Local coordination and electronic interactions of Pd/MXene via dual‐atom codoping with superior durability for efficient electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation

Catalyst design relies heavily on electronic metal‐support interactions,but the metal‐support interface with an uncontrollable electronic or coordination environment makes it challenging.Herein,we outline a promising approach for the rational design of catalysts involving heteroatoms as anchors for Pd nanoparticles for ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)catalysis.The doped B and N atoms from dimethylamine borane(DB)occupy the position of the Ti_(3)C_(2) lattice to anchor the supported Pd nanoparticles.The electrons transfer from the support to B atoms,and then to the metal Pd to form a stable electronic center.A strong electronic interaction can be produced and the d‐band center can be shifted down,driving Pd into the dominant metallic state and making Pd nanoparticles deposit uniformly on the support.As‐obtained Pd/DB–Ti_(3)C_(2) exhibits superior durability to its counterpart(∼14.6% retention)with 91.1% retention after 2000 cycles,placing it among the top single metal anodic catalysts.Further,in situ Raman and density functional theory computations confirm that Pd/DB–Ti_(3)C_(2) is capable of dehydrogenating ethanol at low reaction energies.

Charge-balanced codoping enables exceeding doping limit and ultralow thermal conductivity

Materials with low thermal conductivity are applied extensively in energy management,and breaking the amorphous limits of thermal conductivity to solids has attracted widespread attention from scientists.Doping is a common strategy for achieving low thermal conductivity that can offer abundant scattering centers in which heavier dopants always result in lower phonon group velocities and lower thermal conductivities.However,the amount of equivalent heavyatom single dopant available is limited.Unfortunately,nonequivalent heavy dopants have finite solubility because of charge imbalance.Here,we propose a charge balance strategy for SnS by substituting Sn2+with Ag^(+)and heavy Bi^(3+),improving the doping limit of Ag from 2%to 3%.Ag and Bi codoping increases the point defect concentration and introduces abundant boundaries simultaneously,scattering the phonons at both the atomic scale and nanoscale.The thermal conductivity of Ag0.03Bi0.03Sn0.94S decreased to 0.535 W·m^(−1)·K^(−1)at room temperature and 0.388 W·m^(−1)·K^(−1)at 275°C,which is below the amorphous limit of 0.450 W·m^(−1)·K^(−1)for SnS.This strategy offers a simple way to enhance the doping limit and achieve ultralow thermal conductivity in solids below the amorphous limit without precise structural modification.

Realizing Cd and Ag codoping in p-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)toward high thermoelectric performance

Mg_(3)Sb_(2)has attracted intensive attention as a typical Zintl-type thermoelectric material.Despite the exceptional thermoelectric performance in n-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2),the dimensionless figure of merit(zT)of p-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)remains lower than 1,which is mainly attributed to its inferior electrical properties.Herein,we synergistically optimize the thermoelectric properties of p-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)materials via codoping of Cd and Ag,which were synthesized by high-energy ball milling combined with hot pressing.It is found that Cd doping not only increases the carrier mobility of p-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2),but also diminishes its thermal conductivity(κ_(tot)),with Mg_(2.85)Cd_(0.5)Sb_(2)achieving a lowκtot value of∼0.67 W m^(−1)K^(−1)at room temperature.Further Ag doping elevates the carrier concentration,so that the power factor is optimized over the entire temperature range.Eventually,a peak zT of∼0.75 at 773 K and an excellent average zT of∼0.41 over 300−773 K are obtained in Mg_(2.82)Ag_(0.03)Cd_(0.5)Sb_(2),which are∼240%and∼490%higher than those of pristine Mg_(3.4)Sb_(2),respectively.This study provides an effective pathway to synergistically improve the thermoelectric performance of p-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)by codoping Cd and Ag,which is beneficial to the future applications of Mg_(3)Sb_(2)-based thermoelectric materials.

