No Arabic abstract
The advent of nanotechnology has hurtled the discovery and development of nanostructured materials with stellar chemical and physical functionalities in a bid to address issues in energy, environment, telecommunications and healthcare. In this quest, a class of two-dimensional layered materials consisting of alkali or coinage metal atoms sandwiched between slabs exclusively made of transition metal and chalcogen (or pnictogen) atoms arranged in a honeycomb fashion have emerged as materials exhibiting fascinatingly rich crystal chemistry, high-voltage electrochemistry, fast cation diffusion besides playing host to varied exotic electromagnetic and topological phenomena. Currently, with a niche application in energy storage as high-voltage materials, this class of honeycomb layered oxides serves as ideal pedagogical exemplars of the innumerable capabilities of nanomaterials drawing immense interest in multiple fields ranging from materials science, solid-state chemistry, electrochemistry and condensed matter physics. In this review, we delineate the relevant chemistry and physics of honeycomb layered oxides, and discuss their functionalities for tunable electrochemistry, superfast ionic conduction, electromagnetism and topology. Moreover, we elucidate the unexplored albeit vastly promising crystal chemistry space whilst outlining effective ways to identify regions within this compositional space, particularly where interesting electromagnetic and topological properties could be lurking within the aforementioned alkali and coinage-metal honeycomb layered oxide structures. We conclude by pointing towards possible future research directions, particularly the prospective realisation of Kitaev-Heisenberg-Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions with single crystals and Floquet theory in closely-related honeycomb layered oxide materials.
The current energy transition imposes a rapid implementation of energy storage systems with high energy density and eminent regeneration and cycling efficiency. Metal hydrides are potential candidates for generalized energy storage, when coupled with fuel cell units and/or batteries. An overview of ongoing research is reported and discussed in this review work on the light of application as hydrogen and heat storage matrices, as well as thin films for hydrogen optical sensors. These include a selection of single-metal hydrides, Ti-V(Fe) based intermetallics, multi-principal element alloys (high-entropy alloys), and a series of novel synthetically accessible metal borohydrides. Metal hydride materials can be as well of important usefulness for MH-based electrodes with high capacity (e.g. MgH2 ~ 2000 mAh g-1) and solid-state electrolytes displaying high ionic conductivity suitable, respectively, for Li-ion and Li/Mg battery technologies. To boost further research and development directions some characterization techniques dedicated to the study of M-H interactions, their equilibrium reactions, and additional quantification of hydrogen concentration in thin film and bulk hydrides are presented at the end of this manuscript.
In the field of atomically thin 2D materials, oxides are relatively unexplored in spite of the large number of layered oxide structures amenable to exfoliation. There is an increasing interest in ultra-thin film oxide nanostructures from applied points of view. In this perspective paper, recent progress in understanding the fundamental properties of 2D oxides is discussed. Two families of 2D oxides are considered: (1) van der Waals bonded layered materials in which the transition metal is in its highest valence state (represented by V$_2$O$_5$ and MoO$_3$) and (2) layered materials with ionic bonding between positive alkali cation layers and negatively charged transition metal oxide layers (LiCoO$_2$). The chemical exfoliation process and its combinaton with mechanical exfoliation are presented for the latter. Structural phase stability of the resulting nanoflakes, the role of cation size and the importance of defects in oxides are discussed. Effects of two-dimensionality on phonons, electronic band structures and electronic screening are placed in the context of what is known on other 2D materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides. Electronic structure is discussed at the level of many-body-perturbation theory using the quasiparticle self-consistent $GW$ method, the accuracy of which is critically evaluated including effects of electron-hole interactions on screening and electron-phonon coupling. The predicted occurence of a two-dimensional electron gas on Li covered surfaces of LiCoO$_2$ and its relation to topological aspects of the band structure and bonding is presented as an example of the essential role of the surface in ultrathin materials. Finally, some case studies of the electronic transport and the use of these oxides in nanoscale field effect transistors are presented.
In the present study, the structural, electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of two isostructural chalcogenide materials, NaInS2 and NaInSe2 with hexagonal symmetry (R-3m) have been studied using the first principles method. A very good agreement has been found between our results with the available experimental and theoretical ones. The studied materials are semiconducting in nature as confirmed from the electronic band structure and optical properties.The strong hybridizations among s orbitals of Na, In and Se atoms push the bottom of the conduction band downward resulting in a narrower band gap of NaInSe2 compared to that of NaInS2 compound. Different optical (dielectric function, photoconductivity, absorption coefficient, reflectivity, refractive index and loss function) and thermoelectric (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, power factor and thermal conductivity) properties of NaInX2 (X = S, Se) have been studied in detail for the first time. It is found that all these properties are significantly anisotropic due to the strongly layered structure of NaInX2 (X = S, Se). Strong optical absorption with sharp peaks is found in the far visible to mid ultraviolet (UV) regions while the reflectivity is low in the UV region for both the compounds. Such features indicate feasibility of applications in optoelectronic sector.The calculated thermoelectric power factors at 1000 K for NaInS2 and NaInSe2 along a-axis are found to be 151.5 micro Watt /cmK2 and 154 micro Watt/cmK2, respectively and the corresponding ZT values are ~0.70. The obtained thermal conductivity along a-axis for both compounds is high (~22 W/mK).This suggests that the reduction of such high thermal conductivity is important to achieve higher ZT values of the NaInX2(X = S, Se) compounds.
We have performed a systematic study of the electronic structures of BiMeO3 (Me = Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) series by soft X-ray emission (XES) and absorption (XAS) spectroscopy. The band gap values were estimated for all compounds in the series. For BiFeO3 a band gap of ~0.9 eV was obtained from the alignment of the O Ka XES and O 1s XAS. The O 1s XAS spectrum of BiNiO3 indicates that the formation of holes is due to a Ni2+ valency rather than a Ni3+ valency. We have found that the O Ka XES and O 1s XAS of BiMeO3 probing partially occupied and vacant O 2p states, respectively, are in agreement with the O 2p densities of states obtained from spin-polarized band structure calculations. The O Ka XES spectra show the same degree of Bi 6s--O 2p hybridization for all compounds in the series. We argue herein that the stereochemical activity of Bi 6s lone pairs must be supplemented with inversion symmetry breaking to allow electric polarization. For BiMnO3 and BiFeO3, two cases of multiferroic materials in this series, the former breaks the inversion symmetry due to the antiferromagnetic order induced by particular orbital ordering in the highly distorted perovskite structure and the latter has rhombohedral crystal structure without inversion symmetry.
Manipulation of octahedral distortion at atomic length scale is an effective means to tune the physical ground states of functional oxides. Previous work demonstrates that epitaxial strain and film thickness are variable parameters to modify the octahedral rotation and tilt. However, selective control of bonding geometry by structural propagation from adjacent layers is rarely studied. Here we propose a new route to tune the ferromagnetic response in SrRuO3 (SRO) ultrathin layers by oxygen coordination of adjacent SrCuO2 (SCO) layers. The infinite-layered CuO2 in SCO exhibits a structural transformation from planar-type to chain-type as reducing film thickness. These two orientations dramatically modify the polyhedral connectivity at the interface, thus altering the octahedral distortion of SRO. The local structural variation changes the spin state of Ru and hybridization strength between Ru 4d and O 2p orbitals, leading to a significant change in the magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall resistivity of SRO layers. These findings could launch further investigations into adaptive control of magnetoelectric properties in quantum oxide heterostructures using oxygen coordination.