores and their catalytic activity

By using octahedral gold nanocrystals with sizes of approximately 50 nm as the structure-directing cores for the overgrowth of Pd shells, Au-Pd core-shell heterostructures with systematic shape evolution can be directly synthesized. Core-shell octahedra, truncated octahedra, cuboctahedra, truncated cubes, and concave cubes were produced by progressively decreasing the amount of the gold nanocrystal solution introduced into the reaction mixture containing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), H(2)PdCl(4), and ascorbic acid. The core-shell structure and composition of these nanocrystals has been confirmed. Only the concave cubes are bounded by a variety of high-index facets. This may be a manifestation of the release of lattice strain with their thick shells at the corners. Formation of the [CTA](2)[PdBr(4)] complex species has been identified spectroscopically. Time-dependent UV-vis absorption spectra showed faster Pd source consumption rates in the growth of truncated cubes and concave cubes, while a much slower reduction rate was observed in the generation of octahedra. The concave cubes and octahedra were used as catalysts for a Suzuki coupling reaction. They can all serve as effective and recyclable catalysts, but the concave cubes gave higher product yields with a shorter reaction time attributed to their high-index surface facets. The concave cubes can also catalyze a wide range of Suzuki coupling reactions using aryl iodides and arylboronic acids with electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents.     

PKU-5: an aluminoborate with novel octahedral framework topology

A new anhydrous aluminoborate Al4B6O15 (PKU-5) has been synthesized in a boric acid flux in a closed system at 350 degrees C. PKU-5, which crystallizes in the space group R3 with the lattice constants a=11.43398(9) and c=6.48307(5) A, consists of Al octahedra and triangularly coordinated boron. The Al octahedron adopts the (10,3)-a network, in which each octahedron shares three edges with the neighboring octahedra forming ten-membered-ring channels. The octahedral backbone in PKU-5 can be considered as a primary octahedral framework topology and, setting out from the structures of the aluminoborates (PKU-1 and PKU-5), we propose construction rules for the octahedral frameworks. There are two types of connections for edge-sharing octahedra in porous frameworks, trans and cis type, by which various microporous octahedral frameworks of different topologies can be constructed. The borate groups share oxygens with the Al octahedral frameworks forming two kinds of three-membered-ring units consisting of two octahedra and one triangle (2Al+B) and one octahedron and two triangles (Al+2B), respectively.     

Synthesis of Ag2O nanocrystals with systematic shape evolution from cubic to hexapod structures and their surface properties

We report the development of a facile method for the synthesis of Ag(2)O crystals with systematic shape evolution from cubic to edge- and corner-truncated cubic, rhombicuboctahedral, edge- and corner-truncated octahedral, octahedral, and hexapod structures by mixing AgNO(3), NH(4)NO(3), and NaOH at molar ratios of 1:2:11.8. A sufficient volume of NaOH solution was first added to a mixture of AgNO(3) and NH(4)NO(3) solution to promote the formation of Ag(NH(3))(2)(+) complex ions and the growth of Ag(2)O nanocrystals with good morphological control. The crystals are mostly submicrometer-sized. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy characterization has been performed to determine the crystalline surface facets. A band gap value of approximately 1.45 eV has been found for the octahedral Ag(2)O crystals. By changing the molar ratios of AgNO(3)/NH(4)NO(3)/NaOH to 1:2:41.8, corner-depressed rhombicuboctahedra and elongated hexapods were obtained as a result of enhanced crystal growth along the [100] directions. Smaller nanocubes with average sizes of approximately 200 and 300 nm and octapods can also be prepared by adjusting the reagent molar ratios and their added volumes. Both the octahedra and hexapods with largely silver atom-terminated {111} surface facets responded repulsively and moved to the surface of the solution when dispersing in a solution of positively charged methylene blue, but can be suspended in a negatively charged methyl orange solution. The cubes and octapods, bounded by the {100} faces, were insensitive to the molecular charges in solution. The dramatic facet-dependent surface properties of Ag(2)O crystals have been demonstrated.     

Ultrathin-Polyaniline-Coated Pt–Ni Alloy Nanooctahedra for the Electrochemical Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Controlling the morphology and composition of nanocatalysts constructed from metals and conductive polymers has attracted attention owing to their great potential for the development of high-efficiency catalysts for various catalytic applications. Herein, a facile synthetic approach for ultrathin-polyaniline-coated Pt–Ni nanooctahedra (Pt-Ni@PANI hybrids) with controllable PANI shell thicknesses is presented. Pt–Ni nanooctahedra/C catalysts enclosed by PANI shells with thicknesses from 0.6 to 2.4 nm were obtained by fine control over the amount of aniline. The various Pt-Ni@PANI hybrids exhibited electrocatalytic activity toward the methanol oxidation reaction that is highly dependent on the thickness of the PANI shell. Pt-Ni@PANI hybrids with the thinnest PANI shells (0.6 nm) showed markedly improved electrocatalytic performance for the methanol oxidation reaction compared with Pt-Ni@PANI hybrids with thicker PANI shells, Pt–Ni nanooctahedra/C, and commercial Pt/C due to synergistic benefits of ultrathin PANI shells and Pt–Ni alloy.     

Metal Coordination Sphere Deformation Induced Highly Stokes‐Shifted,Ultra Broadband Emission in 2D Hybrid Lead‐Bromide Perovskites and Investigation of Its Origin

Published studies of layered (2D) (100)‐oriented hybrid lead‐bromide perovskites evidence a correlation between increased inter‐octahedral (Pb‐Br‐Pb) distortions and the appearance of broadband white light emission. However, the impact of distortions within their constituent [PbBr₆]^4? octahedra has yet to be assessed. Herein, we report two new (100)‐oriented 2D Pb‐Br perovskites, whose structures display unusually high intra‐octahedral distortions, whilst retaining minimal inter‐octahedral distortions. Using a combination of temperature‐dependent, power‐dependent and time‐resolved photoluminescence spectroscopic measurements, we show that increased intra‐octahedral distortion induces exciton localization processes and leads to formation of multiple photoinduced emissive colour centres. Ultimately, this leads to highly Stokes‐shifted, ultrabroad white light emission at room temperature.     

Synthesis and Isolation of Titanium Metal Cluster Complexes and Ligand-Coated Nanoparticles with a Laser Vaporization Flowtube Reactor

A new laser vaporization flow reactor (LVFR) is described consisting of a laser ablation cluster source combined with a fast flowtube reactor for the production and isolation of ligand-coated metal clusters. The source includes high repetition rate laser vaporization with a 100 Hz KrF (248 nm) excimer laser, while cluster growth and passivation with ligands takes place in a flowtube with ligand addition via a nebulizer spray. Samples are isolated in a low temperature trap and solutions containing the clusters are analyzed with laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Initial experiments with this apparatus have trapped Ti _x (ethylenediamine) _y complexes which apparently have linear metal units with octahedral ligand coordination. Other experiments have produced and isolated clusters of the form Ti _x O _y (THF) _z that apparently have linear metal oxide cores and larger (TiO₂) _x (THF) _y nanoparticle species. The isolation of these new cluster species suggest that the LVFR instrument has considerable potential for the production of new nanocluster materials.     

Face-driven corner-linked octahedral nanocages: M6L8 cages formed by C3-symmetric triangular facial ligands linked via C4-symmetric square tetratopic Pd(II) ions at truncated octahedron corners

The face-driven corner-linked truncated octahedral nanocages, [Pd6L8]12+ (1, L1 = N,N',N' '-tris(3-pyridinyl)-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxamide; 2, L2 = N,N',N' '-tris(4-pyridinylmethyl)-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxamide), were prepared with eight C3-symmetric tridentate ligands and six square planar tetratopic palladium(II) ions. The combination of the nitrogen donor atom at a approximately 120 degrees kink position of the carboxamido pyridinyl group and the tilted pyridyl versus the facial plane of the ligands can provide the needed curvature for the formation of octahedral cages. The nitrogen atoms can coordinate to the square planar palladium(II) ions to form kinks with approximately 120 degrees angles at the C4-symmetric square planar corners of the truncated octahedron. Depending on the conformation of the ligand, L1, two different truncated octahedral cages of around 2.4 nm in diameters were formed. The major form of 1 with syn-conformational ligands has a cavity volume of approximately 1600 A3. The cage has 12 ports (3.4 x 3.5 A2) at all edges of the octahedron. The minor form of cage 1 with anti-conformational ligands has a slightly increased cavity volume ( approximately 1900 A3) and port size (3.3 x 8.0 A2). The insertion of a methylene group in L2 has not only increased the cavity volume of 2 to approximately 2200 A3 but also enlarged the port size to 4.1 x 8.0 A2. However, an atomic force microscopy (AFM) study of cage 2 showed that the cages had a height of 1.8 +/- 0.1 nm. This value is about 30% smaller than the calculated size of 2.6 nm from the crystal structure. This tip-induced decrease in height in cage 2 suggests the nonrigidity of cage 2.     

Seed-mediated synthesis of gold octahedra in high purity and with well-controlled sizes and optical properties

We report a facile method for the synthesis of uniform Au octahedra with well-controlled sizes and optical properties by seed-mediated growth. Starting from single-crystal seeds of Au spheres with a uniform size, we could reproducibly obtain Au octahedra with a narrow size distribution (<7% in standard deviation) and in high purity (>90%). Moreover, the edge lengths of these Au octahedra could be readily tuned in a controllable fashion from 16 to 77 nm by varying the amount of seeds, the concentration of HAuCl(4) , or both. We have also investigated the effects of water and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) in the system, as well as the reaction temperature, on the evolution of octahedral shape.     

Layered and pillared metal carboxyethylphosphonate hybrid compounds

A series of carboxyethylphosphonate hybrid materials has been prepared: Mn(II)(O3PCH2CH2COOH) *H2O (1), Mn(III)(OH)(O3PCH2CH2COOH)*H2O (2), Al3(III)(OH)3(O3PCH2CH2CO2)2 *3H2O (3) and Cr2(III)(OH)3(O3PCH2CH2CO2) *3H2O (4). Compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized from Mn(III)(CH3COO)3 *2H2O under hydrothermal, or refluxing treatments, respectively. The crystal structures of the manganese-bearing solids have been solved ab initio from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method. 1 crystallises in a orthorhombic cell and 2 in monoclinic symmetry. Both solids have inorganic 2D layered structures with the acid carboxylic groups pointing towards the interlayer space, and the layers linked only through hydrogen bonds. The inorganic layers of these compounds are formed by manganese atoms in distorted octahedral environments linked together by the phosphonate groups. The crystal structure of 3 has been solved ab initio from synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data. This solid shows a pillared structure with the phosphonate and carboxylate groups cross-linking the inorganic layers. These layers contain chains of aluminium octahedra running parallel to each other. 4 is amorphous and the IR-UV-VIS spectra suggest a framework with Cr(III) cations in octahedral environments. Thermal, spectroscopic and magnetic data for manganese and chromium compounds as well as the structural details of these solids are discussed.     

Structural dependence of oxygen reduction reaction on palladium nanocrystals

We have synthesized sub-10 nm Pd cubic and octahedral nanocrystals and then evaluated their activities towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The ORR activity of Pd nanocubes was one order of magnitude higher than that of Pd octahedra, and comparable to that of the state-of-the-art Pt catalysts.     

层状有机-无机杂化钙钛矿(C7H12N2)PbBr4的合成、结构及发光性质

通过向杂化体系中引入特殊的有机配体2-（2-氨基乙基）吡啶,利用溶液冷却技术,合成了一种二维层状有机-无机杂化钙钛矿结构材料的化合物(C7H12N2)PbBr4的晶体。 X射线单晶衍射结果表明,化合物(C7H12N2)PbBr4的单晶结构属于正交晶系,Pbca空间群,a=1.702 3 nm,b=0.828 9 nm,c=2.022 4 nm,Z=8。 无机部分是由共顶点的PbBr6金属卤化物八面体组成的二维平面片层。 采用了相对扭曲构型的有机胺阳离子与二维无机片层通过氢键作用组成了杂化钙钛矿结构。 对其光学性质进行了测试。荧光光谱的特征发射峰出现在422 nm处。     

CnB-的激光等离子体产生与质谱分析

Time-of-flight mass spectrum of C_nB~- has been recorded on a selfbuilt instrument with laser vaporization of tetraphenylboron sodium. By analysis of the com-position of the anions, it is found that number of the boron atoms in any of these ions equals to the number of the charges carried by the anion, and the sum of the numbers of the carbon and boron atoms in these species are always the odd numbers. The experimental results show that boron atom has a strong tendency to attract an electron so that those C_nB~- will have similar electronic structures as C_n, and carbon clusters with odd members are always more stable than their even neighbors.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a New Dimolybdenum（V） Complex Na4[Mo2O4（HNTA）2]2·19H2O