Effect of the codoping of N-H-O on the growth characteristics and defects of diamonds under high temperature and high pressure

Diamond crystals were synthesized with different doping proportions of N-H-O at 5.5 GPa-7.1 GPa and 1370℃-1450℃. With the increase in the N-H-O doping ratio, the crystal growth rate decreased, the temperature and pressure conditions required for diamond nucleation became increasingly stringent, and the diamond crystallization process was affected. [111] became the dominant plane of diamonds;surface morphology became block-like;and growth texture,stacking faults, and etch pits increased. The diamond crystals had a two-dimensional growth habit. Increasing the doping concentration also increased the amount of N that entered the diamond crystals as confirmed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. However, crystal quality gradually deteriorated as verified by the red-shifting of Raman peak positions and the widening of the Raman full width at half maximum. With the increase in the doping ratio, the photoluminescence property of the diamond crystals also drastically changed. The intensity of the N vacancy center of the diamond crystals changed, and several Ni-related defect centers, such as the NE1 and NE3 centers, appeared. Diamond synthesis in N-H-O-bearing fluid provides important information for deepening our understanding of the growth characteristics of diamonds in complex systems and the formation mechanism of natural diamonds, which are almost always N-rich and full of various defect centers. Meanwhile, this study proved that the type of defect centers in diamond crystals could be regulated by controlling the N-H-O impurity contents of the synthesis system.

Band gap narrowing of TiO_2 by compensated codoping for enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this study, we have performed first-principles screened exchanged hybrid density function theory with the HSE06 function calculations of the C-Mo, C-W, N-Nb and N-Ta codoped anatase TiO2 systems to investigate the effect of codoping on the electronic structure of TiO2. The calculated results demonstrate that （W（s）＋C（s）） codoped TiO2 narrows the band gap significantly, and have little influence on the position of conduction band edges, therefore, enhances the efficiency of the photocatalytic hydrogen generation from water and the photodegradation of organic pollutants. Moreover, the proper oxygen pressure and temperature are two key factors during synthesis which should be carefully under control so that the desired （W（s）＋C（s）） codoped TiO2 can be obtained.

Revisiting the Electron-Doped SmFeAsO:Enhanced Superconductivity up to 58.6 K by Th and F Codoping

In the iron-based high-To bulk superconductors, Tc above 50 K was only observed in the electron-doped 1111-type compounds. Here we revisit the electron-doped SmFeAsO polycrystals to make a further investigation for the highest Tc in these materials. To introduce more electron carriers and less crystal lattice distortions, we study the Th and F eodoping effects into the Sm-O layers with heavy electron doping. Dozens of Sm1-xThx FeAsO1-yFy samples are synthesized through the solid state reaction method, and these samples are carefully characterized by the structural, resistive, and magnetic measurements. We find that the codoping of Th and F clearly enhances the superconducting Tc more than the Th or F single-doped samples, with the highest record Tc up to 58.6K when x = 0.2 and y=0.225. Further element doping causes more impurities and lattice distortions in the samples with a weakened superconductivity.

Phase transformation and morphology tuning of β-NaYF_4:Yb^(3+),Er^(3+) nanocrystals through K^+ ions codoping

In this work, a simple method to modulate the crystal phase and morphology with a large amount of K＋ions codoping is proposed. The phase changes to the mixture of β-Na YF4 and β-KYF4 with increasing the content of K^＋ions to 80 mol%.When it exceeds 80 mol%, β-Na YF4 disappears gradually and β-KYF4 dominates with a poor crystalline. In addition, the morphology changes from nanosphere to nanoplate, and then to nanoprism, which indicates that a higher content of K^＋ions favors the growth rates along [0001] than the [10-10] of the nanocrystals. Additionally, the upconversion（UC） luminescence properties and the ratio of red/green（R/G） UC intensity of samples with different phases and morphologies are detected,which makes it possible to tune the UC fluorescence by varying the concentration of K^＋ions.

Upconversion Luminescence Properties of NaY0.92Yb0.05Er0.03F4 Enhanced by Zr^4＋ Codoping

In this paper we present a novel report on the upconversion luminescence performance of NaY0.92Yb0.05Er0.03F4 enhanced by Zr^4＋ codoping. The luminescence intensity of the tridoped hexagonal NaYF_4 synthesized by a hydrothermal method increased to the maximum, about seven times of the non-Zr^4＋ sample when the Zr^4＋ codoping concentration rose to 6 mol%, while the luminescence lifetime was also prolonged by Zr^4＋ codoping. To explore the relationships between the microstructure and upconversion properties, X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, electron energy-dispersive spectroscopy and upconversion emission spectroscopy were employed. From these characterizations, we found that the codoping of Zr^4＋ could modulate the crystal microstructure of NaYF_4 for higher upconversion luminescence intensity and longer lifetime. This study may be helpful for the design and synthesis of high-performance upconversion materials.

