Harnessing lost atoms may aid in crafting new, never-before-seen oxidesUnderstanding how materials f
Harnessing lost atoms may aid in crafting new, never-before-seen oxidesUnderstanding how materials form and combine with one another is important to design better energy-harvesting and -storage devices. Now, researchers have directly imaged the loss of a single layer of atoms in a photocatalyst created by layering two oxides. The team examined the structure of a single layer and that of the final composite, finding that a plane of atoms right at the material boundary was lost during the synthesis process. The team showed that the starting material’s surface is unstable and can dramatically reconfigure when combined with a second layer.“These unexpected findings open the door to a whole new way to control oxides,” explains lead author Dr. Steven Spurgeon, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.Spurgeon and his colleagues at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory answered a strange riddle about the behavior of a material for using sunlight and water to create hydrogen. The material undergoes a dynamic rearrangement of atoms as it forms. This change can give rise to an unexpected interface structure and properties. With this understanding, scientists can design their synthesis methods to account for growth dynamics and the restructuring of atoms. The results could lead to more precise control of the properties and performance of key energy materials.Read more. -- source link
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