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Materials that undergo ion-insertion coupled electron transfer are important for energy storage, energy conversion, and optoelectronics applications. Cyclic voltammetry is a powerful technique to understand electrochemical kinetics. However, the interpretation of the kinetic behavior of ion insertion electrodes with analytical solutions developed for ion blocking electrodes has led to confusion about their rate-limiting behavior. The purpose of this manuscript is to demonstrate that the cyclic voltammetry response of thin film electrode materials undergoing solid-solution ion insertion without significant Ohmic polarization can be explained by well-established models for finite diffusion. To do this, we utilize an experimental and simulation approach to understand the kinetics of Li+ insertion-coupled electron transfer into a thin film material (Nb2O5). We demonstrate general trends for the peak current vs scan rate behavior, with the latter parameter elevated to an exponent between limiting values of 1 and 0.5, depending on the solid-state diffusion characteristics of the film (diffusion coefficient, film thickness) and the experiment timescale (scan rate). We also show that values < 0.5 are possible depending on the cathodic potential limit. Our results will be useful to fundamentally understand and guide the selection and design of intercalation materials for multiple applications.

We report on, for the first time, a combined density functional theory and Boltzmann-semiclassical calculations of two-dimensional stanene half-passivated with X = H, F, Cl, Br and I The thermodynamical stability is examined through the comparison of the formation energy as well as the analysis of the phonon dispersion spectrum indicating a possible experimental fabrication of these stanene derivatives. Interestingly, using gen-eralized gradient approximation (GGA), the obtained results show that half-iodination and half-hydrogenation induce a half metallic ferromagnetic character and the magnetic moment on the unsaturated Sn atoms are 0.41 mu B and 0.38 mu B for SnSn-H and SnSn-I respectively, whereas half-decoration with fluorine, chlorine and bromine adsorbates, characterized with high electronegativity, gives rise to antiferromagnetic metallic systems. Except SnSn-I, the critical temperatures of the stanene derivatives are above room temperature. These results suggest that magnetism of stanene can be tuned by different passivation atoms. The transport properties, which result in a thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT), are very sensitive to the doping type however, less affected by the temperature variation. The highest ZT value of 0.99 is recorded for the SnSn-H conformer, while it decreases with the increase of the electronegativity. For the four compounds, the maximum figure of merit and seebeck coefficients are located at n-type doping, suggesting that these materials can be strong candidates among n-type materials for thermoelectric applications in high-temperature regions. Our findings demonstrate that half passivation with X-atoms is a feasible method to tune the properties of stanene for spin injection applications and thermoelectric cooling industry.

Constructing a Z-scheme heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution for graphitic carbon nitride-based (g-C3N4) composites is challenging because integrating g-C3N4 with other semiconductors, without specific band structure design, typically results in type I or type II heterojunctions. These heterojunctions have lower redox ability and limited enhancement in photocatalysis. Herein, we select highly crystalline carbon nitride (HCCN) as a proof-of-concept substrate. For the first time, we develop a AgBr nanosphere/HCCN composite photocatalyst that features an all -solid -state direct Z-scheme heterojunction for visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The electron transfer mechanism is initially studied from the band structures and Fermi levels of HCCN and AgBr. It is subsequently confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron microscopy. The close heterojunction contact and the built-in electron field of the Z-scheme heterojunction promote the migration and separation of photogenerated electrons and holes in the composite photocatalyst. Due to the redistribution of charge carriers, the photocatalyst shows superior redox capability and a markedly enhanced hydrogen evolution performance compared to its individual components. Combining all the advantages, AgBr nanosphere/HCCN reached an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 6 % under the illumination of 410 nm, which is 4 times higher than that of the single HCCN component.

Electron magnetic circular dichroism (EMCD) is a powerful technique for estimating element-specific magnetic moments of materials on nanoscale with the potential to reach atomic resolution in transmission electron microscopes. However, the fundamentally weak EMCD signal strength complicates quantification of magnetic moments, as this requires very high precision, especially in the denominator of the sum rules. Here, we employ a statistical resampling technique known as bootstrapping to an experimental EMCD dataset to produce an empirical estimate of the noise-dependent error distribution resulting from application of EMCD sum rules to bcc iron in a 3-beam orientation. We observe clear experimental evidence that noisy EMCD signals preferentially bias the estimation of magnetic moments, further supporting this with error distributions produced by Monte-Carlo simulations. Finally, we propose guidelines for the recognition and minimization of this bias in the estimation of magnetic moments.

