Controlling magnetic-semiconductor properties of the Si- and Al-doped blue phosphorene monolayer

Doping has been widely employed as an efficient method to diversify the materials properties. In this work, the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of pristine, aluminum(Al)-, and silicon(Si)-doped blue phosphorene monolayer are investigated using first-principles calculations. Pristine monolayer is a non-magnetic wide gap semiconductor with a band gap of 1.81 eV. The 1Si-doped system is a ferromagnetic semiconductor. However, the magnetism is turned off when increasing the dopant composition with small Si-Si distance. Further separating the dopants recovers step by step the magnetic properties, and an antiferromagnetic(AFM)-ferromagnetic(FM) state transition will take place at large dopants separation. In contrast, Al doping retains the non-magnetic semiconductor behavior of blue phosphorene. However, significant energy gap reduction is achieved, where this parameter exhibits a strong dependence on the dopant concentration and doping configuration. Such control may also induce the indirect-direct gap transition. Our results introduce prospective two-dimensional (2D) materials for applications in spintronic and optoelectronic nano devices, which can be realized and stabilized in experiments as suggested by the calculated formation and cohesive energies.

Effects of zinc–aluminium injection on corrosion behaviour and semiconductor properties of carbon steel in the PHT system of PHWR

Zn2+ and Zn2+ + Al3+ injection can improve corrosion resistance of carbon steel significantly in PHT system of PHWR.

Recent progress on transition metal diselenides from formation and modification to applications

The development of graphene promotes the research of similar two-dimensional (2D) materials, especially 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with semiconductor properties.

Direct evidence for metallic mercury causing photo-induced darkening of red cinnabar tempera paints

Photo-induced darkening of red cinnabar (HgS) has attracted the interest of many researchers as it drastically impacts the visual perception of artworks. Darkening has commonly been related to metallic mercury (Hg0) formation in the presence of chlorides. Based on the study of UV-aged cinnabar pigment and tempera paint we propose an alternative pathway for the blackening reaction of cinnabar, considering its semiconductor properties and pigment-binder interactions. We demonstrate that darkening is caused by the oxidation of cinnabar to mercury sulfates and subsequent reduction to Hg0 via photo-induced electron transfer without the involvement of chlorides, and provide direct evidence for the presence of Hg0 on UV-aged tempera paint. Photooxidation also affects the organic binder, causing a competing depletion of photo-generated holes and consequently limiting but not impeding mercury sulfate formation and subsequent reduction to Hg0. In addition, organics provide active sites for Hg0 sorption, which is ultimately responsible for the darkening of cinnabar-based paint.

Regulation of Electrical Properties of ZrOxNy by Oxygen Doping and Zirconium Vacancies

Transition metal oxynitrides are important materials in electronic devices, electrocatalysis, machinery industry and other fields, according to their excellent properties, such as high sensitivity to temperature and high electron transport characteristics. Especially in sensor and MOS applications, transition metal oxynitrides with semiconductor properties play an important role in the sensitivity and frequency response of sensors. Here, we study the effects of different concentrations of zirconium vacancy (VZr) and oxygen doping on the ZrN structure, and calculate the formation energies and density of states of ZrOxNy in different element ratios by density functional theory. The results show that the introduction of VZr and oxygen doping promote the Fermi level of ZrOxNy to move towards the valence band and conduction band, respectively. The structure of the non-degenerate semiconductor ZrOxNy can be constructed at Zr0.425N0.569O0.006. Taking ZrOxNy as an example, this work proposes a method to regulate the electrical properties of transition metal oxynitrides by introducing zirconium vacancy/oxygen doping, which greatly promotes the rapid discovery of novel transition metal oxynitrides semiconductor materials.

Two metal–organic frameworks based on Sr2+ and 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene linkers

Two structurally different metal–organic frameworks based on Sr2+ ions and 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene linkers have been synthesized solvothermally in different solvent systems and studied with single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. These are poly[[μ12-4,4′,4′′,4′′′-(benzene-1,2,4,5-tetrayl)tetrabenzoato](dimethylformamide)distrontium(II)], [Sr2(C34H18O8)(C3H7NO)2] n , and poly[tetraaqua{μ2-4,4′-[4,5-bis(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene-1,2-diyl]dibenzoato}tristrontium(II)], [Sr3(C34H20O8)2(H2O)4]. The differences are noted between the crystal structures and coordination modes of these two MOFs, which are responsible for their semiconductor properties, where structural control over the bandgap is desirable. Hydrogen bonding is present in only one of the compounds, suggesting it has a slightly higher structural stability.

DFT and TB-mBJLDA studies of structural, electronic and optical properties of Hg1-xCdxTe and Hg1-xZnxTe

In this paper, the fundamental semiconductor properties of Hg1-xCdxTe and Hg1-xZnxTe are investigated by ab initio calculations based on the FP-LAPW method. Structural properties have been calculated using LDA and GGA approximations. The electronic properties are studied using the LDA and GGA approximations, and the potential TB-mBJLDA coupled with the lattice parameters aLDA and aGGA. The optical properties are determined from the optimal gap energies based on the TB-mBJLDA potential. Lattice parameters aLDA obtained by the LDA calculations predict values that are in good agreement with the experimental results and are better than those results obtained by the GGA calculations. The use of TB-mBJLDA potential coupled with the lattice parameter aGGA gives gap energy values in good agreement with the experimental results for all alloys except Hg1-xZnxTe (x=0.5, 0.75) where the (TB-mBJ LDA+aLDA) is more suitable. Optical constants are calculated from the dielectric function in the energy range (0-30 eV). The spectrum of real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function, the energy loss function, the refractive index, the extinction coefficient, the absorption coefficient, and the reflectivity show that optical properties of Hg1-xCdxTe are comparable to those of Hg1-xZnxTe. Our results are found to be in reasonable agreement with existing data reported in the literature.