Dopant-vacancy binding effects in Li-doped magnesium hydride

We use a combination of ab initio calculations and statistical mechanics to investigate the substitution of Li+ for Mg2+ in magnesium hydride (MgH2) accompanied by the formation of hydrogen vacancies with positive charge (with respect to the original ion at the site). We show that the binding energy between dopants and vacancy defects leads to a significant fraction of trapped vacancies and therefore a dramatic reduction in the number of free vacancies available for diffusion. The concentration of free vacancies initially increases with dopant concentration but reaches a maximum at around 1 mol % Li doping and slowly decreases with further doping. At the optimal level of doping, the corresponding concentration of free vacancies is much higher than the equilibrium concentrations of charged and neutral vacancies in pure MgH2 at typical hydrogen storage conditions. We also show that Li-doped MgH2 is thermodynamically metastable with respect to phase separation into pure magnesium and lithium hydrides at any significant Li concentration, even after considering the stabilization provided by dopant-vacancy interactions and configurational entropic effects. Our results suggest that lithium doping may enhance hydrogen diffusion hydride but only to a limited extent determined by an optimal dopant concentration and conditioned to the stability of the doped phase.

Structural and electrochemical characteristics of Mg((55-x))Ti(x)Ni((45-y))Pt(y) metal hydride electrodes

In recent years, Mg-Ni-based metastable alloys have been attracting attention due to their large hydrogen sorption capacities, low weight, low cost, and high availability. Despite the large discharge capacity and high activity of these alloys, the accelerated degradation of the discharge capacity after only few cycles of charge and discharge is the main shortcoming against their commercial use in batteries. The addition of alloying elements showed to be an effective way of improving the electrode performance of Mg-Ni-based alloys. In the present work, the effect of Ti and Pt alloying elements on the structure and electrode performance of a binary Mg-Ni alloy was investigated. The XRD and HRTEM revealed that all the investigated alloy compositions had multi-phase nanostructures, with crystallite size in the range of 6 nm. Moreover, the investigated alloying elements demonstrated remarkable improvements of both maximum discharge capacity and cycling life. Simultaneous addition of Ti and Pd demonstrated a synergetic effect on the electrochemical properties of the alloy electrodes. Among the investigated alloys, the best electrochemical performance was obtained for the Mg(51)Ti(4)Ni(43)Pt(2) composition (in at.%), which achieved 448 mAh g(-1) of maximum discharge capacity and retained almost 66% of this capacity after 10 cycles. In contrast, the binary Mg(55)Ni(45) alloy achieved only 248 mAh g(-1) and retained 11% of this capacity after 10 cycles. (C) 2010 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.

Sistemas Nanoestruturados: Heteroestruturas Quasi-Periódicas de Nitretos e Cálculos Ab initio em Polimorfos CaCO3

The physical properties and the excitations spectrum in oxides and semiconductors materials are presented in this work, whose the first part presents a study on the confinement of optical phonons in artificial systems based on III-V nitrides, grown in periodic and quasiperiodic forms. The second part of this work describes the Ab initio calculations which were carried out to obtain the optoeletronic properties of Calcium Oxide (CaO) and Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. For periodic and quasi-periodic superlattices, we present some dynamical properties related to confined optical phonons (bulk and surface), obtained through simple theories, such as the dielectric continuous model, and using techniques such as the transfer-matrix method. The localization character of confined optical phonon modes, the magnitude of the bands in the spectrum and the power laws of these structures are presented as functions of the generation number of sequence. The ab initio calculations have been carried out using the CASTEP software (Cambridge Total Sequential Energy Package), and they were based on ultrasoft-like pseudopotentials and Density Functional Theory (DFT). Two di®erent geometry optimizations have been e®ectuated for CaO crystals and CaCO3 polymorphs, according to LDA (local density approximation) and GGA (generalized gradient approximation) approaches, determining several properties, e. g. lattice parameters, bond length, electrons density, energy band structures, electrons density of states, e®ective masses and optical properties, such as dielectric constant, absorption, re°ectivity, conductivity and refractive index. Those results were employed to investigate the confinement of excitons in spherical Si@CaCO3 and CaCO3@SiO2 quantum dots and in calcium carbonate nanoparticles, and were also employed in investigations of the photoluminescence spectra of CaCO3 crystal

