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At least 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Electron Transfer Between Colloidal ZnO Nanocrystals

Colloidal ZnO nanocrystals capped with dodecylamine and dissolved in toluene can be charged photochemically to give stable solutions in which electrons are present in the conduction bands of the nanocrystals. These conduction-band electrons are readily monitored by EPR spectroscopy, with g* values that correlate with the nanocrystal sizes. Mixing a solution of charged small nanocrystals (e{sub CB}{sup -}:ZnO-S) with a solution of uncharged large nanocrystals (ZnO-L) caused changes in the EPR spectrum indicative of quantitative electron transfer from small to large nanocrystals. EPR spectra of the reverse reaction, e{sub CB}{sup -}:ZnO-L + ZnO-S, showed that electrons do not transfer from large to small nanocrystals. Stopped-flow kinetics studies monitoring the change in the UV bandedge absorption showed that reactions of 50 {micro}M nanocrystals were complete within the 5 ms mixing time of the instrument. Similar results were obtained for the reaction of charged nanocrystals with methyl viologen (MV{sup 2+}). These and related results indicate that the electron-transfer reactions of these colloidal nanocrystals are quantitative and very rapid, despite the presence of {approx}1.5 nm long dodecylamine capping ligands. These soluble ZnO nanocrystals are thus well-defined redox reagents suitable for studies of electron transfer involving semiconductor nanostructures.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Single-Molecule Charge Transport through Positively Charged Electrostatic Anchors

The charge transport in single-molecule junctions depends critically on the chemical identity of the anchor groups that are used to connect the molecular wires to the electrodes. In this research, we report a new anchoring strategy — called the electrostatic anchor here — formed through the efficient Coulombic interaction between the gold electrodes and the positively charged pyridinium terminal groups. Our results show that these pyridinium groups serve as efficient electrostatic anchors forming robust gold–molecule–gold junctions. Here, we have also observed binary switching in dicationic viologen molecular junctions, demonstrating an electron injection-induced redox switching in single-molecule junctions. We attribute the difference in low- and high conductance states to a dicationic ground state and a radical cationic metastable state, respectively. Overall, this anchoring strategy and redox switching mechanism could constitute the basis for a new class of redox-activated single-molecule switches.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tailoring Interfaces for Enhanced Methanol Production from Photoelectrochemical CO 2 Reduction

Efficient and stable photoelectrochemical reduction of CO 2 into highly reduced liquid fuels remains a formidable challenge, which requires an innovative semiconductor/catalyst interface to tackle. In this study, we introduce a strategy involving the fabrication of a silicon micropillar array structure coated with a superhydrophobic fluorinated carbon layer for the photoelectrochemical conversion of CO 2 into methanol. The pillars increase the electrode surface area, improve catalyst loading and adhesion without compromising light absorption, and help confine gaseous intermediates near the catalyst surface. The superhydrophobic coating passivates parasitic side reactions and further enhances local accumulation of reaction intermediates. Upon one-electron reduction of the molecular catalyst, the semiconductor–catalyst interface changes from adaptive to buried junctions, providing a sufficient thermodynamic driving force for CO 2 reduction. These structures together create a unique microenvironment for effective reduction of CO 2 to methanol, leading to a remarkable Faradaic efficiency reaching 20% together with a partial current density of 3.4 mA cm –2 , surpassing the previous record based on planar silicon photoelectrodes by a notable factor of 17. Furthermore, this work demonstrates a new pathway for enhancing photoelectrocatalytic CO 2 reduction through meticulous interface and microenvironment tailoring and sets a benchmark for both Faradaic efficiency and current density in solar liquid fuel production.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Design, Isolation, and Spectroscopic Analysis of a Tetravalent Terbium Complex

