Transformation of Co3O4 nanoparticles to CoO monitored by in situ TEM and predicted ferromagnetism at the Co3O4/CoO interface from first principles

Design of Silica-Cobalt Composite Microporous Structures with Dispersed Carbon Particles for Highly Permselective Gas Separation Membranes

Metal-doped silica membranes, fabricated via the sol-gel technique using metal nitrates, hold promise for high-temperature separation processes, such as H2 separation in steam reforming reactions. However, controlling the status of the doped metal is challenging and often leads to defect formation owing to the aggregation of metal oxides. In this study, we designed a uniform carbon-Co-SiO2 ceramic membrane using a one-pot sol-gel method with copolymerization, employing tetraethoxysilane and cobalt acetylacetone(III) (Co-(acac)3) as precursors. Organic chelate ligands within the amorphous silica network formed by the polymerization reaction were carbonized by calcination at 250-750 °C in an inert atmosphere. This approach suppressed defect formation and tailored the microporous structures to a wide range of separation systems. For example, the SiO2-Co-(acac)3 membrane calcined at 550 °C demonstrated a notable C3H6 permeance of 4.0 × 10-8 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 (GPU: 120), with a high C3H6/C3H8 selectivity of 46, attributed to the molecular sieving effect, whereas the membrane calcined at 650 °C exhibited a remarkable He permeance of 4.6 × 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 (GPU: 1400), with a high He/CH4 selectivity of 830. This study provides valuable insights into the development of defect-free carbon-cation-SiO2 ceramic membranes for a broad range of gas separation processes.

A comparative DFT study of HCHO decomposition on different terminations of the Co3O4(110) surface

Density functional theory calculations have been performed to compare the HCHO decomposition on Co3O4(110)-A and (110)-B terminations. The results showed that the energy barriers of the two C-H bond cleavages of HCHO on the (110)-A termination were lower than those on the (110)-B termination, suggesting that the (110)-A termination had stronger HCHO decomposition ability than the (110)-B termination. Electronic structures revealed that the stronger HCHO decomposition ability of the (110)-A termination might be ascribed to the strong covalent bond between HCHO and the (110)-A termination, as well as the higher d-band center of Co3+ ions on the (110)-A termination. Furthermore, we proposed that the preparation of Co3O4 under oxygen-rich growth conditions was beneficial to HCHO decomposition because the (110)-A termination was more stable under oxygen-rich conditions.

Thermal Reduction of MoO3 Particles and Formation of MoO2 Nanosheets Monitored by In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy

Nanoscale forms of molybdenum trioxide have found widespread use in optoelectronic, sensing, and battery applications. Here, we investigate the thermal evolution of micrometer-sized molybdenum trioxide particles during in situ heating in vacuum using transmission electron microscopy and observed drastic structural and chemical changes that are strongly dependent on the heating rate. Rapid heating (flash heating) of MoO3 particles to a temperature of 600 °C resulted in large-scale formation of MoO2(001) nanosheets that were formed in a wide area around the reducing MoO3 particles, within a few minutes of time frame. In contrast, when heated more gently, the initially single-crystal MoO3 particles were reduced into hollow nanostructures with polycrystalline MoO2 shells. Using density functional theory calculations employing the DFT-D3 functional, the surface energy of MoO3(010) was calculated to be 0.187 J m-2, and the activation energy for exfoliation of the van der Waals bonded MoO3 (010) layers was calculated to be 0.478 J m-2. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show strong fluctuations in the distance between the (010) layers, where thermal vibrations lead to additional separations of up to 1.8 Å at 600 °C. This study shows efficient pathways for the generation of either MoO2 nanosheets or hollow MoO2 nanostructures with very high effective surface areas beneficial for applications.

An Ultrastable Bifunctional Electrocatalyst Derived from a Co2+-Anchored Covalent-Organic Framework for High-Efficiency ORR/OER and Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery

It remains a great challenge to develop alternative electrocatalysts with high stability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a bifunctional electrocatalyst composed of hollow CoOx (Co3O4/CoO) nanoparticles embedded in lamellar carbon nanofibers is derived from a Co2+-anchored covalent-organic framework. The as-fabricated electrocatalyst (CoOx@NC-800) exhibits a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.89 V with ultrahigh long-term stability (100% current retention after 3000 CV cycles). Together with promising OER performance, the CoOx@NC-800 based reversible Zn-air battery displays a small potential gap (0.70 V), superior to that of the commercial 20% Pt/C + RuO2. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the remarkable electrocatalytic performance and stability of CoOx@NC-800 are attributed to the optimized adsorption of the *OOH intermediate and reduced free energy of the potential-limiting step. This study establishes the functionalization of COF structure for fabrication of high-performance carbon-based electrocatalysts.

