Sol-Gel Synthesis of Ceria-Zirconia-Based High-Entropy Oxides as High-Promotion Catalysts for the Synthesis of 1,2-Diketones from Aldehyde.

Efficient Lewis-acid-catalyzed direct conversion of aldehydes to 1,2-diketones in the liquid phase was enabled by using newly designed and developed ceria-zirconia-based high-entropy oxides (HEOs) as the actual catalysts. The synergistic effect of various cations incorporated in the same oxide structure (framework) was partially responsible for the efficiency of multicationic materials compared to the corresponding single-cation oxide forms. Furthermore, a clear, linear relationship between the Lewis acidity and the catalytic activity of the HEOs was observed. Due to the developed strategy, exclusively diketone-selective, recyclable, versatile heterogeneous catalytic transformation of aldehydes can be realized under mild reaction conditions.

Nanocrystalline Antiferromagnetic High-κ Dielectric Sr2NiMO6 (M = Te, W) with Double Perovskite Structure Type.

Double perovskites have been extensively studied in materials chemistry due to their excellent properties and novel features attributed to the coexistence of ferro/ferri/antiferro-magnetic ground state and semiconductor band gap within the same material. Double perovskites with Sr2NiMO6 (M = Te, W) structure type have been synthesized using simple, non-toxic and costless aqueous citrate sol-gel route. The reaction yielded phase-pure nanocrystalline powders of two compounds: Sr2NiWO6 (SNWO) and Sr2NiTeO6 (SNTO). According to the Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction data at room temperature, Sr2NiWO6 is tetragonal (I4/m) and Sr2NiTeO6 is monoclinic (C12/m1), with average crystallite sizes of 49 and 77 nm, respectively. Structural studies have been additionally performed by Raman spectroscopy revealing optical phonons typical for vibrations of Te6+/W6+O6 octahedra. Both SNTO and SNWO possess high values of dielectric constants (341 and 308, respectively) with low dielectric loss (0.06 for SNWO) at a frequency of 1 kHz. These values decrease exponentially with the increase of frequency to 1000 kHz, with the dielectric constant being around 260 for both compounds and dielectric loss being 0.01 for SNWO and 0.04 for SNTO. The Nyquist plot for both samples confirms the non-Debye type of relaxation behavior and the dominance of shorter-range movement of charge carriers. Magnetic studies of both compounds revealed antiferromagnetic behavior, with Néel temperature (TN) being 57 K for SNWO and 35 K for SNTO.

Graphene-oxide-wrapped ZnMn2O4 as a high performance lithium-ion battery anode.

Cation distribution between tetrahedral and octahedral sites within the ZnMn2O4 spinel lattice, along with microstructural features, is affected greatly by the temperature of heat treatment. Inversion parameters can easily be tuned, from 5%-19%, depending on the annealing temperature. The upper limit of inversion is found for T = 400 °C as confirmed by x-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Excellent battery behavior is found for samples annealed at lower temperatures; after 500 cycles the specific capacity for as-prepared ZnMn2O4 is 909 mAh g-1, while ZnMn2O4 heat-treated at 300 °C is 1179 mAh g-1, which amounts to 101% of its initial capacity. Despite the excellent performance of a sample processed at 300 °C at lower charge/discharge rates (100 mAh g-1), a drop in the specific capacity is observed with rate increase. This issue is solved by graphene-oxide wrapping: the specific capacity obtained after the 400th cycle for graphene-oxide-wrapped ZnMn2O4 heat-treated at 300 °C is 799 mAh g-1 at a charge/discharge rate 0.5 A g-1, which is higher by a factor of 6 compared to samples without graphene -oxide wrapping.

Ionic liquid- and surfactant-controlled crystallization of WO3 films.

