In-situ control of different oxygen fugacity experimental study on the electrical conductivity of lherzolite at high temperature and high pressure

At pressure 1.0-4.0 GPa and temperature 1073-1423 K and under the control of oxygen fugacity (Mo+MoO₂, Fe+FeO and Ni+NiO), a YJ-3000t multi-anvil solid high-temperature and high-pressure apparatus and Solartron-1260 impedance/Gain-Phase analyzer were employed to analyze the electrical conductivity of lherzolite. The experimental results showed that: (1) within the range of the selected frequencies (10³-10⁶ Hz), either as viewed from the relationship between the real or imaginary part of complex impedance and the frequency, or from the relationship between modulus, phase angle and frequency, it can be seen clearly that the complex impedance has a strong dependence on frequency; (2) with the rise of temperature (T), the electrical conductivity (σ) increased, and Lg σ and 1/T follows the Arrhenius relationship; (3) with the rise of pressure, the electrical conductivity decreased, and activation enthalpy and temperature-independent pre-exponential factor decreased as well. And the activation energy and activation bulk volume of the main charge carrier in the lherzolite have been obtained for the first time, which are 1.68±0.02 eV and 0.04±0.01 cm³/mol, respectively; (4) under the given pressure and temperature, the electrical conductivity tends to increase with increasing oxygen fugacity, and under the given pressure, the activation enthalpy and pre-exponential factor tend to decrease with the rise of oxygen fugacity; (5) at 2.0 GPa and the control of the three solid buffers, Mo+MoO₂, Fe+FeO and Ni+NiO, the exponential factors of electrical conductivity variation range with oxygen fugacity are , and the theoretical model for the relationship between the electrical conductivity of lherzolite and the oxygen fugacity under high pressure has been established for the first time; (6) the electrical conduction mechanism of small polarons provides a reasonable explanation to the variation of conductivity of lherzolite with oxygen fugacity.     

Cationic starch as a precursor to prepare porous activated carbon for application in supercapacitor electrodes

Three activated carbons (ACs) for the electrodes of supercapacitor were prepared from cationic starch using KOH, ZnCl₂ and ZnCl₂/CO₂ activation. The BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution of the ACs were evaluated using density functional theory method, based on N₂ adsorption isotherms at 77 K. The surface morphology was characterized with SEM. Their electrochemical performance in prototype capacitors was determined by galvanostatic charge/discharge characteristics and cyclic voltammetry, and compared with that of a commercial AC, which was especially prepared for use in supercapacitors. The KOH-activated starch AC presented higher BET surface area (3332 m² g⁻¹) and larger pore volume (1.585 cm³ g⁻¹) than those of the others, and had a different surface morphology. When used for the electrodes of supercapacitors, it exhibited excellent capacitance characteristics in 30 wt% KOH aqueous electrolytes and showed a high specific capacitance of 238 F g⁻¹ at 370 mA g⁻¹, which was nearly twice that of the commercial AC.     

Photoluminescence of ZnO nanowires dependent on O2 and Ar annealing

High-purity ZnO nanowires have been synthesized on Si substrates without the presence of a catalyst at 600 °C by a simple thermal vapor technique. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the annealed samples at 900 °C under oxygen and argon gases have been investigated. After O₂ or Ar annealing, the PL visible-emission intensity that is related to intrinsic defects (oxygen vacancies) is greatly reduced compared with as-grown ZnO nanowires because the oxygen-gas ions or oxygen interstitials diffuse into the oxygen vacancies during annealing process. The blue-band peak of the O₂- or Ar-annealed ZnO naonowires is also smaller than the green-band peak in the visible broadband because of the reduction of oxygen vacancies. Therefore, the main intrinsic defects (oxygen vacancies) of as-grown ZnO nanowires can be reduced by O₂ or Ar annealing, which is an important procedure for the development of advanced optoelectronic ZnO nanowire devices.     

Organic radical molecular solids based on [(TCNQ)n] (n=1 or 2): Syntheses, crystal structures, magnetic properties and DFT analyses

Four molecular solids consisting of the 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) radical and benzylpyridinium or benzylquinolinium derivatives with molar ratios of 1:1 (1-3) and 2:1 (4) have been prepared and characterized. In the crystals of 1 and 3, TCNQ⁻ monoanions and the corresponding cations form segregated stacks, which are regular in 1 but irregular in 3. Instead of segregated stacks, TCNQ⁻ monoanions in 2 form isolated π-dimers. In the crystals of 4, two crystallographic independent TCNQ species possess almost equal fractional negative charge (ca. −0.5). Two types of TCNQ species form a tetrad, these tetrads make a TCNQ stack with the pattern …BAAB…BAAB… along the crystallographic a-b direction. The magnetisms for 1-4 can be simply explained by the formation of singlet spin state. A broken symmetry approach in a density functional theory framework at the ub3lyp/6-31 g level was used to calculate the magnetic exchange constants in 1-4. The results qualitatively demonstrate the observed magnetic properties.     

