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FeOOH complexed with acetate exploits the stepwise intercalation/conversion and biotic Fe redox, enabling a highly reversible conversion reaction. FeOOH reduction coupled with acetate oxidation after Na ion intercalation gives a solid framework for stable Na ion storage.

The structural, magnetic and magnetostriction properties in CuFe2-xGaxO4 ceramics synthesized by solid state reaction route and sintered at 1000 °C and 1020 °C are reported here. As per the structural analysis based on the Rietveld refinement of XRD patterns and Raman scattering, the samples crystalized into mixed spinel structures with the coexistence of tetragonal and cubic symmetry. The samples sintered at 1000 °C contained the tetragonal structure as the major structural phase, whereas the cubic phase was dominant in the samples sintered at 1020 °C. The Ga ions were found to preferentially substitute the octahedral sites. For x = 0.15 and 0.20 samples sintered at 1020 °C, a colossal grain growth was observed with grain sizes on the millimeter scale. Analysis of magnetization data in terms of fitting to law of approach to saturation revealed an enhancement of saturation magnetization due to Ga substitution. Magnetostriction strain exhibited a correlation with the occupancy of Cu2+ ions in the octahedral sites, signifying local Jahn–Teller distortion of the lattice as the mechanism behind the magnetostriction. High magnetostriction strain (−88 ppm at 5 kOe) with its rapid increase in the low-magnetic field region demonstrated the potential application of Ga-doped CuFe2O4 for magnetoelectric cofired ceramics. The colossal grain size with relatively low density of grain boundaries played an important role in the rapid rise of magnetostriction curve in low-magnetic field region.

In this study, the physicochemical properties of [NH3(CH2)5NH3]ZnCl4 crystals were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The crystals had a monoclinic structure with C2/c space group and lattice constants are a=21.4175 Å, b=7.3574 Å, c=19.1079 Å, β=120.5190°, and Z=8. Phase-transition temperatures in the DSC curve were 256 K, 390 K, and 481 K. Additionally, a small change near 340 K, related to phase transition, was observed in the XRD pattern. NMR studies indicated no change in 1H chemical shifts, but a change in the chemical shifts for C2, located between C1 and C3 of the cation at 340 K. Increase in molecular motion caused an increase in the spin-lattice relaxation time, T1ρ, at low spinning rates, under magic-angle spinning (MAS) rate conditions. The inorganic anion was composed of octahedral BCl6, when the metal ion (B) was Mn, Cu, and Cd, and tetrahedral BCl4, when B was Zn and Co. The coordination geometries of BCl6 and BCl4, connected by N−H∙∙∙Cl hydrogen bonds between Cl and the organic cation, were investigated.

Iron phosphide (FeP) is in the spotlight as a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst due to its cost efficiency, good catalytic activity, and stability within a wide pH range. However, there is still a need to synthesize FeP nanoparticles (NPs) with systematic analysis to improve their catalytic activity. Herein, we report FeP NPs synthesized with various phosphorus sources (TOP, trioctylphosphine; TPP, triphenylphosphite; TEAP, tris(diethylamino)phosphine; and TBP, tri-n-butylphosphine) via phosphorization reaction. We clearly demonstrate that the HER activity of the catalyst based on the FeP phase is dependent on the choice of phosphorus source used in the colloidal NP synthesis. Among the samples, FeP NPs synthesized with TPP achieved the highest HER activity with an overpotential of 76 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4. Our results reveal a critical aspect of colloidal synthesis to achieve enhanced catalytic activity in the synthesis of transition metal phosphide NPs.

