Plasma induced dynamic coupling of microscopic factors to collaboratively promote EM losses coupling of transition metal dichalcogenide absorbers

Plasma as the fourth state of matter has attracted great attention for material surface modification,which could induce changes in material microscopic factors,such as defects,phase transitions,crystallinity,and so on.However,the interactions among those microscopic factors and regulation mechanism of macroscopic properties have rarely been investigated.Two-dimensional(2D)transition metal dichalcogenide with tunable structure and phase is one of the most promising electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorbers,which provides a favorable platform for systematically studying the dynamic coupling of its microscopic factors.Herein,we constructed a NaBH_(4) solution-assisted Ar plasma method to modify the 2H-MoS_(2)and 1T-WS_(2)for exploring the regulation mechanism of microscopic factors.For MoS_(2)and WS_(2),NaBH_(4) solution-assisted Ar plasma treatment behaves with different effects on dielectric responses,realizing dynamic coupling of material microscopic factors to collaboratively promote EM losses coupling.Consequently,the MS-D3-0.5(MoS_(2),3 kV voltage,0.5 mol L^(-1)NaBH_(4) solution)displays an optimum effective absorption bandwidth of 8.01 GHz,which is 319.4%more than that of MS-raw sample.This study not only reveals the novel mechanism of plasma induced dynamic coupling of microscopic factors for EMW dissipation,but also presents a new method of plasma-dominated surface modification to optimize the EMW absorption performance.

DFT Study of Alkali Metal Atom Adsorption on Defect-Free MgO（001）Surface

The adsorption of isolated alkali metal atoms （Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs） on defect-free sur- face of MgO（001） has been systemically investigated with density functional theory using a pseudopotential plane-wave approach. The adsorption energy calculated is about -0.72 eV for the lithium on top of the surface O site and about one third of this value for the other alkali metals. The relatively strong interaction of Li with the surface O can be explained by a more covalent bonding involved, evidenced by results of both the projected density of states and the charge density difference. The bonding mechanism is discussed in detail for all alkali metals.

Laser Ablation Atomic Beam Apparatus with Time-Sliced Velocity Map Imaging for Studying State-to-State Metal Reaction Dynamics

We report a newly constructed laser ablation crossed molecular beam apparatus, equipped with time-sliced velocity map imaging technique, to study state-to-state metal atom reaction dynamics. Supersonic metal atomic beam is generated by laser vaporization of metal rod, and free expansion design without gas flow channel has been employed to obtain a good quality of metal atomic beam. We have chosen the crossed-beam reaction Al＋O2 to test the performance of the new apparatus. Two-rotational-states selected AIO（X^2∑＋, v=0, N and N＋I4） products can be imaged via P（N） and R（N＋14） branches of the Av=l band at the same wavelength, during （1＋1） resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization through the AIO（D2E＋） intermediate state. In our experiment at 244.145 nm for simultaneous transitions of P（15） and R（29） branch, two rings in slice image were clearly distinguishable, corresponding to the AiO（v=0, N=IS） and AIO（v=0, N=29） states respectively. The energy difference between the two rotational levels is 403 cm^-1. The success of two states resolved in our apparatus suggests a better collisional energy resolution compared with the recent research study [J. Chem. Phys. 140, 214304 （2014）].

Identification of the Intrinsic Dielectric Properties of Metal Single Atoms for Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Atomically dispersed metals on N-doped carbon supports(M-N_(xCs)) have great potential applications in various fields.However,a precise understanding of the definitive relationship between the configuration of metal single atoms and the dielectric loss properties of M-N_(xCs) at the atomic-level is still lacking.Herein,we report a general approach to synthesize a series of three-dimensional(3D)honeycomb-like M-N_xC(M=Mn,Fe,Co,Cu,or Ni) containing metal single atoms.Experimental results indicate that 3D M-N_(xCs) exhibit a greatly enhanced dielectric loss compared with that of the NC matrix.Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the density of states of the d orbitals near the Fermi level is significantly increased and additional electrical dipoles are induced due to the destruction of the symmetry of the local microstructure,which enhances conductive loss and dipolar polarization loss of 3D M-N_(xCs),respectively.Consequently,these 3D M-N_(xCs) exhibit excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties,outperforming the most commonly reported absorbers.This study systematically explains the mechanism of dielectric loss at the atomic level for the first time and is of significance to the rational design of high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorbing materials containing metal single atoms.