Heat treatment effects on dielectric and physico-chemical properties of an epoxy polymer

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, dielectric spectroscopy (DS), and thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) have been used to study heat treatment effects on an epoxy-based polymer. Variations in physico-chemical and dielectric properties were examined for annealing temperatures between 55 and 170 °C. IR results have shown that heating causes both chain scission and thermal oxidation of the polymer, increasing thus the amount of trapped charges. The complex dielectric permittivity and the dielectric modulus have been analyzed, by means of DS, to highlight and separate charge relaxation phenomena from conduction contributions. Results indicate structural rearrangements, leading to a decrease of dipolar relaxation frequency (from 16 to 13.5 kHz) and an increase of the relaxation strength (around 20%). TSDC measurements have shown a current peak shift towards higher temperatures, and a significant intensity decrease, which is proportional to the quantity of released charges.     

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of band tails and anomalous kinetics of underdoped cuprates

The electron-phonon interaction in cuprates with c-axis polarised optical phonons, which is roughly one order of magnitude stronger than superexchange, bounds holes into mobile bipolarons. Bipolarons pin the chemical potential within the charge-transfer gap of doped Mott insulators, accounting for unusual kinetics and thermodynamics of doped cuprates such as the Nernst and giant proximity effects, pseudo-gaps, and normal-state diamagnetism. We propose that “quasi-particle” peaks, “Fermi-arcs”, and high-energy “waterfalls” in the photoemission spectra of cuprates originate from the photo-ionization matrix elements of disorder-localised band-tails in the charge-transfer gap.     

Charge dynamics and optical properties of layered cobaltates

We study the charge dynamics and electronic structure by optical spectroscopy technique. Here we focus on the following four issues: (1) the evolution of optical spectra with Na content; (2) the spectral features specific to different regions in the phase diagram; (3) the c-axis optical response for crystal at the A-type antiferromagnetic region; (4) the optical response of misfit-layered Bi₂M₂Co₂O_y (M=Ba, Sr, Ca) and Ca₃Co₄O_y single crystals.     

Preparation of alkaline solid polymer electrolyte based on PVA-TiO2-KOH-H2O and its performance in Zn-Ni battery

A novel composite alkaline polymer electrolyte based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer matrix, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) ceramic fillers, KOH, and H₂O was prepared by a solution casting method. The properties of PVA-TiO₂-KOH alkaline polymer electrolyte films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and AC impedance techniques. DSC and XRD results showed that the domain of amorphous region in the PVA polymer matrix augmented when TiO₂ filler was added. The SEM result showed that TiO₂ particles dispersed into the PVA matrix although some TiO₂ aggregates of several micrometers were formed. The alkaline polymer electrolyte showed excellent electrochemical properties. The room temperature (20 °C) ionic conductivity values of typical samples were between 0.102 and 0.171 S cm⁻¹. The Zn-Ni secondary battery with the alkaline polymer electrolyte PVA-TiO₂-KOH had excellent electrochemical property at the low charge-discharge rate.     

Up-conversion white light of Tm/Er/Yb tri-doped CaF2 phosphors

Tm³⁺/Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ tri-doped CaF₂ phosphors were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The phosphors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and up-conversion (UC) emission spectra. After annealing, the phosphors emitted white light under a 980 nm continuous wave diode laser (CW LD 2 W) excitation. As the excitation power density changed in the range of 20-260 W/cm², the chromaticity coordinates of the UC light of the phosphor Ca_0.885Tm_0.005Er_0.01Yb_0.1F₂ fell well in the white region of the 1931 CIE diagram. For the proportion of red, green and blue (RGB) in white light is strict, key factors for achieving UC white light, such as host materials, rare earth ions doping concentrations, annealing temperatures, as well as the excitation power densities, were investigated and discussed.     

Depth-controlled reconstruction of 3D integral image using synthesized intermediate sub-images

In this paper, we propose a method that controls the depth of the three-dimensional (3D) object existing over the depth-of-focus in integral imaging. The depth control method is performed only in a computer by synthesizing the intermediate sub-images between original sub-images obtained by transforming the captured elemental images. In the reconstruction process, we can obtain reconstructed 3D images with the better image quality within depth-of-focus than that reconstructed over the depth-of-focus. To demonstrate the feasibility of our method, optical and computational experiments are carried out and its results are presented.