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| 2. |
- Halldin Stenlid, Joakim, 1987-
(författare)
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Computational Studies of Chemical Interactions: Molecules, Surfaces and Copper Corrosion
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The chemical bond – a corner stone in science and a prerequisite for life – is the focus of this thesis. Fundamental and applied aspects of chemical bonding are covered including the development of new computational methods for the characterization and rationalization of chemical interactions. The thesis also covers the study of corrosion of copper-based materials. The latter is motivated by the proposed use of copper as encapsulating material for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden.In close collaboration with experimental groups, state-of-the-art computational methods were employed for the study of chemistry at the atomic scale. First, oxidation of nanoparticulate copper was examined in anoxic aqueous media in order to better understand the copper-water thermodynamics in relation to the corrosion of copper material under oxygen free conditions. With a similar ambition, the water-cuprite interface was investigated with regards to its chemical composition and reactivity. This was compared to the behavior of methanol and hydrogen sulfide at the cuprite surface.An overall ambition during the development of computational methods for the analysis of chemical bonding was to bridge the gap between molecular and materials chemistry. Theory and results are thus presented and applied in both a molecular and a solid-state framework. A new property, the local electron attachment energy, for the characterization of a compound’s local electrophilicity was introduced. Together with the surface electrostatic potential, the new property predicts and rationalizes regioselectivity and trends of molecular reactions, and interactions on metal and oxide nanoparticles and extended surfaces.Detailed atomistic understanding of chemical processes is a prerequisite for the efficient development of chemistry. We therefore envisage that the results of this thesis will find widespread use in areas such as heterogeneous catalysis, drug discovery, and nanotechnology.
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| 3. |
- Sun, Bing, et al.
(författare)
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Ion transport in polycarbonate based solid polymer electrolytes : experimental and computational investigations
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 18:14, s. 9504-9513
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Among the alternative host materials for solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), polycarbonates have recently shown promising functionality in all-solid-state lithium batteries from ambient to elevated temperatures. While the computational and experimental investigations of ion conduction in conventional polyethers have been extensive, the ion transport in polycarbonates has been much less studied. The present work investigates the ionic transport behavior in SPEs based on poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) and its co-polymer with epsilon-caprolactone (CL) via both experimental and computational approaches. FTIR spectra indicated a preferential local coordination between Li+ and ester carbonyl oxygen atoms in the P(TMC20CL80) co-polymer SPE. Diffusion NMR revealed that the co-polymer SPE also displays higher ion mobilities than PTMC. For both systems, locally oriented polymer domains, a few hundred nanometers in size and with limited connections between them, were inferred from the NMR spin relaxation and diffusion data. Potentiostatic polarization experiments revealed notably higher cationic transference numbers in the polycarbonate based SPEs as compared to conventional polyether based SPEs. In addition, MD simulations provided atomic-scale insight into the structure-dynamics properties, including confirmation of a preferential Li+-carbonyl oxygen atom coordination, with a preference in coordination to the ester based monomers. A coupling of the Li-ion dynamics to the polymer chain dynamics was indicated by both simulations and experiments.
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| 4. |
- Sznitko, L., et al.
(författare)
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Low-threshold stimulated emission from lysozyme amyloid fibrils doped with a blue laser dye
- 2015
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Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 106:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. Amyloid fibrils are excellent self-assembling nanotemplates for organic molecules such as dyes. Here, we demonstrate that laser dye-doped lysozyme type fibrils exhibit significantly reduced threshold for stimulated emission compared to that observed in usual matrices. Laser action was studied in slab planar waveguides of the amyloids doped with Stilbene 420 laser dye prepared using a film casting technique. The lowering of the threshold of stimulated emission is analyzed in the context of intrinsic structure of the amyloid nanotemplates, electrostatic interaction of different microstructures with dye molecules, as well as material properties of the cast layers. All these factors are considered to be of importance for introducing gain for random laser operation.
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| 5. |
- Rzepka, Przemyslaw, et al.