N/S codoping modification based on the metal organic frameworkderived carbon to improve the electrochemical performance of different energy storage devices

Carbon-based materials have become a research hotspot in the field of energy storage devices in recent years due to their abundant resources,low cost,and environmental friendliness.However,the low capacity and poor high rate performance still constitute great challenges.Metal organic framework-derived carbon has been widely researched because of its high porosity,tunable structure,and good conductivity.In this work,N/S codoped hierarchical porous carbon microspheres were prepared by a high-temperature heat treatment and atomic doping process using a zinc-based organic framework as the precursor.When used as a potassium-ion battery anode,it has a high reversible specific capacity(435.7 mAh g^(-1)),good rate performance(133.5 mAh g^(-1)at 10,000 m A g^(-1)),and long-term cycling stability(73.2%capacity retention after the 2500th cycle).The potassium storage mechanism of the derived carbon was explained by various electrochemical analysis methods and microstructure characterization techniques,and the relationship between the structural characteristics and electrochemical properties was researched.In a supercapacitor,the porous carbon material exhibits a specific capacitance of 307.2 F g^(-1)at a current density of 0.2 A g^(-1)in a KOH aqueous solution and achieves a retention rate of 99.88%after 10,000 cycles.The assembled symmetric supercapacitor device delivers a high energy density of 6.69 Wh kg^(-1),with a corresponding power density of 2500 W kg^(-1).In addition,density functional theory calculations further confirmed that N/S codoping can improve the adsorption capacities of potassium and hydroxyl ions in the derived carbon.

Modulation of Electronic States in Bimetallic-doped Nitrogen-Carbon Based Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Kinetics

Controlling the local electronic structure of active ingredients to improve the adsorption desorption characteristics of oxygen-containing intermediates over the electrochemical liquid-solid interfaces is a critical challenge in the field of oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)catalysis.Here,we offer a simple approach for modulating the electronic states of metal nanocrystals by bimetal co-doping into carbon-nitrogen substrate,allowing us to modulate the electronic structure of catalytic active centers.To test our strategy,we designed a typical bimetallic nanoparticle catalyst(Fe-Co NP/NC)to flexibly alter the reaction kinetics of ORR.Our results from synchrotron Xray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the co-doping of iron and cobalt could optimize the intrinsic charge distribution of Fe-Co NP/NC catalyst,promoting the oxygen reduction kinetics and ultimately achieving remarkable ORR activity.Consequently,the carefully designed Fe-Co NP/NC exhibits an ultra-high kinetic current density at the operating voltage(71.94 mA/cm^(2)at 0.80 V),and the half-wave potential achieves 0.915 V,which is obviously better than that of the corresponding controls including Fe NP/NC,Co NP/NC.Our findings provide a unique perspective for optimizing the electronic structure of active centers to achieve higher ORR catalytic activity and faster kinetics.

Heteroatom tuning in agarose derived carbon aerogel for enhanced potassium ion multiple energy storage

The incorporation of heteroatoms into carbon aerogels(CAs)can lead to structural distortions and changes in active sites due to their smaller size and electronegativity compared to pure carbon.However,the evolution of the electronic structure from single-atom doping to heteroatom codoping in CAs has not yet been thoroughly investigated,and the impact of codoping on potassium ion(K+)storage and diffusion pathways as electrode material remains unclear.In this study,experimental and theoretical simulations were conducted to demonstrate that heteroatom codoping,composed of multiple heteroatoms(O/N/B)with different properties,has the potential to improve the electrical properties and stability of CAs compared to single-atom doping.Electronic states near the Fermi level have revealed that doping with O/N/B generates a greater number of active centers on adjacent carbon atoms than doping with O and O/N atoms.As a result of synergy with enhanced wetting ability(contact angle of 9.26°)derived from amino groups and hierarchical porous structure,ON-CA has the most optimized adsorption capacity(−1.62 eV)and diffusion barrier(0.12 eV)of K^(+).The optimal pathway of K^(+)in ON-CA is along the carbon ring with N or O doping.As K^(+)storage material for supercapacitors and ion batteries,it shows an outstanding specific capacity and capacitance,electrochemical stability,and rate performance.Especially,the assembled symmetrical K^(+)supercapacitor demonstrates an energy density of 51.8 Wh kg^(−1),an ultrahigh power density of 443Wkg^(−1),and outstanding cycling stability(maintaining 83.3%after 10,000 cycles in 1M KPF6 organic electrolyte).This research provides valuable insights into the design of highperformance potassium ion storage materials.

