Supercapacitors, as promising energy storage devices, have been of interest for their long lifespan compared to secondary batteries, high capacitance and excellent reliability compared to conventional dielectric capacitors. Transition metal oxides can be applied as the electrode materials for pseudocapacitors and offer a much higher specific capacitance. Co3O4 is one of the most investigated transition metal oxides for supercapacitor. Besides simple monometallic oxides, bimetallic transition oxides have recently drawn growing attention in electrochemical energy storage. They present many unique properties such as achievable oxidation states, high electrical conductivities because of the coexistence of two different cations in a single crystal structure. This study focuses on the bimetallic iron cobalt oxide based materials for the application of energy storage. We selected iron as the substituent in spinel Co3O4, by virtue of its abundant and harmless character. Four types of iron cobalt oxides based electrode materials with different morphologies and components have been synthesized for the first time. The hydrothermal method was the main strategy for the synthesis of iron cobalt based materials, which achieved the control of morphology and ratio of components. Multiple characterization methods, including SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, TGA, BET, have been applied to study the morphologies and nano/submicron structures. The electrochemical properties of as-fabricated samples were performed by electrochemical workstation. In addition, in order to investigate the practical application of electrode materials, asymmetric supercapacitors have been assembled by using as-prepared samples as the positive electrodes and activated carbon as the negative electrodes.

Throughout the last half century of materials science, significant motivations came from, and still do, the industrial applications of these materials. Whether it is electronic, thermal, tribological or chemical in nature, the study of metals, semiconductors and insulators eventually reveals that the surface plays a significant part in the properties of these materials. Understanding metal terminations reveals often that an oxide is the stable state of the metallic surface in an ambient atmosphere and the ability to predict and control these oxides has led to significant strides forward in not just the metallic bulk but the oxide as well. Here we add to the understanding of the class of materials known as transition metal oxides by focusing on the structural and chemical nature of their surfaces. Vanadia, chromia and a new mixed metal oxide, VTiO3, all of which form the corundum structure and have physical properties that need further study. Specifically, Cr2O3 has been at the center of much debate over how oxygen chemical potential influences surface terminations and top layer relaxation. Chromia is a wide band gap (~3.4eV) insulator with substantial ligand field interaction and measurements of the 3d states reveal these states split to t2g and eg– consistent with the distorted octahedral. V2O3 is known to be a Mott insulator and paramagnetic, properties that can be modified through dopants, stoichiometry and strain. In this work, solid solutions of V2O3 and Ti2O3 are studied. VTiO3, has been synthesized in a corundum – like structure by epitaxial growth on an isostructural α-Al2O3 substrate. Section I offers a review of corundum like transition metal oxides and their surface properties and motivations of continued research. In section II we describe in detail, the critical components of PLD thin film growth and in the next section a review of the pertinent characterization techniques utilized in the process. Finally, the results are presented of the study of two transition metal oxide structures namely: 1) Novel VTiO3 in a corundum structure has been grown via Pulsed Laser Deposition – Molecular Beam Epitaxy on a single crystal Al2O3(0001) substrate. The sapphire substrate with modest lattice mismatch was utilized in an effort to compel heteroepitaxial growth of the VTiO3 film. Confirmation of the films structure & chemical state were performed by X-Ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR), X-Ray Photo-electron Diffraction, Ultra-Violet Photo-Electron Diffraction and Reflection High Energy Electron expected that the metal ions exist in a 3+ charge state. While XPS clearly points to a V3+ charge state and this suggests that Ti should as well, however there is also a strong Ti4+ component present. EELS spectra support the existence of a mixed state Ti3+ & 4+. Broadening of the valance band edge as revealed by UPS spectra indicate that the 3d orbitals are occupied and that the a1g molecular states are occupied. The conflict in diffraction data supporting corundum and PES/EELS data suggesting a mixed state implies that additional final state effects are present and/or an oxygen rich structure. 