We propose a simple phenomenological model describing vibrational dynamics in a class of materials (like clathrates), which are crystalline compounds with closed cavities in their structures. In the spirit of a minimalist approach, our model includes only the minimum of ingredients necessary to capture the generic features of this class of compounds as brought to light by experiments. We consider only two kinds of particles: strongly coupled host atoms, which form the structural cavities, and guest atoms confined in the cavities. In spite of the confinement, for relatively small amplitude vibrations of the guest atoms, their interaction with the host particles is assumed to be weaker than between the host atoms. We calculate self-consistently the vibrational mode (phonon) line broadenings for the empty and filled (by the guest atoms) cavities. We show that the soft phonon dispersion sheet, which appears for weakly bonded guest atoms, yields to large mode broadening via three waves anharmonic mode coupling. In turn the Umklapp part of this broadening reduces drastically the phonon thermoconductivity coefficient. We conclude that for a system with a soft mode component in the vibrational spectrum phonon broadening is always larger and thermal conductivity is always appreciably smaller than for a system without this soft mode (provided all other characteristics are the same). Although our model is minimal, in the sense of ignoring the complexity of actual guest-host structures, when properly interpreted, it can yield quite reasonable values for a variety of measurable quantities.
A simple model shows how it is possible to create a gap in the vibrational spectrum of a one-dimensional lattice. The proposed model is a host-guest chain having, instead of point-like masses connected by spring, massive cages hosting particles inside. We imagine the cage as a rigid box containing a mass linked by a spring to the box inner wall. The presence of guests creates an energy gap in the dispersion of vibrational frequencies. The gap is about the internal resonance of the mass hidden in the cage.
Discovery of the incommensurate structure in the element Ba under pressure 15 years ago was followed by findings of a series of similar structures in other compressed elements. Incommensurately modulated structures of the host-guest type consist of a tetragonal host structure and a guest structure. The guest structure forms chains of atoms embedded in the channels of host atoms so that the axial ratio of these subcells along the c axis is not rational. Two types of the host-guest structures have been found so far: with the host cells containing 8 atoms and 16 atoms; in these both types the gue…
Directly imaging the configurations of small molecules at the ambient temperatures will greatly promote the study of their chemical and physical properties, including the host-guest interactions of organics in porous materials during the adsorption, catalysis and energy storage. However, due to the current challenges on the small-molecule imaging by the (scanning) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM), we still have a lack of the molecular-level understandings on the host-guest interactions and other molecular behaviors. Here, we achieved the STEM imaging of various small aromatics confine…
In this paper, we study chain melting state in the commensurate host-guest structure of calcium. We trained a NN (neural network) force field with DeepMD-kit, and by implementing classical simulations, we found that the convergence of z-proejcted MSD of guest atoms needs at least 8192-atom supercell. We ascribe the origination of chain melting to the phase transition at 600 K, in which the arrangement of guest chains transform from a checkerboard pattern to a stripe pattern, and the energy barrier of sliding chains against each other is obviously reduced. We also found that the chain melting s…
We develop an analytical model to describe the phonon dispersion relations of host-guest lattices with heavy guest atoms (rattlers). Crucially, the model also accounts for phonon damping arising from anharmonicity. The spectrum of low energy states contains acoustic-like and (soft) optical-like modes, which display the typical avoided crossing, and which can be derived analytically by considering the dynamical coupling between host lattice and guest rattlers. Inclusion of viscous anharmonic damping in the model allows us, for the first time, to compute the vibrational density of states (VDOS) …
Cucurbiturils are particularly interesting to chemists, because these macrocyclic molecules are suitable hosts for an array of neutral and cationic species. It is believed that the host-guest binding originated from hydrophobic interactions and ion-dipole interactions in the case of cationic guests. The fact that an elementary unit of cucurbiturils consists of two fused imidazole rings, which ionize readily, has remained largely unnoticed up to now. This work reports ionized cucurbiturils and their binding to C60 fullerene using versatile electronic-precision description. The methodology is ba…
