Role of vanadium ions substitution on spinel MnCo2O4 towards enhanced electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Improving efficient electrocatalysts (ECs) for hydrogen generation through water splitting is of significant interest in tackling the upcoming energy crisis. Sustainable hydrogen generation is the primary prerequisite to realizing the future hydrogen economy. This work examines the electrocatalytic activity of hydrothermally prepared vanadium doped MnCo spinel oxide microspheres (MC), MnVxCo2−xO4 (Vx-MnCo MC, where x ≤ 0.4) in the HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) process. Magnetization measurements demonstrated a paramagnetic (at high temperatures) to a ferrimagnetic (at low temperatures) transition below the Curie temperature (Tc) in all the samples. The magnetization is found to intensify with the rising vanadium content of MCs. The optimized catalyst Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) outperformed other prepared ECs with a Tafel slope of 84 mV/dec, a low onset potential of 78.9 mV, and a low overpotential of 85.9 mV at a current density of 10 mA/cm2, respectively. The significantly improved HER performance of hydrothermally synthesized Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) is principally attributable to many exposed active sites, accelerated electron transport at the EC/electrolyte interface, and remarkable electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ECSA) value was found ~ 11.4 cm2. Moreover, the Vx-MnCo MCs (x = 0.3) electrode exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic stability after exposure to 1000 cyclic voltametric cycles and 36 h of chronoamperometric testing. Our results suggest a feasible route for developing earth-abundant transition metal oxide-based EC as a superior electrode for future water electrolysis applications.British CouncilKACARE Fellowshi

Alterations in the magnetic and electrodynamic properties of hard-soft Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe12O19/NixCuyZnwFe2O4 nanocomposites

Hard/soft (H/S) Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe12O19/NixCuyZnwFe2O4 nanocomposites (NCs) were produced via a one-pot sol–gel auto-combustion procedure. Phase and surface analyses were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Magnetization measurements for H/S NCs with different x, y, and w ratios were investigated at two different temperatures (300 and 10 K). The M−H curves were not smooth for the different H/S NCs, revealing that the exchange interaction was incomplete. The derivative of the magnetization (dM/dH versus H) exhibited two separate peaks, confirming the non-coupled H/S mixtures. Maximum saturation magnetization (Ms) values of 93.9 and 63.1 emu/g were obtained at 10 and 300 K, respectively, for the H/S Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe11.99O19/Ni0.3Cu0.3Zn0.4Fe2O4 NC, which contained the highest content of Zn and the same contents of Ni and Cu within the soft magnetic phase. The calculated squareness ratios (SQR = Mr/Ms) were less than 0.5, indicating incomplete exchange coupling. The coercive field (Hc) of the produced NCs reached a maximum value of approximately 2485 Oe at 300 K and 2331 Oe at 10 K with a decrease in the Ms values to 56.9 emu/g at 300 K and 78.5 emu/g at 10 K for the H/S Sr0.5Ba0.5Eu0.01Fe11.99O19/Ni0.8Cu0.1Zn0.1Fe2O4 NC, which contained lower fractions of Zn and Cu and the highest fraction of Ni. The reflection/transmission-based waveguide approach was employed to investigate the electrodynamic properties of the H/S NC samples within a frequency band of 7–18 GHz. The reflection and transmission coefficients (S11/S21) were measured using a vector network analyzer (VNA) for the sample placed inside a waveguide. The frequency dispersions of the magnetic permeability and electric permittivity were calculated. © 2021 The Author(s)2020-164-IRMC; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, KFUPM; Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 21-79-10115This study was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (Dammam, Saudi Arabia) through Grant No. 2020-164-IRMC . The authors also acknowledge support from the Center for Communication Systems and Sensing at KFUPM . Electromagnetic measurements and analysis were partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 21-79-10115)

Effect of Annealing Temperature on Growth Particles of YAG: Ce +3 Phosphor and White Light Chromaticity Values