(författare)
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CO2-Induced Displacement of Na+ and K+ in Zeolite INaKI-A
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 122:30, s. 17211-17220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adsorption technologies offer opportunities to remove CO2 from gas mixtures, and zeolite A has good properties that include a high capacity for the adsorption of CO2 . It has been argued that its abilities to separate CO2 from N-2 in flue gas and CO2 from CH4 in raw biogas can be further enhanced by replacing Na+ with K+ in the controlling pore window apertures. In this study, several compositions of I Na12-xKxI-A were prepared and studied with respect to the adsorption of CO2 N-2, and CH4, and the detailed structural changes were induced by the adsorption of CO2. The adsorption of CO2 gradually decreased on an increasing content of K+, whereas the adsorption of N-2 and CH4 was completely nulled already at relatively small contents of K. Of the studied samples, INa9K3I-A exhibited the highest CO2 over N-2/CH4 selectivities, with a(CO2/N-2 ) > 21 000 and a(CO2/CH4) > 8000. For samples with and without adsorbed CO2 analyses of powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data revealed that K+ preferred to substitute Na+ at the eight-ring sites. The Na(+ )ions at the six-ring sites were gradually replaced by K+ on an increasing content, and these sites split into two positions on both sides of the six-ring mirror plane. It was observed that both the eight-ring and six-ring sites tailored the maximum adsorption capacity for CO2 and possibly also the diffusion of CO2 into the alpha-cavities of INa12-xKxI-A. The adsorption of CH4 and N-2 on the other hand appeared to be controlled by the K+ ions blocking the eight-ring windows. The in situ PXRD study revealed that the positions of the extra-framework cations were displaced into the a-cavities of INa12(_)x,KxI-A on the adsorption of CO2 . For samples with a low content of K+, the repositioning of the cations was consistent with a mutual attraction with the adsorbed CO(2 )molecules.
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| 6. |
- Bergman, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Counting the number of enzymes immobilized onto a nanoparticle-coated electrode
- 2018
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Ingår i: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1618-2642 .- 1618-2650. ; 410:6, s. 1775-1783
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To immobilize enzymes at the surface of a nanoparticle-based electrochemical sensor is a common method to construct biosensors for non-electroactive analytes. Studying the interactions between the enzymes and nanoparticle support is of great importance in optimizing the conditions for biosensor design. This can be achieved by using a combination of analytical methods to carefully characterize the enzyme nanoparticle coating at the sensor surface while studying the optimal conditions for enzyme immobilization. From this analytical approach, it was found that controlling the enzyme coverage to a monolayer was a key factor to significantly improve the temporal resolution of biosensors. However, these characterization methods involve both tedious methodologies and working with toxic cyanide solutions. Here we introduce a new analytical method that allows direct quantification of the number of immobilized enzymes (glucose oxidase) at the surface of a gold nanoparticle coated glassy carbon electrode. This was achieved by exploiting an electrochemical stripping method for the direct quantification of the density and size of gold nanoparticles coating the electrode surface and combining this information with quantification of fluorophore-labeled enzymes bound to the sensor surface after stripping off their nanoparticle support. This method is both significantly much faster compared to previously reported methods and with the advantage that this method presented is non-toxic.
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| 7. |
- Asfaw, Habtom Desta
(författare)
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Multifunctional Carbon Foams by Emulsion Templating : Synthesis, Microstructure, and 3D Li-ion Microbatteries
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Carbon foams are among the existing electrode designs proposed for use in 3D Li-ion microbatteries. For such electrodes to find applications in practical microbatteries, however, their void sizes, specific surface areas and pore volumes need be optimized. This thesis concerns the synthesis of highly porous carbon foams and their multifunctional applications in 3D microbatteries. The carbon foams are derived from polymers that are obtained by polymerizing high internal phase water-in-oil emulsions (HIPEs).In general, the carbonization of the sulfonated polymers yielded hierarchically porous structures with void sizes ranging from 2 to 35 µm and a BET specific surface area as high as 630 m2 g-1. Thermogravimetric and spectroscopic evidence indicated that the sulfonic acid groups, introduced during sulfonation, transformed above 250 oC to thioether (-C-S-) crosslinks which were responsible for the thermal stability and charring tendency of the polymer precursors. Depending on the preparation of the HIPEs, the specific surface areas and void-size distributions were observed to vary considerably. In addition, the pyrolysis temperature could also affect the microstructures, the degree of graphitization, and the surface chemistry of the carbon foams.Various potential applications were explored for the bespoke carbon foams. First, their use as freestanding active materials in 3D microbatteries was studied. The carbon foams obtained at 700 to 1500 oC suffered from significant irreversible capacity loss during the initial discharge. In an effort to alleviate this drawback, the pyrolysis temperature was raised to 2200 oC. The resulting carbon foams were observed to deliver high, stable areal capacities over several cycles. Secondly, the possibility of using these structures as 3D current collectors for various active materials was investigated in-depth. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, positive active materials like polyaniline and LiFePO4 were deposited on the 3D architectures by means of electrodeposition and sol-gel approach, respectively. In both cases, the composite electrodes exhibited reasonably high cyclability and rate performance at different current densities. The syntheses of niobium and molybdenum oxides and their potential application as electrodes in microbatteries were also studied. In such applications, the carbon foams served dual purposes as 3D scaffolds and as reducing reactants in the carbothermal reduction process. Finally, a facile method of coating carbon substrates with oxide nanosheets was developed. The approach involved the exfoliation of crystalline VO2 to prepare dispersions of hydrated V2O5, which were subsequently cast onto CNT paper to form oxide films of different thicknesses.
