Experimental thermochemical verification of trends in thermodynamic stability of hybrid perovskite-type organic-inorganic halides

Hybrid perovskite-type methylammonium lead halides have received great attention in recent years due to high conversion efficiency obtained in solar cells based on such materials. Since the time of the first demonstration photovoltaic devices based on the hybrid perovskites CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) have showed huge progress in increase of conversion efficiency reaching currently 20.1%. However, despite very promising achievements fundamental chemistry and physics of hybrid organic-inorganic (HOIP) perovskites is far from being completely understood. In particular it is true for thermodynamic properties of HOIP perovskite-type halides ABX3 and A2BX4 (A=CH3NH3, formamidinium, Cs, Rb, etc; B=Sn, Pb, 3d-element; X = Cl, Br, I). Moreover, reported results of DFT calculations aiming at estimating the stability of these materials often give controversial results. In addition, some of the HOIP perovskites (for example, CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I)) are known to be entropy-stabilized phases. Therefore experimental verification of the stability trends in HOIP perovskite-type halide systems is strongly required. This is especially important for assessment of the stability of these materials under particular working conditions. Therefore, the main aim of this work was to study the thermodynamics of formation of HOIP perovskite-type halides ABX3 and A2BX4 (A=CH3NH3, formamidinium, Cs, Rb, etc; B=Sn, Pb, 3d-element; X = Cl, Br, I). Their standard formation enthalpy at 298 K was measured by solution calorimetry. Heat capacity was measured in the temperature range 2-298 K using PPMS system. Standard entropy was obtained by integration of the Cp/T vs T curve. Standard Gibbs free energy of ABX3 and A2BX4 (A=CH3NH3, formamidinium, Cs, Rb, etc; B=Sn, Pb, 3d-element; X = Cl, Br, I) was evaluated using measured formation enthalpy and entropy. Trends in variation of the thermodynamic functions with chemical composition and crystal structure of HOIP perovskite-type halides were analyzed and compared with available results of DFT calculations. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant No. 18-73-10059)

ML/DL/HPC Ecosystem of the HybriLIT Heterogeneous Platform (MLIT JINR): New Opportunities for Applied Research

The work presents the possibilities for using the ML/DL/HPC ecosystem deployed on the HybriLIT Heterogeneous Platform (Meshcheryakov Laboratory of Information Technologies JINR) on top of JupyterHub, which provides opportunities for solving tasks not only in the field of machine learning and deep learning, but also for the convenient organization of calculations and scientific visualization. The ecosystem allows one to develop and implement program modules in Python, as well as to carry out methodical computations. The relevance of deploying such an environment is primarily associated with the great demand for software modules that are provided to a group of researchers or the scientific community, when all stages of the study can be reproduced; the code has been modified and used by the scientific community. Using the example of solving a specific problem to study the dynamics of magnetization in a Phi-0 Josephson Junction (Superconductor-Ferromagnet-Superconductor structure), a methodology for developing software modules is presented; it enables not only to carry out calculations, but also to visualize the results of the study and accompany them with the necessary formulas and explanations. The possibility of parallel implementation of the algorithm for performing computations for various values of parameters of the model based on the Joblib Python library is shown, and the results of computational experiments demonstrating the efficiency of parallel data processing are presented

Software for the frontiers of quantum chemistry:An overview of developments in the Q-Chem 5 package

This article summarizes technical advances contained in the fifth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program package, covering developments since 2015. A comprehensive library of exchange–correlation functionals, along with a suite of correlated many-body methods, continues to be a hallmark of the Q-Chem software. The many-body methods include novel variants of both coupled-cluster and configuration-interaction approaches along with methods based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction and variational reduced density-matrix methods. Methods highlighted in Q-Chem 5 include a suite of tools for modeling core-level spectroscopy, methods for describing metastable resonances, methods for computing vibronic spectra, the nuclear–electronic orbital method, and several different energy decomposition analysis techniques. High-performance capabilities including multithreaded parallelism and support for calculations on graphics processing units are described. Q-Chem boasts a community of well over 100 active academic developers, and the continuing evolution of the software is supported by an “open teamware” model and an increasingly modular design

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Influence of Interpenetrating Chains on Rigid Domain Dimensions in Siloxane-Based Block-Copolymers

1H spin-diffusion solid-state NMR was utilized to elucidate the domain size in multiblock-copolymers (BCPs) poly-(block poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block ladder-like poly(phenylsiloxane)) and poly-(block poly((3,3′,3″-trifluoropropyl-methyl)siloxane)-block ladder-like poly(phenylsiloxane). It was found that these BCPs form worm-like morphology with rigid cylinders dispersed in amorphous matrix. By using the combination of solid-state NMR techniques such as 13C CP/MAS, 13C direct-polarization MAS and 2D 1H EXSY, it was shown that the main factor which governs the diameter value of these rigid domains is the presence of interpenetrating segments of soft blocks. The presence of such interpenetrating chains leads to an increase of rigid domain diameter

Interplay of Structural Factors in Formation of Microphase-Separated or Microphase-Mixed Structures of Polyurethanes Revealed by Solid-State NMR and Dielectric Spectroscopy

A set of aromatic-oxyaliphatic polyurethanes (PUs) with different mass fractions of components also containing fluorinated fragments was synthesized and studied using various solid-state NMR techniques and dielectric spectroscopy. In contrast to the common model suggested by Cooper and Tobolsky in 1966, the rigid domains of microphase separated PUs are formed, not only by units containing urethane bonds, but also by oxyethylene fragments that form a common rigid phase. The urethane bonds and oxyethylene fragments are incorporated into both rigid and soft phases. Good agreement with the Cooper and Tobolsky model is observed only when solubility parameters are significantly different for the hard and soft segments, such as hydrocarbon aromatics and perfluoroaliphatic blocks

Thermochemical Study of CH3NH3Pb(Cl1−xBrx)3 Solid Solutions

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite halides, and, in particular, their mixed halide solid solutions, belong to a broad class of materials which appear promising for a wide range of potential applications in various optoelectronic devices. However, these materials are notorious for their stability issues, including their sensitivity to atmospheric oxygen and moisture as well as phase separation under illumination. The thermodynamic properties, such as enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy of mixing, of perovskite halide solid solutions are strongly required to shed some light on their stability. Herein, we report the results of an experimental thermochemical study of the CH3NH3Pb(Cl1−xBrx)3 mixed halides by solution calorimetry. Combining these results with molecular dynamics simulation revealed the complex and irregular shape of the compositional dependence of the mixing enthalpy to be the result of a complex interplay between the local lattice strain, hydrogen bonds, and energetics of these solid solutions