Prospective Cohort Study

Energy production and storage have become key issues concerning our welfare in daily life. Present challenges for batteries are twofold. In the first place, the increasing demand for powering systems of portable electronic devices and zero-emission vehicles stimulates research towards high energy and high voltage systems. In the second place, low cost batteries are required in order to advance towards smart electric grids that integrate discontinuous energy flow from renewable sources, optimizing the performance of clean energy sources. Na-ion batteries can be the key for the second point, because of the huge availability of sodium, its low price and the similarity of both Li and Na insertion chemistries. In spite of the lower energy density and voltage of Na-ion based technologies, they can be focused on applications where the weight and footprint requirement is less drastic, such as electrical grid storage. Much work has to be done in the field of Na-ion in order to catch up with Li-ion technology. Cathodic and anodic materials must be optimized, and new electrolytes will be the key point for Na-ion success. This review will gather the up-to-date knowledge about Na-ion battery materials, with the aim of providing a wide view of the systems that have already been explored and a starting point for the new research on this battery technology.

Na-ion batteries, recent advances and present challenges to become low cost energy storage systems

The General Utility Lattice Program (GULP) has been extended to include the ability to simulate polymers and surfaces, as well as adding many other new features, and the current status of the program is fully documented. Both the background theory is described, as well as providing a concise review of some of the previous applications in order to demonstrate the range of its use. Examples are presented of work performed using the new compatibilities of the software, including the calculation of Born effective charges, mechanical properties as a function of applied pressure, calculation of frequency-dependent dielectric data, surface reconstructions of calcite and the performance of a linear-scaling algorithm for bond-order potentials.

The general utility lattice program (GULP)

Although known since the late 19th century, organic–inorganic perovskites have recently received extraordinary research community attention because of their unique physical properties, which make them promising candidates for application in photovoltaic (PV) and related optoelectronic devices. This review will explore beyond the current focus on three-dimensional (3-D) lead(II) halide perovskites, to highlight the great chemical flexibility and outstanding potential of the broader class of 3-D and lower dimensional organic-based perovskite family for electronic, optical, and energy-based applications as well as fundamental research. The concept of a multifunctional organic–inorganic hybrid, in which the organic and inorganic structural components provide intentional, unique, and hopefully synergistic features to the compound, represents an important contemporary target.

Organic–Inorganic Perovskites: Structural Versatility for Functional Materials Design

Synthesis, properties, and applications of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

The work of the photocathode R&D program at LBNL is presented. The quantum efficiency (QE) of Cu(111) is measured for different impinging light angles with photon energies just above the work function. We observe that the vectorial photoelectric effect, an enhancement of the quantum efficiency due to illumination of light with an electric vector perpendicular to the sample surface, is stronger in the more surface sensitive regime. This can be explained by a contribution to photoemission due to the variation of the electromagnetic potential at the surface. The contributions of bulk and surface electrons can then be determined. Angle-resolved photoemission data let us obtain the dispersion relation of the surface state, which in turn allows us to determine the thermal emittance of the electrons emitted from the surface.

Photocathode R&D Program at LBNL

High resolution 89 Y NMR shift and relaxation time measurements on YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 have been performed between 80 and 380K. The shift at room temperature, −− 50ppm, is somewhat smaller than for fully oxygenated YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−σ and the relation time is longer. Below -200K the shifts starts to decrease rapidly, behaving very like YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.8 . A comparison of the shift with the 63 Cu ⊥ (2) data shows that they have the same temperature dependence, indicating a common susceptibility, and that the ratio of the 63 Cu ⊥ (2) to 89 Y hyperfine coupling constants is the same as for YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ . The temperature dependence of the relaxation behaviour is not Korringa like but is similar to that of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.8 .

A 89Y NMR study of YBa2Cu4O8

The material Nd 2 Ba 2 Cu 2 Ti 2 O 11 has been synthesised by standard solid state techniques and its structure determined by time-of-flight powder neutron diffraction. The unit cell can be considered to be comprised of four perovskite-type units stacked in the c-direction. The cell contains alternating double layers of titanium and copper oxide, with the copper to oxygen distances in the CuO 2 planes similar to those found in the high T c materials. The material, as made, is non-superconducting due to insufficient oxidation in the CuO 2 layers. Therefore Ca doped analogues have also been prepared and studied.

A neutron diffraction study of the quadrupled perovskite Nd2Ba2Cu2Ti2O11

α-LiZr2(PO4)3 is prepared by a sol-gel approach from a stoichiometric solution of Li(OAc) and ZrO(NO3)2 in HNO3 to which EDTA and citric acid is given at pH <7.

Sol—Gel Synthesis and Room‐Temperature Properties of α‐LiZr2(PO4)3.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2021/CC/D1CC02595C

Colin Greaves

Papers

Photocathode R&D Program at LBNL

A 89Y NMR study of YBa2Cu4O8

A neutron diffraction study of the quadrupled perovskite Nd2Ba2Cu2Ti2O11

Sol—Gel Synthesis and Room‐Temperature Properties of α‐LiZr2(PO4)3.

BiMnPO5 with ferromagnetic Mn2+–(μ-O)2–Mn2+ units: a model for magnetic exchange in edge-linked Mn2+O6 octahedra