Study on Water Splitting of the 214-Type Perovskite Oxides LnSrCoO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Sm, Eu, and Ga).

We present a study on the electrocatalysis of 214-type perovskite oxides LnSrCoO4 (Ln = La, Pr, Sm, Eu, and Ga) with semiconducting-like behavior synthesized using the sol-gel method. Among these five catalysts, PrSrCoO4 exhibits the optimal electrochemical performance in both the oxygen evolution reaction and the hydrogen evolution reaction, mainly due to its larger electrical conductivity, mass activity, and turnover frequency. Importantly, the weak dependency of LSV curves in a KOH solution with different pH values, revealing the adsorbate evolving mechanism in PrSrCoO4, and the density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that PrSrCoO4 has a smaller Gibbs free energy and a higher density of states near the Fermi level, which accelerates the electrochemical water splitting. The mutual substitution of different rare-earth elements will change the unit-cell parameters, regulate the electronic states of catalytic active site Co ions, and further affect their catalytic performance. Furthermore, the magnetic results indicate strong spin-orbit coupling in the electroactive sites of Co ions in SmSrCoO4 and EuSrCoO4, whereas the magnetic moments of Co ions in the other three catalysts mainly arise from the spin itself. Our experimental results expand the electrochemical applications of 214-type perovskite oxides and provide a good platform for a deeper understanding of their catalytic mechanisms.

Rodlike FeS/SnS@N-C Core-Shell Microparticles for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

FeS/SnS@N-C composites were successfully synthesized through the combination of nucleation self-assembly, N-doped carbon coating, and in situ vulcanization. The experimental results show that the discharge capacitance of FeS/SnS@N-C in the lithium storage process is 796.90 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles, and more importantly, the discharge capacitance can maintain 278.84 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 after 2000 cycles. FeS in FeS/SnS@N-C plays a key role in the electrochemical performance, which is due to the certain electronic density of states (DOS) near the Fermi level. In short, our research expands the application of transition metal sulfide composites in lithium-ion batteries.

Electrochemical performance of CoSe2 with mixed phases decorated with N-doped rGO in potassium-ion batteries.

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have received much attention as next-generation energy storage systems because of their abundance, low cost, and slightly lower standard redox potential than lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, they still face great challenges in the design of the best electrode materials for applications. Herein, we have successfully synthesized nano-sized CoSe2 encapsulated by N-doped reduced graphene oxide (denoted as CoSe2@N-rGO) by a direct one-step hydrothermal method, including both orthorhombic and cubic CoSe2 phases. The CoSe2@N-rGO anodes exhibit a high reversible capacity of 599.3 mA h g-1 at 0.05 A g-1 in the initial cycle, and in particular, they also exhibit a cycling stability of 421 mA h g-1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g-1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that CoSe2 with N-doped carbon can greatly accelerate electron transfer and enhance the rate performance. In addition, the intrinsic causes of the higher electrochemical performance of orthorhombic CoSe2 than that of cubic CoSe2 are also discussed.

Research Progress of FeSe-based Superconductors Containing Ammonia/Organic Molecules Intercalation.

As an important part of Fe-based superconductors, FeSe-based superconductors have become a hot field in condensed matter physics. The exploration and preparation of such superconducting materials form the basis of studying their physical properties. With the help of various alkali/alkaline-earth/rare-earth metals, different kinds of ammonia/organic molecules have been intercalated into the FeSe layer to form a large number of FeSe-based superconductors with diverse structures and different layer spacing. Metal cations can effectively provide carriers to the superconducting FeSe layer, thus significantly increasing the superconducting transition temperature. The orientation of organic molecules often plays an important role in structural modification and can be used to fine-tune superconductivity. This review introduces the crystal structures and superconducting properties of several typical FeSe-based superconductors containing ammonia/organic molecules intercalation discovered in recent years, and the effects of FeSe layer spacing and superconducting transition temperature are briefly summarized.

Multiband Superconductivity with Sign-Preserving Order Parameter in Kagome Superconductor CsV_{3}Sb_{5}.

The superconductivity of a kagome superconductor CsV_{3}Sb_{5} is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at ultralow temperature with high resolution. Two kinds of superconducting gaps with multiple sets of coherent peaks and residual zero-energy density of states (DOS) are observed on both half-Cs and Sb surfaces, implying multiband superconductivity. In addition, in-gap states can be induced by magnetic impurities but not by nonmagnetic impurities, suggesting a sign-preserving or s-wave superconducting order parameter. Moreover, the interplay between charge density waves (CDW) and superconductivity differs on various bands, resulting in different density-of-states distributions. Our results suggest that the superconducting gap is likely isotropic on the sections of Fermi surface that play little roles in CDW, and the superconducting gaps on the sections of Fermi surface with anisotropic CDW gaps are likely anisotropic as well. The residual spectral weights at zero energy are attributed to the extremely small superconducting gap on the tiny oval Fermi pockets. Our study provides critical clues for further understanding the superconductivity and its relation to CDW in CsV_{3}Sb_{5}.

Semiconducting and magnetic properties of FeS-derived compounds (C2H8N2)xFeS and Ax(C2H8N2)yFeS (A = Li, Na).

Several FeS-derived intercalated compounds (C2H8N2)xFeS and Ax(C2H8N2)yFeS (A = Li, Na) were successfully synthesized via a novel ammonothermal method. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements reveal that the FeS intercalated samples have the same tetragonal crystal structure as the parent FeS. After intercalation, these three as-synthesized samples do not show superconductor behavior, which is confirmed by the magnetization and the electrical resistivity measurements. (C2H8N2)xFeS exhibits paramagnetic semiconductor behavior, while the newly synthesized Ax(C2H8N2)yFeS (A = Li, Na) shows antiferromagnetic semiconductor behavior. The absence of superconductivity in these FeS-derived compounds should be closely related to the iron vacancies in the FeS layer.

A Self-Doped Oxygen-Free High-Critical-Temperature (High-Tc) Superconductor: SmFFeAs.

A new iron-base superconductor SmFFeAs is synthesized via solid-state metathesis reaction by using SmFCl and LiFeAs as precursors. The compound crystallized in the tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure with the space group P4/nmm and lattice parameters of a = 3.9399(0) Å and c = 8.5034(1) Å. The superconducting diamagnetic transition occurs at 56 K for the parent compound, which confirmed by the resistivity and magnetic susceptibility. The appearance of superconductivity without extrinsic doping could be ascribed to the self-doping owing to the mixed valence of Sm ions. The as-synthesized SmFFeAs serves as a new self-doped parent compound for oxygen-free high-critical-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors.