Enriching surface-ordered defects on WO3 for photocatalytic CO2-to-CH4 conversion by water.

Defect engineering has been widely applied in semiconductors to improve photocatalytic properties by altering the surface structures. This study is about the transformation of inactive WO3 nanosheets to a highly effective CO2-to-CH4 conversion photocatalyst by introducing surface-ordered defects in abundance. The nonstoichiometric WO3-x samples were examined by using aberration-corrected electron microscopy. Results unveil abundant surface-ordered terminations derived from the periodic {013} stacking faults with a defect density of 20.2%. The {002} surface-ordered line defects are the active sites for fixation CO2, transforming the inactive WO3 nanosheets into a highly active catalyst (CH4: O2 = 8.2: 16.7 µmol h-1). We believe that the formation of the W-O-C-W-O species is a critical step in the catalytic pathways. This work provides an atomic-level comprehension of the structural defects of catalysts for activating small molecules.

A correlated ferromagnetic polar metal by design.

Polar metals have recently garnered increasing interest because of their promising functionalities. Here we report the experimental realization of an intrinsic coexisting ferromagnetism, polar distortion and metallicity in quasi-two-dimensional Ca3Co3O8. This material crystallizes with alternating stacking of oxygen tetrahedral CoO4 monolayers and octahedral CoO6 bilayers. The ferromagnetic metallic state is confined within the quasi-two-dimensional CoO6 layers, and the broken inversion symmetry arises simultaneously from the Co displacements. The breaking of both spatial-inversion and time-reversal symmetries, along with their strong coupling, gives rise to an intrinsic magnetochiral anisotropy with exotic magnetic field-free non-reciprocal electrical resistivity. An extraordinarily robust topological Hall effect persists over a broad temperature-magnetic field phase space, arising from dipole-induced Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Our work not only provides a rich platform to explore the coupling between polarity and magnetism in a metallic system, with extensive potential applications, but also defines a novel design strategy to access exotic correlated electronic states.

Unveiling the Key Obstacle in Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting Reaction on Poly (heptazine imide) Semiconductors.

Poly (heptazine imide) (PHI), a classic 2D polymeric photocatalyst, represents a promising organic semiconductor for photocatalytic overall water splitting (POWS). However, since the key bottleneck in POWS of PHI remains unclear, its quantum efficiency of POWS is extremely restrained. To identify the key obstacle in POWS on the PHI, a series of PHI with different stacking modes is synthesized by tuning interlayer cations. The structural characterizations revealed that tuning the interlayer cations of PHI can induce rearrangements in interlayer stacking modes. Additionally, charge carriers dynamics uncover that optimizing the interlayer stacking modes of PHI can promote exciton diffusion and prolong the photoexcited electron lifetimes, thus improving the concentration of surface-reaching charge. More importantly, this confirms that the POWS activity of PHI is closely correlated with the interlayer stacking modes. This work offers new insight into structural regulation for governing charge-transport dynamics and the activity of 2D polymeric photocatalysts.

Programming Tetrathiafulvalene-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks for Promoted Photoinduced Molecular Oxygen Activation.

Despite the pivotal role of molecular oxygen (O2) activation in artificial photosynthesis, the activation efficiency is often restricted by sluggish exciton dissociation and charge transfer kinetics within polymer photocatalysts. Herein, we propose two tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-based imine-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with tailored donor-acceptor (D-A) structures, TTF-PDI-COF and TTF-TFPP-COF, to promote O2 activation. Because of enhanced electron push-pull interactions that facilitated charge separation and transfer behavior, TTF-PDI-COF exhibited superior photocatalytic activity in electron-induced O2 activation reactions over TTF-TFPP-COF under visible light irradiation, including the photosynthesis of (E)-3-amino-2-thiocyano-α,ß-unsaturated compounds and H2O2. These findings highlight the significant potential of the rational design of COFs with D-A configurations as suitable candidates for advanced photocatalytic applications.

Vinyl-Group-Anchored Covalent Organic Framework for Promoting the Photocatalytic Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide.

The artificial photosynthesis of H2O2 from water and oxygen using semiconductor photocatalysts is attracting increasing levels of attention owing to its green, environmentally friendly, and energy-saving characteristics. Although covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are promising materials for promoting photocatalytic H2O2 production owing to their structural and functional diversity, they typically suffer from low charge-generation and -transfer efficiencies as well as rapid charge recombination, which restricts their use as catalysts for photocatalytic H2O2 production. Herein, we report a strategy for anchoring vinyl moieties to a COF skeleton to facilitate charge separation and migration, thereby promoting photocatalytic H2O2 generation. This vinyl-group-bearing COF photocatalyst exhibits a H2O2-production rate of 84.5 µmol h-1 (per 10 mg), which is ten-times higher than that of the analog devoid of vinyl functionality and superior to most reported COF photocatalysts. Both experimental and theoretical studies provide deep insight into the origin of the improved photocatalytic performance. These findings are expected to facilitate the rational design and modification of organic semiconductors for use in photocatalytic applications.

