Atomic Structure of the FeO/FeO Interface During Phase Transition from Hematite to Magnetite.

Phase transition between iron oxides practically defines their functionalities in both physical and chemical applications. Direct observation of the atomic rearrangement and a quantitative description of the dynamic behavior of the phase transition, however, are rare. Here, we monitored the structure evolution from a rod-shaped hematite nanoparticle to magnetite during H reduction at elevated temperatures.

Precise Drift Tracking for Transmission Electron Microscopy via a Thon-Ring Based Sample Position Measurement.

Visualizing how a catalyst behaves during chemical reactions using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is crucial for understanding the activity origin and guiding performance optimization. However, the sample drifts as temperature changes during in situ reaction, which weakens the resolution and stability of TEM imaging, blocks insights into the dynamic details of catalytic reaction. Herein, a Thon-ring based sample position measurement (TSPM) was developed to track the sample height variation during in situ TEM observation.

Oxygen activation on Ba-containing perovskite materials.

Oxygen activation, including oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is at the heart of many important energy conversion processes. However, the activation mechanism of Ba-containing perovskite materials is still ambiguous, because of the complex four-electron transfer process on the gas-solid interfaces. Here, we directly observe that BaO and BaO segregated on Ba-containing material surface participate in the oxygen activation process via the formation and decomposition of BaO.

Dynamic structural evolution of iron catalysts involving competitive oxidation and carburization during CO hydrogenation.

Identifying the dynamic structure of heterogeneous catalysts is crucial for the rational design of new ones. In this contribution, the structural evolution of Fe(0) catalysts during CO hydrogenation to hydrocarbons has been investigated by using several (quasi) in situ techniques. Upon initial reduction, Fe species are carburized to FeC and then to FeC.

Endogenous Symbiotic Li N/Cellulose Skin to Extend the Cycle Life of Lithium Anode.

Nitrocellulose (NC) is proposed to stabilize the electrolytes for Li metal batteries. The nitro group of NC preferentially reacts with Li metal, and along with the cellulose skeleton is tightly wrapped on the surface, so that the polymer-inorganic double layer is formed on the Li surface. XPS profile analysis and corroborative cryo-environmental TEM reveal that the flexible outer layer of the bilayer is a C-O organic layer, while the dense inner layer is mainly composed of crystalline lithium oxide, lithium oxynitride, and lithium nitride.

Diffusion-Limited Formation of Nonequilibrium Intermetallic Nanophase for Selective Dehydrogenation.

Nonequilibrium intermetallic phases in the nanoscale were realized by diffusion-controlled solid-state transformation, forming SiO supported NPs with Pd core and a CsCl type PdM shell, where M is Sn or Sb. The core-shell geometry is identified from scanning transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy and the crystal structure is confirmed from in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The highly symmetric PdM intermetallic phase has not been reported previously and contains catalytic ensembles with high selectivity toward dehydrogenation of propane.