Physical Chemistry Commons^™

A Preliminary Study On Graphene Film-Metal Composites Prepared By Electrodeposition, Shuang-Juan Liu, Hai-Jing Wang, Jing Guo, Peng-Cheng Wang, Hao Zhou, Cai Meng, Han-Jie Guo

Journal of Electrochemistry

Graphene film (GF) has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, but low strength and hardness. In order to obtain good comprehensive mechanical properties to improve the practical value of GF, the concept of preparing GF-metal composite materials was proposed. This work was conducted to preliminarily study the feasibility of using electrodeposition method to prepare GF-metal composites. Two kinds of composites, GF-Cu and GF-Cr, were successfully prepared by using GF as the cathode, and pure Cu and DSA (Dimensionally Stable Anode) as the anodes, respectively, with applying DC power externally. Employing certain electrochemical parameters, the cation in the electrolyte moved towards the …

Preparation And Characterization Of Thermoplastic Polyurethane-Based Polymer Electrolyte, Li Zhou, Lie Wu, Zhao-Ming Xue

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrolyte still has to be improved to satisfy the increasingly rigid demands of lithium ion batteries that have higher energy densities. Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) has two phase structures of soft segments and hard segments, which can guarantee the electrochemical and physical performances of electrolyte for lithium ion battery. It is now creatively applied to the gel polymer electrolyte matrix of lithium ion batteries. In this paper, a novel polymer membrane based on thermoplastic polyurethane/cellulose acetate (TPU/CA) was prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Further, the TPU/CA blending gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) was prepared by absorbing liquid electrolyte. The …

Preparation Of Coo/Rgo@Ni Foam Electrode And Its Electrocatalytic Reduction Of Co2, Qian Guo, Jia-Long Fu, Cheng-Yan Zhang, Chao-Yue Cai, Cheng Wang, Li-Hua Zhou, Rui-Bo Xu, Ming-Yan Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The worldwide extensive release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has caused serious environmental pollution and unprecedented climate change problems. Thus, for the sustainable development of human society, it is very necessary to convert CO₂ to renewable fuels through clean and economical processes. The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is regarded as a promising approach for the recycling of carbon resource and the generation of sustainable fuels. However, the slow kinetics and formation of multiple products in CO₂RR hinder its large-scale application. Hence, great research efforts are made to develop electrocatalysts with high product …

Preparation Of 3d Semi-Interpenetrated Polymer Networks Polymer Electrolyte For Lithium Metal Battery, Yun-Feng Zhang, Jia-Ying Wang, Xiao-Jie Li, Shi-Yu Zhao, Yang He, Shi-Kang Huo, Ya-Ying Wang, Chang Tan

Journal of Electrochemistry

As the next generation high-energy batteries, lithium metal battery has attracted more and more attention due to its highest specific capacity (3860 mA·h·g^-1) and the lowest anode potential (-3.04 V versus the standard hydrogen electrode, SHE). However, the safety problem caused by lithium dendrite growth is one of the biggest challenges for the commercialization of lithium metal batteries. Single ion conducting polymer electrolytes, which deliver high lithium ion transference number, represent one of the important strategies to inhibit lithium dendrite growth. However, the poor compatibility with electrodes and low ionic conductivity largely limit their practical application. In the …

Study On Inhibition Of Lithium Dendrite Growth By Mg(No3)2 Additive In Carbonate Electrolyte, Biao Zhang, Yi Shuai, Yu Wang, Na-Chuan Yang, Kang-Hua Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In the lithium-sulfurized polyacrylonitrile battery system, the formation and growth of lithium dendrites in the negative electrode seriously deteriorate the charge and discharge performance of the battery. If the growth of lithium dendrites pierces the separator and causes thermal runaway, it will also bring serious damage to the battery, causing potential safety risks. In the carbonate electrolyte that is more conducive to stabilizing the positive electrode sulfurized polyacrylonitrile material, the growth of lithium dendrites is particularly serious. In this paper, magnesium nitrate was added to the carbonate electrolyte to investigate the combined effect of nitrate and magnesium ions on the …