Aberration correctors, improved monochromators, and better detectors have enabled exciting research with nanometer- and Ångstrom-scale resolution in the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM). However the interaction of high-energy electrons with the many-body system of the sample is quite complex and hinders interpretation of experiments. Therefore measurements often need to be informed by extensive modeling of the beam-sample interaction. In this thesis, we report the development of a model for the computer simulation of vibrational Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) in the STEM, which we call the Frequency Resolved Frozen Phonon Multislice (FRFPMS) method. We motivate the development of the method by reviewing the field of vibrational EELS from the instrumental advances, which enabled it, over experimental progress to a detailed consideration of other theories of vibrational EELS. In the process, we identify the need for a method, which is able to take into account many of the complicating factors of the scattering process, such as multiple elastic interactions, and is computationally feasible today, even for extended structure models. After a brief overview of necessary computational methods, we showcase that the FRFPMS method satisfies this need by discussing several papers we have published on the method. We demonstrate that the FRFPMS method produces results, which agree very well with published experimental and also theoretical results, both for momentum-resolved as well as high spatial resolution vibrational EELS. Furthermore we compare the FRFPMS method with the Quantum Excitations of Phonons model and the first-order Born approximation for a simple model system. The FRFPMS method matches the predictions of the other theories provided that two small modifications are introduced, which modify the temperature and energy-loss dependent scaling as well as the large momentum-transfer behavior of the modelled cross section. We then apply such rev

This paper investigated the electronic properties and photoresponse of two-dimensional SnX2 (X = Cl, Br, I) monolayer binary materials using computational techniques. The calculated band structure and density of states indicate that these are large band gap semiconducting materials with an indirect band gap. The studied chemical bonding mechanism shows the existence of the hybrid bonding of ionic and covalent bonds in these dihalide materials. The valence band (VB) and conduction band (CB) edge positions are also estimated, using the concept of electronegativity and band gap, to investigate the photocatalytic activity of SnX2. Next, we investigated the polarization and energy-dependent dielectric and optical functions along the crystallographic axes of these materials in the linear response approach of the perturbing incident oscillating light field. These materials exhibit an anisotropic behavior of these functions, especially in the high-energy visible and low-energy ultraviolet (UV) regions. The absorption of incident light photons is very fast in SnI2 than SnBr2 and SnCl2 in the low-energy UV region. It demonstrates the higher absorption coefficient and optical conductivity in Snl2. The obtained average static refractive index of SnCl2 is comparable to that of glass (1.5), showing its application as transparent material. The low reflection coefficient, less than 20%, makes them superior for antireflection coating materials in the infrared and visible regions. The prominent energy loss peaks show the existence of plasmon resonances in these materials. The most of losses occur in the UV region. The investigated electronic and photoresponse properties indicate that these Sn-based dihalide materials are excellent for electronic devices and optoelectronic applications. Also, the calculated VB and CB edge positions with respect to the normal hydrogen electrode show the favorable water-splitting capability of these materials.

The recent growth of two-dimensional (2D) layered crystals of MoSi2N4 and WSi2N4 has sparked significant interest due to their outstanding properties and potential applications. This development has paved the way for a new and large family of 2D materials with a general formula of MA( 2)Z( 4). In this regard, motivated by this exciting family, we propose two structural phases (1T- and 1H-) of MoSi2N4 (M = Ge, Sn, and Pb) monolayers and investigate their structural, vibrational, mechanical, electronic and optical properties by using first-principles methods. The two phases have similar cohesive energies, while the 1T structures are found to be more energetically favorable than their 1H counterparts. The analysis of phonon spectra and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations indicate that all the suggested monolayers, except for 1H-MoSi2N4, are dynamically and thermally stable even at elevated temperatures. The elastic stability and mechanical properties of the proposed crystals are examined by calculating their elastic constants (C ij ), in-plane stiffness ( Y2D ), Poisson's ratio (nu), and ultimate tensile strain (UTS). Remarkably, the considered systems exhibit prominent mechanical features such as substantial in-plane stiffness and high UTS. The calculated electronic band structures reveal that both the 1T- and 1H-MoSi2N4 nanosheets are wide-band-gap semiconductors and their energy band gaps span from visible to ultraviolet region of the optical spectrum, suitable for high-performance nanoelectronic device applications. Lastly, the analysis of optical properties shows that the designed systems have isotropic optical spectra, and depending on the type of the system, robust absorption of ultraviolet and visible light (particularly in 1H-PbSi2N4 monolayer) is predicted. Our study not only introduces new members to the family of 2D MA(2)Z(4 )crystals but also unveils their intriguing physical properties and suggests them as promising candidates for diverse nanomechani