WO3 films were obtained via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) using ionic surfactants such as long-chain ionic liquids 1-hexadecyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride and bromide (C16mimCl and C16mimBr, respectively) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and bromide (CTAC and CTAB, respectively) as additives. Owing to the presence of the ionic surfactants, WO3 films crystallize in a preferred orientation along the a-axis on different substrates, as evidenced by X-ray diffraction. WO3 films with this orientation show improved electrochromic properties when compared to films with a lower degree of crystallographic orientation, prepared in an analogue fashion.

High-Entropy Oxides: A New Frontier in Photocatalytic CO2 Hydrogenation.

Herein, we investigate the potential of nanostructured high-entropy oxides (HEOs) for photocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation, a process with significant implications for environmental sustainability and energy production. Several cerium-oxide-based rare-earth HEOs with fluorite structures were prepared for UV-light driven photocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation toward valuable fuels and petrochemical precursors. The cationic composition profoundly influences the selectivity and activity of the HEOs, where the Ce0.2Zr0.2La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2O2-δ catalyst showed outstanding CO2 activation (14.4 molCO kgcat-1 h-1 and 1.27 molCH3OH kgcat-1 h-1) and high methanol and CO selectivity (7.84% CH3OH and 89.26% CO) under ambient conditions with 4 times better performance in comparison to pristine CeO2. Systematic tests showed the effect of a high-entropy system compared to midentropy oxides. XPS, in situ DRIFTS, as well as DFT calculation elucidate the synergistic impact of Ce, Zr, La, Nd, and Sm, resulting in an optimal Ce3+/Ce4+ ratio. The observed formate-routed mechanism and a surface with high affinity to CO2 reduction offer insights into the photocatalytic enhancement. While our findings lay a solid foundation, further research is needed to optimize these catalysts and expand their applications.

Resolving a structural issue in cerium-nickel-based oxide: a single compound or a two-phase system?

CeNiO3 has been reported in the literature in the last few years as a novel LnNiO3 compound with promising applications in different catalytic fields, but its structure has not been correctly reported so far. In this research, CeNiO3 (RB1), CeO2 and NiO have been synthesized in a nanocrystalline form using a modified citrate aqueous sol-gel route. A direct comparison between the equimolar physical mixture (n(CeO2) : n(NiO) = 1 : 1) and compound RB1 was made. Their structural differences were investigated by laboratory powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) detector, and Raman spectroscopy. The surface of the compounds was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the thermal behaviour was explored by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Their magnetic properties were also investigated with the aim of exploring the differences between these two compounds. There were clear differences between the physical mixture of CeO2 + NiO and RB1 presented by all of these employed methods. Synchrotron methods, such as atomic pair distribution function analysis (PDF), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), were used to explore the structure of RB1 in more detail. Three different models for the structural solution of RB1 were proposed. One structural solution proposes that RB1 is a single-phase pyrochlore compound (Ce2Ni2O7) while the other two solutions suggest that RB1 is a two-phase system of either CeO2 + NiO or Ce1-xNixO2 and NiO.

Morphology, microstructure, and magnetic properties of ordered large-pore mesoporous cadmium ferrite thin film spin glasses.

Herein, we report the synthesis, microstructure, and magnetic properties of cadmium ferrite (CdFe2O4) thin films with both an ordered cubic network of 18 nm diameter pores and single-phase spinel grains averaging 13 nm in diameter. These mesoporous materials were produced through facile polymer templating of hydrated nitrate salt precursors. Both the morphology and the microstructure, including cation site occupancy and electronic bonding configuration, were analyzed in detail by electron microscopy, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and N2-physisorption. The obtained data demonstrate that the network of pores is retained up to annealing temperatures as high as 650 °C--the onset of crystallization is at ϑ = (590 ± 10) °C. Furthermore, they show that the polymer-templated samples exhibit a "partially" inverted spinel structure with inversion parameter λ = 0.40 ± 0.02. This differs from microcrystalline CdFe2O4 which shows virtually no inversion. Magnetic susceptibility studies reveal ferrimagnetic spin coupling below 147 K and further point to the likelihood of glassy behavior at low temperature (T(f) ≈ 60 K). In addition, analysis of room temperature magnetization data indicates the presence of sub-10 nm diameter superparamagnetic clusters in an otherwise paramagnetic environment.