Preparation of Nano-Sized γ-Al_2O_3 Supported Iron Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis by Solvated Metal Atom Impregnation Methods

Two types of small iron clusters supported on γ-Al2O3-RT（dehydroxylated at room temperature） and γ-Al2O3-800 （dehydroxylated at 800 ℃） were prepared by solvated metal atom impregnation （SMAI） techniques. The iron atom precursor complex, bis（toluene）iron（0） formed in the metal atom reactor, was impregnated into γ-Al2O3 having different concentrations of surface hydroxyl groups to study the effect of surface hydroxylation on the crucial stage of iron cluster formation. Catalysts prepared in this way were characterized by TEM, Mǒssbauer, and chemisorption measurements, and the results show that higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of γ-Al2O3-RT favors the formation of more positively charged supported iron cluster Fen/γ-Al2O3-RT, and the lower concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of γ-Al2O3-800 favors the formation of basically neutral supported iron cluster Fen/γ-Al2O3-800. The measured results also indicate that the higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups causes the rapid decomposition of precursor complex, bis（toluene）iron（0）, and favors the formation of relatively large iron cluster. Consequently, these two types of catalysts show different catalytic properties in Fischer-Tropsch reaction. The catalytic pattern of Fen/γ-Al2O3-RT in F-T reaction is similar to that of the unreduced γ-Fe2O3 and that of Fen/γ-Al2O3-800 is similar to that of the reduced α-Fe2O3.

Calculations on polarization properties of alkali metal atoms using Dirac–Fock plus core polarization method

A semi-empirical atomic structure model method is developed in the framework of a relativistic case. This method starts from Dirac-Fock calculations using B-spline basis set. The core-valence electron correction is then treated in a semiempirical core polarization potential. As an application, the polarization properties of alkali metal atoms, including the static polarizabilities and long-range two-body dispersion coefficients, have been calculated. Our results are in good agreement with the results obtained from ab initio relativistic many-body perturbation method and the available experimental measurements.

Recent advances in regulating the performance of acid oxygen reduction reaction on carbon-supported non-precious metal single atom catalysts

Developing high performance and low-cost catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)in challenging acid condition is vital for proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs).Carbon-supported nonprecious metal single atom catalysts(SACs)have been identified as potential catalysts in the field.Great advance has been obtained in constructing diverse active sites of SACs for improving the performance and understanding the fundamental principles of regulating acid ORR performance.However,the ORR performance of SACs is still unsatisfactory.Importantly,microenvironment adjustment of SACs offers chance to promote the performance of acid ORR.In this review,acid ORR mechanism,attenuation mechanism and performance improvement strategies of SACs are presented.The strategies for promoting ORR activity of SACs include the adjustment of center metal and its microenvironment.The relationship of ORR performance and structure is discussed with the help of advanced experimental investigations and theoretical calculations,which will offer helpful direction for designing advanced SACs for ORR.

Magnetism of Metals, Alloys and of Clusters of Transition Metal Atoms

A condition for local moment formation in metals derived by Stoddart and March (Ann. Phys. NY 1972 64, 174) is first used to discuss the ferromagnetism of body-centred-cubic Fe. A less detailed discussion is also added on Ni and Co. This leads into a treatment of the non- linear response of such 3d ferromagnets to dilute substitutional impurities. Antiferromagnets responding to local changes in the exchange field caused by such impurities are also studied, Mn in Cr being one such system discussed. The paper concludes with a brief summary of clusters of transition metal atoms, with most attention devoted to Cr and to Mn.