We report results from a study of the local structure of hydrated nanocrystalline 2 m films of the well known proton conductor BaZr1-xScxO3-x/2 with x = 0.45, 0.54 and 0.64, using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The films were prepared by magnetron sputtering. Analysis of the IR spectra focused on the O–H stretching region (2000—3700 cm-1), which reveals the presence of several distinct O–H stretching bands for which the intensity and frequency of each band vary in an unsystematic manner with Sc concentration. The spectra for the two higher Sc concentrations, x = 0.54 and 0.64, exhibit a distinct, highly intense O–H stretching band centered at around 3400–3500 cm-1, which is assigned to relatively symmetric, weakly hydrogen-bonding, proton configurations. The spectrum for the lower Sc concentration, x = 0.45, does not feature such a band but a broader, weaker, O–H stretching band between approximately 2500 and 3700 cm-1, suggesting that the protons are more homogeneously distributed over a range of different local proton coordinations in this relatively weakly doped material. A comparison to the IR spectra of powder samples of similar compositions suggests that for x = 0.45, the spectra and proton coordination of films and powder samples are similar, whereas for x = 0.54 and 0.64, a larger fraction of protons seems to be located in weakly hydrogen-bonding proton configurations in the films compared to the respective powder samples.

The recently synthesized 4-ethyl-3,5-bis [40-(N, N-diphenylamine)biphenyl-4-yl]-4H-1,2,4-triazole (TPA-TZ) is in this work thoroughly studied as an efficient luminophore with an account of density functional theory. The intense fluorescence is explained as an intramolecular charge-transfer transition from the diphenylamine (donor) moiety to the central part of the dye with a characteristic electron redistribution in the triazole ring (acceptor). The photoluminescence (PL) and phosphorescence (Ph) spectra of TPA-TZ in the film and in THF solution at 77 K were studied together with the well-known 2,4,6-tris [3-(diphenylphosphinyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine (PO-T2T) dye. The latter compound was used as an electron-withdrawing component of the investigated TPA-TZ: PO-T2T exciplex, which is characterized by a relatively high energy level of the excited lowest triplet state. The films of a solid-state mixture of TPA-TZ and PO-T2T showed exciplex-type emission being slightly red-shifted compared to the PL of the individual donor and acceptor compounds. Two OLED devices with emitting layers of TPA-TZ and of the exciplex-forming molecular mixture of TPA-TZ and PO-T2T were prepared. The exciplex-based OLED demonstrated 4 103 cd/m2 brightness, a current efficiency of 22 cd/A, a power efficiency of 6.77 lm/W, and an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 7%. This confirms the possibility of triplet harvesting in the molecular mixture of TPA-TZ and PO-T2T, since the theoretical EQE limit for OLED based on the prompt fluorescence is 5%.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, renowned for their potential high energy density, have attracted attention due to their use of earth-abundant elements. However, a significant challenge lies in developing suitable materials for both lithium-based anodes, which are less prone to lithium dendrite formation, and sulfur-based cathodes. This obstacle has hindered their widespread commercial viability. In this study, we present a novel sulfur host material in the form of a two-dimensional semiconductor boron nitride framework, specifically the 2D orthorhombic diboron dinitride (o-B2N2). The inherent conductivity of o-B2N2 mitigates the insulating nature often observed in sulfur-based electrodes. Notably, the o-B2N2 surface demonstrates a high binding affinity for long-chain Li-polysulfides, leading to a significant reduction in their dissolution into the DME/DOL electrolytes. Furthermore, the preferential deposition of Li2S on the o-B2N2 surface expedites the kinetics of the lithium polysulfide redox reactions. Additionally, our investigations have revealed a catalytic mechanism on the o-B2N2 surface, significantly reducing the free energy barriers for various sulfur reduction reactions. Consequently, the integration of o-B2N2 as a host cathode material for Li-S batteries holds great promise in suppressing the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides and ultimately enhancing the overall battery performance. This represents a practical advancement for the application of Li-S batteries.