Host-guest interactions govern the chemistry of a broad range of functional materials. However, the weak bonding between host and guest prevents atomic-resolution studies of their structure and chemistry using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This problem is exacerbated in metal-organic frameworks (MOF), in which the host framework is easily damaged by the electron beam. Here, we use cryogenic-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to simultaneously address these two challenges and resolve the atomic surface structure of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) and its interaction with guest CO2 m…
Perovskite light emitting devices have drawn considerable attention for their favorable optoelectronic properties. High carrier mobilities make perovskites excellent candidates as host materials in electroluminescent devices. To achieve high performance in a simple single layer device, we employed a CsPbBr3 perovskite host and a novel ionic iridium complex guest along with a polyelectrolyte to demonstrate efficient light emitting electrochemical cells (PeLECs). For an optimal guest/host blend, 10600 cd/m2 luminance at 11.6 cd/A and 9.04 Lm/W are achieved at 4.1 V. These devices showed voltage-…
We have investigated the structural properties and dynamical stability of C$_3$N$_2$ hosting hydrogen as a guest atom. The calculations were performed using the density functional theory (DFT) as implemented in Quantum espresso code. The generalized gradient approximation approach was used throughout the calculations presented here. We find that the guest atom leaves the lattice constant of the host almost unchanged. We, therefore, noted that C$_3$N$_2$ remains dynamically stable when a single guest atom is inserted into its cage-like structure. We also established that the guest vibrational m…
We use Density Functional Theory (DFT) and structure searching methods to show that the ground state of elemental sulfur is a Barium-IVa type incommensurate host-guest (HG) phase between $386$-$679$ GPa, becoming the first group-VI element predicted to possess such a structure. Within the HG phase, sulfur undergoes a series of transitions in which adjacent guest chains are not aligned but rather offset by different amounts, which can be described as a rearrangement of the stacking order of the chains. We show that these chain rearrangements are intimately coupled to modulations of the host and…
At high pressure, bismuth acquires a complex incommensurate host-guest structure, only recently discovered. Characterizing the structure and properties of this incommensurate phase from first principles is challenging owing to its non-periodic nature. In this study we use large scale DFT calculations to model commensurate approximants to the Bi-III phase, and in particular to describe the atomic modulations with respect to their ideal positions, shown here to strongly affect the electronic structure of the lattice and its stability. The equation of state and range of stability of Bi-III are re…
Mechanoluminescent materials have a wide range of promising nanotechnological applications, such as photonics based sensors and smart optoelectronics. Examples of mechanoluminescent metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, however, are relatively scarce in the literature. Herein, we present a previously undescribed Guest@MOF system, comprising Perylene@ZIF-8 nanoplates which will undergo a reversible 442 nm <->502 nm photoemission switching when subject to a moderate level of mechanically induced pressure (~10s MPa). The nanoplates were synthesized via a high-concentration reaction (HCR) strat…
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can provide exceptional porosity for molecular guest encapsulation useful for emergent applications in sensing, gas storage, drug delivery and optoelectronics. Central to the realisation of such applications however is the successful incorporation of a functional guest confined within the host framework. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, the feasibility of scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and nano-Fourier transform infrared (nanoFTIR) spectroscopy, in concert with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to reveal the vi…
Carbene-metal-amide type photoemitters based on CF$_3$-substituted carbazolate ligands show sky-blue to deep-blue photoluminescence from charge-transfer excited states. They are suitable for incorporation into organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by thermal vapour deposition techniques, either embedded within a high-triplet-energy host, or used host-free. We report high-efficiency OLEDs with emission ranging from yellow to blue (Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates from [0.35, 0.53] to [0.17, 0.17]). The latter show a peak electroluminescence external quantum efficiency …
Elucidating Guest-Host Mechanisms in ZIF-L for Tuneable Highly Luminescent 2D Materials
University of Oxford（牛津大学）；University of Turin（都灵大学）；Attocube Systems AG（阿托库伯系统股份公司）；Universidad de Alicante（阿利坎特大学）；Diamond Light Source Ltd.（钻石光源有限公司）
We present a systematic study of thermal conductivity, specific heat, electrical resistivity, thermopower and x-ray diffraction measurements performed on single-crystalline samples of the pseudoquaternary type-I clathrate system Sr8Ga16Si30-xGex, in the full range of 0 < x < 30. All the samples show metallic behavior with n-type majority carriers. However, the thermal conductivity and specific heat strongly depend on x. Upon increasing x from 0 to 30, the lattice parameter increases by 3%, from 10.446 to 10.726 A, and the localized vibrational energies of the Sr guest ions in the tetrakaidekah…
Outstanding functional tunability underpinning metal-organic framework (MOF) confers a versatile platform to contrive next-generation chemical sensors, optoelectronics, energy harvesters and converters. We report a rare exemplar of a porous 2D nanosheet material, constructed from an extended 3D MOF structure. We develop a rapid supramolecular self-assembly methodology at ambient conditions, to synthesize readily-exfoliatable MOF nanosheets, functionalized in situ by adopting the Guest@MOF (Host) strategy. Nanoscale confinement of light-emitting molecules (as functional guest) inside the MOF po…
The aging phenomena occurring in the course of cycling processes in the insertion host-guest compounds are discussed in the framework of a simple model. It takes into account two types of effects. One can be attributed to modifications of the host/guest solution interface in a form of an effective energetic barrier. The other is associated with the host matrix disordering that is translated into a change in the distribution of the host site energies as a function of the applied potential or the concentration of the guest species. It is found that the aging properties depend on the preparation …
Accurate Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials for Polyacene Molecular Crystals: Application to Single Molecule Host-Guest Systems
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter（马克斯·普朗克固体研究和光谱学研究所）；Center for Free-Electron Laser Science（自由电子激光科学中心）；Initiative for Computational Catalysis (ICC)（计算催化倡议）；The Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）
Between 19 and 54 GPa, potassium has a complex composite incommensurate host-guest structure which undergoes two intraphase transitions over this pressure range. The temperature dependence of these host-guest phases is further complicated by the onset of an order-disorder transition in their guest chains. Here, we report single crystal, quasi-single crystal, and powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements of this order-disorder phenomenon in incommensurate potassium to 47 GPa and 750 K. The so-called chain "melting" transition is clearly visible over a 22 GPa pressure range, and there ar…
Silicon in a cubic diamond structure currently plays a significant role in the photovoltaic industry. However, the intrinsic band structures of crystalline silicon restrict its sunlight conversion efficiency. Recently, a clathrate-like Si-24 has been successfully synthesized, which has a quasi-direct bandgap and sheds light on silicon-based photovoltaics. Here, we proposed a two-step crystal structure search method based on first-principles calculations and explored silicon clathrate structures extensively. First, the guest-host compounds were searched at high pressure, and then, the porous gu…
A straightforward means to include explicit hydrogen bonds within the Universal Force Field is presented. Instead of treating hydrogen bonds as non-bonded interaction subjected to electrostatic and Lennard-Jones potentials, we introduce an explicit bond with negligible bond order, thus maintaining the structural integrity of the H-bonded complexes and avoiding the necessity to assign arbitrary charges to the system. The explicit hydrogen bond changes the coordination number of the acceptor site and the approach is thus most suitable for systems with under-coordinated atoms, such as many metal-…
The real-space imaging of small molecules is always challenging under the electron microscopes, but highly demanded for investigating various nanoscale interactions, such as hydrogen bond and van der Waals (vdW) force. Especially, identifying the host-guest interactions in porous materials directly at the molecular level will bring a deeper insight into the behaviors of guest molecules during the sorption, catalysis, gas separation and energy storage. In this work, we directly resolved the ordered configurations of p-xylenes (PXs) adsorbed in ZSM-5 frameworks by the scanning transmission elect…