Using temperature-dependent Raman scattering, it is demonstrated for the first time that charge density waves can exist in exfoliated monolayer 2H-TaS2 with a phase transition temperature much higher than that in the bulk., Charge density waves spontaneously breaking lattice symmetry through periodic lattice distortion, and electron–electron and electron–phonon inter­actions, can lead to a new type of electronic band structure. Bulk 2H-TaS2 is an archetypal transition metal dichalcogenide supporting charge density waves with a phase transition at 75 K. Here, it is shown that charge density waves can exist in exfoliated monolayer 2H-TaS2 and the transition temperature can reach 140 K, which is much higher than that in the bulk. The degenerate breathing and wiggle modes of 2H-TaS2 originating from the periodic lattice distortion are probed by optical methods. The results open an avenue to investigating charge density wave phases in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides and will be helpful for understanding and designing devices based on charge density waves.

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have recently emerged as promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic alternatives to platinum. Among them, molybdenum phosphide (MoP) has attracted extensive attention due to its high electrical conductivity, good stability, and Pt-like electronic structure; however, there is no systematic comparison of its different colloidal synthetic routes. This study systematically compares two colloidal synthetic methods, one-pot and two-step, for amorphous MoP and the associated morphological changes during their reaction time. The amorphous MoP nanoparticles synthesized via the two-step method within 4 h exhibited the highest HER performance with an overpotential of 177 mV in 0.50 M H2SO4 for a current density of −10 mA cm−2; this might be due to their highly developed Mo-P bondings revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Thus, this work demonstrates that the HER catalytic performance of MoP can be significantly influenced by its synthetic method and reaction time.

This study investigated the causes of microstructural changes and the resultant electrical properties according to the sintering temperature of 0.96(K0.46−xNa0.54−x)Nb0.95Sb0.05O3-0.04Bi0.5(Na0.82K0.18)0.5ZrO3 lead-free ceramics by analyzing the correlation between vacancy concentrations and 2D nucleation. When sintered for 4 h, no grain growth occurred for the x = 0.000 composition over a wide temperature range, demonstrating that the existence of initial vacancies is essential for grain growth. As x increased, that is, as the vacancy concentration increased, the critical driving force (ΔGC) for 2D nucleation decreased, and abnormal grain growth was promoted. The number and size of these abnormal grains increased as the sintering temperature increased, but at sintering temperatures above 1100 °C, they decreased again owing to a large drop in ΔGC. The x = 0.005 specimen sintered at 1085 °C exhibited excellent piezoelectric properties of d33 = 498 pC/N and kp = 0.45 due to the large number of large abnormal grains with an 83% tetragonal phase fraction. The x = 0.000 specimen sintered at 1130 °C with suppressed grain growth exhibited good energy storage properties because of its very high relative density and small grain size of 300 to 400 nm.

Recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs dominates the photocarrier lifetime and then influences the performance of photodetectors and solar cells. In this work, we report the design and fabrication of band-aligned van der Waals-contacted photodetectors with atomically sharp and flat metal-semiconductor interfaces through transferred metal integration. A unity factor α is achieved, which is essentially independent of the wavelength of the light, from ultraviolet to near-infrared, indicating effective suppression of charge recombination by the device. The short-circuit current (0.16 μA) and open-circuit voltage (0.72 V) of the band-aligned van der Waals-contacted devices are at least 1 order of magnitude greater than those of band-aligned deposited devices and 2 orders of magnitude greater than those of non-band-aligned deposited devices. High responsivity, detectivity, and polarization sensitivity ratio of 283 mA/W, 6.89 × 10

Herein, we present the imbibition-induced, spontaneous, and selective wetting characteristics of gallium-based liquid metal alloys on a metallized surface with micro-scale topographical features. Gallium-based liquid metal alloys are fascinating materials that have enormous surface tension; therefore, they are difficult to pattern into films. The complete wetting of eutectic alloy of gallium and indium is realized on microstructured copper surfaces in the presence of HCl vapor, which removes the native oxide from the liquid metal alloy. This wetting is numerically explained based on the Wenzel’s model and imbibition process, revealing that the dimensions of the microstructures are critical for effective imbibition-driven wetting of the liquid metal. Further, we demonstrate that the spontaneous wetting of the liquid metal can be directed selectively along the microstructured region on the metallic surface to create patterns. This simple process enables the uniform coating and patterning of the liquid metal over large areas without an external force or complex processing. We demonstrate that the liquid metal-patterned substrates maintain electrical connection even in a stretched state and after repetitive stretching cycles.

