Abstract: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) feature a great possibility for a broad spectrum of applications. Hollow MOF structures with tunable porosity and multifunctionality at the nanoscale with beneficial properties are desired as hosts for catalytically active species. Herein, we demonstrate the formation of well-defined hollow Zn/Co-based zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) by use of epitaxial growth of Zn-MOF (ZIF-8) on preformed Co-MOF (ZIF-67) nanocrystals that involve in situ self-sacrifice/excavation of the Co-MOF. Moreover, any type of metal nanoparticles can be accommodated in Zn/Co-ZIF shells to generate yolk-shell metal@ZIF structures. Transmission electron microscopy and tomography studies revealed the inclusion of these nanoparticles within hollow Zn/Co-ZIF with dominance of the Zn-MOF as shell. Our findings lead to a generalization of such hollow systems that are working effectively to other types of ZIFs.

Abstract: Cadmium yellows (CdYs) refer to a family of cadmium sulfide pigments, which have been widely used by artists since the late 19th century. Despite being considered stable, they are suffering from discoloration in iconic paintings, such as Joy of Life by Matisse, Flowers in a blue vase by Van Gogh, and The Scream by Munch, most likely due to the formation of CdSO4 center dot nH(2)O. The driving factors of the CdYs degradation and how these affect the overall process are still unknown. Here, we study a series of oil mock-up paints made of CdYs of different stoichiometry (CdS/Cd0.76Zn0.24S) and crystalline structure (hexagonal/ cubic) before and after aging at variable relative humidity under exposure to light and in darkness. Synchrotron radiation-based X-ray methods combined with UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy show that: 1) Cd0.76Zn0.24S is more susceptible to photooxidation than CdS; both compounds can act as photocatalysts for the oil oxidation. 2) The photooxidation of CdS/Cd0.76Zn0.24S to CdSO4 center dot nH(2)O is triggered by moisture. 3) The nature of alteration products depends on the aging conditions and the Cd/Zn stoichiometry. Based on our findings, we propose a scheme for the mechanism of the photocorrosion process and the photocatalytic activity of CdY pigments in the oil binder. Overall, our results form a reliable basis for understanding the degradation of CdS-based paints in artworks and contribute towards developing better ways of preserving them for future generations.

Abstract: Hierarchically dual‐mesoporous TiO2 microspheres have been synthesized via a solvothermal process in the presence of 1‐butyl‐3‐methylmidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF4]) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) as co‐templates. Secondary mesostructured defects in the hierarchical TiO2 microspheres produce the oxygen vacancies, which not only significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity on degrading methyl blue (over 1.7 times to P25) and acetone (over 2.9 times of P25), but which also are beneficial for lithium storage. Moreover, we propose a mechanism to obtain a better understanding of the role of dual mesoporosity of TiO2 microspheres for enhancing the molecular diffusion, ion transportation and electron transformation.

Abstract: We deposited La2-xGdxZr2O7 seed layers by a chemical solution method on a Ni-5%W substrate to study the influence of these layers on the growth process of a 60 nm-thick La2Zr2O7 layer. We measured the performances of these new buffer layers integrated in a coated conductor with a 300 nm-thick Y0.5Gd0.5Ba2Cu3O7-x layer. For the seed layers{,} we considered two different gadolinium contents (x = 0.2 and x = 0.8) and three different thicknesses for these compositions (20 nm{,} 40 nm{,} and 60 nm). The most promising buffer layer stacks are those with 20 nm of the La1.8Gd0.2Zr2O7 layer or La1.2Gd0.8Zr2O7. Indeed the La2-xGdxZr2O7/La2Zr2O7 films are highly textured{,} similar to a 100 nm-thick La2Zr2O7 layer{,} but their roughness is four times lower. Moreover they contain less and smaller pores in the seed layer than a pure La2Zr2O7 layer. The surface of La2Zr2O7 is also homogenous and crystalline with an orientation deviation from the ideal ?011? (100) direction below 10[degree]. With the 20 nm La2-xGdxZr2O7 seed layers we obtain in the coated conductors an efficiently textured transfer with no gradual degradation from the substrate throughout the superconducting layer. The highest Tc and Jc values are achieved with the La1.8Gd0.2Zr2O7 layer and are{,} respectively{,} 91 K and 1.4 MA cm-2. This trend seems to be due to an improvement of the surface quality of the Ni5%W substrate by the addition of a thin seed layer. Our results offer the potential of the La2-xGdxZr2O7 seed layers as promising alternatives for the classic Ni-5%W/LZO/CeO2/YBCO architectures.