Effect of N and Fe codoping on the electronic structure and optical properties of TiO_2 from first-principles study

The electronic structure and optical properties of N and Fe codoping Ti02 have been investigated by first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that the stability of N and Fe codoping TiO2 will change at different substitutional sites of N and Fe. The mechanism of band gap narrowing of doping Ti02 is discussed by investigating the density of state. The different substitutional site of N and Fe in codoping TiO2 influences the visible-light absorption. An increased visible-light absorption for doping TiO2 results from the synergistic effect of N and Fe codoping. Therefore, N and Fe codoping may enhance the visible-light photocatalytic activity of TiO2.

Enhancement of the upconversion luminescence in Y_2O_3:Er^(3+) powders by codoping with La^(3+) ions

Infrared-to-visible upconverted luminescent spectra of Er3 t and La3 t codoped Y2O3 powders are investigated.By introducing La3 t ions, the upconversion green radiation is found to be greatly enhanced when compared with the powders with La3 t absent. Such enhancement can be attributed to the modification of the local symmetry surrounding the Er3 t ion, which benefits the intra-4f transitions of Er3 t ion, and the decreasing interaction between Er3 t ions, which suppresses the energy transfer process4F7∕2t 4I11∕2→ 4F9∕2t 4F9∕2.

Realization of quantum anomalous hall effect at tens of kelvin by n-p codoping of topological insulators

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the research teams led by Prof.Xu Xiaohong（许小红）at the School of Chemistry and Materials Science,Shanxi Normal University and Prof.Zhang Zhenyu at ICQD,University of Science and Technology of China used vanadium-iodine（Ⅴ-Ⅰ）codoped Sb2Te3 to realize high-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect（QAHE）,which was

A Density Functional Theory Study of Codoping Characteristics of Sulfur with Alkaline Earth in Delafossite CuAlO_2

The structural,electronic properties and formation energies of sulfur and alkaline earth codoped delafossite CuAlO_2 have been investigated using the first-principles density functional theory calculations.Our results reveal that the volume of codoping systems increases with the increasing atomic radius of metal atoms.The formation energies under different growth conditions have been calculated,showing that the codoping systems are formed easily under O-rich growth conditions.Electronic band structures and density of states have been obtained.The decreased bandgaps,enhanced covalence and appearance of electron acceptors after codoping are all good for p-type conductivity.

Waste to wealth: Oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur codoped lignin-derived carbon microspheres from hazardous black liquors for high-performance DSSCs

Carbon materials are effective substitutes for Pt counter electrodes(CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). However, many of these materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are expensive and require complex preparation process. Herein, waste lignin, recycled from hazardous black liquors,is used to create oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur codoped carbon microspheres for use in DSSC CEs through the facile process of low-temperature preoxidation and high-temperature self-activation. The large number of ester bonds formed by preoxidation increase the degree of cross-linking of the lignin chains, leading to the formation of highly disordered carbon with ample defect sites during pyrolysis. The presence of organic O/N/S components in the waste lignin results in high O/N/S doping of the pyrolysed carbon,which increases the electrolyte ion adsorption and accelerates the electron transfer at the CE/electrolyte interface, as confirmed by density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The presence of inorganic impurities enables the construction of a hierarchical micropore-rich carbon structure through the etching effect during self-activation, which can provide abundant catalytically active sites for the reversible adsorption/desorption of electrolyte ions. Under these synergistic effects, the DSSCs that use this novel carbon CE achieve a quite high power-conversion efficiency of 9.22%. To the best of our knowledge, the value is a new record reported so far for biomass-carbon-based DSSCs.

Cellulose nanofiber-derived carbon aerogel for advanced room-temperature sodium–sulfur batteries

Room-temperature sodium–sulfur(RT/Na–S)batteries are regarded as promising large-scale stationary energy storage systems owing to their high energy density and low cost as well as the earth-abundant reserves of sodium and sulfur.However,the diffusion of polysulfides and sluggish kinetics of conversion reactions are still major challenges for their application.Herein,we developed a powerful and functional separator to inhibit the shuttle effect by coating a lightweight three-dimensional cellulose nanofiber-derived carbon aerogel on a glass fiber separator(denoted NSCA@GF).The hierarchical porous structures,favorable electronic conductivity,and three-dimensional interconnected network of N,S-codoped carbon aerogel endow a multifunctional separator with strong polysulfide anchoring capability and fast reaction kinetics of polysulfide conversion,which can act as the barrier layer and an expanded current collector to increase sulfur utilization.Moreover,the hetero-doped N/S sites are believed to strengthen polysulfide anchoring capability via chemisorption and accelerate the redox kinetics of polysulfide conversion,which is confirmed from experimental and theoretical results.As a result,the assembled Na–S coin cells with the NSCA@GF separator showed a high reversible capacity(788.8 mAh g^(−1) at 0.1 C after 100 cycles)and superior cycling stability(only 0.059%capacity decay per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1 C),thereby demonstrating the significant potential for application in high-performance RT/Na–S batteries.