A Comparison In Structural Transformation Of Li[NiXCoYMnZ]O2 (X = 0.6, 0.85) Cathode Materials In Lithium-Ion Batteries, Li-Juan Li, Zhen-Dong Zhu, Juan Dai, Rong-Rong Wang, Wen Peng

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, the phase transformation voltage ranges of two layered oxide ternary cathode materials, namely, Li(Ni_0.85Co_0.10Mn_0.05)O₂ (referred to Ni85, presenting high Ni content) and Li(Ni_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2)O₂ (referred to Ni60, presenting common low Ni content), were classified and determined. The structural differences between high Ni and common low Ni ternary materials were studied in order to understand the structure instability of high nickel material during the charging process. At the same time, the differential capacity (dQ·dV^-1) curves of Ni85 and Ni60 positive …

Effect Of Conductive Additives On Electrochemical Performance Of All-Solid-State Li-S Batteries, Dong-Hao Wang, He-Feng Yan, Zheng-Liang Gong

Journal of Electrochemistry

All-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries (ASSLSBs) with inorganic solid electrolytes offer an opportunity to realize both high energy density (lithium metal ~ 3860 mAh·g^-1, sulfur ~ 1675 mAh·g^-1), safety and reliability, via eliminating the polysulfides shuttle effect and flammable liquid electrolyte. However, it still remains a huge challenge for ASSLSBs to achieve high areal active mass loading, high utilization efficiency of the active materials and good cycle stability simultaneously due to the insulating nature of sulfur and Li₂S (conductivities of sulfur and Li₂S are 5×10^-30 S·cm^-1 and 3.6×10^-7 S·cm^{-1 …}

Storage Performance And Mechanism Of Mose2 Nanospheres In Lithium And Magnesium Ion Batteries, Yi Peng, Wei Zhang, Fang-Zhen Zuo, Hao-Ying Lv, Kai-Jun Hong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) is a two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material, attracting wide attention in lithium ion battery (LIB) and exhibiting great potential in next-generation magnesium ion battery (MIB) due to its unique layered structure with fast ion mobility and weak van der Waals interlayer interaction. However, the reported literatures related to MoSe₂ mainly focus on the enhancement of performance in LIB without deep storage mechanisms investigations. Meanwhile,the magnesium storage capacity and mechanisms have not been explored. In this work, MoSe₂ nanospheres were synthesized via wet chemical route and followed by annealing treatment. When used …

Computational Methodologies For The Simulation And Analysis Of Low-Frequency Vibrations In Molecular Crystals, Sara Jean Dampf

Dissertations - ALL

Quantum mechanical models are used to calculate a host of physical phenomena in molecular solids ranging from mechanical elasticity to the energetic stability ordering of polymorphs. However, with the many software packages and methodologies available, it can be difficult to select the most suitable model for the problem at hand without prior knowledge. A promising approach for evaluating the performance of solid-state models is the comparison of the simulations to experimentally measured low-frequency (sub-200 cm-1) vibrational spectra. As this region is dominated by weak intermolecular forces and shallow potential energy surfaces, even slight miscalculations in the solid-state packing arrangements can …

Singlet Fission In Acene Blends, Katharina Broch, Clemens Zeiser, Chad Cruz, Luca Moretti, Margherita Maiuri, Eric Chronister, David Reichman, Roel Tempelaar, Giulio Cerullo, Christopher Bardeen

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Singlet fission (SF), the photophysical process converting an excited singlet exciton into two triplet excitons, is a promising approach to boost solar cell efficiencies. It is controlled by various parameters such as intermolecular interactions, energetics, entropy and vibronic coupling and a controlled modification of these parameters is key to a fundamental understanding. Blends of organic semiconductors present an interesting alternative to established methods of chemical functionalization and their potential for the study of SF pathways will be discussed using acene blends as example. Mixed thin films of SF chromophores and weakly interacting, high-bandgap spacer molecules allow one to study the …