Abstract: Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) films with artificial BaZrO3 (BZO) nanodots were prepared using a chemical solution deposition method involving hybrid solutions composed of trifluoroacetate-based YBCO precursors and reverse micelle stabilized BZO nanoparticle dispersions. Microemulsion-mediated synthesis was used to obtain nano-sized (similar to 12 nm) and mono-dispersed BZO nanoparticles that preserve their features once introduced into the YBCO solution, as revealed by dynamic light scattering. Phase pure, epitaxial YBCO films with randomly oriented BZO nanodots distributed over their whole microstructure were grown from the hybrid solutions on (100) LaAlO3 substrates. The morphology of the YBCO-BZO nanocomposite films was strongly influenced by the amount of nanoparticles incorporated into the system, with contents ranging from 5 to 40 mol%. Scanning electron microscopy showed a high density of isolated second-phase defects consisting of BZO nanodots in the nanocomposite film with 10 mol% of BZO. Furthermore, a direct observation and quantitative analysis of lattice defects in the form of interfacial edge dislocations directly induced by the BZO nanodots was evidenced by transmission electron microscopy. The superconducting properties (77 K) of the YBCO films improved considerably by the presence of such nanodots, which seem to enhance the morphology of the sample and therefore the intergranular critical properties. The incorporation of preformed second-phase defects (here, BZO) during the growth of the superconducting phase is the main innovation of this novel approach for the all-solution based low-cost fabrication of long-length coated conductors.

Abstract: A new and facile approach is presented for generating quasi-regular patterns of transition metal-based nanoparticles on flat substrates exploiting polystyrene-block-poly2vinyl pyridine (PS-b-P2VP) micelles as intermediate templates. Direct loading of such micellar nanoreactors by polar transition metal salts in solution usually results in nanoparticle ensembles exhibiting only short range order accompanied by broad distributions of particle size and inter-particle distance. Here, we demonstrate that the use of P2VP homopolymers of appropriate length as molecular carriers to transport precursor salts into the micellar cores can significantly increase the degree of lateral order within the final nanoparticle arrays combined with a decrease in spreading in particle size. Thus, a significantly extended range of materials is now available which can be exploited to study fundamental properties at the transition from clusters to solids by means of well-organized, well-separated, size-selected metal and metal oxide nanostructures.

Abstract: Interfacing oxides with silicon is a long-standing problem related to the integration of multifunctional oxides with semiconductor devices and the replacement of SiO2 with high-k gate oxides. In our study, pulsed laser deposition was used to prepare a SrTiO3 (STO) thin film on a H-terminated Si substrate. The main purpose of our work was to verify the ability of H-termination against the oxidation of Si during the PLD process and to analyze the resulting interfaces. In the first part of the study, the STO was deposited directly on the Si, leading to the formation of a preferentially textured STO film with a (100) orientation. In the second part, SrO was used as a buffer layer, which enabled the partial epitaxial growth of STO with STO(110)parallel to Si(100) and STO[001]parallel to Si[001]. The change in the growth direction induced by the application of a SrO buffer was governed by the formation of a SrO(111) intermediate layer and subsequently by the minimization of the lattice misfit between the STO and the SrO. Under the investigated conditions, approximately 10 nm thick interfacial layers formed between the STO and the Si due to reactions between the deposited material and the underlying H-terminated Si. In the case of direct STO deposition, SiOx formed at the interface with the silicon, while in the case when SrO was used as a buffer, strontium silicate grew directly on the silicon, which improves the growth quality of the uppermost STO.

Abstract: The deposition of ultra-thin tungsten films and their related 2D chalcogen compounds on large area dielectric substrates by gas phase reactions is challenging. The lack of nucleation sites complicates the adsorption of W-related precursors and subsequent sulfurization usually requires high temperatures. We propose here a technique in which a thin solid amorphous silicon film is used as reductant for the gas phase precursor WF6 leading to the conversion to metallic W. The selectivity of the W conversion towards the underlying dielectric surfaces is demonstrated. The role of the Si surface preparation, the conversion temperature, and Si thickness on the formation process is investigated. Further, the in situ conversion of the metallic tungsten into thin stoichiometric WS2 is achieved by a cyclic approach based on WF6 and H2S pulses at the moderate temperature of 450 1C, which is much lower than usual oxide sulfurization processes.

