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Bai, J

Publications and source records attributed to Bai, J.

24 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Observation of Anomalous Phonons in Orthorhombic Rare-earth Manganites

We observe the appearance of a phonon near the lock-in temperature in orthorhombic REMnO{sub 3} (RE denotes rare earth) (RE: Lu and Ho) and anomalous phonon hardening in orthorhombic LuMnO{sub 3}. The anomalous phonon occurs at the onset of spontaneous polarization. No such changes were found in incommensurate orthorhombic DyMnO{sub 3}. These observations directly reveal different electric polarization mechanisms in the E-type and incommensurate-type orthorhombic REMnO{sub 3}.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Overpotential-Dependent Phase Transformation Pathways

An objective in battery development for higher storage energy density is the design of compounds that can accommodate maximum changes in ion concentration over useful electrochemical windows. Not surprisingly, many storage compounds undergo phase transitions in situ, including production of metastable phases. Unique to this environment is the frequent application of electrical over- and underpotentials, which are the electrical analogs to undercooling and superheating. Surprisingly, overpotential effects on phase stability and transformation mechanisms have not been studied in detail. Here we use synchrotron X-ray diffraction performed in situ during potentiostatic and galvanostatic cycling, combined with phase-field modeling, to reveal a remarkable dependence of phase transition pathway on overpotential in the model olivine Li{sub 1-x}FePO{sub 4}. For a sample of particle size {approx}113 nm, at both low (e.g., <20 mV) and high (>75 mV) overpotentials a crystal-to-crystal olivine transformation dominates, whereas at intermediate overpotentials a crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition is preferred. As particle sizes decrease to the nanoscale, amorphization is further emphasized. Implications for battery use and design are considered.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Residual Stress Characterization of Al/SiC Nanoscale Multilayers using X-ray

Nanolayered composites are used in a variety of applications such as wear resistant coatings, thermal barrier coatings, optical and magnetic thin films, and biological coatings. Residual stresses produced in these materials during processing play an important role in controlling their microstructure and properties. In this paper, we have studied the residual stresses in model metal-ceramic Al/SiC nanoscale multilayers produced by physical vapor deposition (magnetron sputtering). X-ray synchrotron radiation was used to measure stresses in the multilayers using the sin{sup 2} {psi} technique. The stresses were evaluated as a function of layer thicknesses of Al and SiC and also as a function of the number of layers. The stress state of Al in the multilayer was largely compressive, compared to single layer Al stresses. This is attributed to a peening mechanism due to bombardment of the Al layers by SiC and Ar neutrals during deposition. The stress evolution was numerically modeled by a simplified peening process to qualitatively explain the Al thickness-dependent residual stresses.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Amorphous Hierarchical Porous GeOx as High-Capacity Anodes for LiIon Batteries with Very Long Cycling Life

Many researchers have focused in recent years on resolving the crucial problem of capacity fading in Li ion batteries when carbon anodes are replaced by other group-IV elements (Si, Ge, Sn) with much higher capacities. Some progress was achieved by using different nanostructures (mainly carbon coatings), with which the cycle numbers reached 100-200. However, obtaining longer stability via a simple process remains challenging. Here we demonstrate that a nanostructure of amorphous hierarchical porous GeO{sub x} whose primary particles are {approx}3.7 nm diameter has a very stable capacity of {approx}1250 mA h g{sup -1} for 600 cycles. Furthermore, we show that a full cell coupled with a Li(NiCoMn){sub 1/3}O{sub 2} cathode exhibits high performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Characterization of the Fe-Doped Mixed-Valent Tunnel Structure 2 Manganese Oxide KOMS-2

A sol-gel-assisted combustion method was used to prepare Fe-doped manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve (Fe-KOMS-2) materials with the cryptomelane structure. Characterization of the nanopowder samples over a wide range of Fe-doping levels (0 {le} Fe/Mn {le} 1/2) was carried out using a variety of experimental techniques. For each sample, Cu K{alpha} XRD and ICP-AES were used to index the cryptomelane structure and determine the elemental composition, respectively. A combination of SEM and TEM images revealed that the morphology changes from nanoneedle to nanorod after Fe doping. Furthermore, TGA scans indicated that the thermal stability is also enhanced with the doping. Anomalous XRD demonstrated that the Fe ions replace the Mn ions in the cryptomelane structure, particularly in the (211) planes, and results in a lattice expansion along the c axis, parallel to the tunnels. Reasonable fits to EXAFS data were obtained using a model based on the cryptomelane structure. Moessbauer spectra for selected Fe-KOMS-2 samples indicated that the Fe is present as Fe{sup 3+} in an octahedral environment similar to Mn in the MnO{sub 6} building blocks of KOMS-2. Magnetization measurements detected a small amount of {gamma}-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} second phase (e.g., 0.6 wt % for the Fe/Mn = 1/10 sample), the vast majority of the Fe being in the structure as Fe{sup 3+} in the high-spin state.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