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| 8. |
- Karlsson, Rasmus, 1987-
(författare)
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Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Electrode and Electrolyte Processes in Industrial Electrosynthesis
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Heterogeneous electrocatalysis is the usage of solid materials to decrease the amount of energy needed to produce chemicals using electricity. It is of core importance for modern life, as it enables production of chemicals, such as chlorine gas and sodium chlorate, needed for e.g. materials and pharmaceuticals production. Furthermore, as the need to make a transition to usage of renewable energy sources is growing, the importance for electrocatalysis used for electrolytic production of clean fuels, such as hydrogen, is rising. In this thesis, work aimed at understanding and improving electrocatalysts used for these purposes is presented.A main part of the work has been focused on the selectivity between chlorine gas, or sodium chlorate formation, and parasitic oxygen evolution. An activation of anode surface Ti cations by nearby Ru cations is suggested as a reason for the high chlorine selectivity of the “dimensionally stable anode” (DSA), the standard anode used in industrial chlorine and sodium chlorate production. Furthermore, theoretical methods have been used to screen for dopants that can be used to improve the activity and selectivity of DSA, and several promising candidates have been found. Moreover, the connection between the rate of chlorate formation and the rate of parasitic oxygen evolution, as well as the possible catalytic effects of electrolyte contaminants on parasitic oxygen evolution in the chlorate process, have been studied experimentally.Additionally, the properties of a Co-doped DSA have been studied, and it is found that the doping makes the electrode more active for hydrogen evolution. Finally, the hydrogen evolution reaction on both RuO2 and the noble-metal-free electrocatalyst material MoS2 has been studied using a combination of experimental and theoretically calculated X-ray photoelectron chemical shifts. In this way, insight into structural changes accompanying hydrogen evolution on these materials is obtained.
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| 9. |
- Österberg, Carin, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Dynamics of Pyramidal SiH3- Ions in ASiH(3) (A = K and Rb) Investigated with Quasielastic Neutron Scattering
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 120:12, s. 6369-6376
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The two alkali silanides ASiH(3) (A = K and Rb) were investigated by means of quasielastic neutron scattering, both below and above the order-disorder phase transition occurring at around 275-300 K. Measurements upon heating show that there is a large change in the dynamics on going through the phase transition, whereas measurements upon cooling reveal a strong hysteresis due to undercooling of the disordered phase. The results show that the dynamics is associated with rotational diffusion of SiH3- anions, adequately modeled by H-jumps among 24 different jump locations radially distributed around the Si atom. The average relaxation time between successive jumps is of the order of subpicoseconds and exhibits a weak temperature dependence with a small difference in activation energy between the two materials, 39(1) meV for KSiH3 and 33(1) meV for RbSiH3. The pronounced SiH3- dynamics explains the high entropy observed in the disordered phase resulting in the low entropy variation for hydrogen absorption/desorption and hence the origin of these materials' favorable hydrogen storage properties.
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| 10. |
- Hedlund, Artur, et al.
(författare)
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Microstructures of cellulose coagulated in water and alcohols from 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate : contrasting coagulation mechanisms
- 2019
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Ingår i: Cellulose. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0969-0239 .- 1572-882X. ; 26:3, s. 1545-1563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract: Coagulation of cellulose solutions is a process whereby many useful materials with variable microstructures and properties can be produced. This study investigates the complexity of the phase separation that generates the structural heterogeneity of such materials. The ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]), and a co-solvent, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), are used to dissolve microcrystalline cellulose in concentrations from 5 to 25 wt%. The solutions are coagulated in water or 2-propanol (2PrOH). The coagulated material is then washed and solvent exchanged (water → 2PrOH → butanone → cyclohexane) in order to preserve the generated microstructures upon subsequent drying before analysis. Sweep electron microscopy images of 50 k magnification reveal open-pore fibrillar structures. The crystalline constituents of those fibrils are estimated using wide-angle X-ray spectroscopy and specific surface area data. It is found that the crystalline order or crystallite size is reduced by an increase in cellulose concentration, by the use of the co-solvent DMSO, or by the use of 2PrOH instead of water as the coagulant. Because previous theories cannot explain these trends, an alternative explanation is presented here focused on solid–liquid versus liquid–liquid phase separations. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
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