Controllable Co2 Electrocatalytic Reduction Via Ferroelectric Switching On Single Atom Anchored In2se3 Monolayer, Lin Ju, Xin Tan, Xin Mao, Yuantong Gu, Sean Smith, Aijun Du, Zhongfang Chen, Changfeng Chen, Liangzhi Kou

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Efficient and selective CO2 electroreduction into chemical fuels promises to alleviate environmental pollution and energy crisis, but it relies on catalysts with controllable product selectivity and reaction path. Here, by means of first-principles calculations, we identify six ferroelectric catalysts comprising transition-metal atoms anchored on In2Se3 monolayer, whose catalytic performance can be controlled by ferroelectric switching based on adjusted d-band center and occupation of supported metal atoms. The polarization dependent activation allows effective control of the limiting potential of CO2 reduction on TM@In2Se3 (TM = Ni, Pd, Rh, Nb, and Re) as well as the reaction paths and final products on …

Software For The Frontiers Of Quantum Chemistry: An Overview Of Developments In The Q-Chem 5 Package, Evgeny Epifanovsky, Andrew T.B. Gilbert, Xintian Feng, Joonho Lee, Yuezhi Mao, Narbe Mardirossian, Pavel Pokhilko, Alec F. White, Marc P. Coons, Adiran L. Dempwolff, Zhengting Gan, Diptarka Hait, Paul R. Horn, Leif D. Jacobson, Ilya Kaliman, Jorg Kussmann, Adrian W. Lange, Ka Un Lao, Daniel S. Levine, Jie Liu, Simon C. Mckenzie, Adrian F. Morrison, Kaushik D. Nanda, Felix Plasser, Dirk R. Rehn, Marta L. Vidal, Zhi-Qiang You, Ying Zhu, Bushra Alam, Benjamin J. Albrecht, Abdulrahman Aldossary

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

This article summarizes technical advances contained in the fifth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program package, covering developments since 2015. A comprehensive library of exchange–correlation functionals, along with a suite of correlated many-body methods, continues to be a hallmark of the Q-Chem software. The many-body methods include novel variants of both coupled-cluster and configuration-interaction approaches along with methods based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction and variational reduced density-matrix methods. Methods highlighted in Q-Chem 5 include a suite of tools for modeling core-level spectroscopy, methods for describing metastable resonances, methods for computing vibronic spectra, the nuclear–electronic orbital method, and …

From Small Molecules To Infinite Crystals: Probing Noncovalent Interactions Through Vibrational Spectroscopy, Sadisha Nanayakkara

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

During my four years in the CATCO group supervised by Dr. Kraka, I have been exposed to various topics targeted to address a multitude of chemical problems, broadening our knowledge of modern chemistry research as we know it. In undertaking the age-old problem of understanding the nature of chemical bonding, I could modestly contribute with my work, using in-house tools based on vibrational spectroscopy.

First part of my dissertation is focused on inventing new methods and tools to efficiently investigate chemical bonding, followed by the study of some non-covalent interactions, imperative in catalysis and solid-state chemistry. This includes analysis of …

Doping Of Conjugated Polymers: Preparation, Characterization And Device Fabrication, Kan Tang

Dissertations

Semiconducting conjugated polymers (CPs) as emerging materials for advanced electronic applications such as sensors, OPVs, and OEFTs has become an intriguing research topic in the past decades. It opens a new avenue of “flexible” electronics, which has shown great potential in next-generation electronic devices.

