Elsa B. Lopes

Gold complexes with dithiothiophene ligands: a metal based on a neutral molecule.

The gold complexes n-Bu4N[Au(alpha-tpdt)2] (5), n-Bu4N[Au(dtpdt)2] (4) and n-Bu4N[Au(tpdt)2] (6) based on new dithiothiophene ligands (alpha-tpdt= 2,3-thiophenedithiolate, dtpdt=2,3-dihydro-5,6-thiophenedithiolate and tpdt = 3,4-thiophenedithiolate) have been prepared and characterised. These gold(III) complexes are diamagnetic, but they can be oxidised with iodine to the paramagnetic compounds [Au(alpha-tpdt)2] (8), [Au(dtpdt)2] (7) and n-Bu4N[[Au(tpdt)2]n-2] (9), which were isolated as fine powders and which exhibit paramagnetic susceptibilities that are almost temperature independent with room temperature values of 2.5 x 10(-4), 2.0 x 10(-4) and 5 x 10(-4) emu x mol(-1), respectively. Interestingly, the neutral complex [Au(alpha-tpdt)2] (8) as a polycrystalline sample displays the properties of a metallic system with a room temperature electrical conductivity of 6 S x cm(-1) and a thermoelectric power of 5.5 microVK(-1); this is the first time that this metallic property has been observed in a molecular system based on a neutral species.

Conducting glasses as new potential thermoelectric materials: the Cu–Ge–Te case

Recent approaches to improve performance of bulk thermoelectric (TE) materials show that they should have complex structures, include inclusions and impurities, possess mass fluctuations, disorder and be based on heavy elements. Glasses can possess these properties. In order to identify glasses with interesting TE potential, attention should be focused on small gap semiconducting or semimetallic glasses. Chalcogenide glasses with Cux+yGe20−xTe80−y (0 ≤ x ≤ 20; 0 ≤ y ≤ 10) compositions were prepared by melt spinning. Their powder X-ray diffraction analyses point to a short-range order analogous to Ge20Te80, with Cu atoms most likely replacing Ge atoms in the GeTe4 structural unit. It also indicates, together with the differential scanning calorimetry results, a reduction in the glass stability with the increase in Cu concentration. The enhancement of Cu content dramatically reduces (five orders of magnitude) the electrical resistivity, while keeping the Seebeck coefficients at large values (∼400 μV K−1). As a consequence, a huge increase in the power factor is observed, up to a maximum value of 60 μW K−2 m−1 for the Cu27.5Ge2.5Te70 glass at T = 300 K. Ge20Te80 has extremely low lattice thermal conductivity values (∼0.1 W K−1 m−1 at 300 K), which points to relatively high values for the figure of merit ZT for this family of glasses, and indicates Cux+yGe20−xTe80−y based glasses as good candidates for obtaining high performance thermoelectric materials.

Order versus disorder in chiral tetrathiafulvalene-oxazoline radical-cation salts: structural and theoretical investigations and physical properties.

Electrocrystallization experiments with the chiral ethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene-methyl-oxazoline (EDT-TTF-OX) donors (R)-, (S)-, and (rac)-1 have provided two series of mixed-valence salts with the PF(6) (-) and [Au(CN)(2)](-) anions. Within each series the cell parameters are the same for the three R, S, and rac compounds, except for the space group, which is centrosymmetric triclinic P

A comprehensive study of the crystallization of Cu–As–Te glasses: microstructure and thermoelectric properties

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Physical characterization of functionalized spider silk: electronic and sensing properties

for the racemic forms and noncentrosymmetric P1 for the enantiopure salts. In the racemic salt [(rac)-1](2)PF(6) the two enantiomers crystallize disordered on the same crystallographic site with a site occupational factor of 0.6:0.4, whereas this type of disorder is not possible in the enantiopure salts. Both s-cis and s-trans conformations, when taking into account the mutual orientation of the TTF and oxazoline moieties, are present in this first series. In sharp contrast, in the series of salts [1](2)[Au(CN)(2)], only the s-trans conformation is observed with no structural disorder. Theoretical calculations at the DFT level of theory revealed a very small energy difference between the two stable planar s-cis and s-trans conformations, which are both energy minima in either neutral or oxidized states. Single-crystal conductivity measurements showed metallic-like behavior for all the salts down to 220-250 K with a smooth increase in resistivity at lower temperatures. The conductivity at room temperature is 5 S cm(-1) for [(rac)-1](2)PF(6), in which disorder was observed, whereas for [(R)-1](2)PF(6) and [(S)-1](2)PF(6) the average value is around 100 S cm(-1). In the second series of salts the conductivity at room temperature is 125-130 S cm(-1) for [(rac)-1](2)[Au(CN)(2)] and [(R)-1](2)[Au(CN)(2)]. Extended Hückel band structure calculations revealed identical features for the three salts of the [1](2)[Au(CN)(2)] series and are consistent with the electronic structures of quasi-one-dimensional conductors.

Charge density wave non-linear transport in the molecular conductor (Perylene)2Au(mnt)2 (mnt=maleonitriledithiolate)

We report a thorough experimental study on the microstructure, thermal behavior and thermoelectric properties of the amorphous composition Cu15As30Te55 and the glass–ceramics related-compounds synthesized by using the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique. Varying the conditions of the SPS process enables the synthesis of composite glassy-crystalline samples with different crystal/glass ratios. Such treatments result in complex microstructures composed of large glassy domains where nanocrystals of the metastable β-As2Te3 phase are embedded. These domains are separated by regions of the dendritic crystalline phase surrounded by a Cu-rich glassy matrix. The presence of β-As2Te3, confirmed by both powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, suggests that pressure and/or internal stresses play an important role in stabilizing this phase. This conclusion is further supported by neutron thermodiffraction experiments revealing a sharp crossover from the β-As2Te3 to the stable α-As2Te3 phase at temperatures below that of the SPS treatment. Transport properties measurements show that the presence of a crystalline fraction significantly lowers the electrical resistivity by four orders of magnitude. However, the probable intrinsic n-type behavior of β-As2Te3 has a detrimental influence on the thermopower values. Even though the partial crystallization of the glassy matrix leads to an increase in the thermal conductivity, the measured values remain on the order of 1 W m−1 K−1 at 300 K. Besides an overall increase in the dimensionless figure of merit ZT, our results demonstrate that the partial crystallization of an amorphous matrix is an efficient tool to tune the electrical resistivity over several orders of magnitude while maintaining low thermal conductivity values.

Electrical transport properties of CuS single crystals

Abstract This work explores functional, fundamental and applied aspects of naturally harvested spider silk fibers. Natural silk is a protein polymer where different amino acids control the physical properties of fibroin bundles, producing, for example, combinations of β-sheet (crystalline) and amorphous (helical) structural regions. This complexity presents opportunities for functional modification to obtain new types of material properties. Electrical conductivity is the starting point of this investigation, where the insulating nature of neat silk under ambient conditions is described first. Modification of the conductivity by humidity, exposure to polar solvents, iodine doping, pyrolization and deposition of a thin metallic film are explored next. The conductivity increases exponentially with relative humidity and/or solvent, whereas only an incremental increase occurs after iodine doping. In contrast, iodine doping, optimal at 70 °C, has a strong effect on the morphology of silk bundles (increasing their size), on the process of pyrolization (suppressing mass loss rates) and on the resulting carbonized fiber structure (that becomes more robust against bending and strain). The effects of iodine doping and other functional parameters (vacuum and thin film coating) motivated an investigation with magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) to monitor doping-induced changes in the amino acid-protein backbone signature. MAS-NMR revealed a moderate effect of iodine on the helical and β-sheet structures, and a lesser effect of gold sputtering. The effects of iodine doping were further probed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, revealing a partial transformation of β-sheet-to-amorphous constituency. A model is proposed, based on the findings from the MAS-NMR and FTIR, which involves iodine-induced changes in the silk fibroin bundle environment that can account for the altered physical properties. Finally, proof-of-concept applications of functionalized spider silk are presented for thermoelectric (Seebeck) effects and incandescence in iodine-doped pyrolized silk fibers, and metallic conductivity and flexibility of micron-sized gold-sputtered silk fibers. In the latter case, we demonstrate the application of gold-sputtered neat spider silk to make four-terminal, flexible, ohmic contacts to organic superconductor samples.

New conducting radical salts based upon Keggin-type polyoxometalates and perylene

We report the observation of a non-linear conductivity in the charge density wave state of the quasi-one-dimensional molecular conductor (Perylene)2Au(mnt)2 (mnt = maleonitriledithiolate). The onset of the non-linearity is accompanied by broad-band and narrow-band noise. We discuss these results in relation with the current models for charge density wave non-linear transport.

Mossbauer spectroscopy study of the "mysterious" magnetic transition in λ − (BET S)2F eCl4

Electrical resistivity, transverse magnetoresistance and thermoelectric power measurements were performed on CuS high quality single crystals in the range 1.2-300 K and under fields of up to 16 T. The zero field resistivity data are well described below 55 K by a quasi-2D model, consistent with a carrier confinement at lower temperatures, before the transition to the superconducting state. The transverse magnetoresistance develops mainly below 30 K and attains values as large as 470% for a 16 T field at 5 K, this behaviour being ascribed to a band effect mechanism, with a possible magnetic field induced DOS change at the Fermi level. The transverse magnetoresistance shows no signs of saturation, following a power law with field Δρ/ρ(0) ∝ H(1.4), suggesting the existence of open orbits for carriers at the Fermi surface. The thermoelectric power shows an unusual temperature dependence, probably as a result of the complex band structure of CuS.

Multistability in a family of DT–TTF organic radical based compounds (DT–TTF)4[M(L)2]3 (M = Au, Cu; L = pds, pdt, bdt)

Three new radical salts, Per6[PMo12O40]·CH2Cl2 (1), Per6[PMo12O40]·CH3CN (2), and Per9(NBu4)4[SiW12O40]2 (3) (Per = perylene), have been synthesised and their electrical and magnetic properties characterised. These three salts are diamagnetic and they behave as semiconductors with room temperature conductivities of 69, 3.6 and 0.85 S cm−1. While salt 2 presents hole-type conduction and 3 exhibits electron-dominated electrical transport properties, salt 1 shows at 150 K an abrupt change in the thermal dependence of the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient suggesting a phase transition.