The Effect of Interlayer Anion Grafting on Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis: A Comparative Study of Ni- and Co-Based Brucite-Type Layered Hydroxides, Layered Double Hydroxides and Hydroxynitrate Salts.

The urge for carbon-neutral green energy conversion and storage technologies has invoked the resurgence of interest in applying brucite-type materials as low-cost oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts in basic media. Transition metal layered hydroxides belonging to the brucite-type structure family have been shown to display remarkable electrochemical activity. Recent studies on the earth-abundant Fe3+ containing mössbauerite and Fe3+ rich Co-Fe layered oxyhydroxide carbonates have suggested that grafted interlayer anions might play a key role in OER catalysis. To probe the effect of such interlayer anion grafting in brucite-like layered hydroxides, we report here a systematic study on the electrocatalytic performance of three distinct Ni and Co brucite-type layered structures, namely, (i) brucite-type M(OH)2 without any interlayer anions, (ii) LDHs with free interlayer anions, and (iii) hydroxynitrate salts with grafted interlayer anions. The electrochemical results indeed show that grafting has an evident impact on the electronic structure and the observed OER activity. Ni- and Co-hydroxynitrate salts with grafted anions display notably earlier formations of the electrocatalytically active species. Particularly Co-hydroxynitrate salts exhibit lower overpotentials at 10 mA cm-2 (η=0.34 V) and medium current densities of 100 mA cm-2 (η=0.40 V) compared to the corresponding brucite-type hydroxides and LDH materials.

Transformation and crystallization energetics of synthetic and biogenic amorphous calcium carbonate.

Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is a metastable phase often observed during low temperature inorganic synthesis and biomineralization. ACC transforms with aging or heating into a less hydrated form, and with time crystallizes to calcite or aragonite. The energetics of transformation and crystallization of synthetic and biogenic (extracted from California purple sea urchin larval spicules, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) ACC were studied using isothermal acid solution calorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. Transformation and crystallization of ACC can follow an energetically downhill sequence: more metastable hydrated ACC → less metastable hydrated ACC ⇒ anhydrous ACC ∼ biogenic anhydrous ACC ⇒ vaterite → aragonite → calcite. In a given reaction sequence, not all these phases need to occur. The transformations involve a series of ordering, dehydration, and crystallization processes, each lowering the enthalpy (and free energy) of the system, with crystallization of the dehydrated amorphous material lowering the enthalpy the most. ACC is much more metastable with respect to calcite than the crystalline polymorphs vaterite or aragonite. The anhydrous ACC is less metastable than the hydrated, implying that the structural reorganization during dehydration is exothermic and irreversible. Dehydrated synthetic and anhydrous biogenic ACC are similar in enthalpy. The transformation sequence observed in biomineralization could be mainly energetically driven; the first phase deposited is hydrated ACC, which then converts to anhydrous ACC, and finally crystallizes to calcite. The initial formation of ACC may be a first step in the precipitation of calcite under a wide variety of conditions, including geological CO(2) sequestration.

Phase selection and energetics in chiral alkaline Earth tartrates and their racemic and meso analogues: synthetic, structural, computational, and calorimetric studies.

