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At least 379 records · Page 21

Phonon lifetimes and mode softening in cubic Cs 2 AgBiBr 6

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as noteworthy candidates for photovoltaic applications in recent years. Their high power-conversion efficiency is largely attributed to the structure-function relationship, which is not well understood. In this study, we examine the low-frequency phonons of the double perovskite Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 using neutron inelastic scattering. We find that the acoustic phonon lifetimes decrease from 16 to 3 ps along Γ to X, which is indicative of significant anharmonicity that contributes to the ultralow thermal conductivity. Additionally, we observe a linear temperature dependence of the square of the zone-center soft optical phonon energy, which is consistent with a weakly first-order displacive cubic-tetragonal structural phase transition. These results provide a deeper understanding of the lattice dynamics and phase transitions in MHPs as well as the effects of anharmonicity by comparison with prototypical hybrid organic-inorganic MHPs, (CH 3 NH 3 ) PbX 3 (X = Br, I).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Pulse-shape discrimination and energy quenching of alpha particles in Cs 2 LiLaBr 6 :Ce 3+

Cs 2 LiLaBr 6 :Ce 3+ (CLLB) is an elpasolite scintillator that offers excellent linearity and gamma-ray energy resolution and sensitivity to thermal neutrons with the ability to perform pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) to distinguish gammas and neutrons. Our investigation of CLLB has indicated the presence of intrinsic radioactive alpha background that we have determined to be from actinium contamination of the lanthanum component. We measured the pulse shapes for gamma, thermal neutron, and alpha events and determined that PSD can be performed to separate the alpha background with a moderate figure of merit of 0.98. Here, we also measured the electron-equivalent-energy of the alpha particles in CLLB and simulated the intrinsic alpha background from 227 Ac to determine the quenching factor of the alphas.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Measuring the scintillation decay time for different energy deposited by γ-rays and neutrons in a Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce 3+ detector

In nuclear safeguards and homeland security applications, it is greatly beneficial to simultaneously detect γ-rays, thermal neutrons, and fast neutrons using a single detector with reasonable pulse shape discrimination capability, energy resolution comparable with or even better than NaI(Tl) detectors, and high detection efficiency. Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce 3+ detector (CLYC) scintillation detectors have been proven to be one promising candidate to meet these requirements. In this work, the decay time and fraction of each scintillation component for different energy deposition and incident particle type (γ-ray, thermal neutron, and fast neutron) were investigated based on fitting the PMT anode output with exponential functions. For γ-rays, four components were determined with ultrafast decay time of less than one nanosecond and slow time in the order of magnitude of microsecond. It was found that the dependence on the energy deposited by γ-rays of the fraction as well as the decay time of the three slow components was small. However, significant dependence was observed for the ultrafast component. Two or three components were determined for thermal neutrons and fast neutrons without observing a component with fast decay time. To verify the approach used it was first applied to scintillation pulses induced by γ-rays in a NaI(Tl) detector. We found the results were consistent with well-known data already published in the literature.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Pulse shape discrimination of Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce 3+ detectors at high count rate based on triangular and trapezoidal filters

Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce 3+ (CLYC) detectors have demonstrated the capability to simultaneously detect γ-rays and thermal and fast neutrons with medium energy resolution, reasonable detection efficiency, and substantially high pulse shape discrimination performance. In this work, a disadvantage of CLYC detectors is the long scintillation decay times, which causes pulse pile-up at moderate input count rate. Pulse processing algorithms were developed based on triangular and trapezoidal filters to discriminate between neutrons and γ-rays at high count rate. The algorithms were first tested using low-rate data. They exhibit a pulse-shape discrimination performance comparable to that of the charge comparison method, at low rate. Then, they were evaluated at high count rate. Neutrons and γ-rays were adequately identified with high throughput at rates of up to 375 kcps. The algorithm developed using the triangular filter exhibits discrimination capability marginally higher than that of the trapezoidal filter based algorithm irrespective of low or high rate. The algorithms exhibit low computational complexity and are executable on an FPGA in real-time. Finally, they are also suitable for application to other radiation detectors whose pulses are piled-up at high rate owing to long scintillation decay times.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Ultralow Thermal Conductivity in Cs–Sb–Se Compounds: Lattice Instability versus Lone-Pair Electrons