2) Additionally, corundum like Chromium(III) Oxide is formed on a Cr(110) surface and characterized with X-Ray Photoelectron Diffraction, Low Energy Electron Diffraction and XPS for the purpose of characterizing surface termination and terminating layer relaxation. Comparison of the XPD diffraction data with known and previously discussed terminations reveal the as grown film does not conform. Consequently, we propose a new, stoichiometric termination with oxygen termination and 1st layer chromium interstitials. Atop this structure was grown an ultra-thin film of V2O3 by vanadium e-beam evaporation in background oxygen. This final structure supports the previously proposed vanadyl structured surface

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

The elastic properties of novel transition metal oxides have been investigated, using a powerful technique known as Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS). Two sets of transition metal oxides have been studied. One is the ruthenate Ca2-xSrxRuO4 series with a layered perovskite structure, a Mott transition system that connects the Mott insulator Ca2RuO4 with the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4. The other set contains geometrically frustrated materials, including vanadium spinels AV2O4 (A = Zn, Mn and Fe) and titanate pyrochlores A2Ti2O7 (A= Y, Tb, Yb, Ho and Dy). The elastic response of five Ca2-xSrxRuO4 single crystals (x = 2.0, 1.9, 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2) has been measured. For 2.0 ≥ x ≥ 0.5, a dramatic softening over a wide temperature range is observed upon cooling, caused by the rotational instability of RuO6 octahedra (for x = 2.0 and 1.9) or the static rotation of the octahedra (for x = 0.5). For the Ca-rich samples (x = 0.3 and 0.2), the softening occurs in a very narrow temperature range, corresponding to the structural phase transition from high-temperature-tetragonal to low-temperature-orthorhombic symmetry. Elastic softening in ZnV2O4 is observed near the cubic-to-tetragonal structural phase transition at 50 K. The elastic response of MnV2O4 is quite unusual, displaying a softening over a wide temperature range with decreasing temperature. Upon cooling, C’ of FeV2O4 becomes so soft that it drops to almost zero around 140 K, where the cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition occurs. For Y2Ti2O7, all three elastic constants show normal “Varshni” behavior. For spin liquid Tb2Ti2O7, all three elastic constants show a pronounced softening below 50 K, indicative of a possible Jahn-Teller, cubic-to-tetragonal transition at very low temperatures. It is also found that the application of a magnetic field suppresses the elastic softening in this compound. Another spin liquid Yb2Ti2O7 shows no elastic softening. The elastic moduli of the spin-ice compounds, Ho2Ti2O7 and Dy2Ti2O7, show a broad “dip” around 100 K, which is believed to be caused by the strong crystal field effect in those two compounds.

Die eingereichte Dissertation befasst sich mit Übergangsmetalloxid-Nanostrukturen, wobei quasi-eindimensionale Materialien im Mittelpunkt stehen, z.B. Nanoröhren und Nanostäbe. Mittels Suszeptibilitäts- bzw. EELS-Messungen wurden magnetische und elektronische Eigenschaften verschiedener Nanoverbindungen untersucht. Zur weiteren Charakterisierung der Proben wurden außerdem Magnetisierungsmessungen (VSM, Pulsfeld), optische Spektroskopie, AC-Suszeptibilitätsmessungen, Messungen der spezifischen Wärme sowie NMR- und ESR-Experimente durchgeführt. Ein Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit sind Vanadiumoxid-Verbindungen, wobei Vanadiumoxid-Nanoröhren (VOxNT) aufgrund ihrer besonderen Morphologie eine Sonderstellung unter den vorgestellten Materialien besitzen. Suszeptibilitätsmessungen an den VOxNT offenbaren aktiviertes Verhalten bei Temperaturen T > 100 K, was auf V4+-Spindimere zurückgeführt werden kann. Zudem existieren quasi-freie V4+-Momente sowie längere Spinkettenfragmente, z.B. Trimere. Elektronische Anregungen im Valenzband können wahrscheinlich dem Platzwechsel von 3d-Elektronen zwischen V4+- und V5+-Plätzen