Imaging the crystal orientation of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides using polarization-resolved second-harmonic generation

We use laser-scanning nonlinear imaging microscopy in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)to reveal information on the crystalline orientation distribution,within the 2D lattice.In particular,we perform polarization-resolved second-harmonic generation(PSHG)imaging in a stationary,raster-scanned chemical vapor deposition(CVD)-grown WS2 flake,in order to obtain with high precision a spatially resolved map of the orientation of its main crystallographic axis(armchair orientation).By fitting the experimental PSHG images of sub-micron resolution into a generalized nonlinear model,we are able to determine the armchair orientation for every pixel of the image of the 2D material,with further improved resolution.This pixel-wise mapping of the armchair orientation of 2D WS2 allows us to distinguish between different domains,reveal fine structure,and estimate the crystal orientation variability,which can be used as a unique crystal quality marker over large areas.The necessity and superiority of a polarization-resolved analysis over intensity-only measurements is experimentally demonstrated,while the advantages of PSHG over other techniques are analysed and discussed.

Promotion Effect of Lantanum ions on Co/SiO_2 Catalysts Prepared via Solvated Metal Atom Impregnation Method

order to assess the promotional effects of La3+ on CO hydrogenation of Co/SiO2 catalyst, solvated metal atom impregnation (SMAI) method was used to prepare unpromoted 10% (mass fraction) Co/SiO2 and a series of La3+-promoted 10% (mass fraction) Co/SiO2 catalyst with different La/Co atomic ratios (0.1, 0.3, 0.5). X-ray diffraction (XRD), and CO chemisorption measurements show that the cobalt particle size decreases as the La/Co ratios increase. X-ray photoelectron spectrescopy indicates that cobalt is in zero-valent state for all the samples. Catalytic test shows that the catalytic activity of La3+-promoted Co/SiO2 in CO hydrogenation is higher than that of unpromoted Co/SiO2, and enhances with the La/Co ratios increase. La3+ promotion also causes the enhanced selectivity of Co/SiO2 catalyst for higher hydrocarbon products.

Advanced Techniques for Quantum-State Specific Reaction Dynamics of Gas Phase Metal Atoms

One of the themes of modern molecular reac tion dynamics is to charac terize elementary chemical reactions from“quan tum state to quan tum stat e”,and the study of molecular reaction dynamics in excited states can help test the validi ty of modern chemical t heories and provide met hods to cont rol chemical reactions.The subject of this review is to describe the recent experimental techniques used to study the reaction dynamics of metal atoms in the gas phase.Through these techniques,information such as the internal energy distribution and angular distribution of the nascent products or the three-dimensional stereodynamic reactivity can be obtained.In addition,by preparing metal at oms wi th specific exci ted elec tronic states or orbi tal arrangemen ts,information about the reactivity of the electronic states enriches the relevant understanding of the electron transfer mechanism in metal reaction dynamics.

Effects of 3d-transition metal doping on the electronic and magnetic properties of one-dimensional diamond nanothread

The diamond nanothread(DNT), a new one-dimensional(1 D) full carbon sp3 structure that has been successfully synthesized recently, has attracted widespread attention in the carbon community. By using the first-principles calculation method of density functional theory(DFT), we have studied the effects of 3 d transition metal(TM) atomic doping on the electronic and magnetic properties of DNT. The results show that the spin-polarized semiconductor characteristics are achieved by doping Sc, V, Cr, Mn, and Co atoms in the DNT system. The magnetic moment ranges from 1.00 μB to 3.00 μB and the band gap value is from 0.35 e V to 2.54 e V. The Fe-doped DNT system exhibits spin-metallic state with a magnetic moment of 2.58 μB, while the Ti and Ni-doped DNT systems are nonmagnetic semiconductors. These results indicate that the 3 d TM atoms doping can modulate the electronic and magnetic properties of 1 D-DNT effectively, and the TM-doped DNT systems have potential applications in the fields of electronics, optoelectronics, and spintronics.