Formation Pathways of Lath-Shaped WO3 Nanosheets and Elemental W Nanoparticles from Heating of WO3 Nanocrystals Studied via In Situ TEM

WO3 is a versatile material occurring in many polymorphs, and is used in nanostructured form in many applications, including photocatalysis, gas sensing, and energy storage. We investigated the thermal evolution of cubic-phase nanocrystals with a size range of 5-25 nm by means of in situ heating in the transmission electron microscope (TEM), and found distinct pathways for the formation of either 2D WO3 nanosheets or elemental W nanoparticles, depending on the initial concentration of deposited WO3 nanoparticles. These pristine particles were stable up to 600 °C, after which coalescence and fusion of the nanocrystals were observed. Typically, the nanocrystals transformed into faceted nanocrystals of elemental body-centered-cubic W after annealing to 900 °C. However, in areas where the concentration of dropcast WO3 nanoparticles was high, at a temperature of 900 °C, considerably larger lath-shaped nanosheets (extending for hundreds of nanometers in length and up to 100 nm in width) were formed that are concluded to be in monoclinic WO3 or WO2.7 phases. These lath-shaped 2D particles, which often curled up from their sides into folded 2D nanosheets, are most likely formed from the smaller nanoparticles through a solid-vapor-solid growth mechanism. The findings of the in situ experiments were confirmed by ex situ experiments performed in a high-vacuum chamber.

Absence of a pressure gap and atomistic mechanism of the oxidation of pure Co nanoparticles

Understanding chemical reactivity and magnetism of 3d transition metal nanoparticles is of fundamental interest for applications in fields ranging from spintronics to catalysis. Here, we present an atomistic picture of the early stage of the oxidation mechanism and its impact on the magnetism of Co nanoparticles. Our experiments reveal a two-step process characterized by (i) the initial formation of small CoO crystallites across the nanoparticle surface, until their coalescence leads to structural completion of the oxide shell passivating the metallic core; (ii) progressive conversion of the CoO shell to Co3O4 and void formation due to the nanoscale Kirkendall effect. The Co nanoparticles remain highly reactive toward oxygen during phase (i), demonstrating the absence of a pressure gap whereby a low reactivity at low pressures is postulated. Our results provide an important benchmark for the development of theoretical models for the chemical reactivity in catalysis and magnetism during metal oxidation at the nanoscale.

Thermally driven phase transition of cobalt hydroxide sheets via cobalt oxides to cobalt nanoparticles

Transition metal oxides, which include many stoichiometric variations, are formed into various crystal structures by the atomic arrangement of cations and anions according to stoichiometric composition and are used for a wide range of applications based on this. Among them, cobalt oxide, which has wide crystal structures depending on the lattice points of the anion and the valence of the Co cation, from its hydroxide formula, is attracting a lot of attention due to its interesting catalytic properties due to its crystal structure. In this study, using the synthesized Co(OH)₂ nanosheets, the real-time behavior of the phase transition that occurs when continuous heat is applied to the sample has been systematically analyzed using an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. The layered Co(OH)₂ phase passes through hexagonal CoO and cubic CoO phases to finally become Co nanoparticles, but when the temperature is dropped in the hexagonal phase, spinel Co₃O₄ is formed. These results suggest that various phases included in transition metal oxides can be selectively implemented according to temperature range control.

Phase Segregation in Cobalt Iron Oxide Nanowires toward Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity

The impact of reduction post-treatment and phase segregation of cobalt iron oxide nanowires on their electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity is investigated. A series of cobalt iron oxide spinel nanowires are prepared via the nanocasting route using ordered mesoporous silica as a hard template. The replicated oxides are selectively reduced through a mild reduction that results in phase transformation as well as the formation of grain boundaries. The detailed structural analyses, including the ⁵⁷Fe isotope-enriched Mössbauer study, validated the formation of iron oxide clusters supported by ordered mesoporous CoO nanowires after the reduction process. This affects the OER activity significantly, whereby the overpotential at 10 mA/cm² decreases from 378 to 339 mV and the current density at 1.7 V vs RHE increases by twofold from 150 to 315 mA/cm². In situ Raman microscopy revealed that the surfaces of reduced CoO were oxidized to cobalt with a higher oxidation state upon solvation in the KOH electrolyte. The implementation of external potential bias led to the formation of an oxyhydroxide intermediate and a disordered-spinel phase. The interactions of iron clusters with cobalt oxide at the phase boundaries were found to be beneficial to enhance the charge transfer of the cobalt oxide and boost the overall OER activity by reaching a Faradaic efficiency of up to 96%. All in all, the post-reduction and phase segregation of cobalt iron oxide play an important role as a precatalyst for the OER.

Heating-Induced Transformation of Anatase TiO2 Nanorods into Rock-Salt TiO Nanoparticles: Implications for Photocatalytic and Gas-Sensing Applications

Anatase TiO₂ nanocrystals (NCs) play a vital role in photocatalytic applications due to their high catalytic activity and in gas-sensing applications due to their high chemical sensitivity. Here, we report the transformation at elevated temperature of anatase nanorods (NRs) with a length of 25 nm into rock-salt TiO nanoparticles with an average size of 9.2 ± 2.1 nm investigated by means of in situ heating in the transmission electron microscope. The NRs were completely transformed to titanium monoxide NCs after heating to a temperature of 1200 °C. We also identified an intermediate stage in the temperature range of 950-1200 °C, during which not only the anatase and rock-salt phases were found but also the brookite phase. Understanding of the phase and morphology evolution at high temperatures is of essence to the functionality of the NRs in various applications, as discussed in this work. Moreover, the high-temperature transformation to titanium monoxide is of interest as rock-salt TiO (γ-TiO) is known to exhibit superconducting properties. We propose the heating-induced transformation as a physical route to synthesize TiO NCs of very small size.