Lone-pair electrons (LPE) are known to lead to large anharmonicity in materials and thus to low lattice thermal conductivity (k). Materials with LPE typically have lower k than those with similar compositions but without LPE. In this study, we investigate thermal transport properties in Cs-Sb-Se ternary compounds by first principles methods and show that LPE do not necessarily guarantee the lowest k.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗

Local Distortions and Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Transition in Quasi-One-Dimensional Nanowire Compounds AV 3 Q 3 O δ (A = K, Rb, Cs and Q = Se, Te)

Metal cluster compounds have garnered renewed interest in the search for novel superconductors and topological semimetals owing to structural instabilities of metal-cluster geometries and broken symmetries. Here we synthesized needle-like crystals of the V-cluster-based quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) materials AV 3 Q 3 O δ (A = K, Rb, Cs, Q= Se, Te) which can also be viewed as being composed of parallel nanowires. We examine how changes in their average and local structure control their electronic properties. All compounds crystallize in the TIFe 3 Te 3 -type structure (P6 3 /m space group) with infinite (V 3 )Q 3 ) - double-walled columnar chains separated by A + cations. Our single-crystal and synchrotron powder diffraction studies indicate oxygen atoms partially occupy the center site of the V 6 octahedral metal cluster cages in KV 3 Te 3 O 0.33 , RbV 3 Te 3 O 0.32 , and CsV 3 Te 3 O 0.35 , whereas KV 3 Se 3 is structurally oxygen-free. Our synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analyses indicate that the oxygen-free V 6 cluster octahedra in KV 3 Se 3 are highly distorted perpendicular to the chain direction even at room temperature, reducing the symmetry of the average structure from hexagonal P6 3 /m to monoclinic P2 1 /m. Our theoretical calculation supports this P2 1 /m distortion and suggests the structure further distorts to P2 1 or P2 1 /c at lower temperatures. In contrast, the oxygen-centered V-cluster in KV 3 Te 3 O 0.33 exhibits a V-3-triangle-trimerization along the chain direction. This feature is discernible from the local PDF and is consistent with lattice dynamical calculations based on density functional theory. Resistivity measurements indicate that KV 3 Se 3 exhibits metallic behavior, whereas a dramatic metal-semiconductor-metal transition emerges in KV 3 Te 3 O 6.33 , RbV 3 Te 3 O 0.32 , and CsV 3 Te 3 O 0.35 because of oxygen disorder and changes in local structure captured from our electronic structure analyses of the Fermi surface. Our investigation of the AV 3 Q 3 O 6 family demonstrates the importance of understanding local changes in structure driven by electronic instabilities, which can guide the search for new quantum materials in other low-dimensional cluster-compound materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Discovery of Ternary Antimonides A–Al–Sb (A = Rb or Cs) with Desired Structural Motifs Guided by Machine Learning

Specific structural motifs in inorganic solids are often related to their targeted physical properties. For many classes of solids, such as Zintl phases and polar intermetallics, the crystal structures are diverse and not easy to predict. Various antimonides that are potential thermoelectric materials were proposed to be synthesizable on the basis of their estimated formation energies. Their structures were broadly classified as clathrate, channel, layered, or network through a machine learning model trained on existing ternary phases and features based on elemental properties using the sure independence screening and sparsifying operator algorithm. Through experimental validation, three new ternary antimonides were synthesized and confirmed to form layered structures: tetragonal RbAlSb 2 and CsAlSb 2 , which are isopointal but not isotypic to LiBSi 2 ; and monoclinic Rb 2 Al 2 Sb 3 , which adopts the Na 2 Al 2 Sb 3 -type structure. Finally, reinvestigation of the related compound Cs 2 In 2 Sb 3 revealed a low thermal conductivity and p-type semiconducting behavior.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Automated Construction of Potential Energy Surfaces Suitable to Describe van der Waals Complexes with Highly Excited Nascent Molecules: The Rotational Spectra of Ar–CS( v ) and Ar–SiS( v )

