The electronic and thermoelectric properties of four ternary chalcogenides with space group Pnma, namely, Cu(Sb,Bi)(S,Se)2, are investigated up to 8 GPa hydrostatic pressure using density functional theory combined with semiclassical Boltzmann theory. The effects of the van der Waals interaction are included in all calculations, since these compounds have layered structures. They all have indirect band gaps that decrease monotonically with increasing hydrostatic pressure except for CuBiS2, for which an indirect–indirect band gap transition occurs around 3 GPa, leading to conduction band convergence with a concomitant 20% increase in the Seebeck coefficient. The enhanced Seebeck coefficient results from a complex interplay between multivalley and multiband effects as well as changes of the band effective masses, driven by hydrostatic pressure. Our results suggest that ongoing developments in high-pressure science may open new opportunities for the discovery of efficient thermoelectric materials.

The large band gap of SrTiO3 is disadvantageous for photocatalytic applications. We therefore study cation codoping to modify the size of the band gap and extend the absorption to visible light. We identify efficient codoping schemes that guarantee charge compensation to avoid creation of localized states. Using the Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof hybrid functional, we analyze the crystal and electronic structures as well as the optical properties. It is found that (Nb/Ta, Ga/In) codoping does not reduce the band gap, in contrast to (Mo/W, Zn/Cd) codoping. The position of the conduction band edge after (Mo, Cd) codoping impedes a high photocatalytic efficiency, whereas (Mo/W, Zn) and (W, Cd) codoping are found to be favorable.

We investigate the effect of C60 fullerene nanospheres on the evaporation kinetics of a number of aromatic solvents with different levels of molecular association, namely, benzene, toluene, and chlorobenzene. The dependence of the evaporation rate on the fullerene concentration is not monotonic but rather exhibits maxima and minima. The results strongly support the notion of molecular structuring within the liquid solvent controlled by the nature of fullerene/solvent interaction and the level of molecular association within the solvent itself.

Recently, monolayer Tl on a Si or Ge substrate has been proposed for potential valleytronic systems. However, the band gaps of these systems are less than 0.1 eV, which is too small to be applied because an electric field or magnetic doping will reduce the band gaps further for the systems to become metallic. Here, we investigate SiC as an alternative substrate. By first-principles calculations we demonstrate that monolayer Tl can be grown on SiC. There are two valleys around the K/K′ points and the Berry curvature shows that the two valleys are inequivalent, indicating valley pseudospin. Moreover, due to the larger band gap of SiC (3.3 eV), the band gap of the Tl/SiC system is 0.6 eV, which is large enough for valley manipulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Cr doping can achieve valley polarization. Our study shows that the Tl/SiC system is promising for valleytronic applications.

Using density functional theory and the Boltzmann transport equation for phonons, we demonstrate that the thermal conductivity is massively reduced in monolayer CN as compared to isostructural graphene. We show that larger phase space for three-phonon scattering processes is available in monolayer CN, which results in much shorter phonon life-times. Although both materials are characterized by sp hybridisation, anharmonicity effects are found to be enhanced for the C-N and C-C bonds in monolayer CN, reflected by a Grüneisen parameter of -8.5 as compared to -2.2 in graphene. The combination of these properties with the fact that monolayer CN is organic, non-toxic, and built of earth abundant elements gives rise to great potential in thermoelectric applications.

Polybenzimidazole (PBI), a thermal and chemically stable polymer, is commonly used to fabricate membranes for applications like hydrogen recovery at temperatures of more than 300 °C, fuel cells working in a highly acidic environment, and nanofiltration in aggressive solvents. This report shows for the first time use of PBI dense membranes for water vapor/gas separation applications. They showed an excellent selectivity and high water vapor permeability. Incorporation of inorganic hydrophilic titanium-based nano-fillers into the PBI matrix further increased the water vapor permeability and water vapor/N2 selectivity. The most selective mixed matrix membrane with 0.5 wt% loading of TiO2 nanotubes yielded a water vapor permeability of 6.8×104 Barrer and a H2O/N2 selectivity of 3.9×106. The most permeable membrane with 1 wt% loading of carboxylated TiO2 nanoparticles had a 7.1×104 Barrer water vapor permeability and a H2O/N2 selectivity of 3.1×106. The performance of these membranes in terms of water vapor transport and selectivity is among the highest reported ones. The remarkable ability of PBI to efficiently permeate water versus other gases opens the possibility to fabricate membranes for dehumidification of streams in harsh environments. This includes the removal of water from high temperature reaction mixtures to shift the equilibrium towards products.

On the basis of first principles calculations, we study the adsorption of CO, CO2, NH3, NO, and NO2 molecules on armchair and zigzag blue phosphorus nanotubes. The nanotubes are found to surpass the gas sensing performance of other one-dimensional materials, in particular Si nanowires and carbon nanotubes, and two-dimensional materials, in particular graphene, phosphorene, and MoS2. Investigation of the energetics of the gas adsorption and induced charge transfers indicates that blue phosphorus nanotubes are highly sensitive to N-based molecules, in particular NO2, due to covalent bonding. The current–voltage characteristics of nanotubes connected to Au electrodes are derived by the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism and used to quantitatively evaluate the change in resistivity upon gas adsorption. The observed selectivity and sensitivity properties make blue phosphorus nanotubes superior gas sensors for a wide range of applications.

We employ first-principles calculations to demonstrate ferromagnetic ground states for single- and multi-layer lead monoxide (PbO) under hole-doping, originating from a van Hove singularity at the valence band edge. Both the sample thickness and applied strain are found to have huge effects on the electronic and magnetic properties. Multi-layer PbO is an indirect band gap semiconductor, while a direct band gap is realized in the single-layer limit. In hole-doped single-layer PbO, biaxial tensile strain can enhance the stability of the ferromagnetic state.

In search for materials for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells, (Pr/Gd)BaCo2O5.5 is investigated by first principles calculations. Antisite defects are considered as they may modify the electronic and O diffusion properties but are rarely studied in double perovskite oxides. Octahedrally coordinated Co atoms are shown to realize intermediate and high spin states for PrBaCo2O5.5 and GdBaCo2O5.5, respectively, while pyramidally coordinated Co atoms always have high spin. It turns out that O vacancy formation is significantly easier in PrBaCo2O5.5 than in GdBaCo2O5.5, the difference in formation energy being hardly modified by antisite defects. While pyramidally coordinated Co atoms are not affected, we show that the presence of antisite defects causes parts of the octahedrally coordinated Co atoms to switch from intermediate to high spin.

We compare the electronic properties of O deficient LaAlO3/SrTiO3 superlattices oriented along the (001) and (110) directions, taking into account the effect of hydrostatic compression and tension. Interfacial O vacancies turn out to be less likely in the case of the (110) orientation, with compression (tension) reducing (enhancing) the energy cost for both orientations. The presence of O vacancies results in the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas, for which we observe a distinct spatial pattern of carrier density that depends strongly on the amount of applied pressure. We clarify the interrelation between structural features and the properties of this electron gas (confinement, carrier density, and mobility).