Synthetic strategies to glean molecular complexes of high-valent lanthanides, other than the ubiquitous Ce 4+ ion, are exceptionally rare, and thorough, detailed characterization in these systems is limited by complex lifetime and reaction and isolation conditions. The synthesis of high-symmetry complexes in high purity with significant lifetimes in solution and the solid state is essential for determining the role of ligand-field splitting, multiconfigurational behavior, and covalency in governing the reactivity and physical properties of these potentially technologically transformative tetravalent ions. We report the synthesis and physical characterization of an S 4 symmetric, four-coordinate tetravalent terbium complex, [Tb(NP(1,2-bis- t Bu-diamidoethane)(NEt 2 )) 4 ] (where Et is ethyl and t Bu is tert-butyl). The ligand field in this complex is weak and the metal–ligand bonds sufficiently covalent so that the tetravalent terbium ion is stable and accessible via a mild oxidant from the anionic, trivalent, terbium precursor, [(Et 2 O)K][Tb(NP(1,2-bis- t Bu-diamidoethane)(NEt 2 )) 4 ]. The crucial stability of the tetravalent complex enables its thorough characterization. The stepwise development of the supporting ligand points to key ligand control elements for further extending the known tetravalent lanthanide ions in molecular complexes. Magnetic susceptibility, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), and density functional theory studies indicate a 4ƒ 7 ground state for [Tb(NP(1,2-bis- t Bu-diamidoethane)(NEt 2 )) 4 ] with considerable zero-field splitting, demonstrating that magnetic, tetravalent lanthanide ions engage in covalent metal–ligand bonds. This result has significant implications for the use of tetravalent lanthanide ions in magnetic applications since the observed zero-field splitting is intermediate between that observed for the trivalent lanthanides and for the transition metals. The similarity of the multiconfigurational behavior in the ground state of [Tb(NP(1,2-bis- t Bu-diamidoethane)(NEt 2 )) 4 ] (measured by Tb L 3 -edge XAS) to that observed in TbO 2 implicates ligand control of multiconfigurational behavior as a key component of the stability of the complex.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

The Distribution of Ti3+ Surface Sites in Reduced TiO2

We describe a DFT+U study of the (110) rutile surface with oxygen vacancies (Ov). Oxygen vacancies leave behind two excess unpaired electrons per Ov the formation of two Ti3+ ions. We investigate the location of the Ti3+ ions within the first three surface layers. In total we obtained 49 unique solutions of possible Ti3+ pairs, to examine the stability of all Ti types (e.g. five-coordinated surface Ti, six-coordinated surface Ti, sub-surface sites, etc.). Our results show that sub-surface sites are preferred, but that many configurations are close in energy, up to 0.3-0.4 eV of each other. In contrast to findings in previous work, we show that sites directly adjacent to the Ov are unstable. Analysis of our results show that the two Ti3+ ions within a pair behave independent of each other, as there are little electronic interactions between the excess electrons associated with these sites. We also examined the migration of Ti3+ sites from the surface into the bulk and find the surface locations to be preferred by ~ 0.5 eV relative to the bulk. Our systematic results provide a comprehensive picture of excess electrons that indicates that they are not trapped or localized at specific sites, but are distributed across several sites due to nearly degenerate Ti3+ states. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences' Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

Hydration Shell Structure and Dynamics of Curium(III) in Aqueous Solution: First Principles and Empirical Studies

Results of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations of Cm3+ in liquid water at a temperature of 300 K are reported. The AIMD simulation was based on the Car-Parrinello MD scheme and GGA-PBE formulation of density functional theory. Two QM/MM simulations were performed by treating Cm3+ and the water molecules in the first shell quantum mechanically using the PBE (QM/MM-PBE) and the hybrid PBE0 density functionals (QM/MM-PBE0). Two CMD simulations were carried out using ab initio derived pair plus three-body potentials (CMD-3B) and empirical Lennard-Jones pair potential (CMD-LJ). The AIMD and QM/MM-PBE simulations predict average first shell hydration numbers of 8, both of which disagree with recent experimental EXAFS and TRLFS value of 9. On the other hand, the average first shell hydration numbers obtained in the QM/MM-PBE0 and CMD simulations was 9, which agrees with experiment. All the simulations predicted a average first shell and second shell Cm-O bond distances of 2.49-2.53 Å and 4.67-4.75 Å respectively, both of which are in fair agreement with corresponding experimental values of 2.45-2.48 Å and 4.65 Å. The average geometric arrangement of the eight-fold and nine-fold coordinated first shell structures corresponded to the square anti-prism and tricapped trigonal prisms respectively. The second shell hydration number for AIMD QM/MM-PBE, QM/MM-PBE0, CMD-3B, and CMD-LJ, were 15.8, 17.2, 17.7, 17.4, and 16.4 respectively, which indicates second hydration shell over-coordination compared to recent EXAFS experimental value of 13. Save the EXAFS spectra CMD-LJ simulation, all the computed EXAFS spectra agree fairly well with experiment and a clear distinction could not be made between configurations with 8-fold and 9-fold coordinated first shells. The mechanisms responsible for the first shell associative and dissociative ligand exchange in the classical simulations have been analyzed. The first shell mean residence time is predicted to be on the nanosecond timescale. The computed diffusion constants of Cm3+ and water are in good agreement with experimental data.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

