Combustion synthesis of AlN doped with carbon and oxygen

Carbon-and-oxygen-doped AlN specimens were prepared by combustion synthesis using Al, graphite, and AlN. Graphite addition changed the product color from white to blue. By XRD, the lattice constant increased slightly with increasing carbon content. Blue AlN powder was synthesized with a molar ratio of the diluent AlN of 0.2-0.5 with a fixed graphite content of 0.05. At an AlN molar ratio exceeding 0.6, carbon was not successfully incorporated due to the lower reaction temperature. Calcination at 800°C in air removed residual graphite without changing the crystal structure or product color. Oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon analyses revealed that blue AlN powders contained 0.45-0.54 mass% carbon and 1.4-1.6 mass% oxygen, while the undoped AlN contained 0.021 mass% carbon and 0.94 mass% oxygen. The origin of the white-to-blue color change was investigated via reflection measurements. Blue AlN exhibits an absorption peak at 634 nm (1.96 eV). From first-principles electronic structure calculations, the C-doped AlN and carbon-and-oxygen-doped AlN with a 1:1 ratio could be classified as p-type, whereas the O-doped AlN and 1:3 carbon-and-oxygen-doped AlN were n-type. One reason for the absorption peak at 634 nm may be a transition from the conduction band to an upper unoccupied state. These results suggest the possible control of optical and electronic properties of AlN via carbon-and-oxygen doping.     

Theoretical Prediction of Chiral 3D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), in particular 3D HOIPs, have demonstrated remarkable properties, including ultralong charge‐carrier diffusion lengths, high dielectric constants, low trap densities, tunable absorption and emission wavelengths, strong spin–orbit coupling, and large Rashba splitting. These superior properties have generated intensive research interest in HOIPs for high‐performance optoelectronics and spintronics. Here, 3D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites that implant chirality through introducing the chiral methylammonium cation are demonstrated. Based on structural optimization, phonon spectra, formation energy, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that the chirality of the chiral cations can be successfully transferred to the framework of 3D HOIPs, and the resulting 3D chiral HOIPs are both kinetically and thermodynamically stable. Combining chirality with the impressive optical, electrical, and spintronic properties of 3D perovskites, 3D chiral perovskites is of great interest in the fields of piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, ferroelectricity, topological quantum engineering, circularly polarized optoelectronics, and spintronics.     

Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Activated Ketones on Platinum: Relevant and Spectator Species

The heterogeneous enantioselective hydrogenation of activated ketones over chirally modified platinum is reviewed with emphasis on identifying the role of the various species observed in this catalytic system. The past years have witnessed a continuous broadening of the scope of this catalytic system including new reactants and modifiers affording over 97% ee. New reaction pathways have been uncovered and the kinetic and mechanistic studies have been faced with a number of complicating factors caused by spectator species and interactions in solution and on the Pt surface. The previously proposed mechanistic models are critically assessed in the light of these new findings.     

β″－Al_2O_3陶瓷的强化和韧化

研究了稳定ＺｒＯ＿２和部份稳定ＺｒＯ＿２对β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３陶瓷的强化和韧化作用，观察了不同种类、不同含量的ＺｒＯ＿２对β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３陶瓷的显微结构、力学性能和电导率的影响，探讨了β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３的韧化机理。     

Structural properties of inorganic materials: tungsten bronze SBN ceramics

Rare-earth doped strontium barium niobates were synthesized using usual ceramic technique. The dopants are La, Ce, Gd, Sm and Nd. The materials were characterized by XRD and density measurements. The grain sizes were determined from SEM analysis. Lattice parameters changed uniformly with rare-earth dopants in unfilled structures. Density measurements and SEM analysis confirmed only minute changes in the densities of the ceramics.     

Deep levels,electrical and optical characteristics in SnTe-Doped GaSb Schottky Diodes

The GaSb layers investigated were grown directly on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using SnTe source as the n-type dopant. By using admittance spectroscopy, a dominant deep level with the activation energy of 0.23-0.26 eV was observed and its concentration was affected by the Sb₄/Ga flux ratio in the MBE growth. A lowest deep-level concentration together with a highest mobility was obtained for GaSb grown at 550°C under a Sb₄/Ga beam equivalent pressure (BEP) ratio around 7, which should correspond to the lowest ratio to maintain a Sb-stabilized surface reconstruction. In the Hall measurement, an analysis of the temperature-dependent mobility shows that the ionized impurity concentration increases proportionally with the sample’s donor concentration, suggesting that the ionized impurity was introduced by an SnTe source. In addition, optical properties of an undoped p-, a lightly and heavily SnTe-doped GaSb layers were studied by comparing their photoluminescence spectra at 4.5K.     

Effect of organic dopants on electrodeposition and characteristics of polyaniline under the varying influence of H2SO4 and HClO4 electrolyte media

Electrodeposition of conducting polyaniline (Pani) was made under potentiostatic condition at pH 1.0 in different electrolyte media (H₂SO₄ and HClO₄) in the absence and presence of two organic dopants, disodium salts of naphthalene-1,5-disulphonic acid (NSA) and of catechol-3,5-disulphonic acid (CSA). The rate and yield of Pani deposition were dependent on the acid medium and the dopant employed. NSA in H₂SO₄ caused an increase in rate and yield but CSA decrease when compared to the rate and yield of H₂SO₄ alone. In HClO₄ medium, both the dopants showed a decrease. With regard to DC electrical conductivity, both the dopants exhibited an enhancement in H₂SO₄ medium but NSA a decline in HClO₄. Characterisation of the electrosynthesised polymer samples by various instrumental techniques (cyclic voltammetric: CV, FTIR, UV-Visible: UV-Vis, EPR, XRD, TGA and DTG methods) revealed that between the two acid media, H₂SO₄ was the better one. Further, it enlightened the role of two organic dopants in relation to the acid media. The advantageous role of NSA in H₂SO₄ had origin on its molecular characteristics such as non-polarity, larger π-electron cloud etc., while CSA could not perform such a role because of its easily oxidisable hydroxyl groups. In HClO₄, however, both the dopants could play only an unfavourable role owing to its greater polarity and oxidizing power than H₂SO₄.     

Properties and Performance of Cation-Doped Ceria Electrolyte Materials in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Applications

Cation-doped CeO₂ electrolyte has been evaluated in single-cell and short-stack tests in solid oxide fuel cell environments and applications. These results, along with conductivity measurements, indicate that an ionic transference number of ∼0.75 can be expected at 800°C. Single cells have shown a power density >350 mW/cm². Multicell stacks have demonstrated a peak performance of >100 mW/cm² at 700°C using metallic separators.