In situ and ex situ TEOS coating of ZnO nanoparticles and the preparation of composite ZnO/PMMA for UV-VIS absorbers.

ZnO nanoparticles were prepared in a typical single-step experimental procedure, in different water-to-ethylene glycol volume ratios at a moderate temperature. Morphological studies performed by SEM and TEM have revealed two different types of nanosized particles: hexagonal facetted nanoparticles and spherical ones. The obtained ZnO nanoparticles were further coated with the coupling reagent tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), in situ and ex situ. The thickness of the silica layer around the ZnO nanoparticles varied between 4 and 18 nm. The coated as well as the bare ZnO nanoparticles were thoroughly characterized by different characterization methods. They were also incorporated into poly-methylmethacrylate (PMMA). The obtained PMMA/ZnO nanocomposites showed relatively high transmittance for visible light but also relatively high absorbance in the UV region between 250-370 nm.

Synthesis of Ti(OH)OF ⋠0.66 H2 O in Imidazolium-based Ionic Liquids.

The influence of the cation of imidazolium-derived ionic liquids (ILs) on a low-temperature solution-based synthesis of hexagonal tungsten bronze (HTB) type Ti(OH)OF ⋅ 0.66 H2 O and bronze-type TiO2 (B) is investigated. The IL (Cx mim BF4 ) acts as solvent and also as reaction partner with respect to the decomposition of [BF4 ]- , releasing F- . In the present study, the chain length of the alkyl chain side groups attached to the imidazolium ring was varied (C2 mim BF4 to C10 mim BF4 ), and the obtained solids were analyzed by Powder X-Ray diffraction (PXRD) followed by Rietveld refinement. As a main finding these analyses indicate a transformation of Ti(OH)OF ⋅ 0.66 H2 O into TiO2 (B), and upon prolonged reaction time finally also into anatase TiO2 . Rietveld analysis suggests that when using ILs with longer alkyl chains, the conversion of Ti(OH)OF ⋅ 0.66 H2 O is slower compared to syntheses performed with smaller alkyl chains. Hence, Ti(OH)OF ⋅ 0.66 H2 O appears to be metastable and is stabilized by long-chain ILs serving as surfactant attached to the crystallites' surface. In this view, the ILs shield the nanoparticles and thus slow down the conversion into the more stable compounds. This confirms previous findings that ILs act as both, solvent and reaction medium in this reaction, thus enabling the synthesis of peculiar Ti-oxides.

Solvothermal and surfactant-free synthesis of crystalline Nb(2)O(5), Ta(2)O(5), HfO(2), and Co-doped HfO(2) nanoparticles.

A simple route to niobium, hafnium and tantalum oxide nanocrystals using a nonaqueous sol-gel route based on the solvothermal reaction of the corresponding metal chlorides with benzyl alcohol is presented. This approach can easily be extended to the preparation of high quality Co-doped HfO(2) nanoparticles of uniform size and shape and with a homogenous distribution of the magnetic ions. The structural characterization of all these nanomaterials as well as the magnetic properties of pure and doped hafnia, with special attention to the doping efficiency, are discussed. The obtained Co-doped hafnia exhibits paramagnetic properties with very weak antiferromagnetic interactions between Co ions moments.

Efficient and Stable FASnI3 Perovskite Solar Cells with Effective Interface Modulation by Low-Dimensional Perovskite Layer.

