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We report herein on the comparative study of LiNiO2 and LiMn2O4 electrodes in three salt solutions, namely, LiAsF6 , LiPF6 , and normalLiCfalse(SO2CF3)3 in a mixture of the commonly used ethylene and dimethyl carbonates. The surface chemistry of the electrodes in these solutions was studied by surface‐sensitive Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis, and their electrochemical behavior was studied by variable‐scan‐rate voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. It was found that the electrochemical behavior of these electrodes is strongly dependent on their surface chemistry. Complicated reactions between the active mass and solution components, which include the solvents, the salt anions, and unavoidable contaminants such as HF and perhaps, HSO3CF3 , lead to the precipitation of surface films through which the Li ion has to migrate in order to reach the active mass. The impedance spectroscopy of these electrodes clearly reflects their surface chemistry. It demonstrates the serial nature of the Li insertion‐deinsertion processes, which includes, in addition to solid‐state diffusion and accumulation, Li‐ion migration through surface films and their charge transfer across the surface film/active mass interface, which strongly depends on the chemical composition of the surface films and hence, the solution chosen. LiNiO2 is considerably more reactive with these solutions than LiMn2O4 , probably due to its stronger nucleophilic nature. In addition, in LiPF6 solutions, the electrodes' impedance is higher due to precipitation of films comprising LiF, which is highly resistive to Li ion transport (probably produced by reactions of the LixMOy active mass with trace HF). © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

We report the highly stable galvanostatic cycling of lithium metal (Li) electrodes in a symmetrical Li|electrolyte solution| Li coin-cell configuration at a high rate and high areal capacity using fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC)-based electrolyte solutions [1 M LiPF 6 in FEC/dimethyl carbonate (DMC)]. The FEC-based electrolyte solution shows cycling behavior that is markedly better than that observed for the cells cycled with an ethylene carbonate (EC)-based electrolyte solution (1 M LiPF 6 in EC/DMC). With FEC-based electrolyte solution, Li|Li cells can be cycled at 2 mA cm −2 with an areal capacity of 3.3 mAh cm −2 for more than 1100 cycles, and full Li| LiNi 0.6 Co 0.2 Mn 0.2 O 2 (NMC) cells with high areal loading cathode demonstrate stable cycling with the same capacity during 90 cycles. An increase in areal capacity up to 6 mA h cm −2 does not affect the shape of the voltage profile of the symmetric Li|Li cells. The reason for this high performance is the formation of a stable and efficient solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the surface of the Li metal electrodes cycled in the FEC-based solution. The composition of the SEI is analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

One of the major hurdles of Ni‐rich cathode materials Li1+x(NixCozMnz)wO2, y > 0.5 for lithium‐ion batteries is their low cycling stability especially for compositions with Ni ≥ 60%, which suffer from severe capacity fading and impedance increase during cycling at elevated temperatures (e.g., 45 °C). Two promising surface and structural modifications of these materials to alleviate the above drawback are (1) coatings by electrochemically inert inorganic compounds (e.g., ZrO2) or (2) lattice doping by cations like Zr4+, Al3+, Mg2+, etc. This paper demonstrates the enhanced electrochemical behavior of Ni‐rich material LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) coated with a thin ZrO2 layer. The coating is produced by an easy and scalable wet chemical approach followed by annealing the material at ≥700 °C under oxygen that results in Zr doping. It is established that some ZrO2 remains even after annealing at ≥800 °C as a surface layer on NCM811. The main finding of this work is the enhanced cycling stability and lower impedance of the coated/doped NCM811 that can be attributed to a synergetic effect of the ZrO2 coating in combination with a zirconium doping.

A series of models for the active site (H-cluster) of the iron-only hydrogenase enzymes (Fe-only H2-ases) were prepared. Treatment of MeCN solutions of Fe2(SR)2(CO)6 with 2 equiv of Et4NCN gave [Fe2(SR)2(CN)2(CO)4](2-) compounds. IR spectra of the dicyanides feature four nu(CO) bands between 1965 and 1870 cm(-1) and two nu(CN) bands at 2077 and 2033 cm(-1). For alkyl derivatives, both diequatorial and axial-equatorial isomers were observed by NMR analysis. Also prepared were a series of dithiolate derivatives (Et4N)2[Fe2(SR)2(CN)2(CO)4], where (SR)2 = S(CH2)2S, S(CH2)3S. Reaction of Et4NCN with Fe2(S-t-Bu)2(CO)6 gave initially [Fe2(S-t-Bu)2(CN)2(CO)4](2-), which comproportionated to give [Fe2(S-t-Bu)2(CN)(CO)5](-). The mechanism of the CN(-)-for-CO substitution was probed as follows: (i) excess CN(-) with a 1:1 mixture of Fe2(SMe)2(CO)6 and Fe2(SC6H4Me)2(CO)6 gave no mixed thiolates, (ii) treatment of Fe2(S2C3H6)(CO)6 with Me3NO followed by Et4NCN gave (Et4N)[Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)(CO)5], which is a well-behaved salt, (iii) treatment of Fe2(S2C3H6)(CO)6 with Et4NCN in the presence of excess PMe3 gave (Et4N)[Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)(CO)4(PMe3)] much more rapidly than the reaction of PMe3 with (Et4N)[Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)(CO)5], and (iv) a competition experiment showed that Et4NCN reacts with Fe2(S2C3H6)(CO)6 more rapidly than with (Et4N)[Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)(CO)5]. Salts of [Fe2(SR)2(CN)2(CO)4](2-) (for (SR)2 = (SMe)2 and S2C2H4) and the monocyanides [Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)(CO)5](-) and [Fe2(S-t-Bu)2(CN)(CO)5](-) were characterized crystallographically; in each case, the Fe-CO distances were approximately 10% shorter than the Fe-CN distances. The oxidation potentials for Fe2(S2C3H6)(CO)4L2 become milder for L = CO, followed by MeNC, PMe3, and CN(-); the range is approximately 1.3 V. In water,oxidation of [Fe2(S2C3H6)(CN)2(CO)4](2-) occurs irreversibly at -0.12 V (Ag/AgCl) and is coupled to a second oxidation.

A new transformation is presented that enables chemists to couple simple alkyl carboxylic acids with aryl zinc reagents under Ni-catalysis. The success of this reaction hinges on the unique use of redox-active esters that allow one to employ such derivatives as alkyl halides surrogates. The chemistry exhibits broad substrate scope and features a high degree of practicality. The simple procedure and extremely inexpensive nature of both the substrates and pre-catalyst (NiCl2·6H2O, ca. $9.5/mol) bode well for the immediate widespread adoption of this method.

The synthesis and functionalization of amines are fundamentally important in a vast range of chemical contexts. We present an amine synthesis that repurposes two simple feedstock building blocks: olefins and nitro(hetero)arenes. Using readily available reactants in an operationally simple procedure, the protocol smoothly yields secondary amines in a formal olefin hydroamination. Because of the presumed radical nature of the process, hindered amines can easily be accessed in a highly chemoselective transformation. A screen of more than 100 substrate combinations showcases tolerance of numerous unprotected functional groups such as alcohols, amines, and even boronic acids. This process is orthogonal to other aryl amine syntheses, such as the Buchwald-Hartwig, Ullmann, and classical amine-carbonyl reductive aminations, as it tolerates aryl halides and carbonyl compounds.

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