Vibrationally-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (VR-RIXS) at the O K-edge is emerging as a powerful tool for identifying embedded molecules in lithium-ion battery cathodes. Here, we investigate two known oxygen redox-active cathode materials: the commercial LixNi0.90Co0.05Al0.05O2 (NCA) used in electric vehicles and the high-capacity cathode material Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 (LRNMC) for next-generation Li-ion batteries. We report the detection of a novel vibrational RIXS signature for Li-ion battery cathodes appearing in the O K pre-peak above 533 eV that we attribute to OH-groups. We discuss likely locations and pathways for OH-group formation and accumulation throughout the active cathode material. Initial-cycle behaviour for LRNMC shows that OH-signal strength correlates with the cathodes state of charge, though reversibility is incomplete. The OH-group RIXS signal strength in long-term cycled NCA is retained. Thus, VR-RIXS offers a path for gaining new insights to oxygen reactions in battery materials., Authors in the list of papers of Anastasiia Mikheenkova's thesis: Moritz Hirsbrunner, Anastasiia Mikheenkova, Pontus Törnblom, Robert A. House, Thorsten Schmitt, Håkan Rensmo, Soham Mukherjee, Maria Halin, Laurent Duda

Catalyst passivation through carbon poisoning is a common and costly problem as it reduces the lifetime and performance of the catalyst. Adding oxygen to the feed stream could reduce poisoning but may also affect the activity negatively. We have studied the dehydrogenation, decomposition, and desorption of naphthalene co-adsorbed with oxygen on Ni(111) by combining temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), sum frequency generation spectroscopy (SFG), photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), and density functional theory (DFT). Chemisorbed oxygen reduces the sticking of naphthalene and shifts H2 production and desorption to higher temperatures by blocking active Ni sites. Oxygen increases the production of CO and reduces carbon residues on the surface. Chemisorbed oxygen is readily removed when naphthalene is decomposed. Oxide passivates the surface and reduces the sticking coefficient. But it also increases the production of CO dramatically and reduces the carbon residues. Ni2O3 is more active than NiO., QC 20240322

Copper and hydrogen are among the most common elements that are widely used in industrial and fundamental research applications. Copper surfaces are often exposed to hydrogen in the form of charged ions. The hydrogen ions can accelerate towards the surface, resulting in an accumulation of hydrogen below the surface. Harmless in low concentrations, prolonged hydrogen exposure can lead to dramatic changes on copper surfaces. This effect is visible to the naked eye in the form of blisters densely covering the exposed surface. Blisters are structural modifications that can affect the physical properties of the surface including, for example, vacuum dielectric strength. Using scanning electron microscopy we found that the blistering of the irradiated polycrystalline copper surface does not grow uniformly with ion fluence. Initially, only some grains exhibit blisters, while others remain intact. Our experiments indicate that grains with the {100} orientation are the most prone to blistering, while the grains oriented in the {110} are the most resistant to it. Moreover, we noticed that blisters assume different shapes correlating with specific grain orientation. Good agreement of experiments with the atomistic simulations explains the difference in the shapes of the blisters by specific behavior of dislocations within the FCC crystal structure. Moreover, our simulations reveal the correlation of the delay in blister formation on surfaces with certain orientations compared to the others with the dependence of the hydrogen penetration depth and the depth and amount of vacancies in copper on the orientation of the irradiated surface., QC 20240229

Quenched disorder in semiconductors induces localized electronic states at the band edge, which manifest as an exponential tail in the density of states. For large impurity densities, this tail takes a universal Lifshitz form that is characterized by short-ranged potential fluctuations. We provide both analytical expressions and numerical values for the Lifshitz tail of a parabolic conduction band including its exact fluctuation prefactor. Our analysis is based on a replica field integral approach, where the leading exponential scaling of the tail is determined by an instanton profile and fluctuations around the instanton determine the subleading preexponential factor. This factor contains the determinant of a fluctuation operator, and we avoid a full computation of its spectrum by using a Gel'fand-Yaglom formalism, which provides a concise general derivation of fluctuation corrections in disorder problems. We provide a revised result for the disorder band tail in two dimensions., QC 20240322