In the present work white-emitting Y3A15O12:xCe3 (x = 0.04) nanophosphor in the form Of powder were synthesized by a microwave-induced combustion synthesis method (MW) Using metal nitrates as precursors and urea as fuel. By covering blue light-emitting diodes (blue-LED, 445 nm) white light emission (WLED)was generated. The sintering temperature with fixed time (5 hours) for phosphor powder was optimized and found to be 1050 °C. The crystallinity structure, luminescent properties and chromaticity were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), electroluminescence (EL) and standard CIE 1931 Chromaticity diagram. The results show that the obtained YAG:Ce+3 phosphor sintered at 1050°C has good crystallinity with pure phase, low agglomeration particles and strong yellow emission that offering daylight white LED with tuneable correlated color temperature (CCT) and a good colour rendering index (CRI) compared to those sintered at 950 °C, 850°C and non-sintered phosphor powders

Magnetic and microwave properties of SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites

This paper reports the synthesis, structural characteristics and magnetism of SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites. The hard/soft compositions were manufactured via a one-pot reactions citrate sol-gel approach. The hard/soft phases formation was confirmed using XRD, SEM, TEM and HRTEM techniques. M vs. H (Magnetization measurements) were done at unbent temperature and 10 K. Smoothed M against H loops and single peaks in dM/dH vs. H curves were noticed in SrFe12O19/MnCe0.04Fe1.96O4, SrFe12O19/CuCe0.04Fe1.96O4 and SrFe12O19/ZnCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposites. This indicated the manifestation of well exchange-coupled effect among hard and soft phases in these composites. However, SrFe12O19/CoCe0.04Fe1.96O4 and SrFe12O19/NiCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposites showed non-well smoothed M against H loops and two peaks in dM/dH versus H plots, indicating that the dipolar interactions are unimportant compared to exchange-coupling behavior. Among all prepared nanocomposites, the SrFe12O19/MnCe0.04Fe1.96O4 hard/soft nanocomposite showed the highest exchange-coupling behavior. Microwave properties of the SrFe12O19/MCe0.04Fe1.96O4 (M = Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) hard/soft nanocomposites were investigated using coaxial method with applied frequency values fall between 2 and 18 GHz. Reflection losses were calculated from frequency dependences of the imaginary and real parts of permeability and permittivity. The correlation between the chemical composition of the spinel phase (A-cation) and microwave properties of composites. Most intensive electromagnetic absorption was observed for Ni- and Mn-spinels. This is can be a result of the differences in electron shell configuration and radii for A-site ions in the spinel phase. Change of the absorption mechanisms (transition from ionic polarization to dipole polarization) was observed. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (agreement number 19-72-10071 ). Also Authors are thank to the Institute for Research & Medical Consultations (Projects Application No. 2018-IRMC-S-2 ) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU – Saudi Arabia) for financial and technical supports

Functional sr0.5ba0.5sm0.02fe11.98o4/x(ni0.8zn0.2fe2o4) hard-soft ferrite nanocomposites: Structure, magnetic and microwave properties

This paper reports the correlation between the composition of the functional Sr0.5Ba0.5Sm0.02Fe11.98O19/x(Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4) hard-soft nanocomposites (SrBaSmFe/x(NiZnFe) NCs), where 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 3.0, and their structural features, magnetic, and microwave properties. SrBaSmFe/x(NiZnFe) hard/soft ferrite NCs are produced using the one-pot citrate combustion method. According to the XRD analysis, all samples showed the co-existence of both SrBaSmFe and NiZnFe phases in different ratios. Magnetic properties are measured in a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures (10 and 300 K) and correlated well with the composition of the investigated samples. The microwave properties (frequency dispersions of the magnetic permeability, and electrical permittivity) are discussed by using the co-axial method in the frequency range of 0.7-18 GHz. Non-linear dependences of the main microwave features were observed with varying of composition. The microwave behavior correlated well with the composite theory. These results could be used in practice for developing antenna materials. © 2020 by the authors.This work was financially supported by the Deanship for Scientific Research (Project application No. 2020-164-IRMC) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU—Saudi Arabia). The work was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 19-72-10071 from 06 August 2019)

Fabrication of exchange coupled hard/soft magnetic nanocomposites: Correlation between composition, magnetic, optical and microwave properties

