Ferromagnetic Behavior and Magneto-Optical Properties of Semiconducting Co-Doped ZnO

ZnO is a well-known semiconducting material showing a wide bandgap and an n-type intrinsic behavior of high interest in applications such as transparent electronics, piezoelectricity, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics. This semiconductor becomes even more attractive when doped with a few atomic percent of a transition metal. Indeed, e.g., the introduction of substitutional Co atoms in ZnO (ZCO) induces the appearance of room temperature ferromagnetism (RT-FM) and magneto-optical effects, making this material one of the most important representatives of so-called dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs). In the present review, we discuss the magnetic and magneto-optical properties of Co-doped ZnO thin films by considering also the significant improvements in the properties induced by post-growth irradiation with atomic hydrogen. We also show how all of these properties can be accounted for by a theoretical model based on the formation of Co-V_O (oxygen vacancy) complexes and the concurrent presence of shallow donor defects, thus giving a sound support to this model to explain the RT-FM in ZCO DMSs.

Ink-Assisted Synthetic Strategy for Stable and Advanced Composite Electrocatalysts with Single Fe Sites

The oxygen evolution reaction is critical to the efficiency of many energy technologies that store renewable electricity in chemical form. However, the rational design of high-performance and stable catalysts to drive this reaction remains a formidable challenge. Here, a facile ink-assisted strategy to construct a series of stable and advanced composite electrocatalysts with single Fe sites for permitting seriously improved performance characteristics is reported. As revealed by a suit of characterization techniques and theoretical methods, the improved electrocatalytic performance and stability can be attributed to the unique coordination states of Fe in the form of distorted FeO₄ C and the interfacial effect in the composite system that optimize and stabilize single Fe sites in changing to better configurations for intermediates adsorption. The findings provide a novel strategy to in-depth understanding of practical guidelines for the electrocatalyst design for energy conversion devices.

Atomic Cobalt Covalently Engineered Interlayers for Superior Lithium-Ion Storage

With the unique-layered structure, MXenes show potential as electrodes in energy-storage devices including lithium-ion (Li⁺ ) capacitors and batteries. However, the low Li⁺ -storage capacity hinders the application of MXenes in place of commercial carbon materials. Here, the vanadium carbide (V₂ C) MXene with engineered interlayer spacing for desirable storage capacity is demonstrated. The interlayer distance of pristine V₂ C MXene is controllably tuned to 0.735 nm resulting in improved Li-ion capacity of 686.7 mA h g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 , the best MXene-based Li⁺ -storage capacity reported so far. Further, cobalt ions are stably intercalated into the interlayer of V₂ C MXene to form a new interlayer-expanded structure via strong V-O-Co bonding. The intercalated V₂ C MXene electrodes not only exhibit superior capacity up to 1117.3 mA h g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 , but also deliver a significantly ultralong cycling stability over 15 000 cycles. These results clearly suggest that MXene materials with an engineered interlayer distance will be a rational route for realizing them as superstable and high-performance Li⁺ capacitor electrodes.

Formation of ferromagnetic Co-H-Co complex and spin-polarized conduction band in Co-doped ZnO

Magnetic oxide semiconductors with wide band gaps have promising spintronic applications, especially in the case of magneto-optic devices. Co-doped ZnO (ZnCoO) has been considered for these applications, but the origin of its ferromagnetism has been controversial for several decades and no substantial progress for a practical application has been made to date. In this paper, we present direct evidence of hydrogen-mediated ferromagnetism and spin polarization in the conduction band of ZnCoO. Electron density mapping reveals the formation of Co–H–Co, in agreement with theoretical predictions. Electron spin resonance measurement elucidates the ferromagnetic nature of ZnCoO by the formation of Co–H–Co. We provide evidence from magnetic circular dichroism measurements supporting the hypothesis that Co–H–Co contributes to the spin polarization of the conduction band of hydrogen-doped ZnCoO.

