JUNE 12, 2019 — New work from a team of scientists co-led by Dr. Haiyan Zheng from HPSTAR found pressure induced tremendous modulation of the optical properties of an organic molecular crystal (DPFO). Their study shows that DPFO may have potential in the molecular switch applications of modulating photoluminescence under high pressure. Their work is published in recent Materials Chemistry...
MAY 24, 2019 — The intertwined charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom make the 5d compounds have exotic properties. Current interest is focused on electromagnetic interactions in these materials, whereas the important role of lattice geometry remains to be fully recognized. A group of scientists led by Dr. Yang Ding of HPSTAR, found pressure induced lattice frustration in a spin...
MAY 21, 2019 — An international team of scientists including Dr. Xujie Lü has developed a new halogen conversion–intercalation chemistry in graphite that produces composite electrodes with a capacity of 243 mAh g-1 at an average potential of 4.2 volts versus Li/Li+. The study is recently published in Nature.
APRIL 18, 2019 — New work from a team of scientists led by Dr. Hengzhong Zhang at HPSTAR probed the phase variation of natural bulk brookite under compression. They revealed how pressure medium affect the phase transition behavior of brookite. This study may be used for inferring the geological fate of brookite in nature. The work is published in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.
APRIL 20, 2019 — A team of scientists led by Dr. Feng Ke of HPSTAR observed the semiconducting character in compressed trilayer graphene through in-situ electrical measurements. An intrinsic bandgap of ~2.5 eV has been achieved. The realization of such wide bandgap in graphene opens new opportunities in carbon-based electronic devices. Their study was published in the recent issue of PNAS.
APRIL 23, 2019 — Scientists from HPSTAR and The University of Hong Kong combined in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction and density functional theory and evolutionary algorithms to probe the possible new compounds in Pb-Te system. The team discovered a new cation-rich compound, Pb3Te2 in the binary system. This work is published in recent ACS Central Science.
APRIL 17, 2019 — Sulfide-based superionic conductors with high ionic conductivity have been explored as a promising candidate for solid-state Li batteries. However, their hypersensitive nature against moisture has not only made their manufacturing process complicated and costly, but also impeded their applications in novel batteries including the aqueous Li-air and Li-redox-flow designs. A sulfide...
MARCH 28, 2019 — New study from an international research team of scientists co-authored by Dr. Kuo Li from HPSTAR found that a class of disordered materials, called plastic crystals, exhibit record-large barocaloric effects under very weak pressure. The study reveals that the plastic crystals are the most promising materials for green cooling applications. The study is published in the recent...
MARCH 18, 2019 — New study from a team of scientists led by Dr. Lin Wang of HPSTAR investigated the stoichiometry and structural evolutions of phosphine (PH3) under high pressures. They found that PH3 molecules went through a step-by-step polymerization and finally dissociated to elemental phosphorus and hydrogen instead of directly dissociation as previously reported. Low temperature was found...
MARCH 13, 2019 — A new comprehensive study led by Dr. Gang Liu, a staff scientist at HPSTAR, reviewed the manipulation, modification, and improvement of photovoltaic perovskite materials by pressure engineering. The study focuses on the unique overlapping region between Green energy, materials, and engineering and explores whether desirable characteristics for next-generation materials-by-design ...
MARCH 14, 2019 — Due to the realization of potentially exotic states, the behaviour of elemental molecular systems at high densities has long been of particular interest in the condensed matter sciences. Of the 7 elemental diatomic systems, only O2 and the heavier halogens Br2 and I2 have conclusively demonstrated electrically conductive properties in the condensed state, whilst the latter two are...
MARCH 6, 2019 — Compounds of the transition metals and nitrogen have applications in many areas from ultrahard materials to explosives. To date none of the group 11 elements: copper, silver, or gold are known to form a nitride compound, MN2 despite many decades of attempts. A new study by RTH Lab of HPSTAR reports that by laser heating mixtures of the elements in diamond-anvil cells at high...
MARCH 4, 2019 — New work from Dr. Shegncai Zhu of HPSATR, collabrated with Dr. Jun Yang from Shaanxi University of Science and Technology and Prof. Yongyao Xia from Fudan University, found that overall structural modification integrating coating and gradient doping could enhance the structural stability and simultaneouly facilitate Li+ diffusion of layered Ni-rich cathode at high voltage. The work...
FEBRUARY 15, 2019 — It is challenging to mobilize as many properties as possible to one metal-organic frameworks — MOF to realize multiple responsive properties. New work from a team of scientists including Dr. Lin Wang of HPSTAR found that a newly synthesized viologen-based MOF could assembly versatile and switchable responsive properties. The work is published in recent issue of Small.
NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — Exploration of the noncrystalline H2O (namely, liquid water and glassy ice) and polyamorphous transition in so-called water_sqlquote_s no man_sqlquote_s land (~150 K-232 K), have been hindered by the thermodynamically driven crystalline-crystalline transitions and rapid crystallization. Dr. Chuanlong Lin and colleagues overcome this challenge by using a newly developed...
FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — New work from a research team led by Dr. Hengzhong Zhang at HPSTAR found that pressure affects the electrical conductivity of black titania via controlling the number of free electrons distributed in the conduction band, which is inversely proportional to the exponent of the bandgap that scales almost linearly with the pressure. This work is published in J. Phys. Chem. C.
FEBRUARY 4, 2019 — In the January 24, 2019, issue of the journal Nano Research, a team of researchers led by Dr. Sudeshna Samanta from HPSTAR reported a new progress in a single nanowire composite using high pressure techniques to unravel the electrical transportation evolution. They found strong nonlinear electrical conductivity in compressed single Pt-C nanowire which corresponds to a pressure ...
JANUARY 15, 2019 — It is conventionally accepted that the oxygen anion has an unvarying −2 valence state for major lower mantle compositions like ferropericlase and bridgmanite. A recent study led by Dr. Ho-kwang Mao from HPSTAR found variation in the valence state of oxygen in the newly discovered Fe-O-H system under deep mantle conditions. The new finding was reported Nature Communications in...
JANUARY 10, 2019 — New work from a team of scientists led by Dr. Xiaojia Chen from HPSTAR and Haiqigng Lin of CSRC, found serials of superconducting materials in doped organic molecules. Their study has inspired a new round of research enthusiasm for scientists in the field of superconducting after the discovery of 203 kelvin in H3S. They proposed the chain link organic molecules are promising...
JANUARY 7, 2019 — A research team led by Drs. Kuo Li and Haiyan Zheng from HPSTAR recently studied the pressure induced polymerization (PIP) of C6H6-C6F6 co-crystal, and an ordered substituted short range graphane, named as H,F-graphane was identified. They also investigated the reaction process and identified the Diels-Alder reaction is the elemental reaction for the synthesis. This provides an...