Browsing by Author "Zbiri, M"

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    Density functional calculations of potential energy surface and charge transfer integrals in molecular triphenylene derivative HAT(6)
    (Springer, 2010-03) Zbiri, M; Johnson, MR; Kearley, GJ; Mulder, FM
    We investigate the effect of structural fluctuations on charge transfer integrals, overlap integrals, and site energies in a system of two stacked molecular 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakishexyloxytriphenylene (HAT(6)), which is a model system for conducting devices in organic photocell applications. A density functional based computational study is reported. Accurate potential energy surface calculations are carried out using an improved meta-hybrid density functional to determine the most stable configuration of the two weakly bound HAT(6) molecules. The equilibrium parameters in terms of the twist angle and co-facial separation are calculated. Adopting the fragment approach within the Kohn-Sham density functional framework, these parameters are combined to a lateral slide, to mimic structural/conformational fluctuations and variations in the columnar phase. The charge transfer and spatial overlap integrals, and site energies, which form the matrix element of the Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian are derived. It is found that these quantities are strongly affected by the conformational variations. The spatial overlap between stacked molecules is found to be of considerable importance since charge transfer integrals obtained using the fragment approach differ significantly from those using the dimer approach. © 2010, Springer.
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    Electronic and vibronic properties of a discotic liquid-crystal and its charge transfer complex
    (AIP Publishing, 2014-01-06) Haverkate, LA; Zbiri, M; Johnson, MR; Carter, EA; Kotlewski, A; Picken, SJ; Mulder, FM; Kearley, GJ
    Discotic liquid crystalline (DLC) charge transfer (CT) complexes combine visible light absorption and rapid charge transfer characteristics, being favorable properties for photovoltaic (PV) applications. We present a detailed study of the electronic and vibrational properties of the prototypic 1:1 mixture of discotic 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakishexyloxytriphenylene (HAT6) and 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (TNF). It is shown that intermolecular charge transfer occurs in the ground state of the complex: a charge delocalization of about 10−2 electron from the HAT6 core to TNF is deduced from both Raman and our previous NMR measurements [L. A. Haverkate, M. Zbiri, M. R. Johnson, B. Deme, H. J. M. de Groot, F. Lefeber, A. Kotlewski, S. J. Picken, F. M. Mulder, and G. J. Kearley, J. Phys. Chem. B116, 13098 (2012)], implying the presence of permanent dipoles at the donor-acceptor interface. A combined analysis of density functional theory calculations, resonant Raman and UV-VIS absorption measurements indicate that fast relaxation occurs in the UV region due to intramolecular vibronic coupling of HAT6 quinoidal modes with lower lying electronic states. Relatively slower relaxation in the visible region the excited CT-band of the complex is also indicated, which likely involves motions of the TNF nitro groups. The fast quinoidal relaxation process in the hot UV band of HAT6 relates to pseudo-Jahn-Teller interactions in a single benzene unit, suggesting that the underlying vibronic coupling mechanism can be generic for polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Both the presence of ground state CT dipoles and relatively slow relaxation processes in the excited CT band can be relevant concerning the design of DLC based organic PV systems. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
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    Experimental observation and computational study of the spin-gap excitation in Ba3BiRu2O9
    (American Physical Society, 2016-11-01) Ling, CD; Huang, Z; Kennedy, BJ; Rols, S; Johnson, MR; Zbiri, M; Kimber, SAJ; Hudspeth, J; Adroja, DT; Rule, KC; Avdeev, M; Blanchard, PER
    Ba3BiRu2O9 is a 6H-type perovskite compound containing face-sharing octahedral M2O9 (M=Ir, Ru) dimers, which are magnetically frustrated at low temperatures. On cooling through T∗=176 K, it undergoes a pronounced magnetostructural transition, which is not accompanied by any change in space group symmetry, long-range magnetic ordering, or charge ordering. Here, we report the first direct evidence from inelastic neutron scattering that this transition is due to an opening of a gap in the excitation spectra of dimers of low-spin Ru4+ (S=1) ions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals a change in Ru-Ru orbital overlap at T∗, linking the emergence of this spin-gap excitation to the magnetostructural transition. Ab initio calculations point to a geometrically frustrated magnetic ground state due to antiferromagnetic interdimer exchange on a triangular Ru2O9 dimer lattice. X-ray total-scattering data rule out long-range magnetic ordering at low temperatures, consistent with this geometrically frustrated model. ©2016 American Physical Society
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    Molecular modelling of ground- and excited-states vibrations in organic conducting devices: hexakis(n-hexyloxy)triphenylene (HAT(6)) as case study
    (CSIRO Publishing, 2010-03-26) Zbiri, M; Johnson, MR; Haverkate, LA; Mulder, FM; Kearley, GJ