innerhalb der gemischtvalenten V-O-Ebenen zugeschrieben werden. Durch Dotierung mit Alkalimetallen ist es möglich, die V 3d-Niveaus mit zusätzlichen Elektronen zu besetzen und dadurch die Vanadiumvalenz zu beeinflussen (V5+ -> V4+ -> V3+). Die dabei auftretenden stärkeren Coulombabstoßungen zwischen den V 3d-Elektronen beeinträchtigen die Mobilität der Ladungsträger. Ebenso wurde gezeigt, dass sich durch die Dotierung mit Ammoniak und anderen Übergangsmetallionen die Vanadiumvalenz sowie der Magnetismus der VOxNT beeinflussen lassen. Die Ergebnisse von weiteren Vanadiumoxid-Nanostrukturen - Co0.33V2O5, alpha-NaV2O5, VO2(B) sowie V3O7·H2O-Nanokristallen - zeigen, dass sehr unterschiedliches magnetisches Verhalten wie Paarbildung zwischen V4+-Spins, antiferromagnetisch gekoppelte Spinketten oder ein Phasenübergang zwischen zwei paramagnetischen Temperaturbereichen auf Nanoebene realisiert werden kann. Die magnetischen Eigenschaften von MnO2-Nanostäben sind durch starke Kopplungen und Frustration zwischen den Mn-Spins gekennzeichnet. Außerdem zeigt die Verbindung Merkmale eines Spinglases. Durch Dotierung mit Elektronen lässt sich bei diesem Material die Mn-Valenz verändern. Schließlich zeigen erste Charakterisierungsmessungen an übergangsmetalldotierten MoO3-Nanobändern paramagnetisches Verhalten dieser Systeme.

Neutron and x-ray diffraction has been used to study charge, orbital and magnetic ordering in some transition metal oxides. The long standing controversy regarding the nature of the ground state (Verwey structure) of the canonical charge ordered material magnetite (Fe3O4) has been resolved by x-ray single crystal diffraction studies on an almost single domain sample at 90 K. The Verwey structure is confirmed to have Cc symmetry with 56 unique sites in the asymmetric unit. Charge ordering is shown to be a useful first approximation to describe the nature of the ground state, and the conjecture that Verwey made in 1939 has finally been confirmed. However, three-site distortions which couple to the orbital ordering of the Fe2+ ordered states (trimerons) are shown to provide a more complete description of the low temperature structure. Trimerons explain the rather continuous distribution of the valence states observed in magnetite below Tv, anomalous shortening of Fe-Fe distances and the off-centre distortions resulting in ferroelectricity. DFT+U electronic structure calculations on the experimental coordinates support the conclusion of this crystallographic study, with the highest electron densities calculated for those Fe-Fe distances predicated to participate in the trimeron bonds. The 6H-perovskites of the type Ba3ARu2O9 have been reinvestigated by high resolution neutron and x-ray power diffraction. The charge ordered state of Ba3NaRu2O9 has been characterised at 110 K (P2/c, a =5.84001(2) Å, b = 10.22197(4) Å, c = 14.48497(6) Å, β = 90.2627(3) °) and shown to consist of a structure with near integer charge ordering of Ru5+ 2O9 / Ru6+ 2O9 dimers. The ground state has been shown to be very sensitive to external perturbations, with a novel melting of charge ordering observed under x-ray irradiation below 40 K (C2/c, a =5.84470(2) Å, b = 10.17706(3) Å, c = 14.45866(5) Å, β = 90.2151(3)-° at 10 K). High pressure studies reveal that the Ru-Ru intra-dimer distance may dictate the response of the system to pressure. Empirical trends in the Ba3ARu2O9 series of compounds have shown that change in ‘chemical pressure’ in these systems may be rationalised in terms of Coulomb’s law. In A = La and Y the magnetic ordering is shown to be FM within the Ru2O9 dimers (1.4(2) μB and 0.5(1) μB, respectively per Ru), representing the first case of intra dimer FM coupling reported in a system containing face-sharing RuO6 octahedra . The overall AFM coupling of the dimers implies an as yet unobserved breaking of the parent symmetry. In A = Nd, a complex competition between the crystal field effect of Nd3+ and the magnetic ordering of the Ru2O9 FM moments has been observed, leading first vi to FM order of Nd at 25 K (1.56(7) μB) followed by ordering of Ru moments (0.5(1) μB) and a spin reorientation transition of Nd moments at 18 K. In A = Ca, the formation of a singlet ground state is observed in Ru2O9 rather than the expected AFM coupling and below 100 K Ba3CaRu2O9 is diamagnetic. All five systems indicate that the Ru2O9 dimer is the physically significant unit in these systems when considering structural trends and the ordering of charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom.