Regulation of Exciton Effects in Functionalized Conjugated Polymers by B-N Lewis Pairs for Visible-Light Photocatalysis.

Strong excitonic effects are common in organic conjugated polymer semiconductors, severely hindering the generation of free charge carriers for conducting photocatalysis. Therefore, exploring new channels to modulate exciton dissociation in polymers is far-reaching in facilitating photocatalysis. A series of B-N Lewis pair functionalized conjugated polymers have been developed to minimize exciton effects by modulating charge transfer pathways. Theoretical studies have shown that introducing B-N Lewis pairs can dramatically increase the distance of charge transfer (D index) and the amount of electron transfer and reduce the Coulomb attraction energy (EC), which contributes to breaking the equilibrium of the coexistence of excitons and charge carriers. Further experimental results show that the singlet excitons are efficiently dissociated into more free-charge carriers under photoexcitation to participate in surface reactions. The optimized polymer PyPBM shows an exponential increase in photocatalytic hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production performance by visible light illumination.

Bottom-up Synthesis of Single-Crystalline Poly (Triazine Imide) Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting.

Poly (triazine imide) (PTI/Li+ Cl- ), one of the crystalline versions of polymeric carbon nitrides, holds great promise for photocatalytic overall water splitting. In principle, the photocatalytic activity of PTI/Li+ Cl- is closely related to the morphology, which could be reasonably tailored by the modulation of the polycondensation process. Herein, we demonstrate that the hexagonal prisms of PTI/Li+ Cl- could be converted to hexagonal nanosheets by adjusting the binary eutectic salts from LiCl/KCl or NaCl/LiCl to ternary LiCl/KCl/NaCl. Results reveal that the extension of in-plane conjugation is preferred, when the polymerisation was performed in the presence of ternary eutectic salts. The hexagonal nanosheets bears longer lifetimes of charge carriers than that of hexagonal prisms due to lower intensity of structure defects and shorter hopping distance of charge carriers along the stacking direction of triazine nanosheets. The optimized hexagonal nanosheets exhibits a record apparent quantum yield value of 25 % (λ=365 nm) for solar hydrogen production by one-step excitation overall water splitting.

Improved Charge Separation in Poly(heptazine-triazine) Imides with Semi-coherent Interfaces for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

The construction of heterojunctions is a promising manner to accelerate the separation and transfer of the charge carriers at the interface. Herein, a binary poly(heptazine-triazine) imides (PHI/PTI) with semi-coherent interfaces was fabricated via a facile two-step salt-melt synthetic process. The built-in electric fields at the semi-coherent interface endow prompt exciton splitting and charge carrier separation. Hence, the optimized PHI/PTI-based copolymer presents a high apparent quantum yield (AQY=64 %) for visible-light driven hydrogen production, by the aids of K2 HPO4 as charge transfer mediator. This study provides physical insights for the rational promotion of the photocatalytic performance from the viewpoint of interfacial engineering of photocatalytic junctions on crystalline carbon nitride based semiconductors.

Atomic structures of twin boundaries in CoO.

The twinning plane of crystals with a face-centered-cubic (FCC) structure is usually the (111) plane, as found in FCC metals and oxides with FCC sublattices of oxygen, like rock-salt-type NiO and spinel-type Fe3O4. Surprisingly, we found in this work that the twinning plane of rock-salt-type CoO is the (112) plane, although Co is adjacent to Ni in the periodic table. The atomic and electronic structures of the CoO(112) twin boundary with in-plane shift vector 1/2[111] have been studied combining aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the atoms at the twin boundary have nominal oxidation states, and the twin boundary remains insulating and antiferromagnetically coupled. Importantly, through the electronic structures and the crystal orbital Hamilton population (COHP) analyses, the (112) twin boundary is found to be more stable than the (111) twin boundary.

Effect of Oxygen Interstitial Ordering on Multiple Order Parameters in Rare Earth Ferrite.

Oxygen interstitials and vacancies play a key role in modulating the microstructure and properties of nonstoichiometric oxide systems, such as those used for superconductors and multiferroics. Key to understanding the tuning mechanisms resulting from oxygen doping is a knowledge of the precise positions of these lattice defects, and of the interaction both between these defects and with many order parameters. Here, we report how such information can, for the first time, be obtained from a sample of LuFe_{2}O_{4.22} using a range of techniques including advanced electron microscopy, atomic-resolution spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. The results provide quantitative atomic details of the crystal unit cell, together with a description of the ferroelastic, ferroelectric, and ferromagnetic order parameters. We elucidate also the interaction between these order parameters and the positions of the oxygen interstitials in the oxygen-enriched sample. The comprehensive analysis of oxygen interstitial ordering provides insights into understanding the coupling among different degrees of freedom in rare earth ferrites and demonstrates that oxygen content regulation is a powerful tool for tuning the microstructure and properties for this class of quantum material.

Structure stabilization effect of configuration entropy in cubic WN.