To further our understanding of a thermoplastic arabinoxylan (AX) material obtained through an oxidation-reduction-etherification pathway, the role of the initial arabinose:xylose ratio on the material properties was investigated. Compression molded films with one molar substitution of butyl glycidyl ether (BGE) showed markedly different tensile behaviors. Films made from low arabinose AX were less ductile, while those made from high arabinose AX exhibited elastomer-like behaviors. X-ray scattering confirmed the presence of nanostructure formation resulting in nano-domains rich in either AX or BGE, from side chain grafting. The scattering data showed variations in the presence of ordered structures, nano-domain sizes and their temperature response between AX with different arabinose contents. In dynamic mechanical testing, three transitions were observed at approximately −90 °C, −50 °C and 80 °C, with a correlation between samples with more structured nano-domains and those with higher onset transition temperatures and lower storage modulus decrease. The mechanical properties of the final thermoplastic AX material can therefore be tuned by controlling the composition of the starting material., QC 20240318

Inkjet printing is a more sustainable and scalable fabrication method than spin coating for producing perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Although spin-coated SnO2 has been intensively studied as an effective electron transport layer (ETL) for PSCs, inkjet-printed SnO(2 )ETLs have not been widely reported. Here, we fabricated inkjet-printed, solution-processed SnOx ETLs for planar PSCs. A champion efficiency of 17.55% was achieved for the cell using a low-temperature processed SnOx ETL. The low-temperature SnOx exhibited an amorphous structure and outperformed high-temperature crystalline SnO2. The improved performance was attributed to enhanced charge extraction and transport and suppressed charge recombination at ETL/perovskite interfaces, which originated from enhanced electrical and optical properties of SnOx, improved perovskite film quality, and well-matched energy level alignment between the SnOx ETL and the perovskite layer. Furthermore, SnOx was doped with Cu. Cu doping increased surface oxygen defects and upshifted energy levels of SnOx, leading to reduced device performance. A tunable hysteresis was observed for PSCs with Cu-doped SnOx ETLs, decreasing at first and turning into inverted hysteresis afterwards with increasing Cu doping level. This tunable hysteresis was related to the interplay between charge/ion accumulation and recombination at ETL/perovskite interfaces in the case of electron extraction barriers., QC 20240319

We demonstrate a low-temperature fabricated MEMS-based piezoelectric ultrasonic energy harvester with enhanced device performance. Compared to state-of-the-art, our work uses a low-temperature bonding method, which ensures the integrated piezoelectric material undergoes prominently lower temperatures (≤ 85 °C) throughout the whole fabrication process. Due to this, bulk PZT-5H, a material with superior piezoelectric properties, could be used in this type of application for the first time. The method guarantees the device fabrication temperature well below the PZT-5H Curie temperature (225 °C) and preserves its piezoelectricity to the greatest extent. As a result, devices fabricated using the proposed method achieve higher performance than the devices prepared by the MEMS fabrication method using BCB bonding. The root-mean-square voltage and the average power outputs at the frequency (170 kHz) where maximum voltage and power outputs were observed were improved by 38 % and 92 %, respectively., Part of ISBN 9798350357929QC 20240315

In this study, we explore the magnetothermoelectric power (MTP) of ZrTe5, a canonical Dirac semimetal, through a photothermal technique. Unlike conventional thermoelectric studies that rely on on-chip heaters and are limited by fabrication processes, especially for stress-sensitive materials, our approach utilizes photothermal effects to induce temperature gradients. Our experiments, applying a magnetic field approximately parallel and transverse to the photocurrent detection direction, reveal that the photothermal method efficiently and reliably extracts both diagonal and off-diagonal components of the thermoelectric coefficient of ZrTe5. We observe that the longitudinal MTP reproduces features previously reported in thermal transport studies, while the photoinduced transverse MTP confirms the anomalous Nernst effect. This photothermal measurement technique opens avenues for investigating transport properties in a wide range of quantum materials, in both three-dimensional and two-dimensional systems., QC 20240315