Recently, a host/guest clathrate SrB3C3 with sp3-bonded boron-carbon framework was synthesized at around 50 GPa. On the basis of electron count, the structure is understood as guest Sr2+ cations intercalated in the (B3C3)3- framework. Previous calculations suggest that SrB3C3 is a hole conductor with an estimated superconducting critical temperature (Tc) of 42 K at ambient pressure. If atoms with similar radius, such as Rb, can substitute Sr2+ in the lattice, the electronic as well as superconductivity properties of this material will be modified significantly. Here, we perform extensive simul…
We compare the magnetic and electronic configuration of single Mn atoms in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown Bi$_2$Se$_3$ thin films, focusing on electron paramagnetic (ferromagnetic) resonance (EPR and FMR, respectively) and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) reveal the expected increase of disorder with increasing concentration of magnetic guest atoms, however, Kikuchi patterns show that disorder consists majorly of mum-scale 60deg twin domains in the hexagonal Bi$_2$Se$_3$ structure, which are …
The anharmonic phonon properties of type-I filled inorganic clathrates Ba8 Ga16 Ge30 and Sr8 Ga16 Ge30 are obtained from the first-principles calculations by considering the temperature-dependent sampling of the potential energy surface and quartic phonon renormalization. Owing to the weak binding of guest atoms with the host lattice, the obtained guest modes undergo strong renormalization with temperature and become stiffer by up to 50% at room temperature in Sr8Ga16Ge30. The calculated phonon frequencies and associated thermal mean squared displacements are comparable with experiments despit…
We demonstrate how machine-learning based interatomic potentials can be used to model guest atoms in host structures. Specifically, we generate Gaussian approximation potential (GAP) models for the interaction of lithium atoms with graphene, graphite, and disordered carbon nanostructures, based on reference density-functional theory (DFT) data. Rather than treating the full Li--C system, we demonstrate how the energy and force differences arising from Li intercalation can be modeled and then added to a (prexisting and unmodified) GAP model of pure elemental carbon. Furthermore, we show the ben…
A series of fluorescein-encapsulated zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (fluorescein@ZIF-8) luminescent nanoparticles with a scalable guest loading has been fabricated and characterized. The successful encapsulation of the organic dye (fluorescein) is supported by both experimental evidence and theoretical simulations. The measured optical band gap is found to be comparable with the computed values of a hypothetical guest-host system. Isolated monomers and aggregates species of fluorescein confined in ZIF-8 nanocrystals have been systematically investigated through fluorescence lifetime spectros…
The present controversy over the origin of glasslike thermal conductivity observed in certain crystalline materials is addressed by studies on single-crystal x-ray diffraction, thermal conductivity k(T) and specific heat Cp(T) of carrier-tuned Ba8Ga16X30 (X = Ge, Sn) clathrates. These crystals show radically different low-temperature k(T) behaviors depending on whether their charge carriers are electrons or holes, displaying the usual crystalline peak in the former case and an anomalous glasslike plateau in the latter. In contrast, Cp(T) above 4 K and the general structural properties are esse…
Many crystals in nature exhibit fascinating mechanical, optical, magnetic and other characteristics. One of the reasons for this phenomenon has to do with the presence of specific organic molecules that are tightly associated with the mineral. Over the years, some organic crystals have been found to be located within the lattices of their singlecrystalline biogenic hosts. A number of questions remain unanswered: for example, how do these molecules become incorporated and what is their function? In this review we survey the gradual refinement of the above mentioned finding in biogenic crystals,…
The cubic antifluorite structure comprises a face-centered cubic sublattice of anions with cations on the tetrahedral sites. The voids in the antifluorite structure that are crucial for superionicity in Li2O might also act as atomic traps. Trapping of guest atoms and small molecules within voids of a host structure leads to the formation of what are known as clathrate compounds. Here we investigate the possibility of trapping helium or larger neon guest atoms under pressure within alkali metal oxide and sulfide structures. We find stable helium and neon-bearing compounds at very low pressures.…
Dirac edge states as signature of two-dimensional altermagnetic topological crystalline phase
Universitá degli Studi di Milano（米兰大学）；Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院物理研究所）；International Research Centre Magtop, Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院物理研究所磁顶国际研究中心）；SPIN-CNR, UOS Salerno（萨莱诺统一办公室自旋-意大利国家研究委员会）；Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-SPIN)（意大利国家研究委员会（CNR-SPIN））
