An excitation function of one- and two-neutron transfer channels for the ^{60}Ni+^{116}Sn system has been measured with the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA in a wide energy range, from the Coulomb barrier to far below it. The experimental transfer probabilities are well reproduced, for the first time with heavy ions, in absolute values and in slope by microscopic calculations which incorporate nucleon-nucleon pairing correlations.

We performed a γ-particle coincidence experiment for the 60 Ni + 116 Sn system to investigate whether the population of the two-neutron pickup channel leading to 62 Ni is mainly concentrated in the ground-state transition, as has been found in a previous work [D. Montanari et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 052501 (2014)]. The experiment has been performed by employing the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer coupled to the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) demonstrator. The strength distribution of excited states corresponding to the inelastic, one-and two-neutron transfer channels has been extracted. We found that in the two-neutron transfer channel the strength to excited states corresponds to a fraction (less than 24%) of the total, consistent with the previously obtained results that the 2n channel is dominated by the ground-state to ground-state transition.

Theory reveals how 2D aluminum could be synthesized.

Electrochemical energy storage has been at the center of interest over the past years due to the ever-faster technological development and the need for high-capacity batteries with high voltages and energy densities. Alkali batteries show the greatest potential for improving current characteristics, and this work examines several hexagonal boron nitride configurations as electrodes for ion batteries. First-principles calculations based on density functional theory have been used to study structural, electronic, and electrochemical properties of a graphenelike hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer for various point defects. The maximum theoretical capacities for alkali earth metal ions adsorbed on the h-B9N8 monolayer are 762.264, 571.698, and 127.044 mAh/g, and average electrode potentials are 0.188, 0.009, and 5.735 V for the adsorption of Li+, Na+, and K+, respectively. Studied structures have been explored for the use as anode materials to hold alkali metal ions, namely, Li+, K+, and Na+, and we have found that for some cases, the alkali metal–h-BN structure shows metallic character, which leads to good electrical conductivity, without the change of structural geometry. Our results show that studied materials have characteristics suitable for the electrode-based ion batteries.