Electric-field induced structural transition in vertical MoTe- and MoWTe-based resistive memories.

Transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted attention as potential building blocks for various electronic applications due to their atomically thin nature and polymorphism. Here, we report an electric-field-induced structural transition from a 2H semiconducting to a distorted transient structure (2H) and orthorhombic T conducting phase in vertical 2H-MoTe- and MoWTe-based resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices. RRAM programming voltages are tunable by the transition metal dichalcogenide thickness and show a distinctive trend of requiring lower electric fields for MoWTe alloys versus MoTe compounds.

Two-dimensional transition metal carbides as supports for tuning the chemistry of catalytic nanoparticles.

Supported nanoparticles are broadly employed in industrial catalytic processes, where the active sites can be tuned by metal-support interactions (MSIs). Although it is well accepted that supports can modify the chemistry of metal nanoparticles, systematic utilization of MSIs for achieving desired catalytic performance is still challenging. The developments of supports with appropriate chemical properties and identification of the resulting active sites are the main barriers.

Changes in Catalytic and Adsorptive Properties of 2 nm PtMn Nanoparticles by Subsurface Atoms.

Supported multimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in industrial catalytic processes, where the relation between surface structure and function is well-known. However, the effect of subsurface layers on such catalysts remains mostly unstudied. Here, we demonstrate a clear subsurface effect on supported 2 nm core-shell NPs with atomically precise and high temperature stable PtMn intermetallic surface measured by in situ synchrotron X-ray Diffraction, difference X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy.

A Discovery of Strong Metal-Support Bonding in Nanoengineered Au-FeO Dumbbell-like Nanoparticles by in Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy.

The strength of metal-support bonding in heterogeneous catalysts determines their thermal stability, therefore, a tremendous amount of effort has been expended to understand metal-support interactions. Herein, we report the discovery of an anomalous "strong metal-support bonding" between gold nanoparticles and "nano-engineered" FeO substrates by in situ microscopy. During in situ vacuum annealing of Au-FeO dumbbell-like nanoparticles, synthesized by the epitaxial growth of nano-FeO on Au nanoparticles, the gold nanoparticles transform into the gold thin films and wet the surface of nano-FeO, as the surface reduction of nano-FeO proceeds.

Chemical vapor deposition-prepared sub-nanometer Zr clusters on Pd surfaces: promotion of methane dry reforming.

An inverse Pd-Zr model catalyst was prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using zirconium-t-butoxide (ZTB) as an organometallic precursor. Pd-Zr interaction was then investigated with focus on the correlation of reforming performance with the oxidation state of Zr. As test reactions, dry reforming of methane (DRM) and methanol steam reforming (MSR) were chosen.

Surface chemistry of black phosphorus under a controlled oxidative environment.

Black phosphorus (BP), the bulk counterpart of monolayer phosphorene, is a relatively stable phosphorus allotrope at room temperature. However, monolayer phosphorene and ultra-thin BP layers degrade in ambient atmosphere. In this paper, we report the investigation of BP oxidation and discuss the reaction mechanism based on the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data.