Inorganic structures play an important role in materials due to their versatility and diversity. A complete understanding of the structure of a material is vital to enhance the creation of new materials that fill voids in research. The rational design of these compounds is driven by the exploitation of structure-property...
Chemistry of preparing dense film from solution deposition is explored with several cases in this thesis. Surface dense structure, conversion at melting point, and ion exchange in aqueous solution are the main topics covered here for the thin films of aluminum oxide phosphate and tin dioxide. Thin film density, optical...
Novel donor-typed ternary graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) are synthesized and characterized containing (1) pyrrolidinium cations with DMSO co-intercalates; (2) alkali metal cations with crown ether co-intercalates; and (3) alkali metal cations with polyethylene glycol co-intercalates. Structural and compositional data are obtained for the stable products. A new ether-amine co-intercalate exchange...
Thermodynamic modeling of cementitious material is an established tool for predicting the hydrated phase assemblages, pore solution pH, and pore solution composition of mixtures of various chemical compositions and water-to-binder (w/b) ratios. However, traditional thermodynamic techniques have major limitations for modeling mixtures containing supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), and when modeling...
Novel graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) and associated chemistry have been explored, specifically: (1) containing alkyl- substituted imidazolium cations; (2) a series containing alkaline earth metal (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) cations with ethylenediamine (en) co-intercalates; (3) showing reversible intragallery M-M bonding and (4) via electrochemical intercalation of Mg cations with potential...
In the 21st century, environmental deterioration is now an indisputable fact. Reliable and economically viable electricity systems based on renewable sources are urgently needed to replace the environmentally detrimental fossil fuels. The feasibility of incorporating renewable-but-intermittent solar and wind energy heavily depends on the development of cost-effective and safe technologies,...
Phosphate and peroxide stabilize new oxo-hydroxo niobium clusters in water at low pH. The clusters open a new chapter in aqueous niobium chemistry under acidic conditions. The clusters also produce atomically smooth, amorphous niobium oxide phosphate (NbPOx) thin films. Reaction pathways from cluster solutions to amorphous niobium oxide phosphate solids...
Electrochemical capacitors and batteries are two major electrochemical energy storage technologies, which have been investigated extensively to meet the rapidly-growing demand for higher energy, higher power, lower cost and enhanced safety in the past few decades. With the charge storage mechanism of electrostatic charge adsorption desorption via electrical double layers,...
Porous carbon is indispensable in modern technology applications. It is used for energy storage, gas separation, water purification, catalyst support, and chromatography. The diversity of its applications stems from its unique properties, including high specific surface area, tunable pore volume, and chemical stability. Specifically, the large surface area provides high...
Grid-scale energy storage systems are urgently needed to increase the flexibility and rigidity of the grid for modern society and take full advantage of the renewable green energy resources such as solar energy and wind energy. Na-ion batteries (NIBs) and K-ion batteries (KIBs) have been emerged as one of the...