The anticholinergic agent oxitropium bromide possesses rich crystal chemistry, most remarkably exhibiting a strong thermosalient effect ("jumping crystal" effect), a mechanical property with potential applications in organic-based actuators. The thermosalient effect, manifested in forceful jumps of up to several centimeters, was investigated by a combination of structural, microscopic, spectroscopic, and thermoanalytical techniques, providing data on which to base a proposed mechanism for the phenomenon. Direct observation of the effect in a single crystal and structure determination of both phases revealed that the jumping of the crystals is a macroscopic manifestation of a highly anisotropic change in the cell volume. The cell distortion is accompanied by a conformational change of the oxitropium cation, which triggers increased separation between the ion pairs in the lattice at nearly identical separation between the cation and the anion within each ion pair. At the molecular level, the cation acts as a molecular shuttle composed of two rigid parts (epoxy-aza-tricyclic-nonyl portion and phenyl ring) that are bridged by a flexible ester linkage. The structure of the rigid, inert aza-tricyclic portion remains practically unaffected by the temperature, suggesting a mechanism in which the large, thermally accumulated strain is transferred over the ester bridge to the phenyl ring, which rotates to trigger the phase transition. Mechanistic details of the higher temperature solid-state phenomena are also presented. The high-temperature phase can also be obtained by grinding or UV irradiation of the room-temperature phase. In addition, if it is irradiated with UV light in the presence of KBr, the high-temperature phase undergoes intramolecular photochemical rearrangement. Heating the high-temperature phase to slightly below the melting temperature results in an additional solid-state reaction that results in the conversion of the salt to a mixture of neutral compounds.
Ruddlesden–Popper halide perovskite (RPP) materials are of significant interest for light‐emitting devices since their emission wavelength can be controlled by tuning the number of layers n, resulting in improved spectral stability compared to mixed halide devices. However, RPP films typically contain phases with different n, and the low n phases tend to be unstable upon exposure to humidity, irradiation, and/or elevated temperature which hinders the achievement of pure blue emission from n = 2 films. In this work, two spacer cations are used to form an RPP film with mixed cation bilayer and high n = 2 phase purity, improved stability, and brighter light emission compared to a single spacer cation RPP. The stabilization of n = 2 phase is attributed to favorable formation energy, reduced strain, and reduced electron–phonon coupling compared to the RPP films with only one type of spacer cation. Using this approach, pure blue light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) with Commission Internationale de l'éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.156, 0.088) and excellent spectral stability are achieved.
CoMn 2 O 4 nanomaterials are prepared by a low temperature precipitation route employing metal acetates and NaOH. Structural changes, induced by different annealing temperatures, are comprehensively analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. With rising annealing temperature the crystal lattice of CoMn 2 O 4 undergoes changes; AO 4 tetrahedra expand due to thermally induced substitution of Co 2+ by larger Mn 2+ metal ions on the A-site of the spinel structure, while in contrast, BO 6 octahedra shrink since the B-site becomes partially occupied by smaller Co 3+ metal ions on account of the migrated Mn ions. CoMn 2 O 4 particle sizes are easily fine-tuned by applying different annealing temperatures; the particle size increases with increasing annealing temperature. During the battery operation, pulverization and reduction of particle sizes occurs regardless of the initial size of the particles, but the degree of division of the particles during the operation is dependent on the initial particle properties. Thus, contrary to the common assumption that nanostructuring of the anode material improves the battery performance, samples with the largest particle sizes exhibit excellent performance with a capacity retention of 104% after 1000 cycles (compared to the 2 nd cycle).
In general, ilmenite FeTiO 3 is synthesized by solid-state reaction at very high pressure and high temperature. Synthesis of FeTiO 3 is not an easy task as the Fe 2 þ ions are not stable. Therefore, it is really challenging to prepare this material. In this work nano-ilmenite FeTiO 3 was synthesized by the sol-gel method. Structural, optical and magnetic characterizations were performed. The bandgap of FeTiO 3 was determined to be 2.8 eV showing FeTiO 3 as suitable wide bandgap material for technological applications. The FeTiO 3 nanoparticles exhibit weak ferromagnetic properties at and below room temperature. The Né el temperature was observed to be around 52 K.
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