This paper studied the exchange coupling performance beside structural and microwave properties of SrFe12O19 (SFO) and x(CoTm0.01Tb0.01Fe1.98O4) (CoTmTb) (x ≤ 3.0) hard/soft ferrites nanocomposites (NCs). The structure and morphology of NCs were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM and HR-TEM. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (DRS) measurements were applied on hexagonal ferrite, on spinel ferrite nanoparticles and on hard/soft NCs to specify the optical properties. Estimated Eg data are in a range between 1.32 and 1.79 eV. The magnetic properties were also inspected via measurements of magnetization (M) against magnetic field (H) at 300 K (RT) and 10 K (LT). The measurements performed at RT along with the plots of dM/dH versus H indicated that the NCs display good magnetic properties (exchange coupling behavior). The magnetic parameters such as (Ms, Mr, and Hc) show an enhancement in their values with an increasing the soft content at RT. Similarly, the maximum energy product (BH)max rises and reaches its max value for SFO/3(CoTmTb) NCs. Microwave properties of the SFO/x(CoTmTb) NCs were measured in the frequency range 33–50 GHz. From measured S11 and S21 parameters the main electrodynamic characteristics – permittivity and permeability (real and imaginary parts) were computed. © 2021 The Author(s)This work was financially supported by the Deanship for Scientific Research (Project application No. 2020-164-IRMC) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU ? Saudi Arabia). Microwave characterization was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 19-72-10071 from 06 Aug. 2019)

Features of structure, magnetic state and electrodynamic performance of SrFe12-xInxO19

Indium-substituted strontium hexaferrites were prepared by the conventional solid-phase reaction method. Neutron diffraction patterns were obtained at room temperature and analyzed using the Rietveld methods. A linear dependence of the unit cell parameters is found. In3+ cations are located mainly in octahedral positions of 4fVI and 12 k. The average crystallite size varies within 0.84-0.65 μm. With increasing substitution, the TC Curie temperature decreases monotonically down to ~ 520 K. ZFC and FC measurements showed a frustrated state. Upon substitution, the average and maximum sizes of ferrimagnetic clusters change in the opposite direction. The Mr remanent magnetization decreases down to ~ 20.2 emu/g at room temperature. The Ms spontaneous magnetization and the keff effective magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant are determined. With increasing substitution, the maximum of the ε/ real part of permittivity decreases in magnitude from ~ 3.3 to ~ 1.9 and shifts towards low frequencies from ~ 45.5 GHz to ~ 37.4 GHz. The maximum of the tg(α) dielectric loss tangent decreases from ~ 1.0 to ~ 0.7 and shifts towards low frequencies from ~ 40.6 GHz to ~ 37.3 GHz. The low-frequency maximum of the μ/ real part of permeability decreases from ~ 1.8 to ~ 0.9 and slightly shifts towards high frequencies up to ~ 34.7 GHz. The maximum of the tg(δ) magnetic loss tangent decreases from ~ 0.7 to ~ 0.5 and shifts slightly towards low frequencies from ~ 40.5 GHz to ~ 37.7 GHz. The discussion of microwave properties is based on the saturation magnetization, natural ferromagnetic resonance and dielectric polarization types.Investigations were performed under financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 19-19-00694 of 06 May 2019).With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).Peer reviewe

Features of Structure, Magnetic Sstate and Electrodynamic Performance of SrFe12−xInxO19