First-principles characterization of potassium intercalation in the hexagonal 2H-MoS2

Periodic density functional theory calculations were performed to study the structural and electronic properties of potassium intercalated into hexagonal MoS{sub 2} (2H-MoS{sub 2}). Metallic potassium (K) atoms are incrementally loaded in the hexagonal sites of the interstitial spaces between MoS2 sheets of the 2H-MoS{sub 2} bulk structure generating 2H-KxMoS2 (0.125 {<=} x {<=} 1.0) structures. To accommodate the potassium atoms, the interstitial spacing c parameter in the 2H-MoS{sub 2} bulk expands from 12.816 {angstrom} in 2H-MoS{sub 2} to 16.086 {angstrom} in 2H-K{sub 0.125}MoS{sub 2}. The second lowest potassium loading concentration (K{sub 0.25}MoS{sub 2}) results in the largest interstitial spacing expansion (to c = 16.726 {angstrom}). Our calculations show that there is a small gradual contraction of the interstitial spacing as the potassium loading increases with c = 14.839 {angstrom} for KMoS{sub 2}. This interstitial contraction is correlated with an in-plane expansion of the MoS{sub 2} sheets, which is in good agreement with experimental X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The electronic analysis shows that potassium readily donates its 4s electron to the conduction band of the 2H-K{sub x}MoS{sub 2}, and is largely ionic in character. As a result of the electron donation, the 2H-K{sub x}MoS{sub 2} system changes from a semiconductor to a more metallic system with increasing potassium intercalation. For loadings 0.25 {<=} x {<=} 0.625, triangular Mo-Mo-Mo moieties are prominent and tend to form rhombitrihexagonal motifs. Intercalation of H{sub 2}O molecules that solvate the K atoms is likely to occur in catalytic conditions. The inclusion of two H{sub 2}O molecules per K atom in the K{sub 0.25}MoS{sub 2} structure shows good agreement with XRD measurements.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Band-Gap Engineering of Carbon Nanotubes with Grain Boundaries

Structure and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with grain boundaries (GBs) are investigated using density-functional calculations, where the GBs parallel and perpendicular to the tube axis are considered. Simulation results show that the GBs have a great effect on the electronic properties of the CNTs. For the GBs along the tube axis, the CNTs are narrow or zero band gap (<0.16 eV) materials, independent of the misorientation angle and diameter. For the GBs perpendicular to the tube axis, localized electronic states appear within the GBs regions, leading to a larger band gap of up to 0.6 eV. It is convenient to transport and localize the electrons and holes by engineering the GBs. These findings are of great significance for developing carbon-based nanomaterials and electronic devices.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Novel Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Graphene Nanoflakes in a Boron Nitride Layer

Novel electronic and magnetic properties of various-sized graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) embedded in a boron nitride (BN) layer are studied using ab initio methods. The feasibility of synthesizing hybrid GNF-BN structure, a desirable quantum dot structure, is explored. In this structure, photoexcited electrons and holes occupy the same spatial region - the GNF region - which offers an effective way to generate a GNF-based light-emitting device and adjust its emitted optical properties by controlling the size and array of GNF in the BN layer. Based on the important magnetism properties of embedded GNF, we propose a specific configuration to obtain a large spin. Together with the high stability of spin alignment, the proposed configuration can be exploited for spintronic devices.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Study of Ion Specific Interactions of Alkali Cations with Dicarboxylate Dianions

