Publications

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The surface chemical capacitance of ceria and SDC was investigated using in situ ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) in H2 H 2O environments at elevated temperatures. The spectra were collected in situ after equilibrating the samples under oxygen chemical potentials spanning -2.95 and -3.44 eV versus 1 atm O2. Consequently, the volumetric chemical capacitance of the surface, in the range of 103-104Fcm-3, is nearly two orders of magnitude larger than that of the bulk. Addition of Sm leads to a slight decrease of surface Ce3+ concentration, but a 10-fold enhancement in the surface capacitance under H2 H 2O atmospheres. Our hypothesis for this observation is that Sm lowers defect interactions. The areal surface capacitance calculated for SDC is in good agreement with literature values extrapolated from electrochemical measurements.

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Hydrogen diffusion impacts the performance of solid-state hydrogen storage materials and contributes to the embrittlement of structural materials under hydrogen-containing environments. In atomistic simulations, the diffusion energy barriers are usually calculated using molecular statics simulations where a nudged elastic band method is used to constrain a path connecting the two end points of an atomic jump. This approach requires prior knowledge of the "end points". For alloy and defective systems, the number of possible atomic jumps with respect to local atomic configurations is tremendous. Even when these jumps can be exhaustively studied, it is still unclear how they can be combined to give an overall diffusion behavior seen in experiments. Here we describe the use of molecular dynamics simulations to determine the overall diffusion energy barrier from the Arrhenius equation. This method does not require information about atomic jumps, and it has additional advantages, such as the ability to incorporate finite temperature effects and to determine the pre-exponential factor. As a test case for a generic method, we focus on hydrogen diffusion in bulk aluminum. We find that the challenge of this method is the statistical variation of the results. However, highly converged energy barriers can be achieved by an appropriate set of temperatures, output time intervals (for tracking hydrogen positions), and a long total simulation time. Our results help elucidate the inconsistencies of the experimental diffusion data published in the literature. The robust approach developed here may also open up future molecular dynamics simulations to rapidly study diffusion properties of complex material systems in multidimensional spaces involving composition and defects.

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The electrochemical reactions of solid oxide fuel cells occur in the region where gas-phase species, electrode, and electrolyte coincide. When the electrode is an ionic insulator and the electrolyte is an electronic insulator, this triple phase boundary is assumed to have atomic dimensions. For this study, we use photoemission electron microscopy to show that the reduced surface of the electrolyte yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has a sharp electronic metal-insulator boundary near Pt negative electrodes. The electronic conductivity of the reduced YSZ allows for oxygen reduction, allowing the reduced YSZ to behave as an extended triple phase boundary. This extended triple phase boundary can be many microns in size, depending on oxygen pressure, temperature, applied voltage, and time.

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This report documents work that was performed under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, Science of Battery Degradation. The focus of this work was on the creation of new experimental and theoretical approaches to understand atomistic mechanisms of degradation in battery electrodes that result in loss of electrical energy storage capacity. Several unique approaches were developed during the course of the project, including the invention of a technique based on ultramicrotoming to cross-section commercial scale battery electrodes, the demonstration of scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) to probe lithium transport mechanisms within Li-ion battery electrodes, the creation of in-situ liquid cells to observe electrochemical reactions in real-time using both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and STXM, the creation of an in-situ optical cell utilizing Raman spectroscopy and the application of the cell for analyzing redox flow batteries, the invention of an approach for performing ab initio simulation of electrochemical reactions under potential control and its application for the study of electrolyte degradation, and the development of an electrochemical entropy technique combined with x-ray based structural measurements for understanding origins of battery degradation. These approaches led to a number of scientific discoveries. Using STXM we learned that lithium iron phosphate battery cathodes display unexpected behavior during lithiation wherein lithium transport is controlled by nucleation of a lithiated phase, leading to high heterogeneity in lithium content at each particle and a surprising invariance of local current density with the overall electrode charging current. We discovered using in-situ transmission electron microscopy that there is a size limit to lithiation of silicon anode particles above which particle fracture controls electrode degradation. From electrochemical entropy measurements, we discovered that entropy changes little with degradation but the origin of degradation in cathodes is kinetic in nature, i.e. lower rate cycling recovers lost capacity. Finally, our modeling of electrode-electrolyte interfaces revealed that electrolyte degradation may occur by either a single or double electron transfer process depending on thickness of the solid-electrolyte-interphase layer, and this cross-over can be modeled and predicted.

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Electro-optical organic materials hold great promise for the development of high-efficiency devices based on exciton formation and dissociation, such as organic photovoltaics (OPV) and organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). However, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of both OPV and OLEDs must be improved to make these technologies economical. Efficiency rolloff in OLEDs and inability to control morphology at key OPV interfaces both reduce EQE. Only by creating materials that allow manipulation and control of the intimate assembly and communication between various nanoscale excitonic components can we hope to first understand and then engineer the system to allow these materials to reach their potential. The aims of this proposal are to: 1) develop a paradigm-changing platform for probing excitonic processes composed of Crystalline Nanoporous Frameworks (CNFs) infiltrated with secondary materials (such as a complimentary semiconductor); 2) use them to probe fundamental aspects of excitonic processes; and 3) create prototype OPVs and OLEDs using infiltrated CNF as active device components. These functional platforms will allow detailed control of key interactions at the nanoscale, overcoming the disorder and limited synthetic control inherent in conventional organic materials. CNFs are revolutionary inorganic-organic hybrid materials boasting unmatched synthetic flexibility that allow tuning of chemical, geometric, electrical, and light absorption/generation properties. For example, bandgap engineering is feasible and polyaromatic linkers provide tunable photon antennae; rigid 1-5 nm pores provide an oriented, intimate host for triplet emitters (to improve light emission in OLEDs) or secondary semiconducting polymers (creating a charge-separation interface in OPV). These atomically engineered, ordered structures will enable critical fundamental questions to be answered concerning charge transport, nanoscale interfaces, and exciton behavior that are inaccessible in disordered systems. Implementing this concept also creates entirely new dimensions for device fabrication that could both improve performance, increase durability, and reduce costs with unprecedented control of over properties. This report summarizes the key results of this project and is divided into sections based on publications that resulted from the work. We begin in Section 2 with an investigation of light harvesting and energy transfer in a MOF infiltrated with donor and acceptor molecules of the type typically used in OPV devices (thiophenes and fullerenes, respectively). The results show that MOFs can provide multiple functions: as a light harvester, as a stabilizer and organizer or the infiltrated molecules, and as a facilitator of energy transfer. Section 3 describes computational design of MOF linker groups to accomplish light harvesting in the visible and facilitate charge separation and transport. The predictions were validated by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, demonstrating that rational design of MOFs for light-harvesting purposes is feasible. Section 4 extends the infiltration concept discussed in Section to, which we now designate as "Molecule@MOF" to create an electrically conducting framework. The tailorability and high conductivity of this material are unprecedented, meriting publication in the journal Science and spawning several Technical Advances. Section 5 discusses processes we developed for depositing MOFs as thin films on substrates, a critical enabling technology for fabricating MOF-based electronic devices. Finally, in Section 6 we summarize results showing that a MOF thin film can be used as a sensitizer in a DSSC, demonstrating that MOFs can serve as active layers in excitonic devices. Overall, this project provides several crucial proofs-of- concept that the potential of MOFs for use in optoelectronic devices that we predicted several years ago [ 3 ] can be realized in practice.

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