XPS valence characterization of lithium salts as a tool to study electrode/electrolyte interfaces of Li-ion batteries

X-ray photoelectron valence spectra of lithium salts LiBF4, LiPF6, LiTFSI, and LiBETI have been recorded and analyzed by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, with good agreement between experimental and calculated spectra. The results of this study are used to characterize electrode/electrolyte interfaces of graphite negative electrodes in Li-ion batteries using organic carbonate electrolytes containing LiTFSI or LiBETI salts. By a combined X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) core peaks/valence analysis, we identify the main constituents of the interface. Differences in the surface layers' composition can be evidenced, depending on whether LiTFSI or LiBETI is used as the lithium salt.     

A new asymmetric Pseudo‐Voigt function for more efficient fitting of XPS lines

Asymmetric peak profiles for the application in spectroscopy can be obtained in a simple way by substituting the usually constant full width at half maximum parameter in Pseudo‐Voigt functions with an energy‐dependent expression, for instance of sigmoidal shape. While this approach has been successfully applied to vibrational spectra, we find that the resulting curves are less suitable for least‐squares fits of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data. However, if one additionally allows a variable displacement of the sigmoidal step relative to the peak, excellent fitting results can be obtained. We demonstrate the applicability of our extended approach on several inherently asymmetric XPS lines, i.e. the C 1s signal of graphite and C₂H₂/Pd(100), the 3d_5/2–3d_3/2 doublet of palladium, and the 4f_7/2–4f_5/2 doublet of platinum. Comparison of the corresponding fit results with the results obtained by the application of more elaborate, theory‐based line profiles (Doniach‐?unji? and Mahan functions) shows that the modified Pseudo‐Voigt function gives practically identical results in terms of peak shape and area, while requiring much less computational effort since no convolution procedures are required for its calculation. Thus, this function is most suitable for application in one of the following situations: (i) the peak shape of a given signal is known but cannot be calculated with ease, and (ii) the theoretical peak shape is not (yet) known, however, one wants to perform a first quantitative screening of the data at issue. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Xps measurement and molecular orbital calculation of valence band electronic structure of sodium cyanate

The electronic structure of the core and the valence band region of sodium cyanate is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The energy levels and the molecular wavefunctions of the NCO^? ion are calculated by the INDO method and the results are used to obtain the photoionization cross sections for the valence levels of the anion. A simulation of the XPS spectra in good agreement with the experimental spectra is obtained.     

X-ray spectral and quantum chemical study of the electronic structure of thiacalix[4]-arenes and their acyclic analogs

An X-ray photoelectron and X-ray emission study of the charge state of thiacalix[4]arenes is performed with a comparison with the data of quantum chemical calculations. Relaxation corrections between the Kohn-Sham orbital energies calculated by the DFT method and experimental parameters of the X-ray emission and photoelectron spectra of the studied compounds are estimated. It is shown that the formation of a cyclic aromatic system in thiacalixarenes results in a decrease in the energy of orbitals involving p-π interactions of the bridging sulfur atoms and aromatic moieties, which determines the features of the X-ray emission spectra of the studied compounds.     

Improved fitting of solution X-ray scattering data to macromolecular structures and structural ensembles by explicit water modeling

A new procedure, AXES, is introduced for fitting small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data to macromolecular structures and ensembles of structures. By using explicit water models to account for the effect of solvent, and by restricting the adjustable fitting parameters to those that dominate experimental uncertainties, including sample/buffer rescaling, detector dark current, and, within a narrow range, hydration layer density, superior fits between experimental high resolution structures and SAXS data are obtained. AXES results are found to be more discriminating than standard Crysol fitting of SAXS data when evaluating poorly or incorrectly modeled protein structures. AXES results for ensembles of structures previously generated for ubiquitin show improved fits over fitting of the individual members of these ensembles, indicating these ensembles capture the dynamic behavior of proteins in solution.     

Electronic Energy Structure of TiCu and Ti2Cu

The electronic energy structure (EES) of the valence band in tetragonal TiCu and Ti₂Cu was studied experimentally and theoretically. The experimental study of valence band EES was carried out by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The calculations were performed in terms of the cluster version of multiple scattering theory in a self-consistent field approximation. The results are compared with X-ray emission spectroscopy data available in the literature. The density of state curves agree well with spectroscopic data. The major contribution to XPS is from the copper d-states. The specifics of chemical bonding in the compounds leading to the observed changes in the shape of the valence band X-ray photoelectron spectra are discussed.     

LaH分子结构和基态势能曲线的量子化学计算

用常规的单参考态HF、B3LYP、MPn、QCISD(T)方法在能量一致相对论有效势近似下计算了LaH分子平衡结构和基态势能曲线,考察了这些方法在计算远离平衡的金属氢合键体系势能时存在的不趋于离解极限的缺陷,提出了从B3LYP的平衡位置附近势能曲线拟合得到适用于整个空间范围的Murrell-Sorbie解析势能函数的计算方法,由此计算的振转常数和已有的实验光谱数据完全吻合.     

Extraction of lifetime distributions from fluorescence decays with application to DNA-base analogues

Several important aspects of fluorescence decay analysis are addressed and tested against new experimental measurements. A simulated-annealing method is described for deconvoluting the instrument response function from a measured fluorescence decay to yield the true decay, which is more convenient for subsequent fitting. The method is shown to perform well against the conventional approach, which is to fit a convoluted fitting function to the experimentally measured decay. The simulated annealing approach is also successfully applied to the determination of an instrument response function using a known true fluorescence decay (for rhodamine 6G). The analysis of true fluorescence decays is considered critically, focusing specifically on how a distribution of decay constants can be incorporated in to a fit. Various fitting functions are applied to the true fluorescence decays of 2-aminopurine in water-dioxane mixtures, in a dinucleotide, and in DNA duplexes. It is shown how a suitable combination of exponential decays and non-exponential decays (based on a Γ distribution of decay constants) can provide fits of equal quality to the conventional multi-exponential fits used in the majority of previous studies, but with fewer fitting parameters. Crucially, the new approach yields decay-constant distributions that are physically more meaningful than those corresponding to the conventional multi-exponential fit. The methods presented here should find wider application, for example to the analysis of transient-current or optical decays and in F?rster resonance energy transfer (FRET).     

Photoelectron spectroscopic studies of the interfacial reaction between glass and commercial adhesive

The valence band and core‐level photoelectron spectroscopy [using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS)] were used to probe the interfacial reaction between glass and a commercial adhesive (Loctite). The interaction was investigated by comparing experimental valence band spectra with spectra calculated for various possible interaction schemes. The valence band spectrum for the interfacial region between the glass and the adhesive was obtained using difference spectra on a thin film of adhesive on glass. This film was sufficiently thin that the adhesion interphase could be directly probed. Chemical interaction occurs at the interface as evidenced by the fact that the spectrum for the interfacial region could not be represented by the addition of the spectrum of the glass alone and the adhesive alone. The XPS valence band spectrum and the UPS spectrum showed that the shallow top surface layer is very much enriched in acrylic acid, which is a minor component in the adhesive. When the Loctite adhesive was coated on glass, the C1s and O1s regions of the adhesion interface region showed evidences of new chemistry at the adhesive–glass interface. The possible reactions were evaluated by comparison of the experimental spectra with calculated ones based on different models using ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The experimental spectra are well represented by models where the acrylic acid of the surface region of the adhesive reacts with the glass, suggesting chemical interaction occurred at the adhesion interphase. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitation of the global secondary structure of globular proteins by FTIR spectroscopy: Comparison with X-ray crystallographic structure

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is potentially a powerful tool for determining the global secondary structure of proteins in solution, providing the spectra are analyzed using a statistically and theoretically justified methodology. We have performed FTIR experiments on 14 globular proteins and two synthetic polypeptides whose X-ray crystal structures are known to exhibit varying types and amounts of secondary structures. Calculation of the component structural elements of the vibrational bands was accomplished using nonlinear regression analysis, by fitting both the amide I and amide II bands of the Fourier self-deconvoluted spectra, the second-derivative spectra, and the original spectra. The methodology was theoretically justified by comparing (via nonlinear regression analysis) the global secondary structure determined after deconvolving into component bands the vibrational amide I envelopes with the calculated structure determined by first principles from Ramachandran analysis of the X-ray crystallographic structure of 14 proteins from the Brookhaven protein data bank. Justification of the nonlinear regression analysis model with respect to experimental and instrumental considerations was achieved by the decomposition of all the bands of benzene and an aqueous solution of ammonium acetate into component bands while floating the Gaussian/Lorentzian character of the line shapes. The results for benzene yield all pure Lorentzian line shapes with no Gaussian character while the ammonium acetate spectra yielded all Gaussian line shapes with no Lorentzian character. In addition, all-protein spectra yielded pure Gaussian line shapes with no Lorentzian character. Finally, the model was statistically justified by recognizing random deviation patterns in the regression analysis from all fits and by the extra sum of squares F-test which uses the degrees of freedom and the root mean square values as a tool to determine the optimum number of component bands required for the nonlinear regression analysis. Results from this study demonstrate that the globular secondary structure calculated from the amide I envelope for these 14 proteins from FTIR is in excellent agreement with the values calculated from the X-ray crystallographic data using three-dimensional Ramachandran analysis, providing that the proper contribution from GLN and ASN side chains to the 1667 and 1650 cm(-1) component bands has been taken into account. The standard deviation of the regression analysis for the per cent helix, extended, turn and irregular conformations was found to be 3.49%, 2.07%, 3.59% and 3.20%, respectively.     

Continuous Flow Reactor for Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol by Hydrogen Peroxide

The direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol catalyzed by activated carbon-supported Fe (Fe/AC) in acetonitrile using H₂O₂ as the oxidant was studied in a continuous flow reactor. Results showed that the continuous operation could obtain high phenol yield of 28.1%, coupled with the turnover frequency of 3 h^-1, and high selectivity of 98% under mild condition. The catalyst was characterized by N₂ adsorption/desorption, Boehm titration, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was observed that iron may interact with the carboxyl group forming iron-carboxylate like species, which act as the active phase. The apparent activation energy obtained by fitting an Arrhenius model to the experimental data was 13.4 kJ/mol. The reaction order was calculated to be about 1, 0.2 for benzene and 0.7 for H₂O₂.     

A theoretical study of the XP and NEXAFS spectra of alanine: gas phase molecule, crystal, and adsorbate at the ZnO(10 ̅10) surface

The adsorption of alanine on the mixed-terminated ZnO(10 ?10) surface is studied by means of quantum-chemical ab initio calculations. Using a finite cluster model and the adsorption geometry as obtained both by periodic CPMD and embedded cluster calculations, the C1s, N1s and O1s X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra are calculated for single alanine molecules on ZnO(10 ?10). These spectra are compared with the spectra calculated for alanine in the gas phase and in its crystalline form and with experimental XPS and NEXAFS data for the isolated alanine molecule and for alanine adsorbed on ZnO(10 ?10) at multilayer and monolayer coverage. The excellent agreement between the experimental and calculated XP and NEXAFS spectra confirms the calculated adsorption geometry: A single alanine molecule is bound to ZnO(10 ?10) in a dissociated bidentate form with the two O atoms of the acid group bound to two Zn atoms of the surface and the proton transferred to one O atom of the surface. Other possible structures, such as adsorption of alanine in one of its neutral or zwitterionic forms in which the proton of the -COOH group remains at this group or is transferred to the amino group, can be excluded since they would give rise to quite different XP spectra. In the multilayer coverage regime, on the other hand, alanine is in its crystalline form as is also shown by the analysis of the XP spectra.     

