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At least 757 records · Page 42

Effect of the Number and Substitution Pattern of Carbazole Donors on the Singlet and Triplet State Energies in a Series of Carbazole-Oxadiazole Derivatives Exhibiting Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

Substitution of a varying number of 9H-carbazole donors onto 2-(pentafluorophenyl)-5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole yields a series of donor–acceptor compounds with similar electrochemical band gaps, but dissimilar optical properties. Each substitution of a carbazole onto the 2- and 4-positions results in a 150–200 meV stabilization of the first singlet excited state, evident in the fluorescent emission. Here, the first triplet excited state is less sensitive to these substitutions, leading to a reduced energy separation between the singlet and triplet states, ΔE ST , with increasing carbazole content. OLED devices made using the donor–acceptor compounds exhibiting the lowest ΔE ST were fabricated and exhibit sky blue emission with an external quantum efficiency of up to 24.4% at a luminance of 10 cd m –2 , and 9.2% at 1000 cd m –2 .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Molybdenum Carbides, Active and In Situ Regenerable Catalysts in Hydroprocessing of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil

We assessed molybdenum carbides as a potential catalyst for fast pyrolysis bio-oil hydroprocessing. Currently, high catalyst cost, short catalyst lifetime, and lack of effective regeneration methods are hampering the development of this otherwise attractive renewable hydrocarbon technology. A series of metal-doped bulk Mo carbides were synthesized, characterized and evaluated in sequential low-temperature stabilization and high-temperature deoxygenation of a pine-derived bio-oil. During a typical 60-h run, Mo carbides were capable of upgrading raw bio-oil to a level suitable for direct insertion into the current hydrocarbon infrastructure with residual oxygen content and total acid number of upgraded oils below 2 wt% and 0.01 mg KOH g-1, respectively. The performance was shown to be sensitive to the type of metal dopant, Ni-doped Mo carbides outperforming Co-, Cu-, or Ca-doped counterparts; a higher Ni loading led to a superior catalytic performance. No bulk oxidation or other significant structural changes were observed. Besides the structural robustness, another attractive property of Mo carbides was in situ regenerability. The effectiveness of regeneration was demonstrated by successfully carrying out four consecutive 60-h runs with a reductive decoking between two adjacent runs. These results strongly suggest that Mo carbides are promising catalytic materials which could lead to a significant cost reduction in hydroprocessing bio-oils. This paper highlights areas for future research which will be needed to further understand carbide structure-function relationships and help design practical bio-oil upgrading catalysts based on Mo carbides.

Choi, Jae-Soon↗

Light-Driven Redox Activation of CO 2 - and H 2 -Activating Complexes in a Self-Assembled Triad

We report a self-assembled triad for artificial photosynthesis composed of a chromophore, carbon-dioxide reduction catalyst, and hydrogen oxidation complex, which is designed to operate without conventional sacrificial redox equivalents. Excitation of the zinc-porphyrin chromophore of the triad results in ultrafast charge transfer between a tungsten-alkylidyne donor and a rhenium diimine tricarbonyl acceptor, producing a charge-separated state that persists on the time scale of tens of nanoseconds and is thermodynamically capable of the primary dihydrogen and carbon dioxide binding steps for initiating the reverse water-gas shift reaction. The charge-transfer behavior of this system was probed using transient absorption spectroscopy in the visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared spectral regions. Here, the behavior of the triad was compared with that of the zinc-porphyrin-rhenium-diimide dyad; the triad was found to have a significantly longer charge-separated lifetime than other previously reported porphyrin-rhenium diimine compounds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Predicted Efficient Visible-Light Driven Water Splitting and Carbon Dioxide Reduction Using Photoredox-Active UiO-NDI Metal Organic Framework

The structural and electronic properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) constructed from stable Zr(IV) oxide-based nodes and naphthalenediimide-based linkers (UiO(Zr)-NDI) can be tuned to make them useful for specific photoredox processes. The NDI linker presents outside, inside, and core positions where functionalization can influence its optical properties, and such substitution in combination with suitable optical band gaps and band edge positions in UiO(Zr)-NDI offers a platform for the design of efficient MOF-based photocatalysts for water splitting and CO 2 reduction. Here, the band gaps and edge positions remain similar for UiO nodes when Zr is substituted with Ti, Th, or Ce. However, in contrast to the case for Zr-, Ti-, and Th-based UiO-NDIs, where photoexcitation remains localized on the NDI linkers owing to the very high energies of unoccupied node-based bands, for UiO(Ce)-NDI, the availability of low-lying empty f orbitals in the metal node offers the potential for energy transfer and exciton migration, which could further boost photocatalytic performance by extending exciton lifetimes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Cerium(IV) Enhances the Catalytic Oxidation Activity of Single-Site Cu Active Sites in MOFs

The rates of catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane and CO are four and twenty times higher, respectively, with Cu supported on a cerium-based MOF than on the structurally analogous zirconium material. Both Ce- and Zr-based copper catalysts feature uncommon threecoordinate CuII sites bearing different nuclearities, as observed by Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. These findings offer molecular-level understanding of the metal-support interface in MOF catalysts and establish correlations with the more established literature on zirconia and ceria-supported heterogeneous catalysis.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Asphericity Can Cause Nonuniform Lithium Intercalation in Battery Active Particles

Uniform intercalation is desired to enable next-generation Li-ion batteries. While we expect nonuniformity in materials undergoing a phase change, single-phase intercalation materials such as nickel manganese cobalt oxide are believed to lithiate uniformly at the particle/electrolyte interface. However, recent imaging reveals nonuniform lithiation. Motivated by this discrepancy, we examine if aspherical particle shape can cause such nonuniformity since the conventional belief is based on spherical particle theory. We obtain real particle geometries using rapid lab-based X-ray computed tomography and subsequently perform physics-based calculations accounting for electrochemical reactions at the particle/electrolyte interface and lithium transport inside the particle bulk. The aspherical geometry breaks the symmetry and causes nonuniform reaction distribution. Such nonuniformity is exacerbated as the particle becomes more aspherical. We report the proposed mechanism represents a fundamental limit on achievable lithiation uniformity in aspherical particles in the absence of other mechanisms causing inhomogeneity, such as grain structure, nonuniform carbon-binder coating, etc.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