The promising tin perovskite solar cells (PSCs) suffer from the oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ , leading to a disappointing conversion efficiency along with poor stability. In this work, phenylethylammonium bromide (PEABr) was employed to form an ultrathin, low-dimensional perovskite layer on the surface of the FASnI3 (FA=formamidinium) absorber film to improve the interface of perovskite/PCBM ([6,6]-phenyl-C61 -butyricacid methyl) in the inverted planar device structure of the ITO (indium-doped tin oxide)/PEDOT:PSS [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonate]/perovskite/[6,6]-phenyl-C61 -butyricacid methyl (PCBM)/BCP (2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) electrode. The device efficiency was enhanced from 4.77 to 7.86 % by this PEABr treatment. A series of characterizations proved that this modification could improve the crystallinity of the FASnI3 perovskite by incorporating Br and forming an ultrathin, low-dimensional perovskite layer at the interface, which led to the effective suppression of Sn2+ oxidation, improved band level alignment, and decreased defect density. These effects contributed to the clear enhancement of conversion efficiency. Moreover, this treatment also led to remarkably enhanced device stability, with approximately 80 % of the initial efficiency retained after 350 h light soaking, whereas the control device failed within 140 h. This work deepens our understanding of the suppression effect of PEABr on the oxidation of Sn2+ and paves a new way to fabricate promising tin halide PSCs by facile interface engineering.

Oxygen self-doping in hollandite-type vanadium oxyhydroxide nanorods.

A nonaqueous liquid-phase route involving the reaction of vanadium oxychloride with benzyl alcohol leads to the formation of single-crystalline and semiconducting VO 1.52(OH) 0.77 nanorods with an ellipsoidal morphology, up to 500 nm in length and typically about 100 nm in diameter. Composition, structure, and morphology were thoroughly analyzed by neutron and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction as well as by different electron microscopy techniques (SEM, (HR)TEM, EDX, and SAED). The data obtained point to a hollandite-type structure which, unlike other vanadates, contains oxide ions in the channels along the c-axis, with hydrogen atoms attached to the edge-sharing oxygen atoms, forming OH groups. According to structural probes and magnetic measurements (1.94 mu B/V), the formal valence of vanadium is +3.81 (V (4+)/V (3+) atomic ratio approximately 4). The experimentally determined density of 3.53(5) g/cm (3) is in good agreement with the proposed structure and nonstoichiometry. The temperature-dependent DC electrical conductivity exhibits Arrhenius-type behavior with a band gap of 0.64 eV. The semiconducting behavior is interpreted in terms of electron hopping between vanadium cations of different valence states (small polaron model). Ab initio density-functional calculations with a local spin density approximation including orbital potential (LSDA + U with an effective U value of 4 eV) have been employed to extract the electronic structure. These calculations propose, on the one hand, that the electronic conductivity is based on electron hopping between neighboring V (3+) and V (4+) sites, and, on the other hand, that the oxide ions in the channels act as electron donors, increasing the fraction of V (3+) cations, and thus leading to self-doping. Experimental and simulated electron energy-loss spectroscopy data confirm both the presence of V (4+) and the validity of the density-of-states calculation. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate strongly frustrated antiferromagnetic interactions between the vanadium ions. A model involving the charge order of the V (3+) sites is proposed to account for the observed formation of the magnetic moment below 25 K.

One-minute synthesis of crystalline binary and ternary metal oxide nanoparticles.

Highly crystalline metal oxide nanoparticles such as CoO, ZnO, Fe(3)O(4), MnO, Mn(3)O(4), and BaTiO(3) were synthesized in just a few minutes by reacting metal alkoxides, acetates or acetylacetonates with benzyl alcohol under microwave heating.

Direct low-temperature synthesis of rutile nanostructures in ionic liquids.

The direct synthesis of crystalline titania nanorods by sol-gel chemistry in a special ionic liquid is reported. Unexpectedly, the high-temperature modification, rutile, is obtained directly under ambient conditions. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements support the highly crystalline and structural quality of the sample. The phase-directing property of the ionic liquids is attributable to the imide group in the counter ion, which exhibits strong interaction with specific rutile faces. Lithium insertion experiments were performed and revealed high and reversible loading capacities of up to 200 mAh g(-1).