We report investigations of the magnetic textures in periodic multilayers [Pt(1 nm)/(CoFeB(0.8 nm)/Ru(1.4 nm)]10 using polarised neutron reflectometry (PNR) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The multilayers are known to host skyrmions stabilized by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions induced by broken inversion symmetry and spin–orbit coupling at the asymmetric interfaces. From depth-dependent PNR measurements, we observed well-defined structural features and obtained the layer-resolved magnetization profiles. The in-plane magnetization of the CoFeB layers calculated from fitting of the PNR profiles is found to be in excellent agreement with magnetometry data. Using SANS as a bulk probe of the entire multilayer, we observe long-period magnetic stripe domains and skyrmion ensembles with full orientational disorder at room temperature. No sign of skyrmions is found below 250 K, which we suggest is due to an increase of an effective magnetic anisotropy in the CoFeB layer on cooling that suppresses skyrmion stability. Using polarised SANS at room temperature, we prove the existence of pure Néel-type windings in both stripe domain and skyrmion regimes. No Bloch-type winding admixture, i.e. an indication for hybrid windings, is detected within the measurement sensitivity, in good agreement with expectations according to our micromagnetic modelling of the multilayers. Our findings using neutron techniques provide valuable microscopic insights into the rich magnetic behavior of skyrmion-hosting multilayers, which are essential for the advancement of future skyrmion-based spintronic devices.

The adsorption of organic molecules to surfaces is a central issue to achieve fully-functional molecular devices, for which porphyrins are well-studied due to their chemical stability and functional diversity. Herein, we investigate both the physical and the chemical adsorption of the free-base tetraphenylporphyrin 2H-TPP on the Cu(111) surface within the framework of density functional theory and find that the most stable physisorbed configuration is more weakly bound by -0.36 eV than the chemisorbed configuration. We use the electron localization function to investigate the difference in binding mechanisms between strong physisorption and weak chemisorption. We have computed a reaction barrier of 0.12 eV in going from physical binding to chemical bonding to the surface, and a barrier of 50 meV in going between neighboring physical binding sites. Our results support the possibility of realizing free-base porphyrins either physisorbed or chemisorbed on Cu(111) depending on the deposition procedure and experimental conditions., Validerad;2024;Nivå 2;2024-03-25 (joosat);License full text: CC BY

Oxygen diffusion properties in thin polymer films are key parameters in industrial applications from food packaging, over medical encapsulation to organic semiconductor devices and have been continuously investigated in recent decades. The established methods have in common that they require complex pressure-sensitive setups or vacuum technology and usually do not come without surface effects. In contrast, this work provides a low-cost, precise and reliable method to determine the oxygen diffusion coefficient D in bulk polymer films based on tracking the phosphorescent pattern of a programmable luminescent tag over time. Our method exploits two-dimensional image analysis of oxygen-quenched organic room-temperature phosphors in a host polymer with high spatial accuracy. It avoids interface effects and accounts for the photoconsumption of oxygen. As a role model, the diffusion coefficients of polystyrene glasses with molecular weights between 13k and 350k g/mol are determined to be in the range of (0.8–1.5) × 10–7 cm2/s, which is in good agreement with previously reported values. We finally demonstrate the reduction of the oxygen diffusion coefficient in polystyrene by one quarter upon annealing above its glass transition temperature.

Blends comprising organic semiconductors and inorganic quantum dots (QDs) are relevant for many optoelectronic applications and devices. However, the individual components in organic-QD blends have a strong tendency to aggregate and phase-separate during film processing, compromising both their structural and electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate a QD surface engineering approach using electronically active, highly soluble semiconductor ligands that are matched to the organic semiconductor host material to achieve well-dispersed inorganic-organic blend films, as characterized by X-ray and neutron scattering, and electron microscopies. This approach preserves the electronic properties of the organic and QD phases and also creates an optimized interface between them. We exemplify this in two emerging applications, singlet-fission-based photon multiplication (SF-PM) and triplet-triplet annihilation-based photon upconversion (TTA-UC). Steady-state and time-resolved optical spectroscopy shows that triplet excitons can be transferred with near unity efficiently across the organic-inorganic interface, while the organic films maintain efficient SF (190% yield) in the organic phase. By changing the relative energy between organic and inorganic components, yellow upconverted emission is observed upon 790 nm NIR excitation. Overall, we provide a highly versatile approach to overcome longstanding challenges in the blending of organic semiconductors with QDs that have relevance for many optical and optoelectronic applications.

This study focuses on enhancing the accuracy of hydrogen content verification in hydrogen-rich ultrathin materials relevant for sustainable energy applications. Ion beams are used for distinctive real-space detection leveraging elastic and inelastic interactions with hydrogen atoms. However, the lack of experimental reference data on electronic interactions poses a challenge to the accuracy of analytical techniques. We investigate the effect of absorbed hydrogen on the electronic energy deposition of 15N-ions in amorphous transition metal compounds, specifically V and Zr, covering concentrations >1H/M. Employing resonant nuclear reactions and Rutherford backscattering, the energy loss is found to increase considerably with hydrogen content, in line with Bragg's additivity. The electronic energy loss cross section for 15N-ions at 6.5 MeV measured (64.55±3.38) eV cm2/1015 atoms. Results are compared to semi-empirical and theoretical models. The findings improve hydrogen profiling accuracy using 15N-nuclear reaction analysis and enable unprecedented methods for hydrogen quantification by other, commonly available ion beams.