Effect of cerium on structure modifications of a hybrid sol-gel coating, its mechanical properties and anti-corrosion behavior

An organic-inorganic hybrid coating was developed to improve the corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy AA 2024-T3. Organic and inorganic coatings derived from glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and aluminum tri-sec-butoxide Al((OBu)-Bu-s)(3), with different cerium contents, were deposited onto aluminum by dip-coating process. Corrosion resistance and mechanical properties were investigated by electrochemical impedance measurements and nano-indentation respectively. An optimal cerium concentration of 0.01 M was evidenced. To correlate and explain the hybrid coating performances in relation to the cerium content, NMR experiments were performed. It has been shown that when the cerium concentration in the hybrid is higher than 0.01 M there are important modifications in the hybrid structure that account for the mechanical properties and anti-corrosion behavior of the sol-gel coating. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A hydride generation flow system for determination of arsenic and selenium by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

In this work, a preconcentration and separation system based on continuous flow hydride generation is proposed to improve the determination of As and Se by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The generated hydrides are continuously separated from the liquid phase and collected in a chamber containing 250 mul of HCI/HNO3 1:1 (v/v) solution. Hydride generation conditions and collection of the hydrides were evaluated. Under optimised conditions, enrichment factors of 55 for As and 82 for Se were attained. Detection limits of 0.3 mug l(-1) for As and Se were obtained when 20 ml of sample was used. Analysis of a natural water standard reference material from National Institute of Standard and Technology (SRM-1640) was in agreement with the certified values at the 95% confidence level. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of sample treatment for the simultaneous flow injection hydride generation and determination of As, Bi, Sb and Se by GRAS

A new method was developed for the simultaneous determination of As, Bi, Sb, and Se by flow injection hydride generation graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. An alternative two-step sample treatment procedure was used. The sample was heated (80degreesC) for 10 min in 6 M HCl to reduce Se(VI) to Se(IV), followed by the addition of 1% (m/v) thiourea solution to reduce arsenic and antimony from the pentavalent to the trivalent states.With this procedure, all analytes were converted to their most favorable and sensitive oxidation states to generate the corresponding hydrides. The pre-treated sample solution was then processed in the flow system for in situ trapping and atomization in a graphite tube coated with iridium. The impermanent modifier remained stable up to 300 firings and new coating out significant were possible wit changes in the analytical performance.The accuracy was checked for As, Bi, Sb, and Se determination in water standard reference materials NIST 1640 and 1643d and the results were in agreement with the certified values at a 95% confidence level. Good recoveries (94-104%.) of spiked mineral waters and synthetic As(V), Sb(Ill), mixtures of As(Ill), Sb(V), Se(VI), and Se(IV) were also found. Calculated characteristic masses were 32 mug As, 79 mug Bi, 35 mug Sb, and 130 pg Se, and the corresponding limits of detection were 0.06, 0.16, 0.19, and 0.59 mug L-1, respectively. The repeatability for a typical solution containing 5 mug L-1 As, Bi, Sb, and Se was in the 1-3% range.

High-yield direct synthesis of Mg 2FeH 6 from the elements by reactive milling

Magnesium complex hydrides as Mg 2FeH 6 are interesting phases for hydrogen storage in the solid state, mainly due to its high gravimetric and volumetric densities of H2. However, the synthesis of this hydride is not trivial because the intermetallic phase Mg2Fe does not exist and Mg and Fe are virtually immiscible under equilibrium conditions. In this study, we have systematically studied the influence of the most important processing parameters in reactive milling under hydrogen (RM) for Mg 2FeH 6 synthesis: milling time, ball-to-powder weight ratio (BPR), hydrogen pressure and type of mill. Low cost 2Mg-Fe mixtures were used as raw materials. An important control of the Mg 2FeH 6 direct synthesis by RM was attained. In optimized combinations of the processing parameters, very high proportions of the complex hydride could be obtained. © (2011) Trans Tech Publications.

