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At least 181 records · Page 10

The effects of CO2 on the negative reactant ions of IMS

In the presence of CO2, the negative reactant ions of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) are ion clusters of CO4(-) and CO3(-). Methyl salicylate is ionized by the CO4(-)(H2O(n))(N2(m)) reactant ions, but not by the CO3(-)(H2O(n))(N2(m)) reactant ions. While the CO4(-) ions are formed by direct association, the CO3(-) ions require additional energy to be formed. The additional energy is provided by either excited neutral gas molecules in a metastable state or UV (ultraviolet) radiation.

Spangler, Glenn E.↗

Extended Donnan-Manning theory for selective ion partition and transport in ion exchange membrane

The use of ion exchange membranes (IEMs) for electrochemical ion-ion separation leverages the selectivity of the IEMs toward like-charged species via valence difference and/or other ion membrane interactions. A mechanistic model that relates selectivity with membrane structural and chemical properties is lacking in the literature. Here, in this study, we extend the Manning’s counter-ion condensation model for describing ion partition and ion mobility inside IEMs to mixed salts scenarios. We evaluate the extended Donnan-Manning model against experimental data from literature and compare the performance the Donnan-Manning model to that of the ideal Donnan model and the Donnan-Affinity model. Our analysis shows that, despite its structural complexity, the Donnan-Manning model has less fitting parameters than the Donnan-Affinity model and generally outperforms the two other models in predicting counter-ion and co-ion partition. With the assumption of a higher mobility of condensed ions than that of uncondensed ions, the generalized Manning’s model can also predict counter-ion mobility selectivity for cation exchange membranes, but its performance for predicting mobility selectivity for anion exchange membranes is still unsatisfactory.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Accumulation of Large Ion Populations with High Ion Densities and Effects Due to Space Charge in Traveling Wave-Based Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) IMS-MS

The accumulation of very large ion populations in traveling wave (TW)-based Structures for Lossless ion Manipulations (SLIM) has been studied to better understand aspects of ‘in-SLIM’ ion accumulation, and particularly its use in conjunction with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). A linear SLIM ion path was implemented that had a ‘gate’ for blocking and accumulating ions for arbitrary time periods. Removing the gate potential caused ions to exit and the spatial distributions of accumulated ions were examined. The ion populations for a set of peptides were observed to increase with increased accumulation times until space change effects became significant, after which the peptide precursor ion populations decreased due to growing space charge-related ion activation, reactions, and losses. Ions closest to the gate were preferentially activated, and increasingly so with added storage times, TW amplitude, and the size of the total ion population. For analytical applications, we found that relatively weak TWs in the accumulation/storage region should be utilized to prevent or minimize ion losses and/or ion heating effects that can also lead to fragmentation. Our results further indicate that an accumulation region close to the SLIM entrance is advantageous for both speeding accumulation, minimizing ion heating, and avoiding ion population profiles that result in IMS peak tailing. Importantly, space charge-driven separations were observed for large populations of accumulated species and attributed to the opposing effects of space charge and the TW. In these separations, ion species form distributions or peaks, sometimes moving against the TW, and ordered in the SLIM based on their mobilities. Such separations may offer utility for ion pre-fractionation of ions and increasing the dynamic range measurements, increasing the resolving power of IMS separations by decreasing peak widths for accumulated ion populations, and other purposes benefitting from separations of extremely large ion populations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Local Chemical Enhancement and Gating of Organic Coordinated Ionic-Electronic Transport

Superior properties in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) over inorganic counterparts have inspired intense interest in biosensing, soft-robotics, neuromorphic computing, and smart medicine. However, slow ion transport relative to charge transport in these materials is a limiting factor. Here, it is demonstrated that hydrophilic molecules local to an interfacial OMIEC nanochannel can accelerate ion transport with ion mobilities surpassing electrophoretic transport by more than an order of magnitude. Furthermore, ion access to this interfacial channel can be gated through local surface energy. This mechanism is applied in a novel sensing device, which electronically detects and characterizes chemical reaction dynamics local to the buried channel. The ability to enhance ion transport at the nanoscale in OMIECs as well as govern ion transport through local chemical signaling enables new functionalities for printable, stretchable, and biocompatible mixed conduction devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mechanical and Ionic Characterization for Organic Semiconductor–Incorporated Perovskites for Stable 2D/3D Heterostructure Perovskite Solar Cells

Hybrid metal halide perovskite (MHP) materials, while being promising for photovoltaic technology, also encounter challenges related to material stability. Combining 2D MHPs with 3D MHPs offers a viable solution, yet there is a gap in the understanding of the stability among various 2D materials. The mechanical, ionic, and environmental stability of various 2D MHP ligands are reported, and an improvement with the use of a quater-thiophene-based organic cation (4TmI) that forms an organic-semiconductor incorporated MHP structure is demonstrated. It is shown that the best balance of mechanical robustness, environmental stability, ion activation energy, and reduced mobile ion concentration under accelerated aging is achieved with the usage of 4TmI. It is believed that by addressing mechanical and ion-based degradation modes using this built-in barrier concept with a material system that also shows improvements in charge extraction and device performance, MHP solar devices can be designed for both reliability and efficiency.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Origins of Lithium/Sodium Reverse Permeability Selectivity in 12-Crown-4-Functionalized Polymer Membranes