Abstract: The behavior of ternary mixed crystals or solid solutions and its correlation with the properties of their binary constituents is of fundamental interest. Due to their unique potential for application in future information technology, mixed crystals of topological insulators with the spin-locked, gapless states on their surfaces attract huge attention of physicists, chemists and material scientists. (Bi1-xSbx)(2)Te-3 solid solutions are among the best candidates for spintronic applications since the bulk carrier concentration can be tuned by varying x to obtain truly bulk-insulating samples, where the topological surface states largely contribute to the transport and the realization of the surface quantum Hall effect. As this ternary compound will be evidently used in the form of thin-film devices its chemical stability is an important practical issue. Based on the atomic resolution HAADF-TEM and EDX data together with the XPS results obtained both ex situ and in situ, we propose an atomistic picture of the mixed crystal reactivity compared to that of its binary constituents. We find that the surface reactivity is determined by the probability of oxygen attack on the Te-Sb bonds, which is directly proportional to the number of Te atoms bonded to at least one Sb atom. The oxidation mechanism includes formation of an amorphous antimony oxide at the very surface due to Sb diffusion from the first two quintuple layers, electron tunneling from the Fermi level of the crystal to oxygen, oxygen ion diffusion to the crystal, and finally, slow Te oxidation to the +4 oxidation state. The oxide layer thickness is limited by the electron transport, and the overall process resembles the Cabrera-Mott mechanism in metals. These observations are critical not only for current understanding of the chemical reactivity of complex crystals, but also to improve the performance of future spintronic devices based on topological materials.

Abstract: The hyperdynamics method is a powerful tool to simulate slow processes at the atomic level. However, the construction of an optimal hyperdynamics potential is a task that is far from trivial. Here, we propose a generally applicable implementation of the hyperdynamics algorithm, borrowing two concepts from metadynamics. First, the use of a collective variable (CV) to represent the accelerated dynamics gives the method a very large flexibility and simplicity. Second, a metadynamics procedure can be used to construct a suitable history-dependent bias potential on-the-fly, effectively turning the algorithm into a self-learning accelerated molecular dynamics method. This collective variable-driven hyperdynamics (CVHD) method has a modular design: both the local system properties on which the bias is based, as well as the characteristics of the biasing method itself, can be chosen to match the needs of the considered system. As a result, system-specific details are abstracted from the biasing algorithm itself, making it extremely versatile and transparent. The method is tested on three model systems: diffusion on the Cu(001) surface and nickel-catalyzed methane decomposition, as examples of reactive processes with a bond-length-based CV, and the folding of a long polymer-like chain, using a set of dihedral angles as a CV. Boost factors up to 109, corresponding to a time scale of seconds, could be obtained while still accurately reproducing correct dynamics.

Abstract: We introduce a simple enhanced sampling approach for the calculation of free energy differences and barriers along a one-dimensional reaction coordinate. First, a small number of short nonequilibrium simulations are carried out along the reaction coordinate, and the Jarzynski equality is used to learn an approximate free energy surface from the nonequilibrium work distribution. This free energy estimate is represented in a compact form as an artificial neural network and used as an external bias potential to accelerate rare events in a subsequent molecular dynamics simulation. The final free energy estimate is then obtained by reweighting the equilibrium probability distribution of the reaction coordinate sampled under the influence of the external bias. We apply our reweighted Jarzynski sampling recipe to four processes of varying scales and complexities.spanning chemical reaction in the gas phase, pair association in solution, and droplet nucleation in supersaturated vapor. In all cases, we find reweighted Jarzynski sampling to be a very efficient strategy, resulting in rapid convergence of the free energy to high precision.