Indium-substituted strontium hexaferrites were prepared by the conventional solid-phase reaction method. Neutron diffraction patterns were obtained at room temperature and analyzed using the Rietveld methods. A linear dependence of the unit cell parameters is found. In3+ cations are located mainly in octahedral positions of 4fVI and 12 k. The average crystallite size varies within 0.84–0.65 μm. With increasing substitution, the TC Curie temperature decreases monotonically down to ~ 520 K. ZFC and FC measurements showed a frustrated state. Upon substitution, the average and maximum sizes of ferrimagnetic clusters change in the opposite direction. The Mr remanent magnetization decreases down to ~ 20.2 emu/g at room temperature. The Ms spontaneous magnetization and the keff effective magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant are determined. With increasing substitution, the maximum of the ε/ real part of permittivity decreases in magnitude from ~ 3.3 to ~ 1.9 and shifts towards low frequencies from ~ 45.5 GHz to ~ 37.4 GHz. The maximum of the tg(α) dielectric loss tangent decreases from ~ 1.0 to ~ 0.7 and shifts towards low frequencies from ~ 40.6 GHz to ~ 37.3 GHz. The low-frequency maximum of the μ/ real part of permeability decreases from ~ 1.8 to ~ 0.9 and slightly shifts towards high frequencies up to ~ 34.7 GHz. The maximum of the tg(δ) magnetic loss tangent decreases from ~ 0.7 to ~ 0.5 and shifts slightly towards low frequencies from ~ 40.5 GHz to ~ 37.7 GHz. The discussion of microwave properties is based on the saturation magnetization, natural ferromagnetic resonance and dielectric polarization types. © 2021, The Author(s).Investigations were performed under financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 19-19-00694 of 06 May 2019)

The role of Pr3+, Pr3+-Y3+and Pr3+-Y3+-Dy3+ions substitutions on the electrical and dielectric properties of NiCo nanospinel ferrites

This study investigated the electrical and dielectric features for NiCo (Ni0.5Co0.5Fe2O4) NSFs, Pr-NiCo (Ni0.5Co0.5Pr0.1Fe1.9O4) NSFs, PrY-NiCo (Ni0.5Co0.5Pr0.1Y0.1Fe1.8O4) NSFs and PrYDy-NiCo (Ni0.5Co0.5Pr0.1Y0.1Dy0.1Fe1.7O4) NSFs have been synthesized hydrothermally. The microstructure of all compositions was characterized thru XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM and HR-TEM. XRD analyses proved the formation of cubic structure and the absence of any impurity. The cubic morphologies of all products have been confirmed by HR-TEM and SEM measurements. The chemical composition presented by EDX was matched with the predicted chemical composition. Temperature (T) and frequency (f) dependent electrical and di-electric measurements were made to evaluate ac/dc conductivities, dielectric constant/losses, and dis-sipation factor as well as Cole-Cole plots of impedance functions for all NiCo NSFs substituted with Pr3+, Pr3+Y3+ and Pr3+Y3+Dy3+-ions. The ac conductivity measurements confirmed that it obeyed power law rules, largely dependent on the ion substitutions in the host NiCo NSFs. The dielectric constant of NiCo NSFs leads to the usual dielectric distribution, which is strongly influenced by substituted Pr3+, Pr3+-Y3+ and Pr3+-Y3+- Dy3+ ions. Impedance analysis indicated that the conduction mechanisms in all samples were mainly due to grain-to-grain boundaries. The variation in dispersion factors with frequency, like Koop's phenomenological model, is generally attributable to the conduction mechanism in ferrites.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effect of thulium substitution on conductivity and dielectric belongings of nanospinel cobalt ferrite

The CoTmxFe2-xO4(x <= 0.1) NPs were synthesized sonochemically. X-ray powder diffraction patterns and TEM images of the samples prove their chemical purity and cubic structure-morphology, respectively. Some substitution ratio of thulium ions to cobalt ferrites have an important effect on the characteristic evaluation of both electrical and dielectric characteristic measured at frequencies up to 3.0 MHz between room temperature and 120 degrees C. Since the thulium substitution has a very strong effect on the characteristic evaluation of both electrical and dielectric properties of cobalt-ferrite samples, four substitutional ranges none, small, medium and high were determined for the interpretation of contribution of thulium ratio to ac/dc conductivity, dielectric constant, dielectric loss and tangent loss. Conductivity increases with the incremental frequencies, in general depending on a variety of tendencies of both temperature and substitutional Tm ratios while the activation energy varies with a high dependency to the regional level of Tm substitution in Co-ferrites NPs. The Arrhenius graph appears to provide us with a single activation energy much higher than 400 meV for x = 0.02, which can be attributed to electron hopping mechanisms, apart from other substituted spinel ferrites. (C) 2020 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved