Materials Science
Photoexcited hot carriers in solids can drive processes, such as photocatalytic reactions on the surface, beyond those available in thermal equilibrium. Hot-electron-mediated reaction pathways are limited by the thermalization of the…
Hydrogen storage remains a key challenge for the development of a sustainable hydrogen energy system, where materials must satisfy requirements on storage capacity, thermodynamics, kinetics, and reversibility. Complex borohydrides are…
The most favorable structure of the synthesized TiCoSb half-Heusler alloy is explored theoretically and experimentally, and the best structure for thermoelectric conversion is reported. Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction data…
Parameterisation of coupled degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries is a major challenge. Interactions between the mechanisms depend on usage conditions: C-rate, rest state-of-charge (SoC), depth-of-discharge (DoD) and temperature.…
Phase equilibria in the Al-Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta refractory complex concentrated alloy system were investigated using a high throughput experimental approach. A pseudo-ternary section of the quinary compositional space was prepared by a honeycomb…
Silver niobate is a conventional perovskite oxide compound, known to exhibit a rich polymorphism. Although often classified as antiferroelectric, its low-temperature structure remains unclear. Here, first-principles calculations reveal a…
The temperature dependence of the structural and magnetic properties of wolframite-type FeWO4 were studied in situ by high pressure neutron diffraction. Neutron diffraction measurements were performed at the XtremeD instrument at the…
Combining X-ray diffraction with density-functional theory and electron topology calculations we found that pressure substantially modifies the bonding in K2Zn(IO3)4.2H2O. We discovered that under compression there is a progressive change…
Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) are a family of metal--organic frameworks that feature metal centers tetrahedrally linked to imidazole-based ligands and adopt zeolite-like topologies. ZIFs formed by Zinc cations and imidazolate…
We propose a metadynamics-based (MetaD-based) approach for constructing the free energy surface (FES) of vacancy dynamics in crystals. In this approach, the vacancy FES can be constructed without explicitly defining a unique vacancy…
Understanding grain-boundary mobility during spark plasma sintering can enable microstructure control in high-entropy carbides, yet quantitative grain-growth kinetics remain scarce. In this work, grain growth kinetics and densification…
Based on first-principles calculations combined with theoretical analysis, we identify a family of monolayer chromium-based group-IV chalcogenides as a new class of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs).…
While the high oxidation states in heavy alkali fluorides (Cs, Ba, Ra) have been attributed to a pressure-driven upshift of energy level of inner p states, this route is largely ineffective for Rb because its smaller ionic radius suppresses…
Understanding the structures and energetics of nanovoid-solute complexes is essential for elucidating the coupled evolution of defects in metals. Yet their vast and complex configurational space poses a major challenge to conventional…
Periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) for computing magnetic fields in repeating magnetic structures, e.g. in micromagnetic simulations, are typically imposed using the quasi periodic macrogeometry approach, where many copies of the simulated…
We report on the high-pressure synthesis of a CrS$_2$ phase in the form of single-crystalline nanorods. A structural refinement of Precession Electron Diffraction Tomography data confirms the nominal CrS$_2$ composition and unveils a…
We identify a nonequilibrium route for generating altermagnetic spin splitting in antiferromagnet by ultrafast light. Unlike existing strategies, this route does not require relativistic angular-momentum transfer, static symmetry breaking,…
Machine-learning interatomic potentials are widely used as computationally efficient surrogates for density functional theory in atomistic simulations, enabling large-scale, long-time modeling of materials systems. We investigate how…
Photonic computing using chalcogenide phase-change materials (PCMs) is under active development for energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) applications. A key requirement is to enable as many optically programmable levels per device…
The Coulomb potential at an interior ion in a finite crystal of size $p$ is given by a linear superposition of contributions from displacement vectors ${\mathbf r}=(x,y,z)$ to its neighbors. This additive structure underlies universal…