This thesis is an investigation into the accuracy of hybrid density functional theory to predict the properties of two transition metal oxides: Ilmenite (FeTiO3) and haematite (sigma-Fe2O3). The hybrid density functional theory examined is Becke's B3LYP functional, which is an empirical mix of density functional theory and exact nonlocal exchange from Hartree-Fock theory. For bulk ilmenite, results from the B3LYP functional are compared with Hartree-Fock and pure density functional theory calculations. The computed properties are found to be very sensitive to the treatment of electronic exchange and correlation, with the best results being achieved using the hybrid functional. Calculations performed using the hybrid functional benefit from its better treatment of the electronic self interaction and its reasonable estimate of the pair correlation energy of the doubly occupied Fe-d orbital. To assess the performance of the hybrid functional in simulating Fe2O3 and FeTiO3 with different cation-anion coordination than that found in ilmenite or haematite, studies were performed on their high pressure polymorphs, for which there are a range of experimental results for comparison. This tests the transferability of the functional before examining cases, such as the surfaces of these materials, where there are little or no experimental or theoretical results. For the currently known high pressure polymorphs of ilmenite and haematite, the structural and elastic parameters computed using the hybrid functional are found to be in good agreement with those observed, as is the predicted stability of the phases. In ilmenite, the calculations predict the stability of a new high-pressure polymorph with space group Cmcm, occurring at pressures above 44 GPa. Calculations of the high pressure polymorphs of haematite involve the examination of a range of charge, spin, and magnetic states for each of the polymorphs. Magnetic ordering was found to be important for all the polymorphs, and for each polymorph an antiferromagnetic ordering was found to be lower in energy than the ferromagnetic ordering. The predicted transition pressure from the corundum structure and the magnetic collapse of the Fe3+ cations were in good agreement with experiment. At high pressures the lowest energy configuration for the orthorhombic perovskite structure was computed to occur with mixed high-spin /low-spin Fe3+ cations, in contrast to predictions in the literature of a Fe2+/Fe4+ solution. The CaIrO3-type structure was also computed to be stable with a mixed high-spin/ low-spin Fe3+ configuration at high pressures, and is computed to be the most stable polymorph at pressures above 46 GPa at 0 K. The structure of the ilmenite (0001) surface is examined using the B3LYP functional, and for this surface twelve different terminations are considered, with surface energies and relaxed geometries calculated. The Fe terminated (0001) surface was found to have the lowest cleavage energy, and also to be the most stable surface at low oxygen partial pressures suggesting it is most likely to form when ilmenite is cleaved under high vacuum.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Chemistry, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Les oxydes simple ou double de métaux de transition (OMTs) sont des matériaux prometteurs pour les applications en tant qu’électrode dans des pseudo supercondensateurs ou des supercondensateur redox car ils peuvent présenter un gain de densité d’énergie résultant des réactions redox.Ce mémoire de thèse a pour but l’étude et l’optimisation du comportement électrochimique d’électrodes d’ oxydes simple de manganèse ainsi que le développement de nouvelles électrodes à base d’oxydes doubles (OMTs) conçues pour le stockage d’énergie dans les supercondensateurs redox , grâce au dépôt de ces matériaux actifs sur un collecteur de courant en acier inoxydable par électrodéposition ce qui représente une technique flexible et peu couteuse.Afin d’étudier ces électrodes, leurs propriétés physico-chemique ont été caractérisées par microscopie électronique (SEM/TEM), spectroscopie X à dispersion d’énergie (EDX), par diffraction X (XRD), par spectroscopies