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The atomic structure of FLiNaK and its evolution with temperature are examined with x-ray scattering and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the temperature range 460–636 °C. In accord with previous studies, it’s observed that the average nearest-neighbor (NN) cation-anion coordination number increases with increasing cation size, going from ∼4 for Li-F to ∼6.4 for K-F. In addition, we find that there is a coupled change in local coordination geometry – going from tetrahedral for Li-F to octahedral for Na to very disordered quasi-cuboidal for K. The varying geometry and coordination distances for the cation-anion pairs cause a relatively constant F-F next-nearest neighbor (NNN) distance of approximately 3.1 Å. This relatively fixed distance allows the F anions to assume an overall correlated structure very similar to that of a hard-sphere liquid with an extended radius which is beyond the normal F ion size but reflects the cation-anion coordination requirements. Careful consideration of the evolution of the experimental atomic distribution functions with increasing temperature shows that the changes in correlation at each distance can be understood within the context of broadening asymmetric neighbor distributions. Within the temperature range studied, the evolution of F-F correlations with increasing temperature is consistent with changes expected in a hard-sphere liquid simply due to decreasing density. 

Recently, chiral metal‐organic coordination materials have emerged as promising candidates for a wide range of applications in chiroptoelectronics, chiral catalysis, and information encryption, etc. Notably, the chiroptical effect of coordination chromophores makes them appealing for applications such as photodetectors, OLEDs, 3D displays, and bioimaging. The direct synthesis of chiral coordination materials using chiral organic ligands or complexes with metal‐centered chirality is very often tedious and costly. In the case of ionic coordination materials, the combination of chiral anions with cationic, achiral coordination compounds through noncovalent interactions may endow molecular materials with desirable chiroptical properties. The use of such a simple chiral strategy has been proven effective in inducing promising circular dichroism and/or circularly polarized luminescence signals. This concept article mainly delves into the latest advances in exploring the efficacy of such a chiral anion strategy for transforming achiral coordination materials into chromophores with superb photo‐ or electro‐chiroptical properties. In particular, ionic small‐molecular metal complexes, metal clusters, coordination supramolecular assemblies, and metal‐organic frameworks containing chiral anions are discussed. A perspective on the future opportunities on the preparation of chiroptical materials with the chiral anion strategy is also presented.

 

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-92559-8_5 The sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC) recently released predicts a deep reduction in emissions to meet global goals of 1.5 °C reduction in temperature. It states that concentrations of CO₂ have continuously increased in the atmosphere reaching averages of 410 ppm in 2019. Therefore, it becomes imperative to reduce CO₂ in any way possible. Silicon, which is an important material for renewable energy, electronics, and metallurgy, is primarily produced by the carbothermic reduction of quartz. This metallurgical grade silicon is then refined by the Siemens Process to solar grade silicon using hydrogen chloride. The by-product of trichlorosilane from this process is highly volatile and unstable. This work aims to achieve the above process of reduction in a single step using electrochemistry. This would eliminate multiple steps and save energy and cost and reduce emissions if a suitable inert anode is used in production. Understanding electrochemical cell characteristics therefore is needed to prove and scale this technology. Macroscopic models help engineers to design, develop, and improve the efficiency of electrochemical cells. They solve conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy and help determine electrode current distribution, fluid flow, heat distribution, and stability of the cell. They also help in correlating experimental work and understanding measurements in cells from a lab scale to a plant scale. However, they do not predict the microstructure and plating of material on the cathode. This can be calculated using phase field models. These phase field models predict interface stability and deposition morphology in the cell. In this work, we present these models in addition to proof-of-concept experiments. 

Abstract The densification of integrated circuits requires thermal management strategies and high thermal conductivity materials 1–3 . Recent innovations include the development of materials with thermal conduction anisotropy, which can remove hotspots along the fast-axis direction and provide thermal insulation along the slow axis 4,5 . However, most artificially engineered thermal conductors have anisotropy ratios much smaller than those seen in naturally anisotropic materials. Here we report extremely anisotropic thermal conductors based on large-area van der Waals thin films with random interlayer rotations, which produce a room-temperature thermal anisotropy ratio close to 900 in MoS 2 , one of the highest ever reported. This is enabled by the interlayer rotations that impede the through-plane thermal transport, while the long-range intralayer crystallinity maintains high in-plane thermal conductivity. We measure ultralow thermal conductivities in the through-plane direction for MoS 2 (57 ± 3 mW m −1  K −1 ) and WS 2 (41 ± 3 mW m −1  K −1 ) films, and we quantitatively explain these values using molecular dynamics simulations that reveal one-dimensional glass-like thermal transport. Conversely, the in-plane thermal conductivity in these MoS 2 films is close to the single-crystal value. Covering nanofabricated gold electrodes with our anisotropic films prevents overheating of the electrodes and blocks heat from reaching the device surface. Our work establishes interlayer rotation in crystalline layered materials as a new degree of freedom for engineering-directed heat transport in solid-state systems.