Very strong difference in many properties is well documented for graphite oxides (GtO) synthesized by Brodie (BGO) and Hummers (HGO) methods. The difference is typically assigned to the type of oxidant (chlorates or KMnO4, respectively). However, not only oxidants but also acids used in these methods are different. It is still unclear which of the different properties of GtO are dependent on the oxidant or acid used in the synthesis. Here we synthesized a new type of graphite oxide using an oxidation agent typical for the Brodie method (KClO3) in combination with acids so far used only in modified Hummers' method (H2SO4+H3PO4). The GtO synthesized by this method (MGO) demonstrates some properties similar to BGO (higher temperature of exfoliation and less defected structure) but also similarity to some other properties of HGO (absence of sharp swelling transitions). Comparing MGO, BGO, and HGO allows us to distinguish the effects of acids and oxidants on the properties of graphite oxides. The new procedure proposed in this study allows preparation of GtO nearly free from hole/vacancy defects (similarly to BGO) but avoids dangerous HNO3. MGO is suggested as a favorable precursor for the preparation of graphene films by thermal or chemical reduction methods.

NbTiN has a high critical temperature (Tc) of up to 17 K, making it a great candidate for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) and other applications requiring a bias current close to the depairing current. However, superconducting inhomogeneities are often observed in superconducting thin films, and superconducting inhomogeneities can influence the vortex nucleation barrier and furthermore affect the critical current Ic of a superconducting wire. Superconducting inhomogeneities can also result in stochastic variations in the critical current between identical devices, and therefore, it is crucial to have a detailed understanding of inhomogeneities in SNSPDs in order to improve device efficiency. In this study, we utilized scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) to investigate the inhomogeneity of superconducting properties in meandered NbTiN nanowires, which are commonly used in SNSPDs. Our findings show that variations in the superconducting gap are strongly correlated with the film thickness. By using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations and statistical modeling, we explored the implications of the reduction in the critical current and its sample-to-sample variations. Our study suggests that the thickness of NbTiN plays a critical role in achieving homogeneity in superconducting properties., QC 20240307

Published by American Chemical Society.An inorganic wide-bandgap hole transport layer (HTL), copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN), is employed in inorganic planar hydrothermally deposited Sb2S3 solar cells. With excellent hole transport properties and uniform compact morphology, the solution-processed CuSCN layer suppresses the leakage current and improves charge selectivity in an n-i-p-type solar cell structure. The device without the HTL (FTO/CdS/Sb2S3/Au) delivers a modest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.54%, which increases to 2.46% with the introduction of CuSCN (FTO/CdS/Sb2S3/CuSCN/Au). This PCE is a significant improvement compared with the previous reports of planar Sb2S3 solar cells employing CuSCN. CuSCN is therefore a promising alternative to expensive and inherently unstable organic HTLs. In addition, CuSCN makes an excellent optically transparent (with average transmittance >90% in the visible region) and shunt-blocking HTL layer in pinhole-prone ultrathin(<100 nm) semitransparent absorber layers grown by green and facile hydrothermal deposition. A semitransparent device is fabricated using an ultrathin Au layer (∼10 nm) with a PCE of 2.13% and an average visible transmittance of 13.7%., Validerad;2024;Nivå 2;2024-03-06 (hanlid);Funder: European Union−Next Generation EU Award (PE0000021);Full text license: CC BY

We explore the state of matter characterized by the charged timelike vector order parameter. We employ holographic duality in order to construct such a state and study its thermoelectric transport, fermionic spectral function and the character of the Meissner effect. We uncover the unusual features of this “timelike superconductor”: the absence of the gap in the fermionic spectrum and co-existence of Drude peak and supercurrent in the AC transport, which are reminiscent to those of time-reversal-odd and gapless superconductors, correspondingly. We show that this state is dynamically stable and thermodynamically at least metastable. Along the way we develop the holographic model of the charged vector field, which acquires mass due to a variant of the Stueckelberg mechanism with the adjoint Higgs field., QC 20240314