Raman & Infrarrougee (FTIR), par microsopie à force atomique (AFM) et par magnétométrie SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device). Leurs propriétés electrochimique ont été caractérisées par voltamperométrie cyclique et chronopotentiométrie.Les résultats détaillent la croissance et les caractérisations physico-chimique et électrochimique de plusieurs oxydes TMOS (TM=Mn, Mn-Co, Ni-Mn) ainsi que d’hydroxydes de Ni-Co préparés par électrodéposition. Le contrôle de la morphologie et de l’architecture des électrodes, en vue de créer des surfaces ayant des grandes surfaces actives, est le paramètre clé pour augmenter la performance du pseudo-condensateur. Dans le détail, le travail de recherche a contribué au développement de nouveau matériaux pour des électrodes à base d’oxyde (et hydroxydes) pour les supercondensateurs redox par: (i) la mise en œuvre de nouvelles électrodes avec des bonnes performances pseudocapacitive pour des supercondesateurs (Mn oxydes, Ni-Mn oxydes, Ni-Co hydroxydes), (ii) la pleine compréhension de l’effet du recuit sur la transformation de l’hydroxyde préparés par électrodéposition en oxyde et de la corrélation résultante avec les propriétés électrochimiques pour des électrodes à base d’oxyde Mn-Co, (iii) la description détaillée du mécanisme de croissance de films d’ oxyde de Mn préparés par électrodéposition à partir d’électrolytes à base de nitrates, (iv) la mise en évidence d’une méthode prometteuse de mise en forme et contrôle de la morphologie de surface d’oxydes mixtes préparés par électrodéposition et ce à travers le contrôle de la croissance d’oxyde simples , (v) la compréhension du mécanisme de nucléation des hydroxydes préparés par électrodéposition (Ni-Co hydroxydes). Les résultats de ce mémoire de thèse vont au delà de l’état de l’art et apportent des faits marquants pour l’avancée du développement de nouveaux matériaux pour électrodes dans des supercondensateurs redox. / Transition metal oxides (TMOs) and double TMOs are promising materials for application as electrodes in pseudo supercapacitors or redox supercapacitors because they can exhibit increased energy density resulted from redox reactions.This PhD dissertation aims at studying and improving the electrochemical behavior of single TMOs - manganese oxides and at developing new double TMOs electrodes tailored for energy storage in redox supercapacitors, by depositing the active materials directly on stainless steel current collector via a flexible and costless electrodeposition route.To study these electrodes for supercapacitors, their physic-chemical properties were characterized by scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman & Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Their electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry.The results have detailed the growing, physic-chemical and electrochemical characterizations of Mn oxides, Mn-Co oxides, Ni-Mn oxides and Ni-Co hydroxides prepared by electrodeposition. Tailoring the morphology and architecture these electrodes and creating surfaces exhibiting high surface area are key parameters for enhanced pseudocapacitive performance. In detail, the research work contributed to the development of novel oxide (and hydroxides) materials for redox supercapacitors by: (i) providing novel electrodes with good pseudocapacitive performance for supercapacitors (Mn oxides, Ni-Mn oxides, Ni-Co hydroxides), (ii) fully understanding the effect of annealing on the transformation from electrodeposited mixed hydroxides to mixed oxide and their correlation with electrochemical properties for the Mn-Co oxide – based electrodes, (iii) detailing the growing mechanisms of Mn oxide films electrodeposited from nitrate based electrolyte, (iv) revealing a promising way of tailoring surface morphology of electrodeposited mixed oxides by controlling the growth of single oxides, (v) understanding the nucleation mechanism of hydroxides prepared by electrodeposition (Ni-Co hydroxides).Thus, the results of this PhD dissertation go beyond the state-of-the-art and provided valuable highlights to advance the development of novel electrode materials for redox supercapacitors.