Alkali metal cations often show pronounced ion specific interactions and selectivity with macromolecules in biological processes, colloids, and interfacial sciences, but a fundamental understanding about the underlying microscopic mechanism is still very limited. Here we report a direct probe of interactions between alkali metal cations (M{sup +}) and dicarboxylate dianions, O{sub 2}C(CH{sub 2})nCO{sub 2} (D{sub n}{sup 2-}) in the gas phase by combined photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and ab initio electronic structure calculation on nine M{sup +}-D{sub n}{sup 2-} complexes (M = Li, Na, K; n = 2, 4, 6). PES spectra show that the electron binding energy (EBE) decreases from Li{sup +} to Na{sup +} to K{sup +} for complexes of M{sup +}-D{sub 2}{sup 2-}, whereas the order is Li{sup +} <Na{sup +} {approx} K{sup +} when M{sup +} interacts with a more flexible D{sub 6}{sup 2-} dianion. Theoretical modeling suggests that M{sup +} prefers to interact with both ends of the carboxylate -COOO{sup -} groups by bending the flexible aliphatic backbone, and the local binding environments are found to depend upon dicarboxylate size n and the specific cation M{sup +}. The observed variance of EBEs reflects how well a specific dicarboxylate dianion accommodates each M{sup +}. This work demonstrates the delicate interplay among several factors (electrostatic interaction, size matching, and strain energy) that likely play critical roles in determining the structures and energetics of gaseous clusters as well as ion specificity and selectivity in solutions and biological systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

Photodetachment of Isolated Bicarbonate Anion: Electron Binding Energy of HCO3-

We report the first direct photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy of HCO3 in the gas phase under low temperature conditions. The observed photoelectron spectra are complicated due to excitations of manifolds in both vibrational and electronic states. A long and single vibrational progression with a frequency of 530 ± 20 cm-1 is partially resolved in the threshold of the T=20 K, 266 nm spectrum. The adiabatic electron detachment energy (ADE) of HCO3, or in other words the electron affinity (EA) of neutral HCO3, is experimentally determined from the (0-0) transition to be 3.680 ± 0.015 eV. High-level ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T) level of theory produce an anharmonic frequency of 546 cm-1 for HCO3 and a value of 3.62 eV for the (0,0) transition, both in excellent agreement with the experimentally determined values.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Direct Imaging of Site-Specific Photocatalytic Reactions of O2 on TiO2(110)

Photo-stimulated reactions on TiO2 have attracted much attention due to the variety of potential applications ranging from a hydrogen production by water splitting to environmental remediation through organic pollutant oxidation.[1,2] In the majority of these processes the oxygen plays a crucial role, serving as a simplest oxidizing reagent and/or as an electron scavenger.[3,4] Hence, the physicochemical properties of O2 adsorbed on rutile TiO2(110) (model oxide surface) has been extensively investigated,[7-13] and, in particular, the chemisorbed O2 molecules have been recently imaged by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).[14-16] While the O2 desorption from rutile TiO2(110) is the most comprehensively studied photoreaction on TiO2 (by traditional ensemble-averaging techniques), details of its mechanism are still far from being understood. On a basis of extensive research of photostimulated desorption (PSD) of O2 from TiO2(110) by ultraviolet (UV) light, Yates and co-workers have developed a hole-mediated desorption model.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2012

Entangled valence electron-hole dynamics revealed by stimulated attosecond x-ray Raman scattering

We show that broadband x-ray pulses can create wavepackets of valence electrons and holes localized in the vicinity of a selected atom (nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur in cysteine) by resonant stimulated Raman scattering. The subsequent dynamics reveals highly correlated motions of entangled electrons and hole quasiparticles. This information goes beyond the time-dependent total charge density derived from x-ray diffraction.

