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The compositional space of high-entropy-alloy nanoparticles (HEA NPs) significantly expands the diversity of the materials library. Every atom in HEA NPs has a different elemental coordination environment, which requires knowledge of the local electronic structure at an atomic level. However, such structure has not been disclosed experimentally or theoretically. We synthesized HEA NPs composed of all eight noble-metal-group elements (NM-HEA) for the first time. Their electronic structure was revealed by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density function theory calculations with NP models. The NM-HEA NPs have a lower degeneracy in energy level compared with the monometallic NPs, which is a common feature of HEA NPs. The local density of states (LDOS) of every surface atom was first revealed. Some atoms of the same constituent element in HEA NPs have different LDOS profiles, whereas atoms of other elements have similar LDOS profiles. In other words, one atom in HEA loses its elemental identity and it may be possible to create an ideal LDOS by adjusting the neighboring atoms. The tendency of the electronic structure change was shown by supervised learning. The NM-HEA NPs showed 10.8-times higher intrinsic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction than commercial Pt/C, which is one of the best catalysts.

We report novel PtW solid-solution nanoparticles (NPs) produced through electrochemical cleaning of core/shell PtW@WO3 NPs. The resulting PtW NPs achieved a record hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)...

A new crystalline lithium-ion conducting material, Li4SnS4 with an ortho-composition, was prepared by a mechanochemical technique and subsequent heat treatment. Synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction was used to analyze the crystal structure, revealing a space group of P63/ mmc and cell parameters of a = 4.01254(4) A and c = 6.39076(8) A. Analysis of a heat-treated hexagonal Li4SnS4 sample revealed that both lithium and tin occupied either of two adjacent tetrahedral sites, resulting in fractional occupation of the tetrahedral site (Li, 0.375; Sn, 0.125). The heat-treated hexagonal Li4SnS4 had an ionic conductivity of 1.1 × 10-4 S cm-1 at room temperature and a conduction activation energy of 32 kJ mol-1. Moreover, the heat-treated Li4SnS4 exhibited a higher chemical stability in air than the Li3PS4 glass-ceramic.

We report on novel solid-solution alloy nanoparticles (NPs) of Ru and Cu that are completely immiscible even above melting point in bulk phase. Powder X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray measurements demonstrated that Ru and Cu atoms were homogeneously distributed in the alloy NPs. Ru0.5Cu0.5 NPs demonstrated higher CO oxidation activity than fcc-Ru NPs, which are known as one of the best monometallic CO oxidation catalysts.

Crystal structure of double-perovskite type BaYMn2O5+δ was studied by high-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD) under precisely controlled oxygen pressure to gain deeper understanding of the remarkable oxygen intake/release capability of this oxide. The in situ SXRD analysis at 750 °C revealed that this oxide undergoes a distinct structural change upon lowering oxygen pressure, from a slightly oxygen-deficient “δ = 1” phase (BaYMn2O5.89; P(O2) = 103 Pa) to an oxygen-vacancy ordered “δ = 0.5” phase (BaYMn2O5.51; P(O2) = 10 Pa). The BaYMn2O5.89 structure (orthorhombic Cmmm) involves statistical distribution of oxygen vacancies within the yttrium plane. Meanwhile, the BaYMn2O5.51 structure (orthorhombic Icma) contains arrays of pyramidal MnO5 and octahedral MnO6 forming an alternate ordering, which is stabilized by a particular Mn3+ orbital ordering with collective displacements of Y3+ arrays. Thus, the discontinuous change in the oxygen content can be attributed to the structural reconstruction ...

Pd(x)Ru(1-x) solid solution alloy nanoparticles were successfully synthesized over the whole composition range through a chemical reduction method, although Ru and Pd are immiscible at the atomic level in the bulk state. From the XRD measurement, it was found that the dominant structure of Pd(x)Ru(1-x) changes from fcc to hcp with increasing Ru content. The structures of Pd(x)Ru(1-x) nanoparticles in the Pd composition range of 30-70% consisted of both solid solution fcc and hcp structures, and both phases coexist in a single particle. In addition, the reaction of hydrogen with the Pd(x)Ru(1-x) nanoparticles changed from exothermic to endothermic as the Ru content increased. Furthermore, the prepared Pd(x)Ru(1-x) nanoparticles demonstrated enhanced CO-oxidizing catalytic activity; Pd0.5Ru0.5 nanoparticles exhibit the highest catalytic activity. This activity is much higher than that of the practically used CO-oxidizing catalyst Ru and that of the neighboring Rh, between Ru and Pd.

An ordered mesoporous MFI zeolite material (Meso-MFI) was prepared by using CMK-type mesoporous carbons as a hard template. The Meso-MFI exhibits both structural and adsorption differences compared to the conventional bulk MFI zeolite. To study the argon (Ar) adsorption process in Meso-MFI, an in situ gas adsorption powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed using synchrotron X-ray source. Structural rearrangement of the mesoporous MFI zeolite upon Ar adsorption at low temperature (83 K) was intensively studied together with Ar adsorption process in Meso-MFI. We observed that a structural transition of the Meso-MFI zeolite framework from monoclinic (P21/n) to orthorhombic (Pnma) occurred at around 126 Pa at 83 K. Positions of Ar atoms are determined as a function of the Ar gas pressure through Rietveld refinement of powder XRD data. Ar atoms are observed at straight channels, sinusoidal channels, and the intersection of these channels at low pressure. As gas pressure increases, Ar atoms in the ...

We have synthesized and characterized homogeneous solid-solution alloy nanoparticles of Pd and Rh, which are immiscible with each other in the equilibrium bulk state at around room temperature. The Pd-Rh alloy nanoparticles can absorb hydrogen at ambient pressure and the hydrogen pressure of Pd-Rh alloys for hydrogen storage is dramatically decreased by more than 4 orders of magnitude from the corresponding pressure in the metastable bulk state. The solid-solution state is still maintained in the nanoparticles even after hydrogen absorption/desorption, in contrast to the metastable bulks which are separated into Pd and Rh during the process.

The structural and bonding nature of Ge1Sb4Te7 is investigated using an X-ray diffraction method and calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT). This material’s crystal is confirmed to have a 12-layered, close-packed cubic stacking structure (P3m1). In this crystal, Te atoms occupy their own specific layers; however, it has been revealed that Ge and Sb atoms are not located in their respective layers but cause partial atomic disordering across other layers. The structure consists of two kinds of NaCl slabs stacked alternately, and the calculations demonstrate that adjacent slabs are connected by a van der Waals-type weak force and that Ge1Sb4Te7 forms a compound semiconductor with a very narrow band gap.

Equilibrium argon adsorption from the gas phase on mesoporous MCM-41 silica of hexagonal structure is directly studied by in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements at SPring-8. The diffraction intensity data is analyzed by extending the previously developed analytical formula for the crystal structure factors of MCM-41 to account for argon adsorbed in the pores. It is clearly observed that argon adsorbs in layers on the pore walls at low gas pressures and exhibits sudden capillary condensation as the gas pressure increased. The proposed method of interpretation of XRD data allows one to calculate the density ratio between the silica wall and condensed argon, the pore size, and the pore wall fluctuation/roughness, together with the thickness of the adsorbed layer as a function of the gas pressure. The results of in situ XRD experiments are compared with the results of argon adsorption volumetric experiments. The adsorption data are interpreted with the quench solid density functional ...

The pore shape and size of MCM-41 were studied analytically by comparing the observed powder X-ray diffraction intensities with that derived from the MCM-41 crystal structure models, with two different pore shapes, a hexagon and a circle. The powder diffraction patterns from the as-synthesized and the calcined MCM-41 were measured by a synchrotron radiation at SPring-8, Japan. The MCM-41 structure with circular and hexagonal pore shapes explains well for the as-synthesized and the calcined MCM-41 crystals, respectively. The pore size and boundary obtained by this approach agree with those obtained from an N2 gas adsorption measurement combined with the Fourier synthesized density map.

GeTe(1-x)-Sb2Te3(x) sputtered amorphous film was crystallized into a simple NaCl-type structure through instantaneous laser irradiation over a wide composition range from x = 0 to at least 2/3. When the ratio of Sb2Te3 increases, a vacancy is generated at every Na site for two Sb atoms. The fraction of vacancies, v(x), changes according to x/(1 + 2x), and the cubic root unit cell volume varies with a strong correlation to v(x). Through these created vacancies, valence electrons provided by adjacent Ge/Sb and Te atoms remain constant regardless of the composition, ensuring that these electrons occupy predominantly the bonding molecular orbitals. This results in crystal chemical stability, with the closed shell p-p bondings in the valence electrons arranging the crystal's atomic configuration into an NaCl-type structure.

Rh and Ag are the elements neighboring Pd, which is well known as a hydrogen-storage metal. Although Rh and Ag do not possess hydrogen-storage properties, can Ag-Rh alloys actually store hydrogen? Ag-Rh solid-solution alloys have not been explored in the past because they do not mix with each other at the atomic level, even in the liquid phase. We have used the chemical reduction method to obtain such Ag-Rh alloys, and XRD and STEM-EDX give clear evidence that the alloys mixed at the atomic level. From the measurements of hydrogen pressure-composition isotherms and solid-state (2)H NMR, we have revealed that Ag-Rh solid-solution alloys absorb hydrogen, and the total amount of hydrogen absorbed reached a maximum at the ratio of Ag:Rh = 50:50, where the electronic structure is expected to be similar to that of Pd.

A new three-dimensional (3-D) jungle-gym-like open metal-organic framework has been synthesized from a two-dimensional (2-D) layer compound using a heterogeneous pillar insertion reaction. Both the starting 2-D layer and the resulting 3-D open compounds have been characterized using X-ray crystallography.

We have synthesized a porous coordination polymer containing a pyridinium cation as an organic linker and have investigated the methanol absorptive ability of the pyridinium cationic surface. The result implies that the pyridinium cationic surface participates in the strong adsorption of methanol.

We have investigated the hydrogen absorption behavior of Pd/Pt nanoparticles with a core/shell-type structure. From the results of the hydrogen pressure−composition (PC) isotherm and solid-state 2H NMR measurements, it was revealed that the Pd/Pt nanoparticles can absorb hydrogen, and most of the absorbed hydrogen atoms are situated around the interfacial region between the Pd core and the Pt shell of the Pd/Pt nanoparticles, indicating that the core/shell boundary plays an important role in the formation of the hydride phase of the Pd/Pt nanoparticles.