Some reactions produce extremely hot nascent products which nevertheless can form sufficiently long-lived van der Waals (vdW) complexes—with atoms or molecules from a bath gas—as to be observed via microwave spectroscopy. Theoretical calculations of such unbound resonance states can be much more challenging than ordinary bound-state calculations depending on the approach employed. One encounters not just the floppy, and perhaps multiwelled potential energy surface (PES) characteristic of vdWs complexes, but in addition, one must contend with excitation of the intramolecular modes and its corresponding influence on the PES. Straightforward computation of the (resonance) rovibrational levels of interest, involves the added complication of the unbound nature of the wave function, often treated with techniques such as introducing a complex absorbing potential. Here, we have demonstrated that a simplified approach of making a series of vibrationally effective PESs for the intermolecular coordinates—one for each reaction product vibrational quantum number of interest—can produce vdW levels for the complex with spectroscopic accuracy. This requires constructing a series of appropriately weighted lower-dimensional PESs for which we use our freely available PES-fitting code AUTOSURF. The applications of this study are the Ar–CS and Ar–SiS complexes, which are isovalent to Ar–CO and Ar–SiO, the latter of which we considered in a previously reported study. Using a series of vibrationally effective PESs, rovibrational levels and predicted microwave transition frequencies for both complexes were computed variationally. A series of shifting rotational transition frequencies were also computed as a function of the diatom vibrational quantum number. The predicted transitions were used to guide and inform an experimental effort to make complementary observations. Comparisons are given for the transitions that are within the range of the spectrometer and were successfully recorded. Calculations of the rovibrational level pattern agree to within 0.2% with experimental measurements.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Vibrational signatures of HNO 3 acidity when complexed with microhydrated alkali metal ions, M + ∙(HNO 3 )(H 2 O) n =5 (M = Li, K, Na, Rb, Cs), at 20 K

The speciation of strong acids like HNO 3 under conditions of restricted hydration is an important factor in the rates of chemical reactions at the air-water interface. Here we explore the trade-offs in play when HNO 3 is attached to alkali ions (Li + -Cs + ) with four water molecules in their primary hydration shells. This is achieved by analyzing the vibrational spectra of the M + ∙(HNO 3 )(H 2 O) 5 clusters cooled to about 20 K in a cryogenic photofragmentation mass spectrometer. The local acidity of the acidic OH group is estimated by the extent of the red shift in its stretching frequency when attached to a single water molecule. Here, the persistence of this local structural motif (HNO 3 -H 2 O) in all of these alkali metal clusters enables us to determine the competition between the effect of the direct complexation of the acid with the cation, which acts to enhance acidity, and the role of the water network in the first hydration shell around the ions, which acts to counter (screen) the intrinsic effect of the ion. Analysis of the vibrational features associated with the acid molecule as well as those of the water network reveal how cooperative interactions in the micro hydration regime conspire to effectively offset the intrinsic enhancement of HNO 3 acidity afforded by attachment to the smaller cations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Temperature Dependence of Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance and the Observation of Metal–Ligand Covalency in Actinide Complexes: 35 Cl in Cs 2 UO 2 Cl 4

We report a study of the temperature dependence of 35 Cl nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) transition energies and spin–lattice relaxation times (T 1 ) for 235 U-depleted dicesium uranyl tetrachloride (Cs 2 UO 2 Cl 4 ) aimed at elucidating electronic interactions between the uranium center and atoms in the equatorial plane of the UO 2 2+ ion. The transition frequency decreases slowly with temperature below 75 K and with a more rapid linear dependence above this temperature. The spin–lattice relaxation time becomes shorter with temperature, and as temperatures increase, the T 1 decrease becomes nearly quadratic. The observed trends are reproduced by a model that assumes phonon-induced fluctuations of the electric field gradient tensor and partial electron delocalization from Cl to U. The fit of the theoretical model to experimental data allows a Debye temperature of 96 K to be estimated. Finally, the generalization of this approach to investigations of covalency in actinide–ligand bonding is examined.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Water Structure and Dynamics in Smectites: X-ray Diffraction and 2 H NMR Spectroscopy of Mg–, Ca–, Sr–, Na–, Cs–, and Pb–Hectorite