However, due to the nature of CP materials and related solution processing techniques, unlike almost perfectly crystalline silicon materials, CPs in the solid-state often exhibit much lower crystallinity if it is not complete amorphous, which severely hinder the electronic property and optical property of the materials. The crystallinity of CPs in a film is often uniquely …

Crystal Structure Of 2-(2,6-Diisopropylphenyl)-N,Ndiethyl- 3,3-Dimethyl-2-Azaspiro[4.5]Decan-1- Amine: A Diethylamine Adduct Of A Cyclic(Alkyl)- (Amino)Carbene (Caac), Roxanne A. Naumann, Joseph W. Ziller, Allegra Liberman-Martin

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The structure of the title compound, C₂₇H₄₆N₂, at 93 K has monoclinic (P2₁/n) symmetry. The title compound was prepared by treatment of 2-(2,6-diiso­propyl­phenyl)-3,3-dimethyl-2-aza­spiro­[4.5]dec-1-en-2-ium hydrogen dichloride with two equivalents of lithium di­ethyl­amide. Characterization of the title compound by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy is presented. Formation of the di­ethyl­amine adduct of the cyclic(alk­yl)(amino)­carbene (CAAC) was unexpected, as deprotonation using lithium diiso­propyl­amide results in free CAAC formation.

Investigations Of Elastin Recoil On Molecular And Macroscopic Levels., Nour Mohammad Jamhawi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Elastin is one of the most hydrophobic proteins, and it is extremely flexible when hydrated. The driving force for recoil is the decrease in entropy of the protein and/or the hydrating solvent. This dissertation is a study of both mechanisms. Following an introduction (Chapter 1), Chapters 2 and 3 investigate the recoil mechanism on the molecular level in the hydrating solvent and in the protein, respectively. Chapter 4 examines macroscopic properties of recoil by thermomechanics. Conclusions are discussed in Chapter 5. Using double quantum NMR, the deuterated water ordering at the elastin surface was studied quantitatively as a function of …

Photophysics Of Substituted [1,4]Benzodioxino[3,2-B]Oxanthrene (Bdo) Chromophores And Their Macromolecules: A Spectroscopy And Density Functional Theory Study., Abdelqader M. Jamhawi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chromophores and macromolecules containing [1,4]benzodioxino[3,2-b]oxanthrene (BDO) has attracted attention since the beginning of this century. Previous studies demonstrated their potential in wide range of applications including gas permeability, hydrogen and energy storage, sensing, and catalysis. Better understanding of the geometrical and electronic structure characteristics of BOD-based chromophores is vital to advance their employment in these applications. This work utilizes spectroscopy techniques coupled with density functional theory methods to provide this required understanding. Substituted BDOs exhibit red-shift of >1 eV in their electronic transitions compared to unsubstituted BDOs. This shift is explained by a molecular orbital reorganization induced by the substituents. …

Computational Investigation Of Nanoparticle Immersion And Selfassembly, Tara Allison Tyler Nitka

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Both neutral and charged nanoparticles with a variety of compositions, shapes, and sizes have beenpreviously prepared. These nanoparticles have been demonstrated to self-assemble into a variety of superlattices and binary superlattices both in bulk solution and at surfaces of solutions, and the structures formed by self-assembly have been shown to depend on nanoparticle chemistry and charge as well as on whether assembly takes place at a surface or in bulk. Furthermore, the prepared isolated and self-assembled nanoparticles have a number of biomedical, nanotechnology, and industrial applications. In this Dissertation, I present my research on three general topics. First, I will …

Quantum Chemical Investigation Of Novel Noncovalent Interactions Utilizing Vibrational Spectroscopy, Seth Francis Yannacone

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical/computational methods have been utilized to investigate a diverse array of questions currently at the forefront of modern chemistry research. The focus of this work is Local Vibrational Mode (LVM) Theory, originally formulated by Konkoli and Cremer, and under continuous development by the CaTcO research group. Derived from LVM theory, local stretching force constants (ka) represent physically meaningful measurements of chem- ical bond strength. Decomposition of normal vibrational modes into LVM contributions, also called characterization of normal modes (CNM), is another powerful manifestation of LVM theory; most notably when applied to the analysis of theoretical/experimental IR/Ra- man spectra. Recent developments …

Pt-Containing Conjugated Polymers And Small Molecules For Bhj Photovoltaic Devices, Yunjeong Kwon

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

The current state of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices involve series of small molecular or polymeric systems that can absorb light from the solar spectrum in concert with another material that acts as an acceptor material. Together these materials serve to generate and split bound excitation species then transport the separate charges to their respected electrode. Several limitations have restricted the widescale use of these materials. Since these devices have their genesis in organic materials the OPV devices inherit short exitonic lifetimes, narrow absorption window and a lack of precise control over the morphology. To overcome these limitations, additional molecular engineering …

Bridging The 12-6-4 Model And The Fluctuating Charge Model, Pengfei Li

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Metal ions play important roles in various biological systems. Molecular dynamics (MD) using classical force field has become a popular research tool to study biological systems at the atomic level. However, meaningful MD simulations require reliable models and parameters. Previously we showed that the 12-6 Lennard-Jones nonbonded model for ions could not reproduce the experimental hydration free energy (HFE) and ion-oxygen distance (IOD) values simultaneously when ion has a charge of +2 or higher. We discussed that this deficiency arises from the overlook of the ion-induced dipole interaction in the 12-6 model, and this term is proportional to 1/r …

Petrology And Geochemistry Of Evolved Achondrites: Planetesimal Mantles And Crusts, Zoltan Vaci

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Melting and differentiation are fundamental to early solar system evolution on planetary bodies that accreted enough material to heat up radioactively or through impacts and breach their solidi. Partially and fully melted material is present in the meteorite record in the form of primitive achondrites and achondrites, which are fragments of planetesimals that underwent heating events in the first few million years of solar system history. Although the vast majority of this material is mafic or ultramafic, new evolved samples, recovered in the last few decades, are pushing the petrologic and geochemical boundaries of planetesimal melting, differentiation, and crust formation. …

Awegnn: Auto-Parametrized Weighted Element-Specific Graph Neural Networks For Molecules., Timothy Szocinski, Duc Duy Nguyen, Guo-Wei Wei

Mathematics Faculty Publications

While automated feature extraction has had tremendous success in many deep learning algorithms for image analysis and natural language processing, it does not work well for data involving complex internal structures, such as molecules. Data representations via advanced mathematics, including algebraic topology, differential geometry, and graph theory, have demonstrated superiority in a variety of biomolecular applications, however, their performance is often dependent on manual parametrization. This work introduces the auto-parametrized weighted element-specific graph neural network, dubbed AweGNN, to overcome the obstacle of this tedious parametrization process while also being a suitable technique for automated feature extraction on these internally complex …

Mechanisms Of Spontaneous Curvature Inversion In Compressed Graphene Ripples For Energy Harvesting Applications Via Molecular Dynamics Simulations, James M. Mangum, Ferdinand Harerimana, Millicent N. Gikunda, Paul M. Thibado

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Electrically conductive, highly flexible graphene membranes hold great promise for harvesting energy from ambient vibrations. For this study, we built numerous three-dimensional graphene ripples, with each featuring a different amount of compression, and performed molecular dynamics simulations at elevated temperatures. These ripples have a convex cosine shape, then spontaneously invert their curvature to concave. The average time between inversion events increases with compression. We use this to determine how the energy barrier height depends on strain. A typical convex-to-concave curvature inversion process begins when the ripple’s maximum shifts sideways from the normal central position toward the fixed outer edge. The …

Ultrafast Adsorbate Excitation Probed With Subpicosecond-Resolution X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Elias Diesen, Hsin-Yi Wang, Simon Schreck, Matthew Weston, Hirohito Ogasawara, Jerry Larue, Fivos Perakis, Martina Dell'angela, Flavio Capotondi, Luca Giannessi, Martin Beye, Filippo Cavalca, Boyang Liu, Jörgen Gladh, Sergey Koroidov, Piter S. Miedema, Roberto Costantini, Tony F. Heinz, Frank Abild-Pedersen, Johannes Voss, Alan C. Luntz, Anders Nilsson

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We use a pump-probe scheme to measure the time evolution of the C K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum from CO/Ru(0001) after excitation by an ultrashort high-intensity optical laser pulse. Because of the short duration of the x-ray probe pulse and precise control of the pulse delay, the excitation-induced dynamics during the first picosecond after the pump can be resolved with unprecedented time resolution. By comparing with density functional theory spectrum calculations, we find high excitation of the internal stretch and frustrated rotation modes occurring within 200 fs of laser excitation, as well as thermalization of the system in the picosecond …

Preparation Of Co1-XS-Mns@Cnts/Cnfs For Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Fang-Yan Liu, Qian Zhang, Yue-Kun Li, Feng Huang, Meng-Ye Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

As an important cathode reaction in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a complex reaction of slow kinetics, which severely limits performances of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Therefore, it is of key importance to find an efficient and stable electrocatalyst to promote ORR. Carbon-based materials, which possess high conductivity, good stability and large specific surface area, are usually used in electrocatalytic ORR. However, pure carbon-based materials exhibit low efficiency. Coupling carbon-based materials with manganese (Mn) and cobalt (Co) transition metals containing 3d orbitals is an effective way to improve electrocatalytic performance. Herein, carbon nanofibers containing …

Research And Application Of Copper Electroplating In Interconnection Of Printed Circuit Board, Chong Wang, Chuan Peng, Jing Xiang, Yuan-Ming Chen, Wei He, Xin-Hong Su, Yu-Yao Luo

Journal of Electrochemistry

Copper electroplating is the key technology for manufacturing of integrated circuit, packaging substrate, printed circuit board, and other electronic interconnection components. However, the electrochemistry and mechanism of deposition growth have not been fully elucidated, and the development of additives and bath maintenance are inseparable from a large number of experiments. This article reviews recent fundamental research and application progress in copper electroplating for printed circuit board industry, and these works are mainly dedicated by the research group of Printed Circuit and Printed Electronics from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. First of all, a brief history of copper …

Structural, Dynamic, Elastic And Electronic Properties Of Anin (A = Li, Na, Mg, Ca): First-Principles Calculations, Xia-Min Huang, Li-Hong Zhang, Shun-Qing Wu, Yong Yang, Zi-Zhong Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Ternary transition metal nitrides ANiN (A = Li, Na, Mg, Ca) are potential electrode materials for rechargeable batteries. The physical properties, such as the thermodynamic stability, the electronic band gap as well as the elastic stability, are important for their battery applications. Here, comparative studies are performed for the structural, dynamic, elastic and electronic properties of ANiN by the first-principles method. The calculations on the cohesive energy versus unit-cell volume and phonon spectra are employed to determine the most stable structures of ANiN. The calculated elastic constants of the most stable structures indicate that the Born-Huang criterion for the elastic …

Ohmic Drop Compensation In Electrochemical Measurement, Jia-Qi Chen, Xu-Xu Ye, Ling-Wen Liao, Zhen Wei, Mian-Le Xu, Yan-Xia Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The solution resistance (R_u) between the working electrode (WE) and the reference electrode (RE) may lead to significant Ohmic drop (iR_u) and deviation of actually applied potential at the WE to the desired ones in electrochemical measurement. In the case of high current or large R_u, iR_u compensation is imperative. Errors associated with insufficient compensation of theiR_u drop may significantly affect the accuracy of data measured by conventional electrochemical methods, which may consequently result in wrong judgment and conclusions. In this article, we discuss important factors which may affect the accuracy of …

Sailing To The Ocean Of Electrochemistry: The First Step Of Experiment, Lian-Huan Han, Quan-Feng He, Dong-Ping Zhan

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemistry is the science on the conversion between chemical energy and electric energy, which is realized by the structure change of the electrified surface and interface, and/or the surface and interfacial charge transfer reactions. Taking the electrochemical energy devices as example, the former is the supercapacitor where the energy storage and release are performed by the structure change of the electric double layer; the latter is the battery where the energy storage and release are performed by the redox reaction of the electrode active materials. When investigating an electrochemical system, we have to pay attentions to two issues: the surface …