Atomically dispersed Fe-Ni dual sites in heteroatom doped carbon tyres for efficient oxygen electrocatalysis in rechargeable Zn-Air battery

The electronic and functional synergies between the twin metal centers make dual single-atom catalysts(DACs) attractive for oxygen electrocatalysis. The catalytic activities of DACs are largely decided by their surrounding micro-environment and supporting substrates. Modulating the micro-environment as well as engineering the efficient support is challenging tasks. Moreover, both are critical to optimizing the performance of DACs. Herein, a novel bio-cooperative strategy is developed to synthesize Fe Ni-DAC wherein Fe-Ni dual-atom sites are embedded in the N, P codoped tyre shaped carbon matrix. The configuration matching of Fe-Ni dual centers together with the local electronic engineering of N, P heteroatoms synergistically boost the catalytic activity on the oxygen reaction. Furthermore, the central-hollow highlyporous carbon matrix not only gives rise to a large amount of active sites, but also facilitates fast kinetics.Taking advantage of both the DAC and the substrate, the Fe Ni-NPC hollow tyre(HT) catalyst scores high in both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, which exhibits the narrow potential difference and excellent durability. The aqueous Zn-air full battery(ZAB) integrating the Fe Ni-NPC HT air cathode has a high power density and a good stability over long-term cycling. Moreover, the flexible solid-state ZAB assembled with the polymer electrolyte obtains the high reliability over a wide range of temperatures or under diverse outside deformations. Therefore, this work offers a new green approach to prepare highly efficient DACs with built-in modulated micro-environment and tailor-made substrates. Moreover,it also paves a new way to develop highly-pliable power source for flexible electronics.

Interesting Magnetic and Optical Properties of ZnO Co-doped with Transition Metal and Carbon

Magnetic and optical properties of ZnO co-doped with transition metal and carbon have been investigated using density functional theory based on first-principles ultrasoft pseudopoten- tial method. Upon co-doping with transition metal （TM） and carbon, the calculated results show a shift in the Fermi level and a remarkable change in the covalency of ZnO. Such cases energetically favor ferromagnetic semiconductor with high Curie temperature due to p-d exchange interaction between TM ions and holes induced by C doping. The total en- ergy difference between the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic configurations, spatial charge and spin density, which determine the magnetic ordering, were calculated in co-doped systems for further analysis of magnetic properties. It was also discovered that optical prop- erties in the higher energy region remain relatively unchanged while those at the low energy region are changed after the co-doping. These changes of optical properties are qualitatively explained based on the calculated electronic structure. The validity of our calculation in comparison with other theoretical predictions will further motivate the experimental inves- tigation of （TM, C） co-doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductors.

First-principles calculation of electronic properties of N-and X(X=S,Se,Te)-codoped anatase TiO_2

The impact of N-and X（X=S,Se,Te）-codoping on electronic properties of anatase TiO2 has been systematically investigated using density functional theory （DFT）.The optimized geometry shows that there is large lattice expansion for the codoped anatase TiO2 due to large atomic radius of the codoped atom.The calculated substitution energies indicate that incorporation of X（X =S,Se,Te） into N-doped bulk TiO2 can not promote synergistic effect on N after substituting for Ti,whcreas it is bctter after substituting for O.According to the total density of states （DOS） and corresponding partial DOS （PDOS）,it can be seen that substituting X（X =S,Se,Te） for O,N 2p orbital is strongly hybridized with impurity states （S 3p,Se 4p,Te 5p）.After substituting X（X=S,Se,Te） for Ti,conduction band is mainly dominated by Ti 3d orbit and S 3p （Se 4p or Te 5p）-N 2p-Ti 3d hybridized states are formed.Based on Bader analysis,it can be indicated that the electron transfer is from N to X（X=S,Se,Te） if substituting X（X=S,Se,Te） for O,but it is opposite if substitute X（X=S,Se,Te） for Ti.