Variable-temperature X-ray diffraction and 2 H NMR spectroscopy of the smectite mineral, hectorite, containing interlayer Na + , K + , Cs + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Sr 2+ , and Pb 2+ equilibrated at 43% relative humidity (RH) and mixed with 2 H 2 O to form a paste provide a comprehensive picture of the structural environments and dynamics of interlayer 2 H 2 O and the relationships of these properties to interlayer hydration state, the hydration energy and polarizability of the cation, temperature, and the formation of ice-1h in the interparticle pores. The variation in basal spacing shown by the XRD data correlates well with the 2 H NMR behavior, and the XRD data show for the first time in hectorites that crystallization of interparticle ice-1h causes a decrease in the interlayer spacing, likely due to removal of interlayer 2 H 2 O. Here, the variation of the 2 H NMR behavior of all the samples with decreasing temperature reflects decreasing frequencies of motion for the rotation of the 2 H 2 O molecules around their dipoles, reorientation of the 2 H 2 O molecules, and exchange of the 2 H 2 O molecules between interlayer sites coordinated to and not coordinated to the cations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Topological analysis of void space in phosphate frameworks: Assessing storage properties for the environmentally important guest molecules and ions: CO 2 , H 2 O, UO 2 , PuO 2 , U, Pu, Sr 2+ , Cs + , CH 4 , and H 2

The entrapment of environmentally important materials to enable containment of polluting wastes from industry or energy production, storage of alternative fuels, or water sanitation, is of vital and immediate importance. Many of these materials are small molecules or ions that can be encapsulated via their adsorption into framework structures to create a host-guest complex. This is an ever-growing field of study and, as such, the search for more suitable porous materials for environmental applications is fundamental to progress. However, many industrial areas that require the use of adsorbents are fraught with practical challenges such as high temperatures, rapid gas expansion, radioactivity, or repetitive gas cycling, that the host material must withstand. Inorganic phosphates have a proven history of rigid structures, thermal stability, and are suspected to possess good resistance to radiation over geologic time scales. Furthermore, various experimental studies have established their ability to adsorb small molecules, such as water. In light of this, all known crystal structures of phosphate frameworks with meta- (P 3 O 9 ) or ultra- (P 5 O 14 ) stoichiometries are combined in a data-mining survey together with all theoretically possible structures of Ln a P b O c (where a, b, c are any integer, and Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, or Tm) that are statistically likely to form. Topological patterns within these framework structures are used to assess their suitability for hosting a variety of small guest molecules or ions that are important for environmental applications: CO 2 , H 2 O, UO 2 , PuO 2 , U, Pu, Sr 2+ , Cs + , CH 4 and H 2 . A range of viable phosphate-based host-guest complexes are identified from this data-mining and pattern-based structural analysis. Moreover, distinct topological preferences for hosting such guests are found, and metaphosphate stoichiometries are generally preferred over ultraphosphate configurations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Burning lithium in CS 2 for high-performing compact Li 2 S–graphene nanocapsules for Li–S–batteries

Here, tremendous efforts have been made to design the cathode of Li–S batteries to improve their energy density and cycling life. However, challenges remain in achieving fast electronic and ionic transport while accommodating the significant cathode volumetric change, especially for the cathode with a high practical mass loading. Here we report a cathode architecture, which is constructed by burning lithium foils in a CS 2 vapour. The obtained structure features crystalline Li 2 S nanoparticles wrapped by few-layer graphene (Li 2 S@graphene nanocapsules). Because of the improvement on the volumetric efficiency for accommodating sulfur active species and electrical properties, the cathode design enables promising electrochemical performance. More notably, at a loading of 10 mg Li 2 S cm –2 , the electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1,160 mAh g –1 s, namely, an area capacity of 8.1 mAh cm –2 . Li 2 S@graphene cathode demonstrates a great potential for Li-ion batteries, where the Li 2 S@graphene-cathode//graphite-anode cell displays a high capacity of 730 mAh g –1 s as well as stable cycle performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Nucleation-controlled growth of superior lead-free perovskite Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 single-crystals for high-performance X-ray detection

The organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites have emerged as a series of star materials for solar cells, lasers and detectors. However, the issues raised by the toxic lead element and marginal stability due to the volatile organic components have severely limited their potential applications. In this work, we develop a nucleation-controlled solution method to grow large size high-quality Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 perovskite single crystals (PSCs). Using the technique, we harvest some centimeter-sized single crystals and achieved high device performance. We find that X-ray detectors based on PSCs exhibit high sensitivity of 1652.3 μC Gy air -1 cm -2 and very low detectable dose rate of 130 nGy air s -1 , both desired in medical diagnostics. In addition, its outstanding thermal stability inspires us to develop a high temperature X-ray detector with stable response at up to 100 °C. Furthermore, PSCs exhibit high X-ray imaging capability thanks to its negligible signal drifting and extremely high stability.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Optical and Electronic Anisotropies in Perovskitoid Crystals of Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 Studies of Nuclear Radiation Detection

The halide perovskitoid compound Cs 3 Bi 2 I 9 (CBI) has attracted considerable interest as a semiconductor because of its outstanding stability and reduced toxicity compared with lead-based halide perovskites. Here, we report the growth of nuclear radiation detection grade CBI bulk crystals (Φ 15 × 60 mm 3 ) with a high resistivity of over 10 10 Ω cm using a modified vertical Bridgman method. Because of their layered crystal structures we investigated the anisotropy in the optical and electrical properties using different crystal orientations. The CBI (001) sample exhibits a resistivity of ~10 12 Ω cm compared to ~10 10 Ω cm for the CBI (100) sample. This is due to the anisotropic mobility in the two crystallographic directions. Using 425 nm LED (~200 mW cm –2 ) illumination CBI (001) possesses a superior optical response with a switching ratio of over 40, which is critically higher than that of CBI (100) (<2). Detectors of 2 mm thickness show a capability of detecting 241 Am@5.49 MeV α particles, with good peak discrimination. A full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 32% was obtained under a bias of 560 V. Simultaneously, the electron mobility and mobility lifetime ( μτ ) were calculated to be 6.10 cm 2 V –1 s –1 and 2.03 × 10 –5 cm V –1 , respectively. First-principles density functional theory calculations confirm the crystallographic anisotropy of the carrier effective masses. Additionally, a significant X-ray sensitivity of 111.9 μC Gy –1 cm –2 for a CBI detector was observed, under 80 kVp X-rays at an electrical field of 450 V cm –1 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A high performance UV–visible dual-band photodetector based on an inorganic Cs 2 SnI 6 perovskite/ZnO heterojunction structure

Inorganic metal halide (IMH) perovskites have recently emerged as highly promising optoelectronic materials due to their excellent material properties, including tunable direct bandgap, long carrier diffusion length, high carrier mobility and outstanding environmental stabilities. However, the performance of photodetectors fabricated from IMH perovskites so far is limited as compared to their counterparts based on organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites. In this work, we demonstrate a high performance ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) dual-band photodetector based on a Cs 2 SnI 6 /ZnO heterojunction structure. Therefore, by adjusting the polarity of the applied bias voltage, the photodetector can switch between two operation modes: (1) UV–Vis dual-band detection mode and (2) visible-blind UV detection mode. High detectivity in both the UV (1.39 × 10 12 Jones) and visible (5.88 × 10 11 Jones) regions is achieved. In addition, this photodetector demonstrated a fast response speed with a rise and fall time on the order of milliseconds and a large linear dynamic range of 119 dB. The excellent performance of this photodetector originates from efficient charge separation at the heterojunction interfaces, which will be discussed in detail in terms of the energy band diagrams and carrier dynamics of the device. Our study demonstrates the great application potential of inorganic vacancy-ordered perovskites in high-performance heterojunction photodetectors.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