2023 New's Items

Free-atom-like d states beyond the dilute limit of single-atom alloys

Rosen AS
Persson KA
2023

Through a data-mining and high-throughput density functional theory approach, we identify a diverse range of metallic compounds that are predicted to have transition metals with “free-atom-like” d states that are highly localized in terms of their energetic distribution. Design principles that favor the formation of localized d states are uncovered, among which we note that site isolation is often necessary but that the dilute limit, as in most single-atom alloys, is not a pre-requisite. Additionally, the majority of localized d state transition metals identified from the...

Modernist materials synthesis: Finding thermodynamic shortcuts with hyperdimensional chemistry

Neilson JR
McDermott MJ
Persson KA
2023

Synthesis remains a challenge for advancing materials science. A key focus of this challenge is how to enable selective synthesis, particularly as it pertains to metastable materials. This perspective addresses the question: how can “spectator” elements, such as those found in double ion exchange (metathesis) reactions, enable selective materials synthesis? By observing reaction pathways as they happen (in situ) and calculating their energetics using modern computational thermodynamics, we observe transient, crystalline intermediates that suggest that many reactions attain a local...

Assessing Thermodynamic Selectivity of Solid-State Reactions for the Predictive Synthesis of Inorganic Materials

McDermott MJ
Persson KA
2023

Synthesis is a major challenge in the discovery of new inorganic materials. Currently, there is limited theoretical guidance for identifying optimal solid-state synthesis procedures. We introduce two selectivity metrics, primary and secondary competition, to assess the favorability of target/impurity phase formation in solid-state reactions. We used these metrics to analyze 3520 solid-state reactions in the literature, ranking existing approaches to popular target materials. Additionally, we implemented these metrics in a data-driven synthesis planning workflow and demonstrated its...

Direct Mechanochemical Synthesis, Phase Stability, and Electrochemical Performance of α-NaFeO2

McAuliffe RD
Veith GM
Persson KA
2023

To better understand polymorph control in transition metal oxides, the mechanochemical synthesis of NaFeO2 was explored. Herein, we report the direct synthesis of α-NaFeO2 through a mechanochemical process. By milling Na2O2 and γ-Fe2O3 for 5 h, α-NaFeO2 was prepared without high-temperature annealing needed in other synthesis methods. While investigating the mechanochemical synthesis, it was observed that...

A rapid lithium-ion cathode discovery pipeline and its exemplary application

Li HH
Persson KA
2023

As Li-metal anodes become more readily available, next-gen Li-ion battery cathodes are no longer required to contain Li in their as-synthesized state, vastly expanding the materials search space. In order to identify potential cathode materials that do not necessarily contain Li in their native state, we here develop a computational screening pipeline for rapid cathode discovery. This pipeline operates on any database of inorganic materials without a priori information on Li sites and performs screening based on computed voltage, capacity from sequential...

Circular Polydiketoenamine Elastomers with Exceptional Creep Resistance via Multivalent Cross-Linker Design

Dailing EA
Helms BA
Persson KA
2023

Elastomers are widely used in textiles, foam, and rubber, yet they are rarely recycled due to the difficulty in deconstructing polymer chains to reusable monomers. Introducing reversible bonds in these materials offers prospects for improving their circularity; however, concomitant bond exchange permits creep, which is undesirable. Here, we show how to architect dynamic covalent polydiketoenamine (PDK) elastomers prepared from polyetheramine and triketone monomers, not only for energy-efficient circularity, but also for outstanding creep resistance at high temperature. By appending...

A weakly ion pairing electrolyte designed for high voltage magnesium batteries

Li C
Nazar LF
Persson KA
2023

High-voltage rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) are potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries owing to the low cost and high abundance of magnesium. However, the parasitic reactions of the latter with many electrolytes greatly hinders the stability and kinetics of Mg plating/stripping. Here we report a new and easily accessible solvent-designed electrolyte, which effectively solves the difficulty of ion pair dissociation and facilitates fast nanoscale Mg nucleation/growth using simple Mg(TFSI)2 as the salt, enabling a facile...

Enabling selective zinc-ion intercalation by a eutectic electrolyte for practical anodeless zinc batteries

Li C
Nazar LF
Persson KA
2023

Two major challenges hinder the advance of aqueous zinc metal batteries for sustainable stationary storage: (1) achieving predominant Zn-ion (de)intercalation at the oxide cathode by suppressing adventitious proton co-intercalation and dissolution, and (2) simultaneously overcoming Zn dendrite growth at the anode that triggers parasitic electrolyte reactions. Here, we reveal the competition between Zn2+vs proton intercalation chemistry of a typical oxide cathode using ex-situ/operando techniques, and alleviate side reactions by developing a cost...

Assessing the Accuracy of Density Functional Approximations for Predicting Hydrolysis Reaction Kinetics

Epstein AR
Persson KA
2023

Hydrolysis reactions are ubiquitous in biological, environmental, and industrial chemistry. Density functional theory (DFT) is commonly employed to study the kinetics and reaction mechanisms of hydrolysis processes. Here, we present a new data set, Barrier Heights for HydrOlysis - 36 (BH2O-36), to enable the design of density functional approximations (DFAs) and the rational selection of DFAs for applications in aqueous chemistry. BH2O-36 consists of 36 diverse organic and inorganic forward and reverse hydrolysis reactions with reference energy barriers ΔE‡...

Variable Amine Spacing Determines Depolymerization Rate in Polydiketoenamines

Epstein AR
Persson KA
2023

The design of circular polymers has emerged as a necessity due to the lack of efficient recycling methods for many commodity plastics, particularly those used in durable products. Among the promising circular polymers, polydiketoenamines (PDKs) stand out for their ability to undergo highly selective depolymerization in strong acid, allowing monomers to be recovered from additives and fillers. Varying the triketone monomer in PDK variants is known to strongly affect the depolymerization rate; however, it remains unclear how the chemistry of the cross-linker, far from the reaction...