Structural and Compositional Characteristics of Ball-Milled Lepidocrocite Alkali Titanate and the Correlation to Its Surface Acidic-Basic Properties

Designed functions of oxide/hydroxide nanosheets via elemental replacement/doping

Partial replacement of one structural element in a solid with another of a similar size was conducted to impart functionality to the solids and modify their properties. This phenomenon is found in nature in coloured gemstones and clay minerals and is used in materials chemistry and physics, endowing materials with useful properties that can be controlled by incorporated heteroelements and their amounts. Depending on the area of research (or expected functions), the replacement is referred to as "isomorphous substitution", "doping", etc. Herein, elemental replacement in two-dimensional (2D) oxides and hydroxides (nanosheets or layered materials) is summarised with emphasis on the uniqueness of their preparation, characterisation and application compared with those of the corresponding bulk materials. Among the 2D materials (graphene, metallenes, transition metal chalcogenides, metal phosphate/phosphonates, MXenes, etc.), 2D oxides and hydroxides are characterised by their presence in nature, facile synthesis and storage under ambient conditions, and possible structural variation from atomic-level nanosheets to thicker nanosheets composed of multilayered structures. The heteroelements to be doped were selected depending on the target application objectively; however, there are structural and synthetic limitations in the doping of heteroelements. In the case of layered double hydroxides (single layer) and layered alkali silicates (from single layer to multiple layers), including layered clay minerals (2 : 1 layer), the replacement (commonly called isomorphous substitution) is discussed to understand/design characteristics such as catalytic, adsorptive (including ion exchange), and swelling properties. Due to the variation in their main components, the design of layered transition metal oxide/hydroxide materials via isomorphous substitution is more versatile; in this case, tuning their band structure, doping both holes and electrons, and creating impurity levels are examined by the elemental replacement of the main components. As typical examples, material design for the photocatalytic function of an ion-exchangeable layered titanate (lepidocrocite-type titanate) and a perovskite niobate (KCa2Nb3O10) is discussed, where elemental replacement is effective in designing their multiple functions.

Sodium-Poor, Hydroxyl-Rich, Defective Na2Ti3O7 Prepared by γ-Irradiation and Its Enhanced Proton Conductivity

The use of γ-irradiation to tailor the physicochemical properties of materials is not widely applied to layered alkali metal oxides. Herein, we show that γ-irradiation (up to 400 kGy) of Na2Ti3O7 leads to a sodium-poor, hydroxyl-rich analogue where the layered structure, plate-like morphology, and textural properties are preserved. The deintercalation of sodium ions modifies the Ti-O bond lengths and expands the unit cell; the latter is supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. 23Na solid-state NMR suggests the transport of the symmetric, 7-fold Na2 sites to an intermediate environment, which is closer to the asymmetric, 9-fold Na1 sites. An 8 wt % mass loss (1.4 mol water/mol titanate) is observed, indicating an increased concentration of protons/hydroxyls. These hydroxyl groups (i.e., lattice protons) possess higher thermal stability than solely surface-adsorbed ones in the nonirradiated sample. At 200-400 kGy, the proton conduction (50 °C and ∼70% RH) of ∼10-6 S·cm-1 is 1 order of magnitude larger than that in the nonirradiated sample; the relaxation time decreases from 30 to 2-6 μs with γ-irradiation. The γ-dose dependence of dielectric loss is also present and analyzed using the Jonscher universal power law, indicating the low-frequency dispersion behavior characteristics of high charge densities.

Electrochemical and electrical characteristics of ball milled Cs2Ti6O13 modified by the surface-to-bulk migration of hydroxyl groups

Ball milling of solids under benign conditions leads to surface functionalization without altering the crystal structure and morphology. However, these additional surface functional groups are rarely fixed but instead mobilized across such ball milled solids. This phenomenon, including its effects on electrochemical and electrical properties, has received limited attention. We report herein that dry vibratory ball milling of lepidocrocite-type Cs2Ti6O13 generated hydroxyl groups which subsequently migrated from surfaces to bulk. The increased number of bulk hydroxyl groups is deduced from Raman, IR, and solid state 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. In contrast, the decrease in the relative proportion of surface hydroxyl groups/water and carbon-oxygen species was deduced from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The inaccessible hydroxyl groups in ball milled Cs2Ti6O13 lead to a smaller amount of stored charge and increased charge transfer resistance, according to galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies in 1 M Na2SO4. The alternating current electrical properties were also measured, revealing fundamental insights such as the one-dimensional conduction pathway and the relaxation time in microseconds. A model has been proposed for this surface-to-bulk migration of the hydroxyl groups, which competes with surface dangling bonds leading to particle agglomeration.