Alkali metal atom adsorption on-top of the F_s^0 defective center of MgO(001) surface

A plane wave density functional theory method was used to investigate the adsorption properties of isolated alkali metal atoms, including Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs on-top of the F 0 s defective center of MgO（001） surface. Among all the alkali metals, the lithium atom binds most strongly with the highest adsorption energy of 0.67 eV and the shortest distance of about 0.257 nm between metal and the surface, the binding energy for the sodium atom comes second, and just half of this value for the other alkali metal atoms. The relatively strong interaction of Li with the F 0 s center can be explained by a more covalent bonding involved, evidenced by results of both the projected density of states and the projected charge density. The bonding mechanism is discussed in detail.

DFT Study of Metal Atoms Adsorbed at Low-coordinated Sites of MgO (001) Surface

The adsorption of metal atoms, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag and Au, at low-coordinated edge and corner oxygen sites of MgO (001) surface has been studied theoretically by using density functional method with cluster models embedded in a large array of point charges. For comparison, the interaction of metal atoms with perfect regular oxygen site of MgO (001) surface was also calculated. As regards these metal atoms adsorbed at perfect oxygen sites of MgO (001) surface, Cu, Ag and Au are very weakly bonded to the surface of MgO; Ni, Pd and Pt, on the other hand, exhibit strong interactions with perfect oxygen sites of MgO (001) surface; the large adsorption energy shows that there exist strong bonds formed between these metal atoms with surface oxygen sites. For the metal atoms adsorbed at edge and corner sites, the adsorption energy is much increased, consistent with our previous study of CO and Cl2 adsorption on MgO (001) surface. This illustrates that the low-coordinated sites, especially corner site, are more advantageous positions for those metal atoms adsorbed on MgO (001) surface. The Mulliken population analysis indicates that the electron transferred from MgO to the metal atoms were increased with the decrease of the coordination numbers, which may be one of the reasons for changing catalytic efficiency and selectivity of the metal particles supported by MgO.

AROMATIC BOND INCLUDING METALLIC ATOM IN COORDINATE COMPOUNDS AND SOME OF ITS PROPERTIES

Aromatic bond including metallic atom (Ni) is investigated by EHMO calculation.The NMR spectra and the mechanism for hydrolysis are discussed on the ground of results of computation.

PROPERTIES OF POLYMER SUPPORTED Ni-Cu BIMETALLIC CATALYSTS PREPARED BY SOLVATED METAL ATOM IMPREGNATION

D-72 resin supported nickel-copper catalysts prepared by solvated metal atom impregnation (SMAI) were studied by magnetic measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Ni particles on the catalysts are very highly dispersed and display superparamagnetic behaviour. Ni-Cu alloy clusters were found to be formed. The surface compositions are different from the bulk concentrations. In contrast with the surface enrichment in copper generally observed on conventional Ni-Cu catalysts, the surfaces of these catalysts are enriched in nickel. The nickel is in both zero and valent states, while copper is mainly in metallic state. Catalytic data show that the formation of Ni-Cu alloy clusters has a profound effect on the catalytic activities of the catalysts in the hydrogenation of furfural. The activity of the Ni:Cu ratio of one bimetallic catalysts is much higher than that of the Ni or Cu monometallic catalyst.