Li

Monolayer MoSe2 is a transition metal dichalcogenide with a narrow bandgap, high optical absorbance and large spin-splitting energy, giving it great promise for applications in the field of optoelectronics. Producing monolayer MoSe2 films in a reliable and scalable manner is still a challenging task as conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or exfoliation based techniques are limited due to the small domains/nanosheet sizes obtained. Here, based on NaCl assisted CVD, we demonstrate the simple and stable synthesis of sub-millimeter size single-crystal MoSe2 monolayers with mobilities ranging from 38 to 8 cm2 V−1 s−1. The average mobility is 12 cm2 V−1 s−1. We further determine that the optical responsivity of monolayer MoSe2 is 42 mA W−1, with an external quantum efficiency of 8.22%.

Mesocrystals are assemblies of smaller crystallites and have attracted attention because of their nonclassical crystallization pathway and emerging collective functionalities. Understanding the mesocrystal crystallization mechanism in chemical routes is essential for precise control of size and microstructure, which influence the function of mesocrystals. However, microstructure evolution from the nucleus stage through various crystallization pathways remains unclear. We propose a unified model on the basis of the observation of two crystallization pathways, with different ferric (oxyhydr)oxide polymorphs appearing as intermediates, producing microstructures of magnetite mesocrystal via different mechanisms. An understanding of the crystallization mechanism enables independent chemical control of the mesocrystal diameter and crystallite size, as manifested by a series of magnetic coercivity measurements. We successfully implement an experimental model system that exhibits a universal crystallite size effect on the magnetic coercivity of mesocrystals. These findings provide a general approach to controlling the microstructure through crystallization pathway selection, thus providing a strategy for controlling magnetic coercivity in magnetite systems., Transient metastable intermediates play an important role in the crystallization process. Here, the authors unveil the microstructural changes in magnetite mesocrystals that depend on the intermediate polymorphism and the universal crystallite size effect on the magnetic coercivity of mesocrystals.

In this study, it is demonstrated that the giant self-biased magnetoelectric (SME) response can be achieved from a center-clamped magnetostrictive–piezoelectric laminate composite by employing magnetic tip masses. An asymmetric laminate structure consisting of two different magnetostrictive layers (Metglas and nickel) with opposite signs of piezomagnetic coefficient is introduced to promote structural bending resonance, and the effect of layout change of attaching the magnetic tip masses on SME responses is systematically investigated. The highest SME effect is observed when all magnetic tip masses are loaded on the Metglas layer and their magnetization directions are normal to the Metglas surface. It is proposed that not only the parallel magnetic domains to external magnetic field but also the non-parallel magnetic domains effectively contribute to the total magnetostriction. The fabricated SME laminates exhibit giant SME voltage coefficients ranging from 14.11 to 52.35 V cm−1 Oe−1, depending on the direction of the fields of the tip magnets. These high SME voltage output values and their controllability are promising for precision field sensors, magnetic energy harvesters and field-tunable devices.

We controlled and observed individual magnetotactic bacteria (Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense) inside a 5 {\mu}m high microfluidic channel for over four hours. After a period of constant velocity, the duration of which varied between bacteria, all observed bacteria showed a gradual decrease in their velocity of about 25 nm/s$^2$. After coming to a full stop, different behaviour was observed, ranging from rotation around the centre of mass synchronous with the direction of the external magnetic field, to being completely immobile. Our results suggest that the influence of the high intensity illumination and the presence of the channel walls are important parameters to consider when performing observations of such long duration., Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures

Despite their distinctive chemical properties, lossy metals are generally avoided in the design of structural colors because the optical losses can degrade the color vibrancy. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy that allows lossy metals supporting near-wavelength dielectric gratings to achieve high color vibrancy by benefiting from the optical loss rather than suffering from it. By exciting the grating rotated 45° relative to the incident field, s-polarized (s-pol) and p-polarized (p-pol) light each excites a spectrally distinct resonance, described by a treatment of coupled waveguide-array modes, that retards the phase over the wavelength. Owing to the birefringence, a cross-polarized reflection spectrum displays two sharp peaks from each component that decreases the monochromaticity. We show that lossy metals can minimize the p-pol contribution, leaving the sharp s-pol response to determine the spectrum and generate high color vibrancy. Through this scheme, we demonstrate that lossy metal substrates including Pt, a catalytically active metal, and W, a CMOS-compatible metal, can achieve larger sRGB gamut coverage ratios of 90% and 69%, respectively, than that of 55% from Ag, while maintaining similar pixel contrast ratios to that of Ag.

PtS2 is a newly developed group 10 2D layered material with high carrier mobility, wide band gap tunability, strongly bound excitons, symmetrical metallic and magnetic edge states, and ambient stability, making it attractive in nanoelectronic, optoelectronic, and spintronic fields. To the aim of application, a large-scale synthesis is necessary. For transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds, a thermally assisted conversion method has been widely used to fabricate wafer-scale thin films. However, PtS2 cannot be easily synthesized using the method, as the tetragonal PtS phase is more stable. Here, we use a specified quartz part to locally increase the vapor pressure of sulfur in a chemical vapor deposition furnace and successfully extend this method for the synthesis of PtS2 thin films in a scalable and controllable manner. Moreover, the PtS and PtS2 phases can be interchangeably converted through a proposed strategy. Field-effect transistor characterization and photocurrent measurements suggest that ...

In this work, we investigated how the electrical and photoelectrical properties of InSe based devices depend on the interfaces made with standard materials such as SiO2, BN, and PMMA. The use of a BN layer is found to not only change the carrier type but also weaken the out-of-plane vibration of InSe. Field-effect transistor devices show a p-type behavior for InSe on SiO2, while for InSe on BN, the majority carriers are electrons. Moreover, due to the weakened electron–phonon interaction the electron mobility of InSe on BN is more than two magnitudes greater than its hole mobility on SiO2. A p–n junction diode is also demonstrated with InSe/SiO2 and InSe/BN with a rectification ratio as high as 102 and a photoresponsivity of 52 A/W, which can be enhanced to 103 and 1.6 × 104 A/W with a PMMA coverlayer. Our results may be useful for the design of high-performance van der Waals heterojunction photodetectors.

Silver-based nanomaterials have been versatile building blocks of various photoassisted energy applications; however, they have demonstrated poor electrochemical catalytic performance and stability, in particular, in acidic environments. Here we report a stable and high-performance electrochemical catalyst of silver telluride (AgTe) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which was synthesized with a nanoporous structure by an electrochemical synthesis method. X-ray spectroscopy techniques on the nanometer scale and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed an orthorhombic structure of nanoporous AgTe with precise lattice constants. First-principles calculations show that the AgTe surface possesses highly active catalytic sites for the HER with an optimized Gibbs free energy change of hydrogen adsorption (-0.005 eV). Our nanoporous AgTe demonstrates exceptional stability and performance for the HER, an overpotential of 27 mV, and a Tafel slope of 33 mV/dec. As a stable catalyst for hydrogen production, AgTe is comparable to platinum-based catalysts and provides a breakthrough for high-performance electrochemical catalysts.

