The pressure-induced transformation of diatomic nitrogen into non-molecular polymeric phases may produce potentially useful high-energy-density materials. We combine first-principles calculations with structure searching to predict a new class of nitrogen-rich boron nitrides with a stoichiometry of B3N5 that are stable or metastable relative to solid N2 and h-BN at ambient pressure. The most stable phase at ambient pressure has a layered structure (h-B3N5) containing hexagonal B3N3 layers sandwiched with intercalated freely rotating N2 molecules. At 15 GPa, a three-dimensional C2221 structure with single N-N bonds becomes the most stable. This pressure is much lower than that required for triple-to-single bond transformation in pure solid nitrogen (110 GPa). More importantly, C2221-B3N5 is metastable, and can be recovered under ambient conditions. Its energy density of 3.44 kJ/g makes it a potential high-energy-density material. In addition, stress-strain calculations estimate a Vickers hardness of 44 GPa. Structure searching reveals a new clathrate sodalite-like BN structure that is metastable under ambient conditions.
We build random forests models to predict elastic properties and mechanical hardness of a compound, using only its chemical formula as input. The model training uses over 10,000 target compounds and 60 features based on stoichiometric attributes, elemental properties, orbital occupations, and ionic bonding levels. Using the models, we construct triangular graphs for B-C-N compounds to map out their bulk and shear moduli, as well as hardness values. The graphs indicate that a 1:1 B-N ratio can lead to various superhard compositions. We also validate the machine learning results by evolutionary …
The basic known and hypothetic one- and two-element phases of the B-C-N-O system (both superhard phases having diamond and boron structures and precursors to synthesize them) are described. The attention has been given to the structure, basic mechanical properties, and methods to identify and characterize the materials. For some phases that have been recently described in the literature the synthesis conditions at high pressures and temperatures are indicated.
We search for new superhard B-N-O compounds with an iterative machine learning (ML) procedure, where ML models are trained using sample crystal structures from evolutionary algorithm. We first use cohesive energy to evaluate the thermodynamic stability of varying B$_x$N$_y$O$_z$ compositions, and then gradually focus on compositional regions with high cohesive energy and high hardness. The results converge quickly after a few iterations. Our resulting ML models show that B$_{x+2}$N$_{x}$O$_{3}$ compounds with $x \geq 3$ (like B$_5$N$_3$O$_3$, B$_6$N$_4$O$_3$, etc.) are potentially superhard an…
Through machine learning force field accelerated structure search combined with first-principles calculations, we have studied the structures of new C-N compounds with different stoichiometric ratios, and found twelve new superhard C-N compounds, the energies of these structures are similar to c-C3N4 , which is possibly synthesized by high pressure experiment, the XRD of Pa-3(C4N) P3(C4N) and C2/m(C2N) are consistent with previous experimental data and can be used as the structural candidate. According to the macro hardness model, they are all superhard structures, with Vickers hardness over 4…
Boron suboxide B6O, the hardest known oxide, has an R-3m crystal structure (α-B6O) that can be described as an oxygen-intercalated structure of α-boron, or, equivalently, as a cubic close packing of B12 icosahedra with two oxygen atoms occupying all octahedral voids in it. Here we show a new ground state of this compound at ambient conditions, Cmcm-B6O (\b{eta}-B6O), which in all quantum-mechanical treatments that we tested (GGA, LDA, and hybrid functional HSE06) comes out to be slightly but consistently more stable. Increasing pressure and temperature further stabilize it with respect to the …
In the present work we have proposed the method that allows one to easily estimate hardness and bulk modulus of known or hypothetical solid phases from the data on Gibbs energy of atomization of the elements and corresponding covalent radii. It has been shown that hardness and bulk moduli of compounds strongly correlate with their thermodynamic and structural properties. The proposed method may be used for a large number of compounds with various types of chemical bonding and structures; moreover, the temperature dependence of hardness may be calculated, that has been performed for diamond and…
