Effects of Mg Doping at Different Positions in Li-Rich Mn-Based Cathode Material on Electrochemical Performance

Li-rich Mn-based layered oxides are among the most promising cathode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries, yet they suffer from capacity fading and voltage decay during cycling. The electrochemical performance of the material can be improved by doping with Mg. However, the effect of Mg doping at different positions (lithium or transition metals) remains unclear. Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 (LR) was synthesized by coprecipitation followed by a solid-state reaction. The coprecipitation stage was used to introduce Mg in TM layers (sample LR-Mg), and the solid-state reaction (st) was used to dope Mg in Li layers (LR-Mg(st)). The presence of magnesium at different positions was confirmed by XRD, XPS, and electrochemical studies. The investigations have shown that the introduction of Mg in TM layers is preferable in terms of the electrochemical performance. The sample doped with Mg at the TM positions shows better cyclability and higher discharge capacity than the undoped sample. The poor electrochemical properties of the sample doped with Mg at Li positions are due to the kinetic hindrance of oxidation of the manganese-containing species formed after activation of the Li2MnO3 component of the composite oxide. The oxide LR-Mg(st) demonstrates the lowest lithium-ion diffusion coefficient and the greatest polarization resistance compared to LR and LR-Mg.

Effects of NH3 Plasma and Mg Doping on InGaZnO pH Sensing Membrane

In this study, the effects of magnesium (Mg) doping and Ammonia (NH3) plasma on the pH sensing capabilities of InGaZnO membranes were investigated. Undoped InGaZnO and Mg-doped pH sensing membranes with NH3 plasma were examined with multiple material analyses including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope, and pH sensing behaviors of the membrane in electrolyte-insulator-semiconductors. Results indicate that Mg doping and NH3 plasma treatment could superpositionally enhance crystallization in fine nanostructures, and strengthen chemical bindings. Results indicate these material improvements increased pH sensing capability significantly. Plasma-treated Mg-doped InGaZnO pH sensing membranes show promise for future pH sensing biosensors.

Electrical and Magnetic Investigations of Magnesium-doped Epitaxial Gadolinium Nitride Thin Films

<p>Mg-doped epitaxial GdN thin films with various Mg-doping levels were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, and their electric, magnetic and optoelectronic properties were investigated. Characterisation through X-ray diffraction technique showed that there is no systematic variation in the crystallographic structure of the films with increasing level of Mg-doping, for Mg concentrations up to ~5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. However, from Mg concentration ~2 x 10²⁰ atoms/cm³ a clear deterioration in the crystalline quality was seen. We observed an increase in the resistivity of the films from 0.002 Ωcm to 600 Ωcm at room temperature when increasing the Mg-doping level, resulting in semi-insulating films for Mg concentrations up to 5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. Hall effect measurements revealed that the n-type carrier concentration was reduced from 7 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³ for an undoped film to 5 x 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for a heavily doped film, demonstrating electron compensation in GdN via Mg-doping. Magnetic measurements exhibited substantial contrasts in the films, with a Curie temperature of ~70 K for an undoped film reduced down to ~50 K for a heavily Mg-doped film. Finally, photoconductivity measurements showed that films with higher level of Mg-doping displaying a faster photoconductive response. The decay time of 13000 s for an undoped film was reduced to 170 s with a moderate level of Mg-doping, which raises the possibility of Mg impurities providing hole traps that act as recombination centres in n-type GdN films.</p>

Electrical and Magnetic Investigations of Magnesium-doped Epitaxial Gadolinium Nitride Thin Films

<p>Mg-doped epitaxial GdN thin films with various Mg-doping levels were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, and their electric, magnetic and optoelectronic properties were investigated. Characterisation through X-ray diffraction technique showed that there is no systematic variation in the crystallographic structure of the films with increasing level of Mg-doping, for Mg concentrations up to ~5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. However, from Mg concentration ~2 x 10²⁰ atoms/cm³ a clear deterioration in the crystalline quality was seen. We observed an increase in the resistivity of the films from 0.002 Ωcm to 600 Ωcm at room temperature when increasing the Mg-doping level, resulting in semi-insulating films for Mg concentrations up to 5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. Hall effect measurements revealed that the n-type carrier concentration was reduced from 7 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³ for an undoped film to 5 x 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for a heavily doped film, demonstrating electron compensation in GdN via Mg-doping. Magnetic measurements exhibited substantial contrasts in the films, with a Curie temperature of ~70 K for an undoped film reduced down to ~50 K for a heavily Mg-doped film. Finally, photoconductivity measurements showed that films with higher level of Mg-doping displaying a faster photoconductive response. The decay time of 13000 s for an undoped film was reduced to 170 s with a moderate level of Mg-doping, which raises the possibility of Mg impurities providing hole traps that act as recombination centres in n-type GdN films.</p>

Effect of Co and Mg doping at Cu site on structural, magnetic and dielectric properties of α-Cu2V2O7

We have studied the effect of doping of both magnetic (Co) and nonmagnetic (Mg) ions at the Cu site on phase transition in polycrystalline α-Cu2V2O7 through structural, magnetic, and electrical measurements. x-ray diffraction reveals that Mg doping triggers an onset of α- to β-phase structural transition in Cu2−xMgxV2O7 above a critical Mg concentration xc=0.15, and both the phases coexist up to x=0.25. Cu2V2O7 possesses a non-centrosymmetric(NCSM) crystal structure and antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering along with a non-collinear spin structure in the α phase, originated from the microscopic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya(DM) interaction between the neighboring Cu spins. Accordingly, a weak ferromagnetic behavior has been observed up to x=0.25. However, beyond this concentration, Cu2−xMgxV2O7 exhibits complex magnetic properties. A clear dielectric anomaly is observed in α-Cu2−xMgxV2O7 around the magnetic transition temperature, which loses its prominence with the increase in Mg doping. The analysis of experimental data shows that the magnetoelectric coupling is nonlinear, which is in agreement with the Landau theory of continuous phase transitions. Co doping, on the other hand, initiates a sharp α to β phase transition around the same critical concentration xc=0.15 in Cu2−xCoxV2O7 but the ferromagnetic behavior is very weak and can be detected only up to x=0.10. We have drawn the magnetic phase diagram which indicates that the rate of suppression in transition temperature is the same for both types of doping, magnetic (Co) and nonmagnetic (Zn/Mg).

Effect of Mg Doping on SnO2 Energy Band and Power Conversion Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In this work, Mg-doped SnO2 materials with different molar ratios were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Based on the UV-Vis study, band gap (Eg) of the Mg-doped SnO2 is adjusted from 3.76 eV to 3.65 eV via 3 at% concentrations. Results of photovoltaic measurement for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) based on Mg-doped SnO2 film as photoanode indicate that the doping of Mg ions can improve the open-circuit voltage (V oc) of the DSCs, while the electric current density (J sc) of the DSCs is almost unchanged. The cells were measured at 3 days intervals within 24 days after fabrication. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3 at% Mg-doped SnO2 DSCs increases step by step and achieves 4.38% as the cell is tested after 18 days. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis shows that Mg doping enhances light collection, increased the number of photogenerated electrons and inhibits charge recombination.