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Wang H, Zhang J, Shen C, Yang C, Küster K, Deuschle J, Starke U, Zhang H, Isobe M, Huang D, van Aken PA, Takagi H. Direct visualization of stacking-selective self-intercalation in epitaxial Nb 1+xSe 2 films. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2541. [PMID: 38514672 PMCID: PMC10957900 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46934-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials offer rich tuning opportunities generated by different stacking configurations or by introducing intercalants into the vdW gaps. Current knowledge of the interplay between stacking polytypes and intercalation often relies on macroscopically averaged probes, which fail to pinpoint the exact atomic position and chemical state of the intercalants in real space. Here, by using atomic-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope, we visualize a stacking-selective self-intercalation phenomenon in thin films of the transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) Nb1+xSe2. We observe robust contrasts between 180°-stacked layers with large amounts of Nb intercalants inside their vdW gaps and 0°-stacked layers with little detectable intercalants inside their vdW gaps, coexisting on the atomic scale. First-principles calculations suggest that the films lie at the boundary of a phase transition from 0° to 180° stacking when the intercalant concentration x exceeds ~0.25, which we could attain in our films due to specific kinetic pathways. Our results offer not only renewed mechanistic insights into stacking and intercalation, but also open up prospects for engineering the functionality of TMDCs via stacking-selective self-intercalation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongguang Wang
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
| | - Jiawei Zhang
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Chen Shen
- Department of Materials and Earth Sciences, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
| | - Chao Yang
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Kathrin Küster
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Julia Deuschle
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ulrich Starke
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Hongbin Zhang
- Department of Materials and Earth Sciences, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Masahiko Isobe
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Dennis Huang
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
| | - Peter A van Aken
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Hidenori Takagi
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies, University of Stuttgart, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Tokyo, Japan
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Srot V, Bussmann B, Salzberger U, Deuschle J, Watanabe M, Pokorny B, Jelenko Turinek I, Mark AF, van Aken PA. Magnesium-Assisted Continuous Growth of Strongly Iron-Enriched Incisors. ACS Nano 2017; 11:239-248. [PMID: 27936567 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b05297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Teeth are an excellent example where optimally designed nanoarchitectures with precisely constructed components consist of simple compounds. Typically, these simple constituent phases with insignificant properties show mechanical property amplifications when formed into composite architectures. Material properties of functional composites are generally regulated on the nanoscale, which makes their characterization particularly demanding. Using advanced analytical and imaging transmission electron microscopy techniques, we identified innovative microstructural adjustments combined with astonishing compositional adaptations in incisors of coypu. Unique constituents, recognized as an additional amorphous Fe-rich surface layer followed by a transition zone covering pigmented enamel, provide the required structural stability to withstand repeated mechanical load. The chemically diverse Fe-rich surface layer, including ferrihydrite and iron-calcium phosphates, gives the typical orange-brown coloration to the incisors. Within the spaces between elongated hydroxyapatite crystals in the pigmented enamel, only ferrihydrite was found, implying that enamel pigmentation is a very strictly controlled process. Most significantly, an unprecedentedly high amount of Mg was measured in the amorphous flake-like material within the dentinal tubules of the incisors, suggesting the presence of a (Mg,Ca) phosphate phase. This unusually high influx of Mg into the dentin of incisors, but not molars, suggests a substantial functionality of Mg in the initial formation stages and constant growth of incisors. The present results emphasize the strong mutual correlation among the microstructure, chemical composition, and mechanical properties of mineralized dental tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vesna Srot
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
| | - Birgit Bussmann
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
| | - Ute Salzberger
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
| | - Julia Deuschle
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
- Materials Physics Group, University of Stuttgart , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
| | - Masashi Watanabe
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Boštjan Pokorny
- Environmental Protection College , Velenje 3320, Slovenia
- ERICo Velenje, Ecological Research and Industrial Cooperation , Velenje 3320, Slovenia
| | - Ida Jelenko Turinek
- ERICo Velenje, Ecological Research and Industrial Cooperation , Velenje 3320, Slovenia
| | - Alison F Mark
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
| | - Peter A van Aken
- Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Stuttgart 70569, Germany
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Schmahl WW, Griesshaber E, Goetz A, Kelm K, Deuschle J, Jordan G, Gigler A. Biodiversity of hierarchical architectures and texture in calcite biomaterials. Acta Crystallogr A 2011. [DOI: 10.1107/s0108767311098886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
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