Direct lithium extraction via membrane separations has been fundamentally limited by lack of monovalent ion selectivity exhibited by conventional polymeric membranes, particularly between sodium and lithium ions. Recently, a 12- Crown-4-functionalized polynorbornene membrane was shown to have the largest lithium/sodium permeability selectivity observed in a fully aqueous system to date. Using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal that this selectivity is due to strong interactions between sodium ions and 12-Crown-4 moieties, which reduce sodium ion diffusivity while leaving lithium ion mobility relatively unaffected. Furthermore, the ion diffusivities in the membrane, when scaled by their respective solution diffusivities and free ion fractions, can be collapsed to an almost universal relationship depending on solvent volume fraction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Time-resolved double-probe study in a He-Hg afterglow plasma

An experimental double-probe technique is described which allows the He(+) ion density to be measured directly as a function of time in the afterglow of a helium-metal-vapor discharge. As an application example, two CW laser transitions of the He-Hg(+) laser at 6150 and 7944 A are considered which both arise from excited 7p (2) P terms of Hg II. The time-resolved double-probe technique is used to measure the destruction rate of the He(+) ion density, which is then compared with the spontaneous-emission decay rate for 7p (2) P terms of Hg II. The results obtained show unambiguously and directly that the dominant excitation process for the two transitions considered is a charge-transfer collisional reaction of the form He(+) plus Hg yields He plus metastable Hg(+) plus the energy defect for this reaction. It is noted that the time-resolved double-probe technique may provide a simple method for measuring ion mobilities in a multi-ion plasma.

Shay, T.↗

Role of Intradomain Heterogeneity on Ion and Polymer Dynamics in Block Polymer Electrolytes: Investigating Interfacial Mobility and Ion-Specific Dynamics and Transport

Block polymers show promise as solid-state battery electrolytes due to the optimization of conductive and mechanical properties enabled via tuning of block chemistry and length. We investigate a polystyrene-block-poly(oligo-oxyethylene methacrylate) (PS-b-POEM) electrolyte doped with various lithium salts to investigate the role of molecular structure on ion transport properties and on local ion dynamics and associations. Anion charge becomes more delocalized with increasing size, reducing the coupling between salt ions while increasing coupling between ion and polymer chain motions and creating a more mobile overall environment. We observe support for this ion-polymer coupling via 1 H, 7 Li and 19 F NMR spectroscopy, from which we obtain ion-specific mobility transition temperatures that differ from the polymer glass transition temperature. We also note faster transport and weaker local energetic interactions with anion size using temperature-dependent NMR diffusometry. 1 H NMR spectroscopy further elucidates polymer chain dynamics and enables quantification of the temperature-dependent fraction of the conducting block that is immobile near the PS-POEM domain interface. As a result, NMR thus represents a species-specific and timescale-specific platform to quantify phase and interface behavior, and to correlate ion-specific transport with polymer chain dynamics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

LipidOz enables automated elucidation of lipid carbon–carbon double bond positions from ozone-induced dissociation mass spectrometry data

Lipids play essential roles in many biological processes and disease pathology, but unambiguous identification of lipids is complicated by the presence of multiple isomeric species differing by fatty acyl chain length, stereospecifically numbered (sn) position, and position/stereochemistry of double bonds. Conventional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses enable the determination of fatty acyl chain lengths (and in some cases sn position) and number of double bonds, but not carbon-carbon double bond positions. Ozone-induced dissociation (OzID) is a gas-phase oxidation reaction that produces characteristic fragments from lipids containing double bonds. OzID can be incorporated into ion mobility spectrometry (IMS)-MS instruments for the structural characterization of lipids, including additional isomer separation and confident assignment of double bond positions. The complexity and repetitive nature of OzID data analysis and lack of software tool support have limited the application of OzID for routine lipidomics studies. Here, we present an open-source Python tool, LipidOz, for the automated determination of lipid double bond positions from OzID-IMS-MS data, which employs a combination of traditional automation and deep learning approaches. Our results demonstrate the ability of LipidOz to robustly assign double bond positions for lipid standard mixtures and complex lipid extracts, enabling practical application of OzID for future lipidomics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Beyond Ion Migration in Metal Halide Perovskites: Toward a Broader Photoelectrochemistry Perspective