The microscopic structure of cubic WN has been studied combining scanning transmission electron microscopy and first-principles calculations. Because of the contribution of configurational entropy, NaCl-type WN with disordered vacancies becomes more stable at high temperatures than NbO-type WN. Moreover, electron beam irradiation can induce an order-disorder transition in cubic WN. It is suggested that the ordered NbO-type WN can be obtained after annealing below the transition temperature. The results shed light on the stability of materials synthesized at high pressures and high temperatures.

Establishing Multiple-Order Built-In Electric Fields Within Heterojunctions to Achieve Photocarrier Spatial Separation.

Hybridizing two heterocomponents to construct a built-in electric field (BIEF) at the interface represents a significant strategy for facilitating charge separation in carbon dioxide (CO2)-photoreduction. However, the unidirectional nature of BIEFs formed by various low-dimensional materials poses challenges in adequately segregating the photogenerated carriers produced in bulk. In this study, leveraging zinc oxide (ZnO) nanodisks, a sulfurization reaction is employed to fabricate Z-scheme ZnO/zinc sulfide (ZnS) heterojunctions featuring a multiple-order BIEF. These heterojunctions reveal distinctive interfacial structures characterized by two semicoherent phase boundaries. The cathodoluminescence 2D maps and density functional theory calculation results demonstrate that the direction of the multiple-order BIEF spans from ZnS to ZnO. This directional alignment significantly fosters the spatial separation of photogenerated electrons and holes within ZnS nanoparticles and enhances CO2-to-carbon monoxide photoreduction performance (3811.7 µmol h-1 g-1). The findings present a novel pathway for structurally designing BIEFs within heterojunctions, while providing fresh insights into the migratory behavior of photogenerated carriers across interfaces.

Structure stabilization effect of vacancies and entropy in hexagonal WN.

The structural stability of hexagonal tungsten mononitride (WN) has been studied combining scanning transmission electron microscopy and first-principles calculations. The results show that the WC-type WN with vacancies of 6∼8 at% is more stable than the previously proposed MnP-type and NiAs-type structures. Due to the larger vibrational entropy of the WC-type WN, the vacancy concentration required to stabilize the WC-type structure is lower at high temperatures. The results demonstrate the importance of vacancies and configurational and vibrational entropies in the structural stability of compounds synthesized at high temperatures.

Unveiling the charge transfer dynamics steered by built-in electric fields in BiOBr photocatalysts.

Construction of internal electric fields (IEFs) is crucial to realize efficient charge separation for charge-induced redox reactions, such as water splitting and CO2 reduction. However, a quantitative understanding of the charge transfer dynamics modulated by IEFs remains elusive. Here, electron microscopy study unveils that the non-equilibrium photo-excited electrons are collectively steered by two contiguous IEFs within binary (001)/(200) facet junctions of BiOBr platelets, and they exhibit characteristic Gaussian distribution profiles on reduction facets by using metal co-catalysts as probes. An analytical model justifies the Gaussian curve and allows us to measure the diffusion length and drift distance of electrons. The charge separation efficiency, as well as photocatalytic performances, are maximized when the platelet size is about twice the drift distance, either by tailoring particle dimensions or tuning IEF-dependent drift distances. The work offers great flexibility for precisely constructing high-performance particulate photocatalysts by understanding charge transfer dynamics.

Atomistic Observation of Temperature-Dependent Defect Evolution within Sub-stoichiometric WO3-x Catalysts.

Tunable crystalline defects endow WO3-x catalysts with extended functionalities for a broad range of photo- and electric-related applications. However, direct visualization of the defect structures and their evolution mechanism is lacking. Herein, aberration-corrected and in situ transmission electron microscopy was complemented by theoretical calculations to investigate the effect of temperature on the defect evolution behavior during hydrogenation treatment. Low processing temperature (100-300 °C) leads to the occurrence of randomly distributed oxygen vacancies within WO3-x nanosheets. At higher temperatures, oxygen vacancies become highly mobile and aggregate into stacking faults. Planar defects are prone to nucleate at the surface and develop in a zigzag form at 400 °C, while treating at 500 °C promotes the growth of {200}-type stacking faults. Our work clearly establishes that the atomic configuration of the defects in WO3-x samples could be manipulated by regulating the hydrogenation temperature. This study not only expands our understanding of the structure-function relationships of sub-stoichiometric tungsten oxides but also unlocks their full potential as advanced catalysts by tuning stoichiometry in a controlled manner.

A new type of vanadium carbide V5C3 and its hardening by tuning Fermi energy.

Transition metal compounds usually have various stoichiometries and crystal structures due to the coexistence of metallic, covalent, and ionic bonds in them. This flexibility provides a lot of candidates for materials design. Taking the V-C binary system as an example, here we report the first-principles prediction of a new type of vanadium carbide, V5C3, which has an unprecedented stoichiometry in the V-C system, and is energetically and mechanically stable. The material is abnormally much harder than neighboring compounds in the V-C phase diagram, and can be further hardened by tuning the Fermi energy.