LNS - Scientific Highlights
Cobalt-free layered perovskites RBaCuFeO5+d (R = 4f lanthanide) as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction
Co oxides with perovskite-related structure are particularly promising, cost-effective OER catalysts. However, the increasing Co demand by the battery industry is pushing the search for Co-free alternatives. Here we investigate the potential of the Co-free layered perovskite family RBaCuFeO5+δ (R = 4f lanthanide), where we identify the critical structural and electronic variables leading to high OER catalytical performance. The employed methodology, based in the use of advanced neutron and X-ray synchrotron techniques combined with ab initio DFT calculations allowed to reveal LaBaCuFeO5+δ as new, promising Co-free electroctalyst. Moreover, we could show that this material can be industrially produced in nanocrystalline form. We believe that the reported results and methodology may contribute to the implementation of new technologies aimed to generate energy with lower carbon emissions, and can also inspire the scientific community in their search of other Co-free materials with good OER electrocatalytical properties.
Better batteries for electric cars
PSI researchers make physical and chemical changes in batteries visible.
Integrative solution structure of PTBP1-IRES complex reveals strong compaction and ordering with residual conformational flexibility
RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are crucial regulators of gene expression, often composed of defined domains interspersed with flexible, intrinsically disordered regions. Determining the structure of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes involving such RBPs necessitates integrative structural modeling due to their lack of a single stable state. In this study, we integrate magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and small-angle scattering data to determine the solution structure of ...
Direct observation of topological magnon polarons in a multiferroic material
Magnon polarons are novel elementary excitations possessing hybrid magnonic and phononic signatures, and are responsible for many exotic spintronic and magnonic phenomena. Despite long-term sustained experimental efforts in chasing for magnon polarons, direct spectroscopic evidence of their existence is hardly observed. Here, we report the direct observation of magnon polarons using neutron spectroscopy on a multiferroic Fe2Mo3O8 possessing strong magnon-phonon coupling.
Complete field-induced spectral response of the spin-1/2 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet CsYbSe2
Fifty years after Anderson’s resonating valence-bond proposal, the spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (TLHAF) remains the ultimate platform to explore highly entangled quantum spin states in proximity to magnetic order. Yb-based delafossites are ideal candidate TLHAF materials, which allow experimental access to the full range of applied in-plane magnetic fields. We perform a systematic neutron scattering study of CsYbSe2, first proving the Heisenberg character of the interactions and quantifying the second-neighbor coupling.
Field-tuned quantum renormalization of spin dynamics in the honeycomb lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet YbCl3
The basis for our understanding of quantum magnetism has been the study of elegantly simple model systems. However, even for the antiferromagnetic honeycomb lattice with isotropic spin interactions – one of the simplest model systems – a detailed understanding of quantum effects is still lacking. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the honeycomb lattice material YbCl3, we elucidate how quantum effects renormalize ...
Strong phonon softening and avoided crossing in aliovalence-doped heavy-band thermoelectrics
Aliovalent doping is a way to optimize the electrical properties of semiconductors, but its impact on the phonon structure and propagation is seldom considered properly. Here we show that aliovalent doping can be much more effective in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity of thermoelectric semiconductors than the commonly employed isoelectronic alloying strategy. We demonstrate ...
Direct observation of exchange anisotropy in the helimagnetic insulator Cu2OSeO3
The helical magnetic structures of cubic chiral systems are well explained by the competition among Heisen- berg exchange, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, cubic anisotropy, and anisotropic exchange interaction (AEI). Recently, the role of the latter has been argued theoretically to be crucial for the low-temperature phase diagram of the cubic chiral magnet Cu2OSeO3, which features tilted conical and disordered skyrmion states for a specific orientation of the applied magnetic field (μ0H⃗ ∥ [001]). In this study ...
Mystery of microgels solved
Researchers at PSI and the University of Barcelona can explain the strange shrinking of microgels experimentally.