By electron and X-ray diffraction we establish that the CrB$_4$ compound discovered over 40 years ago crystallizes in the $oP10$ (\emph{Pnnm}) structure, in disagreement with previous experiments but in agreement with a recent first-principles prediction. The 3D boron network in the new structure is a distorted version of the rigid carbon $sp^3$ network proposed recently for the high-pressure C$_4$ allotrope. According to our density functional theory calculations and the analysis of the bonding, CrB$_4$ is a potentially superhard material. In fact, the calculated weakest shear and tensile str…
A recent experimental study reported the successful synthesis of an orthorhombic FeB4 with a high hardness of 62 GPa, which has reignited extensive interests on whether transition metal borides (TRBs) compounds will become superhard materials. However, it is contradicted with some theoretical studies suggesting transition metal boron compounds are unlikely to become superhard materials. Here, we examined structural and electronic properties of FeB4 using density functional theory. The electronic calculations show the good metallicity and covalent FeB bonding. Meanwhile, we extensively investig…
Boron is a unique element, being the only element, all known polymorphs of which are superhard, and all of its crystal structures are distinct from any other element. The electron-deficient bonding in boron explains its remarkable sensitivity to even small concentrations of impurity atoms and allows boron to form peculiar chemical compounds with very different elements. These complications made the study of boron a great challenge, creating also a unique and instructive chapter in the history of science. Strange though it may sound, the discovery of boron in 1808 was ambiguous, with pure boron…
Using density functional theory calculations, many researchers have predicted that various tungsten-nitride compounds WN$_x$ ($x$ > 1) will be "ultra-compressible" or "superhard", $i.e.$ as hard as or harder than diamond. These compounds are predicted to have large bulk and shear moduli (> 200 GPa) and to be elastically and vibrationally stable. Compounds with such desirable properties must be energetically stable against decomposition into other compounds. This stability can only be found after the determination of the convex hull for W$_x$N$_1$$_-$$_x$ lines which connect the lowest enthalpy…
Understanding the covalent clathrate formation is a crucial point for the design of new superhard materials with intrinsic coupling of superhardness and metallic conductivity. Silicon clathrates have the archetype structures that can serve an existant model compounds for superhard clathrate frameworks "Si-B", "Si-C", "B-C" and "C" with intercalated atoms (e.g. alkali metals or even halogenes) that can assure the metalic properties. Here we report the in situ and ex situ studies of high-pressure formation and stability of clathrates Na8Si46 (structure I) and Na24+xSi136 (structure II). Experime…
The first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave method based on density functional theory is used to investigate electronic structure and magnetic properties of hypothetical binary compounds of I$^{A}$ subgroup elements with nitrogen (LiN, NaN, KN and RbN) in assumed three types of cristalline structure (rock salt, wurtzite and zinc-blende). We find that, due to the spin polarized \textit{p} orbitas of N, all four compounds are half-metallic ferromagnets with wide energy bandgaps (up to 2.0 eV). The calculated total magnetic moment in all investigated compounds for all thre…
Using ab initio evolutionary simulations, we predict the existence of five novel stable Li-N compounds at pressures from 0 to 100 GPa (Li13N, Li5N, Li3N2, LiN2, and LiN5). Structures of these compounds contain of isolated N ions, N2 dimers, polyacetylene-like N chains and N5 rings, respectively. The structure of Li13N consists of Li atoms and Li12N icosahedra (with N atom in the center of the Li12 icosahedron) such icosahedra are notdescribed by Wade-Jemmis electron counting rules and are unique. Electronic structure of Li-N compounds is found to dramatically depend on composition and pressure…
First-principles crystal structure search is performed to predict novel rubidium poly-nitrogen materials at high pressure by varying the stoichiometry, i. e. relative quantities of the constituent rubidium and nitrogen atoms. Three compounds of high nitrogen content, RbN_{5}, RbN_{2}, and Rb_{4}N_{6}, are discovered. Rubidium pentazolate (RbN5) becomes thermodynamically stable at pressures above \unit[30]{GPa}. The charge transfer from Rb to N atoms enables aromaticity in cyclo-N_{^{_{5}}}^{-} while increasing the ionic bonding in the crystal. Rubidium pentazolate can be synthesized by compres…