attosecond↗
DOE OSTI2016

Influence of orbital symmetry on diffraction imaging with rescattering electron wave packets

The ability to directly follow and time-resolve the rearrangement of the nuclei within molecules is a frontier of science that requires atomic spatial and few-femtosecond temporal resolutions. While laser-induced electron diffraction can meet these requirements, it was recently concluded that molecules with particular orbital symmetries (such as pg) cannot be imaged using purely backscattering electron wave packets without molecular alignment. Here, we demonstrate, in direct contradiction to these findings, that the orientation and shape of molecular orbitals presents no impediment for retrieving molecular structure with adequate sampling of the momentum transfer space. We overcome previous issues by showcasing retrieval of the structure of randomly oriented O 2 and C 2 H 2 molecules, with π g and π u symmetries, respectively, and where their ionization probabilities do not maximize along their molecular axes. As a result, while this removes a serious bottleneck for laser-induced diffraction imaging, we find unexpectedly strong backscattering contributions from low-Z atoms.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Synchronous RNA conformational changes trigger ordered phase transitions in crystals

Time-resolved studies of biomacromolecular crystals have been limited to systems involving only minute conformational changes within the same lattice. Ligand-induced changes greater than several angstroms, however, are likely to result in solid-solid phase transitions, which require a detailed understanding of the mechanistic interplay between conformational and lattice transitions. Here we report the synchronous behavior of the adenine riboswitch aptamer RNA in crystal during ligand-triggered isothermal phase transitions. Direct visualization using polarized video microscopy and atomic force microscopy shows that the RNA molecules undergo cooperative rearrangements that maintain lattice order, whose cell parameters change distinctly as a function of time. The bulk lattice order throughout the transition is further supported by time-resolved diffraction data from crystals using an X-ray free electron laser. The synchronous molecular rearrangements in crystal provide the physical basis for studying large conformational changes using time-resolved crystallography and micro/nanocrystals.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Probing atomic physics at ultrahigh pressure using laser-driven implosions

Abstract Spectroscopic measurements of dense plasmas at billions of atmospheres provide tests to our fundamental understanding of how matter behaves at extreme conditions. Developing reliable atomic physics models at these conditions, benchmarked by experimental data, is crucial to an improved understanding of radiation transport in both stars and inertial fusion targets. However, detailed spectroscopic measurements at these conditions are rare, and traditional collisional-radiative equilibrium models, based on isolated-atom calculations and ad hoc continuum lowering models, have proved questionable at and beyond solid density. Here we report time-integrated and time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy measurements at several billion atmospheres using laser-driven implosions of Cu-doped targets. We use the imploding shell and its hot core at stagnation to probe the spectral changes of Cu-doped witness layer. These measurements indicate the necessity and viability of modeling dense plasmas with self-consistent methods like density-functional theory, which impact the accuracy of radiation transport simulations used to describe stellar evolution and the design of inertial fusion targets.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Gas phase synthesis of the C40 nano bowl C 40 H 10

Nanobowls represent vital molecular building blocks of end-capped nanotubes and fullerenes detected in combustion systems and in deep space such as toward the planetary nebula TC-1, but their fundamental formation mechanisms have remained elusive. By merging molecular beam experiments with electronic structure calculations, we reveal a complex chain of reactions initiated through the gas-phase preparation of benzocorannulene (C 24 H 12 ) via ring annulation of the corannulenyl radical (C 20 H 9 • ) by vinylacetylene (C 4 H 4 ) as identified isomer-selectively in situ via photoionization efficiency curves and photoion mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectra. In silico studies provided compelling evidence that the benzannulation mechanism can be expanded to pentabenzocorannulene (C 40 H 20 ) followed by successive cyclodehydrogenation to the C40 nanobowl (C 40 H 10 ) – a fundamental building block of buckminsterfullerene (C 60 ). This high-temperature pathway opens up isomer-selective routes to nanobowls via resonantly stabilized free-radical intermediates and ring annulation in circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars and planetary nebulae as their descendants eventually altering our insights of the complex chemistry of carbon in our Galaxy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