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Creators/Authors contains: "Urban, Jeffrey J."

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  1. Abstract

    The Hume-Rothery rules governing solid-state miscibility limit the compositional space for new inorganic material discovery. Here, we report a non-equilibrium, one-step, and scalable flame synthesis method to overcome thermodynamic limits and incorporate immiscible elements into single phase ceramic nanoshells. Starting from prototype examples including (NiMg)O, (NiAl)Ox, and (NiZr)Ox, we then extend this method to a broad range of Ni-containing ceramic solid solutions, and finally to general binary combinations of elements. Furthermore, we report an “encapsulated exsolution” phenomenon observed upon reducing the metastable porous (Ni0.07Al0.93)Oxto create ultra-stable Ni nanoparticles embedded within the walls of porous Al2O3nanoshells. This nanoconfined structure demonstrated high sintering resistance during 640 h of catalysis of CO2reforming of methane, maintaining constant 96% CH4and CO2conversion at 800 °C and dramatically outperforming conventional catalysts. Our findings could greatly expand opportunities to develop novel inorganic energy, structural, and functional materials.

     
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  3. Abstract

    Lithium‐ion and sodium‐ion batteries (LIBs and SIBs) are crucial in our shift toward sustainable technologies. In this work, the potential of layered boride materials (MoAlB and Mo2AlB2) as novel, high‐performance electrode materials for LIBs and SIBs, is explored. It is discovered that Mo2AlB2shows a higher specific capacity than MoAlB when used as an electrode material for LIBs, with a specific capacity of 593 mAh g−1achieved after 500 cycles at 200 mA g−1. It is also found that surface redox reactions are responsible for Li storage in Mo2AlB2, instead of intercalation or conversion. Moreover, the sodium hydroxide treatment of MoAlB leads to a porous morphology and higher specific capacities exceeding that of pristine MoAlB. When tested in SIBs, Mo2AlB2exhibits a specific capacity of 150 mAh g−1at 20 mA g−1. These findings suggest that layered borides have potential as electrode materials for both LIBs and SIBs, and highlight the importance of surface redox reactions in Li storage mechanisms.

     
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