A facile green antisolvent approach to Cu2+-doped ZnO nanocrystals with visible-light-responsive photoactivities

An environmentally benign antisolvent method has been developed to prepare Cu(2+)-doped ZnO nanocrystals with controllable dopant concentrations. A room temperature ionic liquid, known as a deep eutectic solvent (DES), was used as the solvent to dissolve ZnO powders. Upon the introduction of the ZnO-containing DES into a bad solvent which shows no solvation to ZnO, ZnO was precipitated and grown due to the dramatic decrease of solubility. By adding Cu(2+) ions to the bad solvent, the growth of ZnO from the antisolvent process was accompanied by Cu(2+) introduction, resulting in the formation of Cu(2+)-doped ZnO nanocrystals. The as-prepared Cu(2+)-doped ZnO showed an additional absorption band in the visible range (400-800 nm), which conduced to an improvement in the overall photon harvesting efficiency. Time-resolved photoluminescence spectra, together with the photovoltage information, suggested that the doped Cu(2+) may otherwise trap photoexcited electrons during the charge transfer process, inevitably depressing the photoconversion efficiency. The photoactivity of Cu(2+)-doped ZnO nanocrystals for photoelectrochemical water oxidation was effectively enhanced in the visible region, which achieved the highest at 2.0 at% of Cu(2+). A further increase in the Cu(2+) concentration however led to a decrease in the photocatalytic performance, which was ascribed to the significant carrier trapping caused by the increased states given by excessive Cu(2+). The photocurrent action spectra illustrated that the enhanced photoactivity of the Cu(2+)-doped ZnO nanocrystals was mainly due to the improved visible photon harvesting achieved by Cu(2+) doping. These results may facilitate the use of transition metal ion-doped ZnO in other photoconversion applications, such as ZnO based dye-sensitized solar cells and magnetism-assisted photocatalytic systems.

Detailed investigation of Na2.24FePO4CO3 as a cathode material for Na-ion batteries

Na-ion batteries are gaining an increased recognition as the next generation low cost energy storage devices. Here, we present a characterization of Na₃FePO₄CO₃ nanoplates as a novel cathode material for sodium ion batteries. First-principles calculations reveal that there are two paths for Na ion migration along b and c axis. In-situ and ex-situ Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) point out that in Na₃FePO₄CO₃ both Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ and Fe³⁺/Fe⁴⁺ redox couples are electrochemically active, suggesting also the existence of a two-electron intercalation reaction. Ex-situ X-ray powder diffraction data demonstrates that the crystalline structure of Na₃FePO₄CO₃ remains stable during the charging/discharging process within the range 2.0–4.55 V.

Ferromagnetism in ZnO:Co originating from a hydrogenated Co-O-Co complex

The effects of hydrogen interstitials and oxygen vacancies on the overall ferromagnetic behaviour of Co doped ZnO (ZnO:Co) have been closely examined using different density functional calculations. The results demonstrate the importance of correcting the bandgap problem of the ZnO host as well as the lack of correlation in Co's 3d states which can severely affect the coupling of H and Co's impurity bands. Our results show that in hydrogenated ZnO:Co, hydrogen interstitial can also stabilize the ferromagnetic interaction at low Co concentrations, but this requires the formation of the in-plane O-H-Co-O-Co complex. In this structure, the hydrogen interstitial forms an anionic complex with the neighbouring oxygen, which polarizes the surrounding oxygen to mediate the ferromagnetism through the superexchange mechanism. An oxygen vacancy by itself would not cause ferromagnetism in ZnO:Co. On the other hand, in the presence of hydrogen interstitials, oxygen vacancies can significantly enhance the magnetic coupling between H and Co-O-Co as a shallow donor if it is far away from the in-plane O-H-Co-O-Co complex. However, the total energy results show that this is much more favoured when the oxygen vacancy is near the in-plane O-H-Co-O-Co complex, which can inhibit the ferromagnetic interaction between Co ions.