Ternary C_{x}N_{y}O_{z} compounds are actively researched as novel high energy density and ultrahard materials. Although some synthesis work has been performed at ambient conditions, very little is known about the high pressure chemistry of of C_{x}N_{y}O_{z} compounds. In this work, first principles variable-composition evolutionary structure prediction calculations are performed with the goal of discovering novel mixed C_{x}N_{y}O_{z} materials at ambient and high pressure conditions. By systematically searching ternary variable composition crystalline materials, the full ternary phase diagr…
Charged nitrogen dimers are ubiquitous in high-pressure binary metal-nitrogen systems. They are known to possess integer formal charges x varying from one through four. Here, we present the investigation of the binary alkali- and alkaline earth metal-nitrogen systems, Na-N, Ca-N, Sr-N, Ba-N to 70 GPa. We report on compounds-Na3(N2)4, Ca3(N2)4, Sr3(N2)4, and Ba(N2)3-featuring charged nitrogen dimers with paradigm-breaking non-integer charges, x = 0.67, 0.75 and 1.5. The metallic nature of all four compounds is deduced from ab initio calculations. The conduction electrons occupy the pi* antibond…
Search of materials with C-N composition hold a great promise in creating materials which would rival diamond in hardness due to the very strong and relatively low-ionic C-N bond. Early experimental and theoretical works on C-N compounds were based on structural similarity with binary A3B4 structural- types; however, the synthesis of C3N4 remains elusive. Here we explored an unbiased synthesis from the elemental materials at high pressures and temperatures. Using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy we demonstrate synthesis of highly incompressible Pnnm CN compound with…
Nitrides, carbides and borides of transition metals are an attractive class of hard materials. Our recent preliminary explorations of the binary chemical compounds indicated that chromium-based materials are among the hardest transition metal compounds. Motivated by this, here we explore in detail the binary Cr-B, Cr-C and Cr-N systems using global optimization techniques. Calculated enthalpy of formation and hardness of predicted materials were used for Pareto optimization to define the hardest materials with lowest energy. Our calculations recover all numerous known stable compounds (except …
Recently was reported a novel compound between rhenium and nitrogen, announced with ReN2 composition. This compound was synthesized by the high temperature and high pressure method. We found that the diffraction peaks of this compound are in agreement with the x-ray pattern of a rhenium-nitrogen film, under the assumption that the film is oriented on the substrate. The film was prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering, at room temperature, and deposited on a silicon wafer. From the analysis of the diffractograms it could be concluded that both materials share the same structure. By density fu…
Two new crystalline compounds, pentazole (N_{5}H) and ammonium pentazolate (NH_{4})(N_{5}), both featuring cyclo-{\rm N_{5}^{-}} are discovered using first principles evolutionary search of the nitrogen-rich portion of the hydro-nitrogen binary phase diagram (N_{x}H_{y}, x\geqy) at high pressures. Both crystals consist of the pentazolate N_{5}^{-} anion and ammonium NH_{4}^{+} or hydrogen H^{+} cations. These two crystals are predicted to be thermodynamically stable at pressures above 30 GPa for (NH_{4})(N_{5}) and 50 GPa for pentazole N_{5}H. The chemical transformation of ammonium azide (NH_…
The hybrid nanostructures of nitrogen doped carbon materials and nonprecious transition metals are among the most promising electrocatalysts to replace noble metal catalysts for renewable energy applications. However, the fundamental principles governing the catalytic activity of such hybrid materials remain elusive. Herein, we systematically explore the electrocatalytic properties of transition metals, transition metal oxides and carbides substrates covered by nitrogen-doped graphitic sheets for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Our first-principles calculations show that the graphitic sheet…
Through a series of Raman spectroscopy studies, we investigate the behaviour of hydrogen-helium and hydrogen-nitrogen mixtures at high pressure across wide ranging concentrations. We find that there is no evidence of chemical association, miscibility, nor any demixing of hydrogen and helium in the solid state up to pressures of 250 GPa at 300 K. In contrast, we observe the formation of concentration-dependent N$_2$-H$_2$ van der Waals solids, which react to form N-H bonded compounds above 50 GPa. Through this combined study, we can demonstrate that the recently claimed chemical association of …