The new binuclear molybdenum（V） complex Na4[Mo2O4（HNTA）2]2·19H2O （NTA = nitrilotriacetate） has been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and IR. The crystal has space group Pnma with a = 10.2239（2）,b = 23.8174（3）,c = 23.1845（4） A,V = 5645.58（16）A^3,Z = 4,C24H66Mo4N4Na4O51,Mr = 1702.50,Dc = 1.958 g/cm^3,μ = 1.027 mm^-1,F（000） = 3280,T = 293（2） K,the final R = 0.0609 and wR = 0.1449 for 5512 observed reflections （I 〉 2σ（I））. Each MoV atom has a distorted octahedral coordination geometry,and the two coordination octahedra share a common edge to form a dioxo-bridged Mo2O4 unit which is coordinated by NTA ligands. The dianionic binuclear units [Mo2O4（HNTA）2]^2- are interconnected by Na^＋ into a layered structure.     

纳米片组装的Zn_2SnO_4空心八面体分级结构的制备与发光性能(英文)

以乙酸锌、四氯化锡、氢氧化钠为原料,在200℃用L-赖氨酸辅助合成纳米片组装的锡酸锌(Zn2SnO4)空心八面体分级结构。采用XRD、FESEM、TEM、HRTEM等对样品进行了表征,结果表明产物为立方相的Zn2SnO4,单个八面体的棱长在1～2μm,并且表面以及棱上长有许多尺寸在200～400nm的纳米片。此外,结果还表明,氢氧化钠和L-赖氨酸的加入量对八面体形状的形成起到了决定性的作用。产物的室温光致发光谱图说明所制备的产物在500～600nm有很强的发光性能。     

Orthorhombic aluminium oxyfluoride,AlOF

Crystals of the title compound were extracted from the bulk of grown SrAlF₅ crystals as unexpected inclusions that were identified as the long sought after aluminium oxyfluoride. The structure of AlOF is built up from tetrahedral and octahedral polyhedra. Each tetrahedron is bisected by a mirror plane, with the Al atom and two vertex anions in the plane. All tetrahedral vertices are positions of competing oxide and fluoride ions and are shared with octahedra. These shared vertices belong to two octahedral edges which join the octahedra to form infinite zigzag chains. The chains are strung along twofold screw axes that run parallel to the unit‐cell b axis. The remaining two octahedral vertices are occupied only by fluoride ions. A small deficiency in the occupation of the octahedral Al position was suggested by the refinement. However, the stoichiometry of the compound is AlOF within experimental uncertainty. The Al—F(O) distances are separated into three groups with average values of 1.652 (3) (tetrahedra), 1.800 (2) (octahedra) and 1.894 (2) Å (octahedra). This structure differs widely from the reported tetragonal phase Al_1−xO_1−3xF_1+3x (x = 0.0886) [Kutoglu (1992). Z. Kristallogr. 199 , 197–201], which consists solely of octahedral structural units.     

双核草酸钼的合成与结构

合成了新化合物(N~2H~6)~0~.~5[(CH~3)~4N]{[MoO(H~2O)C~2O~4]~2(μ^2-O)~2}·H~2O,并运用元素分析、红外和单晶X衍射对其结构进行了表征。测定结果证实该化合物有两个共边连接的钼氧八面体,钼原子都是正五价,且有Mo－Mo键存在,每个钼上有一个螯合配位的草酸根。该化合物属单斜晶系P2~1/c,a=0.6059(1)nm,b=1.6658(3)nm,c=1.8249(4)nm,β=94.02(3)°,V=1.8374(6)nm^3,R~1=0.0337,wR~2=0.0908。     

C_πB~-的激光等离子体产生与质谱分析

随着“足球烃”C_(60)及其他“球碳烃”的发现,以及对它们奇妙的结构与化学行为的不断揭示,碳原子簇的产生与研究已成为当前化学界的一个热门课题.Smalley等最近又将C_(60)中的一个碳原子以硼原子取代,成为Lewis酸,使这方面的研究更加深入。近二年来,我们在自制的装置上对碳原子簇的结构作了较为充分的研究后,又以独特的方式产生了链状构型的C_nB~-,记录了它们的负离子质谱。