Scientists have developed a conductive polymer coating—called HOS-PFM—that conducts both electrons and ions at the same time. This ensures battery stability and high charge/discharge rates while enhancing battery life. The coating also shows promise as a battery adhesive that could extend the lifetime of a lithium-ion battery from an average of 10 years to about 15 years. Read more »
ALS Work Using XAS
In x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), the incident x-ray energy is tuned over a range that will excite core-level electrons. Sharp increases in absorption occur at specific energies, characteristic of the absorbing element. The resulting spectra probe the elemental composition as well as the chemical and electronic structure of the material.
A Study on the Reaction Mechanism of a Model Organic Cathode in Magnesium-Ion Batteries
Battery and analytical studies of a model benzoquinone-type cathode reveal reversible structural transformations driven by a new precedence of a unique dissolution/precipitation mechanism and raise the question regarding its prevalence in other organic cathode batteries. Read more »
Enhanced low-temperature proton conductivity in hydrogen-intercalated brownmillerite oxide
Solid oxide materials typically need high temperatures to allow appreciable ion transport, limiting their flexibility as electrolytes for energy devices. Lu et al. now show unusually high proton conductivity in a hydrogenated oxide between 40 °C and 140 °C, which they attribute to ordered vacancy channels and high proton concentrations. Read more »
Multilayer Stack Opens Door to Low-Power Electronics
Researchers found that a multilayer stack of ultrathin materials exhibits a phenomenon called negative capacitance, which reduces the voltage required for transistor operation. The material is fully compatible with today’s silicon-based technology and is capable of reducing power consumption without sacrificing transistor size or performance. Read more »
Jinghua Guo to Receive the 2022 Shirley Award
ALS senior scientist Jinghua Guo is the recipient of this year’s Shirley Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement at the ALS. Guo is being recognized for pioneering the development of operando soft x-ray spectroscopy, work that’s enabled studies under realistic conditions, which is of great importance in environmental and energy research. Read more »
Operando Study of CO2 Reduction by Copper Nanoparticles
Since copper is necessary to catalyze the reduction of CO2, a greenhouse gas, to valuable products, scientists are working hard to improve its selectivity and activity. Now, researchers have developed an operando capability that can help in this effort by simultaneously probing chemical valence and interparticle dynamics. Read more »
Exploring Critical Synthetic Parameters for Nanoscale ε-Fe2O3 and Their Influence on Magnetic Behaviors
An intermediate polymorph of iron oxide, ε-Fe2O3, has attracted significant attention for potential applications in high-frequency mm-wave absorption and high-density magnetic recording. However, fabrication is still a challenge. Here, we identified critical reaction parameters to improve the phase purity and tested their effects. Read more »
Revealing Lithium Metal’s Electronic Structure
Spectroscopy at the ALS and theoretical calculations at the Molecular Foundry revealed the intrinsic spectroscopic signature of lithium metal and explained the origin of previous contradictory reports. The findings provide a benchmark for further studies of lithium compounds towards batteries with higher capacity and energy density. Read more »
Synthesis of new two-dimensional titanium carbonitride Ti2C0.5N0.5Tx MXene and its performance as an electrode material for sodium-ion battery
Researchers report on the synthesis and characterization of a new 2D carbonitride MXene, Ti2C0.5N0.5. They explore the performance of this new MXene as electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). It outperformed its carbide counterpart (i.e., Ti2C) and all the other reports for multilayer MXenes in SIBs, and it showed a stable electrochemical performance over 500 cycles. Read more »
How Iron Remediates Arsenic in Groundwater
Though iron has been demonstrated as an effective means to remediate arsenic contamination in groundwater, the mechanism was not well understood until now. For the first time, researchers have untangled the detailed steps of the interaction, informing more robust strategies for cleanup. Read more »
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