Nanoparticle cluster gas sensor: Pt activated SnO2 nanoparticles for NH3 detection with ultrahigh sensitivity.

Pt activated SnO2 nanoparticle clusters were synthesized by a simple solvothermal method. The structure, morphology, chemical state and specific surface area were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2-sorption studies, respectively. The SnO2 nanoparticle cluster matrix consists of tens of thousands of SnO2 nanoparticles with an ultra-small grain size estimated to be 3.0 nm. And there are abundant random-packed wormhole-like pores, caused by the inter-connection of the SnO2 nanoparticles, throughout each cluster. The platinum element is present in two forms including metal (Pt) and tetravalent metal oxide (PtO2) in the Pt activated SnO2 nanoparticle clusters. The as-synthesized pure and Pt activated SnO2 nanoparticle clusters were used to fabricate gas sensor devices. It was found that the gas response toward 500 ppm of ammonia was improved from 6.48 to 203.44 through the activation by Pt. And the results indicate that the sensor based on Pt activated SnO2 not only has ultrahigh sensitivity but also possesses good response-recovery properties, linear dependence, repeatability, selectivity and long-term stability, demonstrating the potential to use Pt activated SnO2 nanoparticle clusters as ammonia gas sensors. At the same time, the formation mechanisms of the unique nanoparticle clusters and highly enhanced sensitivity are also discussed.

Nanocrystalline NiMoO4 with an ordered mesoporous morphology as potential material for rechargeable thin film lithium batteries.

Nanocrystalline nickel molybdate (NiMoO(4)) thin film electrodes with a 3D honeycomb structure of uniform 17 nm diameter pores were successfully produced through facile polymer templating strategies. These novel sol-gel type materials exhibit enhanced lithium ion storage capabilities, and thus show promise for battery applications.

Mesoporous MgTa(2)O(6) thin films with enhanced photocatalytic activity: On the interplay between crystallinity and mesostructure.

Ordered mesoporous, crystalline MgTa(2)O(6) thin films with a mesoscopic nanoarchitecture were synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) in combination with a sol-gel procedure. Utilization of novel templates, namely the block copolymers KLE (poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)) and PIB6000 (CH(3)C(CH(3))(2)(CH(2)C(CH(3))(2))(107)CH(2)C(CH(3))(2)C(6)H(4)O(CH(2)CH(2)O)(100)H), was the key to achieving a stable ordered mesoporous structure even upon crystallization of MgTa(2)O(6) within the mesopore walls. The effect of the calcination temperature on the ability of the mesoporous films to assist the photodegradation of rhodamine B in water was studied. As a result, two maxima in the photocatalytic activity were identified in the calcination temperature range of 550-850 °C, peaking at 700 °C and 790 °C, and the origin of this was investigated by using temperature-dependent X-ray scattering. Optimal activity was obtained when the mesoporous film was heated to 790 °C; at this temperature, crystallinity was significantly high, with MgTa(2)O(6) nanocrystals of 1.6 nm in size (averaged over all reflections), and an ordered mesoporous structure was maintained. When considering the turnover frequency of such photocatalysts, the optimized activity of the present nanoarchitectured MgTa(2)O(6) thin film was ca. four times that of analogous anatase TiO(2) films with ordered mesopores. Our study demonstrated that high crystallinity and well-developed mesoporosity have to be achieved in order to optimize the physicochemical performance of mesoporous metal-oxide films.

Soft-templating synthesis of mesoporous magnetic CuFe2O4 thin films with ordered 3D honeycomb structure and partially inverted nanocrystalline spinel domains.

Combining sol-gel chemistry with polymer templating strategies enables production of CuFe(2)O(4) thin films with both an ordered cubic network of 17 nm diameter pores and tunable spinel domain sizes. These nanocrystalline materials contain only minor structural defects with λ = 0.85 ± 0.02 and exhibit multiple functionalities, including superparamagnetic behavior (T(B)≈ 310 K) and redox- and photoactivity.