The hydrothermal reactions of calcium, strontium, and barium with l-, meso-, and d,l-tartaric acid were examined from room temperature to 220 degrees C. We report the synthesis of 13 new phases and crystal structures of 11 alkaline earth tartrates, including an unusual I(3)O(0) framework, [Ba(d,l-Tar)] (Tar = C(4)H(4)O(6)(2-)), with 3-D inorganic connectivity. Each alkaline earth exhibits different phase behavior in the reactions with the three forms of tartaric acid. Calcium forms unique l-, meso-, and d,l-tartrate phases which persist to 220 degrees C. Strontium forms three unique phases at lower temperatures, but above 180 degrees C reactions with l- and d,l-tartaric acid yield the meso phase. Likewise, Ba forms three unique low-temperature phases, but above 200 degrees C reactions with l- and meso-tartaric acid yield the d,l phase. Computational and calorimetric studies of the anhydrous calcium phases, [Ca(l-Tar)] and [Ca(meso-Tar)], strontium phases, [Sr(l-Tar)] and [Sr(meso-Tar)], and barium phases, [Ba(l-Tar)] and [Ba(d,l-Tar)], were performed to determine relative phase stabilities and elucidate the role of thermodynamic and kinetic factors in controlling phase behavior. The computational and calorimetric results were in excellent agreement. The [Ca(meso-Tar)] phase was found to be 9.1 kJ/mol more stable than the [Ca(l-Tar)] phase by computation (total electronic energies) and 2.9 +/- 1.6 kJ/mol more stable by calorimetry (enthalpies of solution). The [Sr(meso-Tar)] phase was found to be 13.4 and 8.1 +/- 1.4 kJ/mol more stable than [Sr(l-Tar)] by computation and calorimetry, respectively. Finally, the [Ba(l-Tar)] phase was found to be 6.4 and 7.0 +/- 1.0 kJ/mol more stable than the [Ba(d,l-Tar)] phase. Our results suggest that the calcium and strontium meso phases are the most thermodynamically stable phases in their systems over the temperature range studied. The phase transitions are controlled by relative thermodynamic stabilities but also by a kinetic factor, likely the barrier to isomerization/racemization of the tartaric acid, which is hypothesized to preclude phase transformations at lower temperatures. In the barium system we find the [Ba(l-Tar)] phase to be the most thermodynamically stable phase at low temperatures, while the [Ba(d,l-Tar)] phase becomes the thermodynamic product at high temperatures, due to a larger entropic contribution.

Suppression of the reversible thermal behavior of the layered double hydroxide (LDH) of Mg with Al: stabilization of nanoparticulate oxides.

The layered double hydroxide of Mg with Al decomposes below 600 degrees C with the loss of nearly 48% mass, resulting in the formation of an oxide residue having the rock salt structure and nanoparticulate morphology. However, this product reconstructs back into the parent LDH, owing to its compositional and morphological metastability. The oxide can be kinetically stabilized within an amorphous phosphate network built up through an ex situ reaction with a suitable phosphate source such as (NH4)H2PO4. This oxide transforms into a thermodynamically more stable phase with a spinel structure on soaking in an aqueous medium. The oxide residue has a nanoparticulate morphology as revealed by the Scherrer broadening of the Bragg reflections as well as by electron microscopy. This work shows that the hydroxide reconstruction reaction and spinel formation are competing reactions. Suppression of the former catalyzes spinel formation as the excess free energy of the metastable oxide residue is unlocked to promote the diffusion of Mg2+ ions from octahedral to tetrahedral sites, which is the essential precondition to the formation of a normal spinel. This reaction taking place as it does at ambient temperature and in solution helps in the retention of a nanostructured morphology for the spinel. Another way of stabilizing the oxide is by incorporating the thermally stable borate anion into the LDH. This paves the way for an in situ reaction between the cations of the host LDH and the borate guest. The in situ reaction directly leads to the formation of an oxide with a spinel structure.

Conservation of order, disorder, and "crystallinity" during anion-exchange reactions among layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Zn with Al.

Carbonate and chloride ions mediate an ordered stacking of metal hydroxide slabs to yield ordered layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Zn with Al, by virtue of their ability to occupy crystallographically well-defined interlayer sites. Other anions such as ClO(4)- (T(d)), BrO(3)- (C(3v)), and NO(3)- (coordination symmetry C(2v)) whose symmetry does not match the symmetry of the interlayer sites (D(3h) or O(h)) introduce a significant number of stacking faults, leading to turbostratic disorder. SO(4)(2-) ions (coordination symmetry C(3v)) alter the long-range stacking of the metal hydroxide slabs to nucleate a different polytype. The degree of disorder is also affected by the method of synthesis. Anion-exchange reactions yield a solid with a greater degree of order if the incoming ion is a CO3(2-) or Cl-. Incoming NO(3)- ions yield an interstratified phase, whereas incoming SO(4)(2-) ions generate turbostratic disorder. Conservation or its converse, elimination, of stacking disorders during anion exchange is the net result of several competing factors such as (i) the orientation of the hydroxyl groups in the interlayer region, (ii) the symmetry of the interlayer sites, (iii) the symmetry of the incoming ion, and (iv) the configuration of the anion. These short-range interactions ultimately affect the long-range stacking order or "crystallinity" of the LDH.