We report the optical phonon shifts induced by phase transition effects of vanadium dioxide (VO2) in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) when interfacing with a VO2 film showing a metal-insulator transition coupled with structural phase transition (SPT). To this end, the monolayer MoS2 directly synthesized on a SiO2/Si substrate by chemical vapor deposition was first transferred onto a VO2/c-Al2O3 substrate in which the VO2 film was prepared by a sputtering method. We compared the MoS2 interfaced with the VO2 film with the as-synthesized MoS2 by using Raman spectroscopy. The temperature-dependent Raman scattering characteristics exhibited the distinct phonon behaviors of the E2g1 and A1g modes in the monolayer MoS2. Specifically, for the as-synthesized MoS2, there were no Raman shifts for each mode, but the enhancement in the Raman intensities of E2g1 and A1g modes was clearly observed with increasing temperature, which could be interpreted by the significant contribution of the interface optical interference effect. In contrast, the red-shifts of both the E2g1 and A1g modes for the MoS2 transferred onto VO2 were clearly observed across the phase transition of VO2, which could be explained in terms of the in-plane tensile strain effect induced by the SPT and the enhancement of electron-phonon interactions due to an increased electron density at the MoS2/VO2 interface through the electronic phase transition. This study provides further insights into the influence of interfacial hybridization for the heterogeneous integration of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides and strongly correlated materials.

Two-dimensional (2D) layered catalysts have been considered as a class of ideal catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) because of their abundant active sites with almost zero Gibbs energy change for hydrogen adsorption. Despite the promising performance, the design of stable and economic electrochemical catalyst based on 2D materials remains to be resolved for industrial-scale hydrogen production. Here, we report layered platinum tellurides, mitrofanovite Pt3Te4, which serves as an efficient and stable catalyst for HER with an overpotential of 39.6 mV and a Tafel slope of 32.7 mV/dec together with a high current density exceeding 7000 mA/cm2. Pt3Te4 was synthesized as nanocrystals on a metallic molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) template by a rapid electrochemical method. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission microscopy revealed that the Pt3Te4 nanocrystals have a unique layered structure with repeated monolayer units of PtTe and PtTe2. Theoretical calculations exhibit that Pt3Te4 with numerous edges shows near-zero Gibbs free-energy change of hydrogen adsorption, which shows the excellent HER performance as well as the extremely large exchange current density for massive hydrogen production.

In this study, composite devices were fabricated using ferromagnetic FeSiB-based alloys (Metglas) and ferroelectric ceramics, and their magnetic field sensitivity was evaluated. Sintered 0.95Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3-0.05Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)O3 (PZT-PMS) ceramic exhibited a very dense microstructure with a large piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g31 = −16.8 × 10−3 VmN−1) and mechanical quality factor (Qm > 1600). Owing to these excellent electromechanical properties of the PZT-PMS, the laminate composite with a Metglas/PZT-PMS/Metglas sandwich structure exhibited large magnetoelectric voltage coefficients (αME) in both off-resonance and resonance modes. When the length-to-width aspect ratio (l/w) of the composite was controlled, αME slightly varied in the off-resonance mode, resulting in similar sensitivity values ranging from 129.9 to 146.81 VT−1. Whereas in the resonance mode, the composite with small l/w exhibited a large reduction of αME and sensitivity values. When controlling the thickness of the PZT-PMS (t), the αME of the composite showed the largest value when t was the smallest in the off-resonance mode, while αME was the largest when t is the largest in the resonance mode. The control of t slightly affected the sensitivity in the off-resonance mode, however, higher sensitivity was obtained as t increased in the resonance mode. The results demonstrate that the sensitivity, varying with the dimensional control of the composite, is related to the mechanical loss of the sensor. The composite sensor with the PZT-PMS layer exhibited excellent magnetic field sensitivity of 1.49 × 105 VT−1 with a sub-nT sensing limit, indicating its potential for application in high-performance magnetoelectric sensor devices.

Recently a SnS2 based NO2 gas sensor with a 30 ppb detection limit was demonstrated but this required high operation temperatures. Concurrently, SnS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition is known to naturally contain nanoscale defects, which could be exploited. Here, we significantly enhance the performance of a NO2 gas sensor based on SnS2 with nanoscale defects by photon illumination, and a detection limit of 2.5 ppb is achieved at room temperature. Using a classical Langmuir model and density functional theory simulations, we show S vacancies work as additional adsorption sites with fast adsorption times, higher adsorption energies, and an order of magnitude higher resistance change compared with pristine SnS2. More interestingly, when electron–hole pairs are excited by photon illumination, the average adsorption time first increases and then decreases with NO2 concentration, while the average desorption time always decreases with NO2 concentration. Our results give a deep understanding of photo-enhanced gas sensing of SnS2 with nanoscale defects, and thus open an interesting window for the design of high performance gas sensing devices based on 2D materials.

