Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Electronic structure engineering of lanthanide activated materials

This Highlight article by Pieter Dorenbos reviews new approaches to design novel lanthanide-based materials. He discusses methods and models to construct electron binding energy schemes which can be used to predict the properties, and therefore engineer, new materials.

J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM34252A, Advance Article

Crystal structure of blue–white–yellow color-tunable Ca₄Si₂O₇F₂:Eu²⁺,Mn²⁺ phosphor and investigation of color tenability through energy transfer for single-phase white-light near-ultraviolet LEDs

Phosphor-converted LEDs that use a combination of blue InGaN chip and a yellow emitting Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ phosphors have low color rendering indices and high correlated color temperatures which are disadvantageous. In this hot paper, Huang, Chen and co-workers, synthesis a series of single-composition Ca₄Si₂O₇F₂:Eu²⁺,Mn²⁺ phosphors and investigate their crystal structures and luminescence properties. They find that the phosphors generate white-light and are emission-tunable by using a sensitizer Eu³⁺. The critical distance between Eu²⁺ and Mn²⁺ is investigated in relation to the energy transfer mechanism. The phosphor has potential uses as a phosphor-converted white-light near-UV LED.

J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM33160H, Advance Article

High rate performance of a Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃/C cathode prepared by pyro-synthesis for sodium-ion batteries

In this hot paper, Jaekook Kim’s group at Chonam National University, Korea report the synthesis of a Na-ion cathode as a high performing alternative to the Li-ion cathodes currently popular in the field. The carbon-coated Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cathode is synthesised via a polyol-assisted pyro-synthetic reaction which reduces the sintering time and temperature. The resulting nanoparticles showed greatly improved electrochemical performances in a Na-ion cell.

J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 20857-20860

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Capacitive deionization (CDI) is the primary runner-up technology to challenge the well-established traditional technologies such as the reverse osmosis and the electrodialysis for producing fresh water from sea water. The performance of CDI is mainly governed by the carbon electrode properties such as the electric conductivity and the pore size distribution, and this remains a bottle-neck challenge for the CDI technique up to now, and needs to be addressed urgently. In this paper, Gang Wang, Jieshan Qiu and co-workers at Dalian University of Technology in China report a new strategy for fabricating hierarchical carbon electrodes with tuned structure for CDI by electrospinning, which shows a high desalination performance in an order as high as 10 mg salt/g carbon. The novel approach may pay a new way for a new technology for producing fresh water from salted water.

(Text supplied by author)

(J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 21819-21823). Free to read for a short time.

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