Browsing by Author "Zhang, Q"
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- ItemControlled atomic solubility in Mn‐rich composite material to achieve superior electrochemical performance for Li‐ion batteries(Wiley, 2019-12-16) Lee, J; Zhang, Q; Kim, J; Dupre, N; Avdeev, M; Jeong, M; Yoon, WS; Gu, L; Kang, BThe quest for high energy density and high power density electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries has been intensified to meet strongly growing demand for powering electric vehicles. Conventional layered oxides such as Co-rich LiCoO2 and Ni-rich Li(NixMnyCoz)O2 that rely on only transition metal redox reaction have been faced with growing constraints due to soaring price on cobalt. Therefore, Mn-rich electrode materials excluding cobalt would be desirable with respect to available resources and low cost. Here, the strategy of achieving both high energy density and high power density in Mn-rich electrode materials by controlling the solubility of atoms between phases in a composite is reported. The resulting Mn-rich material that is composed of defective spinel phase and partially cation-disordered layered phase can achieve the highest energy density, ≈1100 W h kg−1 with superior power capability up to 10C rate (3 A g−1) among other reported Mn-rich materials. This approach provides new opportunities to design Mn-rich electrode materials that can achieve high energy density and high power density for Li-ion batteries. © 1999-2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- ItemNanostructure of PEO-polyurethane-PEO triblock copolymer micelles in water.(Elsevier, 2010-04-01) Caba, BL; Zhang, Q; Carroll, MRJ; Woodward, RC; St Pierre, TG; Gilbert, EP; Riffle, JS; Davis, RMNovel hydrophilic triblock copolymers which form micelles in aqueous solution were studied by static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and densitometry. The polymers were symmetric A–B–A block copolymers having two poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) tail blocks and a polyurethane (PU) center segment that contained pendant carboxylic acids. The aggregation number of the micelles decreased with increasing PEO mass content. When attempting to fit the SANS data it was found that no single model was suitable over the entire range of block lengths and PEO mass concentrations investigated here. For the polymer with the highest aggregation number, the data were fitted with a triblock model consisting of a homogeneous core with a corona of non-interacting Gaussian chains for which only two free parameters were required: the radius of the core and the radius of gyration of the corona. In this case, the core was found to be effectively dry. At lower aggregation numbers, a star polymer model generated significantly better fits, suggesting the absence of any identifiable central core structure. Good agreement was found between the sizes measured by DLS, SANS and theoretical predictions of micelle size from a density distribution theory. These results show that when significant changes in aggregation number occur, the nanostructure of the micelle can change substantially even for polymers that are remarkably similar. © 2010, Elsevier Ltd.
- ItemTop-down patterning of topological surface and edge states using a focused ion beam(Springer Nature, 2023-03-27) Bake, A; Zhang, Q; Ho, CS; Causer, GL; Zhao, WY; Yue, ZJ; Nguyen, A; Akhgar, G; Karel, J; Mitchell, DRG; Pastuovic, Z; Lewis, RA; Cole, JH; Nancarrow, M; Wang, XL; Cortie, DLThe conducting boundary states of topological insulators appear at an interface where the characteristic invariant ℤ2 switches from 1 to 0. These states offer prospects for quantum electronics; however, a method is needed to spatially-control ℤ2 to pattern conducting channels. It is shown that modifying Sb2Te3 single-crystal surfaces with an ion beam switches the topological insulator into an amorphous state exhibiting negligible bulk and surface conductivity. This is attributed to a transition from ℤ2 = 1 → ℤ2 = 0 at a threshold disorder strength. This observation is supported by density functional theory and model Hamiltonian calculations. Here we show that this ion-beam treatment allows for inverse lithography to pattern arrays of topological surfaces, edges and corners which are the building blocks of topological electronics. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 © Crown Copyright 2023
- ItemUltrawide temperature range super-invar behavior of R2(Fe, Co)17 materials (R = rare earth)(American Physical Society, 2021-07-30) Cao, YL; Lin, KM; Khmelevskyi, S; Avdeev, M; Taddei, KM; Zhang, Q; Huang, QZ; Li, Q; Kato, K; Tang, CC; Gibbs, A; Wang, CW; Deng, JX; Chen, J; Zhang, HJ; Xing, XRSuper Invar (SIV), i.e., zero thermal expansion of metallic materials underpinned by magnetic ordering, is of great practical merit for a wide range of high precision engineering. However, the relatively narrow temperature window of SIV in most materials restricts its potential applications in many critical fields. Here, we demonstrate the controlled design of thermal expansion in a family of R2(Fe,Co)17 materials (R=rare Earth). We find that adjusting the Fe-Co content tunes the thermal expansion behavior and its optimization leads to a record-wide SIV with good cyclic stability from 3–461 K, almost twice the range of currently known SIV. In situ neutron diffraction, Mössbauer spectra and first-principles calculations reveal the 3d bonding state transition of the Fe-sublattice favors extra lattice stress upon magnetic ordering. On the other hand, Co content induces a dramatic enhancement of the internal molecular field, which can be manipulated to achieve “ultrawide” SIV over broad temperature, composition and magnetic field windows. These findings pave the way for exploiting thermal-expansion-control engineering and related functional materials. © 2021 American Physical Society