Suppression of spinel formation to induce reversible thermal behavior in the layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Co with Al, Fe, Ga, and In.

The layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Co with trivalent cations decompose irreversibly to yield oxides with the spinel structure. Spinel formation is aided by the oxidation of Co(II) to Co(III) in the ambient atmosphere. When the decomposition is carried out under N2, the oxidation of Co(II) is suppressed, and the resulting oxide has the rock salt structure. Thus, the Co-Al-CO(3)(2-)/Cl- LDHs yield oxides of the type Co(1-x)Al(2x/3) square(x/3)O, which are highly metastable, given the large defect concentration. This defect oxide rapidly reverts back to the original hydroxide on soaking in a Na2CO3 solution. Interlayer NO(3)- anions, on the other hand, decompose generating a highly oxidizing atmosphere, whereby the Co-Al-NO(3)- LDH decomposes to form the spinel phase even in a N2 atmosphere. The oxide with the defect rock salt structure formed by the thermal decomposition of the Co-Fe-CO(3)(2-) LDH under N2, on soaking in a Na(2)CO(3) solution, follows a different kinetic pathway and undergoes a solution transformation into the inverse spinel Co(Co,Fe)(2)O(4). Fe3+ has a low octahedral crystal field stabilization energy and therefore prefers the tetrahedral coordination offered by the structure of the inverse spinel rather than the octahedral coordination of the parent LDH. Similar considerations do not hold in the case of Ga- and In-containing LDHs, given the considerable barriers to the diffusion of M3+ (M=Ga, In) from octahedral to tetrahedral sites owing to their large size. Consequently, the In-containing oxide residue reverts back to the parent hydroxide, whereas this reconstruction is partial in the case of the Ga-containing oxide. These studies show that the reversible thermal behavior offers a competing kinetic pathway to spinel formation. Suppression of the latter induces the reversible behavior in an LDH that otherwise decomposes irreversibly to the spinel.

Order and disorder among the layered double hydroxides: combined Rietveld and DIFFaX approach.

A combined approach using the Rietveld technique of structure refinement and DIFFaX simulations of the powder patterns enables us to not only arrive at the complete structure of the layered double hydroxides (LDHs), but also classify and quantify the nature of structural disorder. Hydrolysis of urea dissolved in mixed-metal salt solutions containing a divalent metal (Mg(2+), Co(2+)) with Al(3+) results in the homogeneous precipitation of the corresponding LDH. The products obtained are highly crystalline enabling a complete structure determination including subsequent refinement by the Rietveld method. In contrast, the LDH of Ni(2+) with Al(3+) crystallizes with the incorporation of stacking faults. A combined Rietveld-DIFFaX approach shows that even ;crystalline' samples of this LDH incorporate up to 9% of stacking faults, which are not eliminated even at elevated temperatures (473 K). These studies have implications for the order, disorder and ;crystallinity' of layered phases in general and metal hydroxides in particular.

Thermally induced polytype transformations among the layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Mg and Zn with Al.

The hydrotalcite-like layered double hydroxide (LDH) of Mg with Al shows dramatic changes in the peaks arising from the (h0l)/(0kl) family of reflections in its powder X-ray diffraction pattern during thermal treatment. DIFFaX simulations show that these changes arise due to the transformation of the disordered 3R1 polytype into the 1H polytype on dehydration. The 1H polytype is an essential precursor to the decomposition reaction, which results in the formation of an oxide residue with the rock salt structure. In contrast, the LDH of Zn with Al does not undergo any such transformation, retaining the structure of the 3R1 polytype until decomposition into the oxide residue. Given the poor octahedral site preference of the Zn2+ ion, the 1H polytype is neither structurally stable nor is it topochemically necessary for the thermal decomposition of the Zn-Al LDH, the end product of the decomposition reaction being an oxide with the wurtzite structure.