Silver pentazolate, a high energy density compound containing cyclo-N5- anion, has recently been synthesized at ambient conditions. However, due to high sensitivity to irradiation, its crystal structure has not been determined. In this work, silver-nitrogen crystalline compounds at ambient conditions and high pressures, up to 100 GPa, are predicted and characterized by performing first-principles evolutionary crystal structure searching with variable stoichiometry. It is found that newly discovered AgN5 and AgN6 are the only thermodynamically stable silver-nitrogen compounds at pressures betwe…
In contrast to carbon, which forms long polymeric chains, all-nitrogen chains are very unstable. Here we found that nitrogen and hydrogen directly react at room temperature and pressures of about 35 GPa forming a mixture of nitrogen backbone oligomers - chains of single-bonded nitrogen atom with the rest of the bonds terminated with hydrogen atoms - as identified by IR absorption, Raman, X-ray diffraction experiments and theoretical calculations. The pressure required for the synthesis strongly decreases with temperature to about 20 GPa at 550 K. At releasing pressures below about 10 GPa, the …
Sodium pentazolates NaN5 andNa2N5, new high energy density materials, are discovered during first principles crystal structure search for the compounds of varying amounts of elemental sodium and nitrogen. The pentazole anion N5- is stabilized in the condensed phase by sodium Na+ cations at pressures exceeding 20 GPa, and becomes metastable upon release of pressure. The sodium azide (NaN3) precursor is predicted to undergo a chemical transformation above 50 GPa into sodium pentazolates NaN5 and Na2N5. The calculated Raman spectrum of NaN5 is in agreement with the experimental Raman spectrum of …
This report presents consistent insight into the mechanism behind the unusual behavior of nitride compounds from the perspective of tetrahedron bond formation and its consequence on valence density of states. An extension of the recent bond-band-barrier (BBB) correlation mechanism for oxidation [Sun CQ, Prog Mater Sci 2003;48:521-685] to the electronic process of nitridation has led to the essentiality of sp-orbital hybridization for a nitrogen atom upon interacting with atoms in solid phase of arbitrary less-electronegative element. In the process of nitridation, a nitrogen atom forms a quasi…
Nitrogen oxides are textbook class of molecular compounds, with extensive industrial applications. Nitrogen and oxygen are also among the most abundant elements in the universe. We explore the N-O system at 0 K and up to 500 GPa though ab initio evolutionary simulations. Results show that two phase transformations of stable molecular NO2 exist at 7 and 64 GPa, and followed by decomposition of NO2 at 91 GPa. All of the NO+NO3- structures are found to be metastable at T=0 K, so experimentally reported ionic NO+NO3- is either metastable or stabilized by temperature. Upon increasing pressure, N2O5…
The pentazolates, the last all-nitrogen members of the azole series, have been notoriously elusive for the last hundred years despite enormous efforts to make these compounds in either gas or condensed phases. Here we report a successful synthesis of a solid state compound consisting of isolated pentazolate anions N5-, which is achieved by compressing and laser heating cesium azide (CsN3) mixed with N2 cryogenic liquid in a diamond anvil cell. The experiment was guided by theory, which predicted the transformation of the mixture at high pressures to a new compound, cesium pentazolate salt (CsN…
The Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond plays important roles in emerging quantum technologies. Currently available methods to fabricate the NV center often involve complex processes such as N implantation. By contrast, in a diamond-like compound C3BN, creating a boron (B) vacancy immediately leads to an NV center analog. We use the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) semilocal density functional - this functional leads to nearly the same zero-phonon line (ZPL) energy as the experiment and as obtained from the more time-consuming hybrid density functional calculations - to…
Kawamura et. al. recently published an article about the synthesis of rhenium nitride with MoS2-type structure [APL 100, 251910(2012)]. We disagree with the composition proposed by Kawamura. The compound synthesized by Kawamura is ReN3, or a compound of similar composition. What Kawamura did is to find the Re atomic positions of a compound where the nitrogen concentration remains unknown. This paper was rejected form APL. The reviewer comments (and our reply) are included here.