Size Effects for the Adsorption of Alkali Metal Atoms on the Si(001) Surface

The adsorptions of a series of alkali metal （AM） atoms, Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs, on a Si（001）-2 × 2 surface at 0.25 monolayer coverage have been investigated systematically by means of density functional theory calculations. The effects of the size of AM atoms on the Si（001） surface are focused in the present work by examining the most stable adsorption site, diffusion path, band structure, charge transfer, and the change of work function for different adsorbates. Our results suggest that, when the interactions among AM atoms are neglectable, these AM atoms can be divided into three classes. For Li and Na atoms, they show unique site preferences, and correspond to the strongest and weakest AM-Si interactions, respectively. In particular, the band structure calculation indicates that the nature of Li-Si interaction differs significantly from others. For the adsorptions of other AM atoms with larger size （namely, K, Rb and Cs）, the similarities in the atomic and electronic structures are observed, implying that the atom size has little influence on the adsorption behavior for these large AM atoms on the Si（001） surface.

The numerical simulation of the movements and thermal states of atomized metal droplets in the spray forming process

Numerical simulation was performed in an atomizing chamber to investigate the movements and thermal states of the atomized metal droplets in the spray forming process. The velocity, temperature and solid fractions of metal droplets with different diameters and under different atomizing pressures were investigated. The results indicate that a higher atomizing pressure results in the increased flying velocity of the metal droplets and a decrease in the cone-shaped angle formed by their flight paths. Synchronously, the cooling of the metal droplets is accelerated and the time of the complete solidification process is shortened. Under the same atomization pressure, large metal droplets have a lower flying speed and a lower rate of temperature decrease in the atomizing chamber than small metal droplets. In addition, metal droplets flying along the edge of the atomizing region cool faster than those flying in the core region.

Preparation of Highly Dispersed Supported Metal Catalysts via Solvated Metal Atom Impregnation ( V) --The Effects of Hydroxyl Group on the Surface Concentrations of SiO2 on the Properties of Supported Fe Clusters

Two kinds of small iron clusters supported on SiO2-200 (dehydroxylated at 200℃ and SiO2-600 (de-hydroxylated at 600℃) were prepared by Solvated Metal Atom Impregnation (SMAI) techniques. The iron atom precursor complex, bis (toluene) iron(0) formed in the metal atom reactor, was impregnated into SiO2 having different concentrations of surface hydroxyl groups to study the effect of surface hydroxylation on the crucial stage of iron cluster formation. Catalysts prepared in this way were characterized by THM, Mosbauer and chemisorption measurements, and the resules show that higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of SiO2-200 favours the formation of more positively charged support iron cluster Fen/SiO2-200 and the lower concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of SiO2-600 favours the formation of basically neutral supported iron cluster Fe2/SiO2-600. The measured results also indicate that the higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups causes the precursor complex,bis(toluene) fron(0), to decompose more rapidly, and favours the formation of relatively large iron cluster. As a consequence, these two kinds of catalysts show different catalytic properties in Fischer-Tropsch reaction. The catalytic pattern of Fe/SiO2-200 in F-T reaction is similar to that of the unreduced a-Fe2O2, while Fe2/SiO2 -600 is similar to that of reduced α-Fe2O2.

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters for(photo)electroreduction of CO_(2): Recent advances, challenges and opportunities

To alleviate the global warming by removing excess CO_(2) and converting them into value-added chemicals,(photo)electrochemical reduction has been recognized as a promising strategy.As the CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2) RR) is involved with multiple electrons and multiple products,plus the complexity of the surface chemical environment of the catalyst,it is extremely challenging to establish the structure/function relationship.Atomically precise metal nanoclusters(NCs),with crystallographically resolved structure,molecule-like characters and strong quantum confinement effects,have been emerging as a new type of catalyst for CO_(2) RR,and more importantly,they can provide an ideal platform to unravel the comprehensive mechanistic insights and establish the structure/function relationship eventually.In this review,the recent advances regarding employing molecular metal NCs with well-defined structure including Au NCs,Au-based alloy NCs,Ag NCs,Cu NCs for CO_(2) RR and relevant mechanistic studies are discussed,and the opportunities and challenges are proposed at the end for paving the development of CO_(2) RR by using atomically precise metal NCs.