Quantitative XPS of plutonium: Evaluation of the Pu4f peak shape,relative sensitivity factors and estimated detection limits

High-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectra have been acquired from sputter cleaned and in situ oxidized samples of α-plutonium and a face-centred cubic δ-plutonium–gallium alloy. The differences in the Pu4f peak shape in these two materials have been investigated, and the poorly screened satellite peaks have been quantified. Curve fitting parameters for the Pu4p_3/2, Pu4d_5/2, Pu4f and Pu6p_3/2 photoelectron peaks are reported, and relative sensitivity factors have been determined. The Pu4f curve fit model has been applied to data acquired using different spectrometers and alloys. Examples of quantification of the plutonium spectra are provided and minimum detection limits are calculated for common impurities in plutonium metal.     

HeI photoelectron spectroscopic (PES) studies of the electronic structure in ω-heterocycle a-cyano polyenic ethyl ester compounds

HeI photoelectron spectra of w-heterocycle a-cyano polyenic ethyl ester compounds (1-6) have been given in this paper. Assignment of the spectra is also done with the aid of HeI photoelectron spectroscopic (PES) results of smaller molecules which have similar atomic group to the molecules studied, and the aid of MNDO molecules orbital calculations. The lowest PES experimental ionization potentials (IPs in eV) of different molecules reduce gradually with the increasing number of ethylenic group. The -CO2C2H5 group can be only considered as a substituent.     

Efficient simultaneous reverse Monte Carlo modeling of pair-distribution functions and extended x-ray-absorption fine structure spectra of crystalline disordered materials

An efficient implementation of simultaneous reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling of pair distribution function (PDF) and EXAFS spectra is reported. This implementation is an extension of the technique established by Krayzman et al. [J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 867 (2009)] in the sense that it enables simultaneous real-space fitting of x-ray PDF with accurate treatment of Q-dependence of the scattering cross-sections and EXAFS with multiple photoelectron scattering included. The extension also allows for atom swaps during EXAFS fits thereby enabling modeling the effects of chemical disorder, such as migrating atoms and vacancies. Significant acceleration of EXAFS computation is achieved via discretization of effective path lengths and subsequent reduction of operation counts. The validity and accuracy of the approach is illustrated on small atomic clusters and on 5500-9000 atom models of bcc-Fe and α-Fe(2)O(3). The accuracy gains of combined simultaneous EXAFS and PDF fits are pointed out against PDF-only and EXAFS-only RMC fits. Our modeling approach may be widely used in PDF and EXAFS based investigations of disordered materials.     

Characterization of calcium carbonate polymorphs with Ca K edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

Ca K edge X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was utilized for the characterization and quantification of calcium carbonate polymorphs and their mixtures. The advantage of the XAFS is the small sample quantity required for measurements, and a flexible sample environment. The near-edge XAFS spectra of calcite, aragonite and vaterite were measured with the conversion electron yield (CEY) method, and the obtained spectra showed characteristic features that can be utilized as fingerprints. The quantification of mixed polymorphs was examined by using a linear combination fitting of reference XAFS spectra. Though the quality of the fits was satisfactory, discrepancies in the evaluated values were observed between those with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XAFS. The nonuniformity of samples may be enhanced by the surface sensitivity of the CEY method.     

Theoretical study of highly vibrational states of nonlinear triatomic molecules using Lie algebraic approach

The vibrational excitations of bent triatomic molecules are studied by using Lie algebra. The RMS error of fitting 30 spectroscopic data is 1.66 cm-1 for SO2. The results show that the expansion of a molecular algebraic Hamiltonian can well describe the experimental data. And the total vibrational levels can be calculated using this Hamiltonian. At the same time, the potential energy surface can also be obtained with the algebraic Hamiltonian.