Determinação espectrofotométrica do arsênio em solo da cidade de Santana-AP usando o método do dietilditiocarbamato de prata (SDDC) modificado

Várias toneladas de rejeito de manganês contendo arsênio, gerado por uma empresa de mineração, foram utilizadas como aterro de ruas da cidade de Santana-AP. A possibilidade de exposição das pessoas residentes nessas localidades levou ao estudo de quantificação de arsênio total nos solos. Após a digestão, os teores de arsênio foram quantificados por espectrofotometria de absorção molecular usando um sistema automático de geração de hidretos (HG-MAS), diciclohexilamina/CHCl₃ como solvente do dietilditiocarbamato de prata (SDDC) e KBH₄ como redutor. O método apresentou bons resultados com sensibilidade (ε) de 1,10 10⁴ L.mol^-1.cm^-1, estabilidade de 2,96% e outras vantagens em relação ao método oficial. O método foi aplicado em amostras de referência de solo com recuperação de 98,82 % (N=10). As análises de solos mostraram que do total de amostras analisadas 94,74 % apresentaram concentração de arsênio acima do valor editado pela CETESB para solo residencial (50 mg.kg^-1) com valor médio de 682,96 mg.kg^-1, variando de 48,08 mg.kg^-1 a 1.713,00 mg.kg^-1 que comprova a contaminação do solo pelo arsênio.

Seltenerdkomplexe als Einkomponenten-Initiatoren für die Polymerisation polarer und unpolarer Monomere

Es wird eine Reihe von dimeren Seltenerdhydriden der Zusammensetzung [Ln(C5Me4NCMe2R)(THF)(H)]2 mit Ln= Y,Tb,Er,Lu und R= Me,Et auf ihre Eigenschaften als Polymerisationsinitiatoren untersucht.Die kontrollierte Polymerisation von Styrol ist nach der Bildung der Monoinsertionsprodukte von 1-Olefinen möglich. Dabei ist die Menge des im System verbleibenden THF von entscheidender Bedeutung. Die Insertion des ersten Styrolmoleküls verläuft selektiv sekundär.Es wird eine Korrelation der Polymerisationsgeschwindigkeit mit dem Ionenradius des verwendeten Metalls beobachtet.Die Erzeugung von Blockcopolymeren aus Styrol und tert.-Butylacrylat sowie anderen polaren Monomeren ist auf diesem Weg möglich und wird untersucht. Während die Länge des Polystyrolblocks eingestellt werden kann, verläuft die Polymerisation des Acrylats unkontrolliert. Es bilden sich Blockcopolymere mit einem Blocklängenverhältnis von etwa 1:1sowie Homopoly(tert.-Butylacrylat).Darüber hinaus wird das Verhalten der genannten Hydride sowie mehrerer anderer Seltenerdkompexe (u. a. mit Schiff-Base-Liganden) in der Polymerisation von rac.-beta-Butyrolacton untersucht. Die Hydride polymerisieren rac.-beta-Butyrolacton zu Polymeren mit Molekulargewichten von 10000-20000 g/mol. Gelbildung und Umesterungsreaktionentreten auf. Unter Kühlung ist eine bessere Kontrolle der Reaktion möglich. Die erhaltenen Polymere weisen eine syndiotaktisch angereicherte Mikrostruktur auf.Die Synthese der Schiff-Base-Komplexe erfolgt durch Umsetzung von R(-)-2,2'-Bis(6-tert.-butyl-4-ethylsalicylidenimin)-1,1'-binaphthyl ('LigH2') bzw. (1R,2R)-(-)-1,2-Cyclohexandiamino-N,N'-bis(3,5-di-tert.-butylsalicyliden)('(R,R)-Jacobsen-Ligand') mit Y(N(SiHMe2)2)3(THF)2. Die resultierenden Verbindungen sowie Y(CH2(SiMe3))3(THF)2 sind Initiatoren für die Polymerisation von rac.-beta-Butyrolacton und Lactid. Es wird keine kontrollierte Polymerisation beobachtet. Mit dem Schiff-Base-KomplexLigY(N(SiHMe2)2)(THF) wird bei der Polymerisation von rac.-beta-Butyrolacton eine syndiotaktische Anreicherung von bis zu 75 % s-Diaden erreicht.

Reaktion von Übergangsmetallhydrid-Komplexen mit Tetrylenen und Ein-Elektronen-Reduktion von Halogentetranen

Das Stannylen SnHyp2 (Hyp = Si(SiMe3)3) reagiert mit den Übergangsmetallhydrid-Komplexen Cp2MH2 (Cp = C5H5, M = Mo, W) in einer alpha-Additionsreaktion zu Cp2MSn(H)Hyp2. Ferner bilden sich unter Abspaltung von HSi(SiMe3)3 auch vierkernige Verbindungen der Form [Cp2MSn(H)Hyp]2, welche für M = Mo röntgendiffraktometrisch nachgewiesen wurden. Erhöht man den sterischen Anspruch der Silylreste des Stannylens, so nimmt die Tendenz der Adduktbildung ab, so dass nur die vierkernigen Komplexe nachweisbar sind. Im Fall für SnSit2 (Sit = Si(SiMe3)2SiMe2tBu) konnten sogar Stereoisomere der vierkernigen Verbindungen [Cp2MoSn(H)Sit]2 nachgewiesen werden. Im Gegensatz dazu reagiert das Plumbylen PbHyp2 mit Cp2MoH2 in einer Substitutionsreaktion zu dem nachgewiesenen Cp2Mo(H)Hyp. Bei größer werdendem Silylrest werden andere Reaktionsabläufe bevorzugt. Auf dem Forschungsgebiet der Ein-Elektronen-Reduktion von Halogenstannanen und -plumbanen XER2R´ (X = Halogen; E = Sn, Pb; R = Silylrest; R = Aryl- / Alkylrest) mit dem 19-Elektronen-Komplex Decamethylcobaltocen CoCp*2 (Cp* = C5Me5) konnten Unterschiede zwischen den Verbindungen des Zinns und des Bleis festgestellt werden: Bei der Reduktion von Halogenstannanen fallen die erwarteten Decamethylcobaltocenium-Halogenide [CoCp*2]X aus und ESR-Messungen bestätigen die Anwesenheit von Stannylradikalen, während bei der Reduktion von hypersilylierten Halogenplumbanen unterschiedliche Folgeprodukte entstehen und Plumbylradikale via ESR-Spektroskopie nicht feststellbar sind. Bei alkylhaltigen Halogenplumbanen XPbHyp2R (R = Alkyl) findet eine Spaltung der Pb-C-Bindung statt und es bilden sich Plumbate der Form [CoCp*2][PbHyp2X], während die Reduktion von einem arylhaltigen Halogenplumban IPbHyp2Ph (Ph = Phenyl) das erwartete Decamethylcobaltocenium-Salze ergibt.

The Age-Hardening of Magnesium with Aluminum and Zinc

Magnesium is one of the most active elements and forms oxides, nitrides, and carbides, but not hydrides. Due to its activity, low melting point, low strength when unalloyed, and the difficulty with which it is worked, magnesium has not been and is not at present well developed.