Energy generation and storage are at the center of modern civilization. Energetic materials constitute quite a large class of compounds with a high amount of stored chemical energy that can be released. We hereby use a combination of quantum chemistry methods to investigate feasibility and properties of carbon-nitrogen cubanes and multi-charged polynitrogen cations in the context of their synthesis and application as unprecedented energetic materials. We show that the stored energy increases gradually with the nitrogen content increase. Nitrogen-poor cubanes retain their stabilities in vacuum,…
Nitrogen hydrides, including ammonia (NH3), hydrazine (N2H4), hydrazoic acid (HN3) and etc, are compounds of great fundamental and applied importance. Their high-pressure behavior is important because of their abundance in giant planets and because of the hopes of discoverying high-energy-density materials. Here, we have performed a systematic investi- gation on the structural stability of N-H system in a pressure range up to 800 GPa through evolutionary structure prediction simulations. Surprisingly, we found that high pressure stabilizes a series of previously unreported compounds with pecul…
Polynitrogen compounds have attracted great interest due to their potential applications as high energy density materials. Most recently, a rich variety of alkali polynitrogens (R_{x}N_{y}; R=Li, Na, and Cs) have been predicted to be stable at high pressures and one of them, CsN_{5} has been recently synthesized. In this work, various potassium polynitrides are investigated using first-principles crystal structure search methods. Several novel molecular crystals consisting of N_{4} chains, N_{5} rings, and N_{6} rings stable at high pressures are discovered. In addition, an unusual nitrogen-ri…
We present a comparative study between ReN3 and AgN3 by using density functional theory. The ReN3 is a hypothetical compound proposed by us to interpret the Re to Re interplanar spacing of thin films grown by sputtering. Both, the AgN3 as the ReN3, are calculated as positive enthalpy compounds. The enthalpy might give a clue about the spontaneous decomposition of the solid form, but it cannot be interpreted as a restriction of its synthesizability. As from the calculated total-energy, we discuss the route for the formation of AgN3 starting from atomic species in aqueous solution. We propose th…
Ab-initio insights into the structural, elastic, bonding, and thermophysical properties of UHx (x = 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8) under pressure: possible relevance to high-Tc superconductivity
The energy landscape of helium-nitrogen mixtures is explored by ab initio evolutionary searches, which predicted several stable helium-nitrogen compounds in the pressure range from 25 to 100 GPa. In particular, the monoclinic structure of HeN$_{22}$ consists of neutral He atoms, partially ionic dimers N$_{2}$$^{δ-}$, and lantern-like cages N$_{20}$$^{δ+}$. The presence of helium not only greatly enhances structural diversity of nitrogen solids, but also tremendously lowers the formation pressure of nitrogen salt. The unique nitrogen framework of (HeN$_{20}$)$^{δ+}$N$_{2}$$^{δ-}$ may be quencha…
Boron carbonitride (BxCyNz) represents an interesting family of materials containing all light elements and two dimensional graphene like hybrid layers. Although rich literature exists on this peculiar material in chemically processed form, there are relatively fewer reports on device application-worthy thin film form. This form also offers a natural platform for basic studies on important aspects such as magnetism and transport, which have attracted attention in the context of ferromagnetism in doped and defect carbon systems. Thus, in this work we have grown thin films of this compound using…
We study magnetic properties of NdFe$_{11}$Ti$X$, where $X$=B, C, N, O, and F, by using the first-principles calculation based on the density functional theory. Its parent compound NdFe$_{11}$Ti has the ThMn$_{12}$ structure, which has the symmetry of space group $I4/mmm$, No. 139. The magnetization increases by doping B, C, N, O, and F at the $2b$ site of the ThMn$_{12}$ structure. The amount of the increase is larger for $X$=N, O, F than for $X$=B, C. On the other hand, the crystal field parameter $\langle r^{2} \rangle A_{0}^{2}$, which controls the axial magnetic anisotropy of the Nd $4f$ …
High pressure chemistry is known to inspire the creation of unexpected new classes of compounds with exceptional properties. Here we report the synthesis at ~90 GPa of novel beryllium polynitrides, monoclinic and triclinic BeN4. The triclinic phase, upon decompression to ambient conditions, transforms into a compound with atomic-thick BeN4 layers interconnected via weak van der Waals bonds consisting of polyacetylene-like nitrogen chains with conjugated π-systems and Be atoms in square-planar coordination. Theoretical calculations for a single BeN4 layer show that its electronic lattice is des…
Polynitrogen molecules represent the ultimate high energy-density materials as they have a huge potential chemical energy originating from their high enthalpy. However, synthesis and storage of such compounds remain a big challenge because of difficulties to find energy efficient synthetic routes and stabilization mechanisms. Compounds of metals with nitrogen represent promising candidates for realization of energetic polynitrogen compounds, which are also environmentally benign. Here we report the synthesis of polynitrogen planar N6 hexazine rings, stabilized in K2N6 compound, which was forme…