Ion migration is a broad term used to account for the degradation of halide perovskite materials and devices. However, ion mobility is only one piece of the full picture-mobile ions/defects are first created, then transported, and eventually annihilated or immobilized. In this Perspective, we summarize emerging work that shows how tractable photochemical and Faradaic reactions provide a continuous source of ions to migrate. Furthermore, we discuss strategies to fundamentally manipulate ion migration by targeting specific electrochemical and reduction/oxidation mechanisms. This highlights the important role of defect photoelectrochemistry, as well as the soft nature of the perovskite lattice, in ion migration and self-healing. We conclude that distinguishing more detailed processes involved in “ion migration”, with an emerging focus on the reactions that form mobile ionic defects, is necessary to greatly improve the stability of devices and open up more technological applications.

defects↗

Entropy-Tailored Fast-Charging Sodium Layered Cathodes

O3-type layered transition metal (TM) oxides are widely used as cathode materials for Na-ion batteries due to their high energy density potential, enabled by the state of charge (SoC)-dependent transition from octahedral (O-type) to prismatic (P-type) structures during Na-ion (de)sodiation. However, the O–P transition is often criticized for compromising the Na-ion mobility and limiting the cycle life. Herein, we reveal the intrinsic correlation between O–P transitions, oxygen behaviors, and Na-ion kinetics. We demonstrate that a compositionally versatile, entropy-tailored approach can promote preferred transitions (characterized by large lattice parameter deviations in the O-type region and rapid O–P biphasic reactions), enhancing Na-ion migration, as revealed by in situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction (HEXRD). Additionally, irreversible oxygen loss at high SoC is effectively mitigated, while TM migration and surface reconstruction are greatly suppressed, further accelerating Na-ion transport and stabilizing the structure, as confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and theoretical analyses. The result is an exceptionally high rate capability of 88.7 mAh g –1 at 20 C (2.4 A g –1 ) with a superior normalized retention of 72.6%, accompanied by a prolonged lifetime with 74.3% retention after 1000 cycles. In conclusion, this work advances the understanding of the chemistry–property relationships in O3-type layered cathodes and broadens the prospects for fabricating high-power-density electrodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Field reversal in low pressure, unmagnetized radio frequency capacitively coupled argon plasma discharges

In general, the radio frequency (rf) electric field within a sheath points toward the metal electrode in low pressure, unmagnetized rf electropositive capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) glow discharges. This is due to the large ratio of electron to ion mobility and the formation of an ion sheath. In this work, we studied, using fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, a reversed electric field induced by the strong secondary electron emission during the phase of sheath collapse in a high-voltage rf-driven low pressure CCP glow discharge. We explored the transition behavior of the formation of field reversal as a function of driving voltage amplitude and found that field reversal starts to form at around 750 V, for a discharge with an electrode spacing of 4 cm at 10 mTorr argon pressure driven at 13.56 MHz. Accordingly, the energy distribution function of electrons incident on the electrode shows peaks from around 3 to 10 eV while varying the driving voltage from 150 to 2000 V, showing potentially beneficial effects in plasma material processing where relatively directional electrons are preferred to solely thermal diffusion electrons.

Physics↗

Reducing ion diffusion at atmospheric pressure through intermingled positive and negative ions

Increasing ion molecule reaction times for ambient ionization techniques can increase sensitivity of detection. Longer reaction times result in an increase in analyte signal relative to the reactant ion signal, however with a subsequent decrease in the total ion intensity. This loss in the total number of ions reaching the detector limits the extent to which increased reaction time can improve detection in practical applications. In this study ion loss was measured using either electric fields or gas flow to control ion transit time. Ion transit times ranged from 40 ms to 8s, which resulted in ion densities ranging from 5 x 10 6 to 2 x 10 4 ions/cm 3 , respectively. These results provide insights into practical reaction time limitations or experimental boundaries when exploring sensitivity enhancements in ambient ionization. When exploring longer reaction times with an atmospheric flow tube coupled to a mass spectrometer (AFT-MS), an additional corona discharge ionization source of the same polarity was added in an attempt to increase total ion signal, but no improvement in signal was observed. This observation suggested that there was a maximum ion density being reached by the corona discharge that could not be increased by adding more of the same polarity ions. A hypothesis was that intermingling both polarities of ions would reduce ion loss and increase the measured ion signal. When two corona discharge sources—one each of positive and negative polarity—were used simultaneously in an AFT-MS, the total ion signal of either polarity measured by the MS was approximately double the current from a single corona discharge source. An increase in the negative ion signal was also observed when ~10 parts-per-trillion vapor levels of an explosive (RDX) were introduced. In this case both the nitrate reactant ions and the RDX signal more than doubled with the addition of a corona discharge source producing positive ions. When intermingling positive and negative ions, an increase in ion current was also observed when the AFT was coupled directly to a Faraday detector or to an ion mobility spectrometer. This was the first demonstration of interfacing the AFT to an IMS. The observations and developments from this work will help in creating more portable instruments with improved sensitivity for detection of chemicals.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