C. Moysés Araújo

CARBON NANOMATERIALS AS CATALYSTS FOR HYDROGEN UPTAKE AND RELEASE IN NAALH4

A synergistic approach involving experiment and first-principles theory not only shows that carbon nanostructures can be used as catalysts for hydrogen uptake and release in complex metal hydrides such as sodium alanate, NaAlH(4), but also provides an unambiguous understanding of how the catalysts work. Here we show that the stability of NaAlH(4) originates with the charge transfer from Na to the AlH(4) moiety, resulting in an ionic bond between Na(+) and AlH(4)(-) and a covalent bond between Al and H. Interaction of NaAlH(4) with an electronegative substrate such as carbon fullerene or nanotube affects the ability of Na to donate its charge to AlH(4), consequently weakening the Al-H bond and causing hydrogen to desorb at lower temperatures as well as facilitating the absorption of H(2) to reverse the dehydrogenation reaction. In addition, based on our experimental observations and theoretical calculations it appears the curvature of the carbon nanostructure plays a role in the catalytic process. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation further reveals the time evolution of the charge transfer process.

Li-decorated metal-organic framework 5 : A route to achieving a suitable hydrogen storage medium

A significant improvement in molecular hydrogen uptake properties is revealed by our ab initio calculations for Li-decorated metal–organic framework 5. We have found that two Li atoms are strongly adsorbed on the surfaces of the six-carbon rings, one on each side, carrying a charge of +0.9e per Li atom. Each Li can cluster three H2 molecules around itself with a binding energy of 12 kJ (mol H2)−1. Furthermore, we show from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with a hydrogen loading of 18 H2 per formula unit that a hydrogen uptake of 2.9 wt % at 200 K and 2.0 wt % at 300 K is achievable. To our knowledge, this is the highest hydrogen storage capacity reported for metal–organic framework 5 under such thermodynamic conditions.

Room temperature ferromagnetism in pristine MgO thin films

Robust ferromagnetic ordering at, and well above room temperature is observed in pure transparent MgO thin films (<170 nm thick) deposited by three different techniques. Careful study of the wid ...

Role of catalysts in dehydrogenation of MgH2 nanoclusters

A fundamental understanding of the role of catalysts in dehydrogenation of MgH2 nanoclusters is provided by carrying out first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. It is shown that the transition metal atoms Ti, V, Fe, and Ni not only lower desorption energies significantly but also continue to attract at least four hydrogen atoms even when the total hydrogen content of the cluster decreases. In particular, Fe is found to migrate from the surface sites to the interior sites during the dehydrogenation process, releasing more hydrogen as it diffuses. This diffusion mechanism may account for the fact that a small amount of catalysts is sufficient to improve the kinetics of MgH2, which is essential for the use of this material for hydrogen storage in fuel-cell applications.

Electronic and optical properties of lead iodide

The electronic properties and the optical absorption of lead iodide (PbI2) have been investigated experimentally by means of optical absorption and spectroscopic ellipsometry, and theoretically by a full-potential linear muffin-tin-orbital method. PbI2 has been recognized as a very promising detector material with a large technological applicability. Its band-gap energy as a function of temperature has also been measured by optical absorption. The temperature dependence has been fitted by two different relations, and a discussion of these fittings is given.

Role of titanium in hydrogen desorption in crystalline sodium alanate

The role of Ti in improving the thermodynamics of hydrogen desorption in crystalline sodium alanate (NaAlH4) has been investigated by using the density functional theory. The total energy calculations reveal that Ti prefers to occupy the Na site over that of the Al site when the atomic energies are used as the reference. However, the use of the cohesive energies of Al, Na, and Ti leads to the Al site being the least unfavorable one. Irrespective of whether Ti occupies the Na or the Al site, the energy necessary to remove a hydrogen atom from Ti substituted sodium alanate is significantly lowered from that of the pure alanate. The understanding gained here may help in designing hydrogen storage materials suitable for industrial applications.

Unveiling the complex electronic structure of amorphous metal oxides

Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material’s science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today’s integrated circuits. Therefore the investigation of defect states in these structures is crucial. In this work we present X-ray synchrotron measurements, with an energy resolution which is about 5–10 times higher than is attainable with standard spectrometers, of amorphous alumina. We demonstrate that our experimental results are in agreement with calculated spectra of amorphous alumina which we have generated by stochastic quenching. This first principles method, which we have recently developed, is found to be superior to molecular dynamics in simulating the rapid gas to solid transition that takes place as this material is deposited for thin film applications. We detect and analyze in detail states in the band gap that originate from oxygen pairs. Similar states were previously found in amorphous alumina by other spectroscopic methods and were assigned to oxygen vacancies claimed to act mutually as electron and hole traps. The oxygen pairs which we probe in this work act as hole traps only and will influence the information retention in electronic devices. In amorphous silica oxygen pairs have already been found, thus they may be a feature which is characteristic also of other amorphous metal oxides.

A comparative investigation of H2 adsorption strength in Cd- and Zn-based metal organic framework-5

Hydrogen binding energies for the primary and secondary adsorption sites in the Cd- and Zn-based metal organic framework-5 (MOF-5) were studied using density functional theory. Out of the three exchange-correlation functionals employed in our study, we find that the local density approximation yields a qualitatively correct description of the interaction strengths of H(2) in MOF-5 systems. The H(2) adsorption energies for all trapping sites in Zn- and Cd-based MOF-5 are seen to be of the same order of magnitude but with a generally stronger binding in Cd-based MOF-5 as compared to Zn-based MOF-5. In particular, the H(2) binding energy at the secondary adsorption sites in Cd-based MOF-5 is increased by around 25% compared to Zn-based MOF-5. This result suggests that Cd-based MOF-5 would be better suited to store hydrogen at higher temperatures than Zn-based MOF-5.

Optical properties of SiGe alloys

The optical properties of Si1-xGex have been investigated theoretically using a full-potential linear muffin-tin-orbital method. We present the density-of-states as well as the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function. The calculated dielectric function was found to be in good agreement with the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements by J. Bahng , J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 13, 777 (2001), and we obtained a static dielectric constant of epsilon(0)=12.19+2.45x in the Si rich regime (xless than or equal to0.5).

Magnetic and electronic properties of 3d transition-metal-doped In2O3: An ab initio study

The magnetic and electronic properties of the transition metal (TM) (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) doped In2O3 have been theoretically studied by using the density functional theory. When two TM ions are placed close to each other (TM-TM distance of about 3.4 A), the ferromagnetic ordering is found to be the lowest-energy configuration. The only exception is Fe, which possesses a half-filled 3d band. However, for further separation distance of about 7.2 A, only Co, Ni and Cu ions (having more than half-filled 3d band) still prefer the ferromagnetic orientation, while V, Cr, or Mn ions (having less than half-filled 3d band) prefer antiferromagnetic ordering. The energies of the 3d band for TM ions show a decrease with increasing TM atomic number. For V, Cr and Mn, the 3d bands are merged with the conduction band, and show less hybridization with the host valence band; while for Co, Ni and Cu, the 3d bands show strong hybridization with the host valence band mainly formed by the oxygen 2p state. In this situation, polarized holes are formed on the oxygen sites close to the TM ions. Moreover, V-doped In2O3 is found to meet the requirements for a strong donor-mediated ferromagnetism.