Si(100) versus Ge(100): Watching the interface formation for the growth of III-V-based solar cells on abundant substrates

We investigated the atomic surface properties of differently prepared silicon and germanium (100) surfaces during metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy/chemical vapour deposition (MOVPE/MOCVD), in particular the impact of the MOVPE ambient, and applied reflectance anisotropy/difference spectroscopy (RAS/RDS) in our MOVPE reactor to in-situ watch and control the preparation on the atomic length scale for subsequent III-V-nucleation. The technological interest in the predominant opto-electronic properties of III-V-compounds drives the research for their heteroepitaxial integration on more abundant and cheaper standard substrates such as Si(100) or Ge(100). In these cases, a general task must be accomplished successfully, i.e. the growth of polar materials on non-polar substrates and, beyond that, very specific variations such as the individual interface formation and the atomic step structure, have to be controlled. Above all, the method of choice to grow industrial relevant high-performance device structures is MOVPE, not normally compatible with surface and interface sensitive characterization tools, which are commonly based on ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) ambients. A dedicated sample transfer system from MOVPE environment to UHV enabled us to benchmark the optical in-situ spectra with results from various surfaces science instruments without considering disruptive contaminants. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided direct observation of different terminations such as arsenic and phosphorous and verified oxide removal under various specific process parameters. Absorption lines in Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were used to identify specific stretch modes of coupled hydrides and the polarization dependence of the anti-symmetric stretch modes distinguished different dimer orientations. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) studied the atomic arrangement of dimers and steps and tip-induced H-desorption proved the saturation of dangling bonds after preparati- n. In-situ RAS was employed to display details transiently such as the presence of H on the surface at lower temperatures (T <; 800°C) and the absence of Si-H bonds at elevated annealing temperature and also surface terminations. Ge buffer growth by the use of GeH4 enables the preparation of smooth surfaces and leads to a more pronounced amplitude of the features in the spectra which indicates improvements of the surface quality.

Material demands for storage technologies in a hydrogen economy

A hydrogen economy is needed, in order to resolve current environmental and energy-related problems. For the introduction of hydrogen as an important energy vector, sophisticated materials are required. This paper provides a brief overview of the subject, with a focus on hydrogen storage technologies for mobile applications. The unique properties of hydrogen are addressed, from which its advantages and challenges can be derived. Different hydrogen storage technologies are described and evaluated, including compression, liquefaction, and metal hydrides, as well as porous materials. This latter class of materials is outlined in more detail, explaining the physisorption interaction which leads to the adsorption of hydrogen molecules and discussing the material characteristics which are required for hydrogen storage application. Finally, a short survey of different porous materials is given which are currently investigated for hydrogen storage, including zeolites, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), porous polymers, aerogels, boron nitride materials, and activated carbon materials.

Microstructure of MmM(5)/Mg multi-layer hydrogen storage films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Multi-layer hydrogen storage thin films with Mg and MmNi(3.5)(CoAlMn)(1.5) (here Mm denotes La-rich mischmetal) as alternative layers were prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy investigation shows that the microstructure of the MmNi(3.5)(CoAlMn)(1.5) and Mg layers are significantly different although their deposition conditions are the same. The MmNi(3.5)(CoAlMn)(1.5) layer is composed of two regions: one is an amorphous region approximately 4 nm thick at the bottom of the layer and the other is a nanocrystalline region on top of the amorphous region. The Mg layer is also composed of two regions: one is a randomly orientated nanocrystalline region 50 nm thick at the bottom of the layer and the other is a columnar crystallite region on top of the nanocrystalline region. These Mg columnar crystallites have their [001] directions parallel to the growth direction and the average lateral size of these columnar crystallites is about 100 nm. A growth mechanism of the multi-layer thin films is discussed based on the experiment results. Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Hydrogen storage of magnesium-based nanocomposites system

Hydrogen storage in traditional metallic hydrides can deliver about 1.5 to 2.0 wt pct hydrogen but magnesium hydrides can achieve more than 7 wt pct. However, these systems suffer from high temperature release drawback and chemical instability problems. Recently, big improvements of reducing temperature and increasing kinetics of hydrogenation have been made in nanostructured Mg-based composites. This paper aims to provide an overview of the science and engineering of Mg materials and their nanosized composites with nanostructured carbon for hydrogen storage. The needs in research including preparation of the materials, processing and characterisation and basic mechanisms will be explored. The preliminary experimental results indicated a promising future for chemically stable hydrogen storage using carbon nanotubes modified metal hydrides under lower temperatures.