No Arabic abstract
Among various perovskite proton conducting oxides, Y-doped BaZrO3 perovskite is a promising material for electrochemical hydrogen devices due to the good chemical stability and higher proton conductivity at higher operating temperatures like 500-800 {deg}C. For the practical application of the functional BaZrO3 proton conductor in the electrochemical hydrogen devices, its necessary to understand the isotopic effect of proton conductivity. To understand the isotopic effect of proton conductivity in the barium zirconates, in this study, the proton conductivity in the Ar, (Ar + 4% H2), (Ar + 4% D2), (Ar + H2O), (Ar + D2O), and O2 atmospheres were measured for two different compositions: BaZr0.9Y0.1O2.95 (BZY), and BaZr0.955Y0.03Co0.015O2.97 (BZYC) in the temperature range from 500 {deg}C to 1000 {deg}C. By comparing the obtained results, a significant difference in sinterability, conductivity, and the isotopic effect was observed due to the co-doping of the Co element in the BaZr1-xYxO3-a proton conductor.
Quantum nuclear zero-point motions in solid H$_2$ and D$_2$ under pressure are investigated at 80 K up to 160 GPa by first-principles path-integral molecular dynamics calculations. Molecular orientations are well-defined in phase II of D$_2$, while solid H$_2$ exhibits large and very asymmetric angular quantum fluctuations in this phase, with possible rotation in the (bc) plane, making it difficult to associate a well-identified single classical structure. The mechanism for the transition to phase III is also described. Existing structural data support this microscopic interpretation.
The reported diffusion constants for hydrogen in silicon vary over six orders of magnitude. This spread in measured values is caused by the different concentrations of defects in the silicon that has been studied. Hydrogen diffusion is slowed down as it interacts with impurities. By changing the material properties such as the crystallinity, doping type and impurity concentrations, the diffusivity of hydrogen can be changed by several orders of magnitude. In this study the influence of the hydrogen concentration on the temperature dependence of the diffusion in high energy proton implanted silicon is investigated. We show that the Arrhenius parameters, which describe this temperature dependence decrease with increasing hydrogen concentration. We propose a model where the relevant defects that mediate hydrogen diffusion become saturated with hydrogen at high concentrations. When the defects that provide hydrogen with the lowest energy positions in the lattice are saturated, hydrogen resides at energetically less favorable positions and this increases the diffusion of hydrogen through the crystal. Furthermore, we present a survey of different studies on the diffusion of hydrogen. We observed a correlation of the Arrhenius parameters calculated in those studies, leading to a modification of the Arrhenius equation for the diffusion of hydrogen in silicon.
Liquid metallic hydrogen (LMH) was recently produced under static compression and high temperatures in bench-top experiments. Here, we report a study of the optical reflectance of LMH in the pressure region of 1.4-1.7 Mbar and use the Drude free-electron model to determine its optical conductivity. We find static electrical conductivity of metallic hydrogen to be 11,000-15,000 S/cm. A substantial dissociation fraction is required to best fit the energy dependence of the observed reflectance. LMH at our experimental conditions is largely atomic and degenerate, not primarily molecular. We determine a plasma frequency and the optical conductivity. Properties are used to analyze planetary structure of hydrogen rich planets such as Jupiter.
The transparent semiconductor In$_{2}$O$_{3}$ is a technologically important material. It combines optical transparency in the visible frequency range and sizeable electric conductivity. We present a study of thermal conductivity of In$_{2}$O$_{3}$ crystals and find that around 20 K, it peaks to a value as high as 5,000 WK$^{-1}$m$^{-1}$, comparable to the peak thermal conductivity in silicon and exceeded only by a handful of insulators. The amplitude of the peak drastically decreases in presence of a type of disorder, which does not simply correlate with the density of mobile electrons. Annealing enhances the ceiling of the phonon mean free path. Samples with the highest thermal conductivity are those annealed in the presence of hydrogen. Above 100 K, thermal conductivity becomes sample independent. In this intrinsic regime, dominated by phonon-phonon scattering, the magnitude of thermal diffusivity, $D$ becomes comparable to many other oxides, and its temperature dependence evolves towards $T^{-1}$. The ratio of $D$ to the square of sound velocity yields a scattering time which obeys the expected scaling with the Planckian time.
We present a theoretical proposal for the design of a thermal switch based on the anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of PbTiO3 and of the possibility to rotate the ferroelectric polarization with an external electric field. Our calculations are based on an iterative solution of the phonon Boltzmann Transport Equation and rely on interatomic force constants computed within an efficient second-principles density functional theory scheme. We also characterize the hysteresis cycle of the thermal conductivity in presence of an applied electric field and show that the response time would be limited by speed of the ferroelectric switch itself and thus can operate in the high-frequency regime.