Abstract: Besides providing sufficient solubility, branched alkyl chains also affect the film-forming and packing properties of organic semiconductors. In order to avoid steric hindrance as it is present in wide-spread alkyl chains comprising a branching point position at the C2-position, i.e., 2-ethylhexyl, the branching point can be moved away from the pi-conjugated backbone. In this report, we study the influence of the modification of the branching point position from the C2-position in 2-hexyldecylamine (1) to the C4-position in 4-hexyldecylamine (2) connected to the central dithieno[3,2-b: 2', 3'-d] pyrrole (DTP) moiety in a well-studied A-D-A oligothiophene on the optoelectronic properties and photovoltaic performance in solution- processed bulk heterojunction solar cells (BHJSCs) with [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) as the acceptor material. Post-treatment of the photoactive layers is performed via solvent vapor annealing (SVA) in order to improve the film microstructure of the bulk heterojunction. The time evolution of nanoscale morphological changes is followed by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy with low-energy-loss spectroscopic imaging (STEM-SI), solid-state absorption spectroscopy, and two-dimensional grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (2D-GIXRD). Our results show an improvement of the photovoltaic performance that is dependent on the branching point position in the donor oligomer. Optical spacers are utilized to increase light absorption inside the co-oligomer 2-based BHJSCs leading to increased power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 8.2% when compared to the corresponding co-oligomer 1-based devices. A STEM-SI analysis of the respective device cross-sections of active layers containing 1 and 2 as donor materials indeed reveals significant differences in their respective active layer morphologies.

Abstract: Almost seventy years after artists such as Frank Stella (1936), Andy Warhol (1928-1987), James Rosenquist (1933-2017), Herb Aach (1923-1985) and Richard Bowman (1918-2001) started to incorporate Daylight Fluorescent Pigments (DFPs) in their artworks, the extent of the conservation problems that are associated with these pigments has increased progressively. Since their first appearance on the market, their composition has constantly been improved in terms of permanency. However, conservation practices on the artworks that are used in, are complicated by the fact that the composition of DFPs is proprietary and the information provided by the manufactures is limited. To be able to propose adequate conservation strategies for artworks containing DFPs, a thorough understanding of the DFPs composition must be acquired. In contrast with previous research that concentrated on identification of the coloring dye, this paper focuses on the characterization of the resin, used as the carrier for the dye. The proposed approach, involving ATR-FTIR, SPME-GC-MS and XRF analysis, provided additional insights on the organic and inorganic components of the resin. Using this approach, we investigated historical DFPs and new formulations, as well as different series from the main manufacturing companies (DayGlo, Swada, Radiant Color and Kremer) in order to obtain a full characterization of DFPs used by the artists along the years. First, the initial PCA-assisted ATR-FTIR spectroscopy allowed for an efficient classification of the main monomers in the resin polymer. Next, a further distinction was made by mass spectrometry and XRF which were optimized to allow a more specific classification of the resin and for detection of additives. In this paper we show the potential of SPME-GC-MS, never applied for the characterization of artistic materials, at present undervalued for heritage science purposes. We anticipate that this information will be highly relevant in the future stability studies and for defining (preventive) conservation strategies of fluorescent artworks.

Abstract: Crystallographic shear (CS) planes provide a new structure-generation mechanism in the anion-deficient perovskites containing lone-pair cations. Pb2Sr2Bi2Fe6O16, a new n = 6 representative of the AnBnO3n2 homologous series of the perovskite-based ferrites with the CS structure, has been synthesized using the solid-state technique. The structure is built of perovskite blocks with a thickness of four FeO6 octahedra spaced by double columns of FeO5 edge-sharing distorted tetragonal pyramids, forming 1/2[110](101)p CS planes (space group Pnma, a = 5.6690(2) Å, b = 3.9108(1) Å, c = 32.643(1) Å). Pb2Sr2Bi2Fe6O16 features a wealth of microstructural phenomena caused by the flexibility of the CS planes due to the variable ratio and length of the constituting fragments with {101}p and {001}p orientation. This leads to the formation of waves, hairpins, Γ-shaped defects, and inclusions of the hitherto unknown layered anion-deficient perovskites Bi2(Sr,Pb)Fe3O8.5 and Bi3(Sr,Pb)Fe4O11.5. Using a combination of diffraction, imaging, and spectroscopic transmission electron microscopy techniques this complex microstructure was fully characterized, including direct determination of positions, chemical composition, and coordination number of individual atomic species. The complex defect structure makes these perovskites particularly similar to the CS structures in ReO3-type oxides. The flexibility of the CS planes appears to be a specific feature of the Sr-based system, related to the geometric match between the SrO perovskite layers and the {100}p segments of the CS planes.