    In order to gain insight into fundamental aspects of organic photocell materials, we have calculated ground and excited electronic-state structures and molecular vibrations for an isolated HAT6 molecule (hexakis(n-hexyloxy)triphenylene). Excited-state calculations are carried out using time-dependent density functional theory and frequencies are evaluated analytically using coupled perturbed Kohn–Sham equations. These model calculations have been validated against new infrared and ultraviolet data on HAT6 in solution. The main allowed valence excitation, having the largest oscillator strength, is chosen for the structural and vibrational investigations. Comparison with the ground-state vibrational dynamics reveals surprisingly large spectral differences. In addition, the alkoxy tails, which are usually considered to play only a structural role, are clearly involved in the molecular vibrations and the structural distortion of the excited electronic state compared with the ground state. The tails may play a more important role in charge separation, transport and excited-state relaxation than was previously thought. In this case, chemical modification of the tails would allow vibrational and related properties of organic photocell materials to be tailored. © 2010, CSIRO Publishing
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    On the morphology of a discotic liquid crystalline charge transfer complex
    (American Chemical Society, 2012-10-01) Haverkate, LA; Zbiri, M; Johnson, MR; Deme, B; de Groot, HJM; Lefeber, F; Kotlewski, A; Picken, SJ; Mulder, FM; Kearley, GJ
    Discotic liquid crystalline (DLC) charge transfer (CT) complexes, which combine visible light absorption with rapid charge transfer characteristics within the CT complex, can have a great potential for photovoltaic applications when they can be made to self-assemble in a bulk heterojunction arrangement with separate channels for electron and hole conduction. However, the morphology of some liquid crystalline CT complexes has been under debate for many years. In particular, the liquid crystalline CT complex built from the electron acceptor 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (TNF) and discotic molecules has been reported to have the TNF "sandwiched" either between the discotic molecules within the same column or between the columns within the aliphatic tails of the discotic molecules. We present a detailed structural study of the prototypic 1:1 mixture of the discotic 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis(hexyloxy)triphenylene (HAT6) and TNF. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) line widths and cross-polarization rates are consistent with the picosecond time scale anisotropic thermal motions of the HAT6 and TNF molecules previously observed. By computational integration of Rietveld refinement analyses of neutron diffraction patterns with density experiments and short-range structural constraints from heteronuclear 2D NMR, we determine that the TNF molecules are vertically oriented between HAT6 columns. The data provide the insight that a morphology of separate hole conducting channels of HAT6 molecules can be realized in the liquid crystalline CT complex. © 2012, American Chemical Society.
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    Pressure-induced intersite Bi--M (M=Ru, Ir) valence transitions in hexagonal perovskite
    (Wiley Online Library, 2014-02-24) Huang, Z; Auckett, JE; Blanchard, PER; Kennedy, BJ; Miller, W; Zhou, Q; Avdeev, M; Johnson, MR; Zbiri, M; Garbarino, G; Marshall, WG; Gu, QF; Ling, CD
    Pressure-induced charge transfer from Bi to Ir/Ru is observed in the hexagonal perovskites Ba3+nBiM2+nO9+3n (n=0,1; M=Ir,Ru). These compounds show first-order, circa 1 % volume contractions at room temperature above 5 GPa, which are due to the large reduction in the effective ionic radius of Bi when the 6s shell is emptied on oxidation, compared to the relatively negligible effect of reduction on the radii of Ir or Ru. They are the first such transitions involving 4d and 5d compounds, and they double the total number of cases known. Ab initio calculations suggest that magnetic interactions through very short (ca. 2.6 Å) M[BOND]M bonds contribute to the finely balanced nature of their electronic states. © 2014 Wiley‐VCH.
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    Striped magnetic ground state of the kagome lattice in Fe4Si2Sn7O16
    (American Physical Society, 2017-11-15) Ling, CD; Allison, MC; Schmid, S; Avdeev, M; Gardner, JS; Wang, CW; Ryan, DH; Zbiri, M; Söhnel, T
    We have experimentally identified a different magnetic ground state for the kagome lattice, in the perfectly hexagonal Fe2+ (3d6,S=2) compound Fe4Si2Sn7O16. A representational symmetry analysis of neutron diffraction data shows that below TN=3.5 K, the spins on 23 of the magnetic ions order into canted antiferromagnetic chains, separated by the remaining 13 which are geometrically frustrated and show no long-range order down to at least T=0.1 K. Mössbauer spectroscopy confirms that there is no static order on the latter 13 of the magnetic ions—i.e., they are in a liquidlike rather than a frozen state—down to at least 1.65 K. A heavily Mn-doped sample Fe1.45Mn2.55Si2Sn7O16 has the same magnetic structure. Although the propagation vector q=(0,12,12) breaks hexagonal symmetry, we see no evidence for magnetostriction in the form of a lattice distortion within the resolution of our data. We discuss the relationship to partially frustrated magnetic order on the pyrochlore lattice of Gd2Ti2O7, and to theoretical models that predict symmetry breaking ground states for perfect kagome lattices. ©2017 American Physical Society