The electronic and magnetic structures of A2CrN3 (A = Ce, U) ternary compounds calculated based on band magnetism within DFT exhibit different behaviors of the nf elements (n = 4, 5 resp.). Charge analysis allows to formally express the two compounds as A2Cr 5+ N3 5- thus classifying them as covalent nitrides, i.e. far from formal exchange of +- 9 electrons. From establishing the energy-volume equations of state, the two compounds are found with hardness magnitudes: B0(A=Ce) =192 GPa and B0(A=U) = 243 GPa, within range of oxides due to covalent metal-nitrogen bonding shown as based on overlap …
In the context of characterizing nitrogen poor carbo-nitrides for different applications, identification of an unusual onset of spin polarization of N(p) states has been shown. A full saturation up to 3 Bohr magnetons is demonstrated in extended two-dimensional carbon networks of C6N and C12N hexagonal structures refined based on density functional theory calculations. From establishing the energy-volume equations of states in both compounds assuming spin degenerate (non spin polarized) and spin-polarized configurations, the ground state is identified as ferromagnetic. The variation of magneti…
The High Nitrogen Martensitic Stainless Steel (HNMS) was subjected to three different austenitizing cycles of 1050$^\circ$C, 1075$^\circ$C and 1100$^\circ$C followed by subzero treatment at -70$^\circ$C. The fraction of retained austenite has been reduced after sub-zero treatment as revealed by microstructural evolution. The material was subsequently tempered at different temperatures ranging from 180$^\circ$C to 650$^\circ$C and the change in micro-structure, hardness, tensile strength and toughness were investigated after each heat treatment cycle. Optical microscopy, electron microscopy wit…
The structural, electronic, and elastic properties of three mixed transition metal carbonitrides TiNxC1-x, ZrNxC1-x, and HfNxC1-x (0<x<1) with the rock-salt structure were calculated at ambient and elevated up to 50 GPa hydrostatic pressures in the framework of the density functional theory methods. The lattice constants, densities, and bulk moduli of the considered compounds were shown to behave as linear functions of the nitrogen concentration x. The obtained linear dependencies of all these parameters allow for getting their estimates at any value of x in the range from 0 to 1. Gradual enha…
We present an angle-resolved photoemission study of the electronic band structure of the excitonic insulator Ta$_2$NiSe$_5$, as well as its evolution upon Sulfur doping. Our experimental data show that while the excitonic insulating phase is still preserved at a Sulfur-doping level of 25$\%$, such phase is heavily suppressed when there is a substantial amount, $\sim$ 50$\%$, of S-doping at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Moreover, our photon energy-dependent measurements reveal a clear three dimensionality of the electronic structure, both in Ta$_2$NiSe$_5$ and Ta$_2$Ni(Se$_{1-x}$S$_x$)$_5$ ($x=…
In the present work, a simple strategy is used to thermally oxidize TiN nanopowder (ca. 20 nm) to an anatase phase of a TiO2:Ti3+:N compound. In contrast to the rutile phase of such a compound this photocatalyst provides photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution under AM1.5 conditions - this without the use of any noble metal co-catalyst. Moreover the photocatalyst is active and stable over extended periods of time (tested for 4 months). Importantly, to achieve successful conversion to the active anatase polymorph, sufficiently small starting particles of TiN are needed. The key factor fo…
We have performed first-principles evolutionary searches for all stable titanium nitrides and have found, in addition to the well-known rocksalt-type TiN, new ground states Ti$_3$N$_2$, Ti$_4$N$_3$, Ti$_6$N$_5$ at atmospheric pressure, and Ti$_2$N and TiN$_2$ at higher pressures. The latest nitrogen-rich structure presents encapsulated N$_2$ dumbbells with a N-N distance of 1.348 Å at 60 GPa and TiN$_2$ is predicted to be mechanically stable (quenchable). Our calculations of the mechanical properties (bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and hardness) are in excellent…
Using density functional theory calculations, we have investigated the structural, energetic, and electronic properties of ternary graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) containing alkali atoms (AM) and normal alkylamine molecules (nC$x$), denoted as AM-nC$x$-GICs (AM=Li, Na, K, $x$=1, 2, 3, 4). The orthorhombic unit cells have been used to build the models for crystalline stage-I AM-nC$x$-GICs. By performing the variable cell relaxations and the analysis of results, we have found that with the increase in the atomic number of alkali atoms the layer separations decreases in contrast to AM-GIC…
Titanium-based oxides are abundant, chemically stable, non-toxic, and highly versatile materials, with applications ranging from photovoltaics to catalysis. For rutile and anatase phases of Titanium dioxide (TiO2), the bandgap ranges from 3.0-3.2 eV, which are too large to absorb in the visible range (400 nm - 700 nm), resulting in poor photo-catalytic efficiency. Nitrogen doping into TiO2 has been able to narrow its bandgap, forming an absorption tail in the visible-light region. However, TiO2 has limits to which it can be doped, suggesting investigations of the oxygen-deficient Ti203. Using …