In strongly correlated materials (SCMs), especially for vanadium dioxide (VO2), manipulating physical properties through stress engineering is an important issue for the use of ultrafast metal-insulator transition (MIT) in device applications. Recent research efforts have mainly focused on modulation and related phenomena of physical properties by epitaxial and mechanical stresses in VO2 films or anisotropic nanocrystals. However, inhomogeneous stress in such planar and nanocrystal systems leads to complications induced by phase competitions or the creation of intermediate phases. Here, we demonstrate the core-shell heterostructures-enabled stress engineering on MIT, which provides accommodation of uniform axial stress and control of phase transition pathways in VO2 nanobeams. Specifically, the VO2 nanobeams with an amorphous Al2O3 shell undergo a simple and direct MIT at lower temperatures without intermediate phases, distinctly different from pristine nanobeams with coexisting phases. For the core-shell nanobeams, the VO2 core sustains a uniform compressive stress state along the nanobeam length caused by shell formation, which can be attributed to the different thermal behaviors coupled to the elastic modulus between the VO2 and shell. Our results can lead to better engineering of phase transitions in SCMs, providing the beneficial effect of suppressing inhomogeneities during the MIT process.

Recently many novel magnetoresistance (MR) phenomena have been reported from studies of two dimensional (2D) materials. Here, we report on the exotic transport behavior of VS2. A large negative and quadratic MR of −10% is observed for an in-plane magnetic field B up to 14 T. Remarkably, when the applied field deviates from the in-plane orientation there is a threshold field, Bc, and the MR shows a plateau of near zero MR. When B < Bc, only a single state exists and the transition between quantum spin states is forbidden. Our work sheds new light on the MR of magnetic 2D materials with localized states and may spur further investigations.

Li+ intercalates into a pure face-centered-cubic (fcc) C60 structure instead of being adsorbed on a single C60 molecule. This hinders the excess storage of Li ions in Li-ion batteries, thereby limiting their applications. However, the associated electrochemical processes and mechanisms have not been investigated owing to the low electrochemical reactivity and poor crystallinity of the C60 powder. Herein, a facile method for synthesizing pure fcc C60 nanoparticles with uniform morphology and superior electrochemical performance in both half- and full-cells is demonstrated using a 1 m LiPF6 solution in ethylene carbonate/diethyl carbonate (1:1 vol%) with 10% fluoroethylene carbonate. The specific capacity of the C60 nanoparticles during the second discharge reaches ≈750 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 , approximately twice that of graphite. Moreover, by applying in situ X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and first-principles calculations, an abnormally high Li storage in a crystalline C60 structure is proposed based on the vacant sites among the C60 molecules, Li clusters at different sites, and structural changes during the discharge/charge process. The fcc of C60 transforms tetragonal via orthorhombic Lix C60 and back to the cubic phase during discharge. The presented results will facilitate the development of novel fullerene-based anode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Volume changes associated with the (de)lithiation of a nanostructured Ni3Sn2 coated nickel inverse opal scaffold anode create mismatch stresses and strains between the Ni3Sn2 anode material and its mechanically supporting Ni scaffold. Using in operando synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements, elastic strains in the Ni scaffold are determined during cyclic (dis)charging of the Ni3Sn2 anode. These strains are characterized using both the center position of the Ni diffraction peaks, to quantify the average strain, and the peak breadth, which describes the distribution of strain in the measured volume. Upon lithiation (half-cell discharging) or delithiation (half-cell charging), compressive strains and peak breadth linearly increase or decrease, respectively, with charge. The evolution of the average strains and peak breadths suggests that some irreversible plastic deformation and/or delamination occurs during cycling, which can result in capacity fade in the anode. The strain behavior associated with cycling of the Ni3Sn2 anode is similar to that observed in recent studies on a Ni inverse-opal supported amorphous Si anode and demonstrates that the (de)lithiation-induced deformation and damage mechanisms are likely equivalent in both anodes, even though the magnitude of mismatch strain in the Ni3Sn2 is lower due to the lower (de)lithiation-induced contraction/expansion.

The chemical shifts, linewidths, and spin-lattice relaxation times for ammonium and water protons in (NH 4 ) 2 CuBr 4 ·2H 2 O were investigated by 1 H magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) with a focus on the roles of NH 4 + and H 2 O at high temperatures. The changes in the temperature dependence of the data near T d (=360 K) were related to variations of the H environments; the mechanism above T d was related to hydrogen-bond transfer involving breakage of the weak part of the hydrogen bond. The hysteresis effects for the ammonium and water protons in (NH 4 ) 2 CuBr 4 ·2H 2 O by MAS NMR were described with respect to heating and cooling.

For applications in wearable human-device interfaces and optoelectronics, flexible materials capable of supporting spatial and uninterrupted bandgap tunability are of immense value. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the wide bandgap tunability of GaSe nanosheets, with simultaneous PL enhancement, via elastic strain engineering at room temperature. The elastic strain gives rise to a continuously variable electronic band structure profile, with a rate of 40 meV/1%, and a 3-fold enhancement in PL intensity is achieved when a uniaxial strain of 1% is introduced. An additional effect is that a new exciton state arises when the strain is raised beyond 0.6%. This work suggests that strain engineering can effectively modulate/control the generation, separation, transport, and recombination of photo-induced charge carriers in GaSe, making it a valuable material for flexible optoelectronic-mechanical applications.

Ferromagnetic layers exhibiting perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) are essential components in magnetic random access memory cells. Various Co- and Fe-based multilayers (MLs) have been considered because the magnetic properties of MLs can be easily controlled by changing the ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layer thicknesses and number of bilayers. However, MLs generally suffer from the loss of PMA after high-temperature heat treatments (beyond approximately 400 °C) during device processing, which are associated with back-end-of-line device fabrication. Moreover, ML deposition may limit the throughput of the film mass production. Here, we investigate the PMA stability of sputter-deposited CoFeSiB/Pd ML as well as CoFeSiB–Pd co-deposited alloy (CA) films exposed to various annealing temperatures. Although the ML films exhibited PMA, regardless of the annealing temperature up to 500 °C, the CA films started to exhibit strong PMA after 400 °C, which was maintained up to 500 °C. To understand the magnetic property changes, we performed microstructural analyses. The ML films in the as-deposited state exhibited well-defined layered microstructures and evolved into polycrystalline alloys at 500 °C. In contrast, the CA films in the as-deposited state exhibited an amorphous microstructure but transformed into polycrystalline alloys at 500 °C, similar to their ML counterparts. Both Co and Pd, the major constituents of the films, underwent interdiffusion and formed a Co–Pd ordered phase, which contributed to the appearance of PMA.

Monolayer MoSe

A comprehensive understanding of the effect of polymer chain aggregation-induced molecular ordering and the resulting formation of lower excited energy structures in a conjugated polymer on exciton dissociation and recombination at the interface with a wide-bandgap semiconductor is provided through correlation between structural arrangement of the polymer chains and the consequent electrical and optoelectronic properties. A vertical diode-type photovoltaic test probe is combined with a field effect current modulating device and various spectroscopic techniques to isolate the interfacial properties from the bulk properties. Enhanced energy migration in the quasi-ordered (poly(3-hexylthiophene)) (P3HT) film, processed through vibration-induced aggregation of polymer chains in solution state, is attributed to the presence of the aggregation-induced interchain species in which excitons are allowed to migrate through low barrier energy sites, enabling efficient iso-energetic charge transfer followed by the dow...