Quantum many-body interactions can induce quantum entanglement among particles, rendering them valuable resources for quantum-enhanced sensing. In this work, we establish a link between the bound on the growth of the quantum Fisher information and the Lieb-Robinson bound, which characterizes the operator growth in locally interacting quantum many-body systems. We show that for initial separable states, despite the use of local many-body interactions, the precision cannot surpass the shot noise limit at all times. This conclusion also holds for an initial state that is the nondegenerate ground state of a local and gapped Hamiltonian. These findings strongly hint that when one can only prepare separable initial states, nonlocal and long-range interactions are essential resources for surpassing the shot noise limit. This observation is confirmed through numerical analysis on the long-range Ising model. Our results bridge the field of many-body quantum sensing and operator growth in many-body quantum systems and open the possibility to investigate the interplay between quantum sensing and control, many-body physics and information scrambling., QC 20240314

This study investigates the magnetocaloric potential of the Al50Cr21-xMn17+xCo12 (x=0, 4, 8 at%) high-entropy alloy (HEA) series using integrated experimental and theoretical approaches. Structural analysis by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy indicate a dual phase containing B2 and body-centered cubic (BCC) structures. Magnetic characterization shows an approximately linear decrease in saturation magnetization and Curie temperature with increasing Cr content. Curie temperatures calculated by Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the measured magnetic properties originate from the B2 phase rather than the BCC phase. The enhanced magnetocaloric effect with decreasing Cr content highlights the attractiveness of HEAs in magnetocaloric applications., QC 20240314

Skyrmions are localized, topological spin structures that can be described as quasiparticles. Skyrmions in thin films are an ideal model system to study Brownian motion and lattice formation in two dimensions. They follow an equation of motion, the Thiele equation, which includes a topology-dependent chiral term, linear in velocity, causing a skyrmion Hall effect and a drastic reduction of the diffusion coefficient for individual skyrmions, as compared to normal Brownian particles. Using Brownian dynamics simulations, we show that this topological suppression of the diffusion can be partially lifted in two-dimensional lattices of skyrmions. Counterintuitively, this causes enhanced diffusive properties with increasing particle density, similar to odd-diffusive Brownian particles. We show how the topological charge of the skyrmions influences the dynamics of topological lattice defects, which also affects the dynamics of the phase formation.

An on-demand source of bright entangled photon pairs is desirable for quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum repeaters. The leading candidate to generate such pairs is based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in non-linear crystals. However, its pair extraction efficiency is limited to 0.1% when operating at near-unity fidelity due to multiphoton emission at high brightness. Quantum dots in photonic nanostructures can in principle overcome this limit, but the devices with high entanglement fidelity (99%) have low pair extraction efficiency (0.01%). Here, we show a measured peak entanglement fidelity of 97.5% ± 0.8% and pair extraction efficiency of 0.65% from an InAsP quantum dot in an InP photonic nanowire waveguide. We show that the generated oscillating two-photon Bell state can establish a secure key for peer-to-peer QKD. Using our time-resolved QKD scheme alleviates the need to remove the quantum dot energy splitting of the intermediate exciton states in the biexciton-exciton cascade., QC 20240311

Models with radiative symmetry breaking typically feature strongly supercooled first-order phase transitions, which result in an observable stochastic gravitational wave background. In this work, we analyse the role of higher-order thermal corrections for these transitions, applying high-temperature dimensional reduction to a theory with dimensional transmutation. In particular, we study to what extent high-temperature effective field theories (3D EFT) can be used. We find that despite significant supercooling down from the critical temperature, the high-temperature expansion for the bubble nucleation rate can be applied using the 3D EFT framework, and we point out challenges in the EFT description. We compare our findings to previous studies and find that the next-to-leading order corrections obtained in this work have a significant effect on the predictions for GW observables, motivating a further exploration of higher-order thermal effects., QC 20240314

We present a new classical interatomic potential designed for simulation of the W-Mo-Nb system. The angular-dependent format of the potential allows for reproduction of many important properties of pure metals and complex concentrated alloys with good accuracy. Special attention during the development and validation of the potential was paid to the description of vacancies, screw dislocations and planar defects, as well as thermo-mechanical properties. Here, the applicability of the developed model is demonstrated by studying the temperature dependence of the elastic moduli and average atomic displacement in pure metals and concentrated alloys up to the melting point.

We present time-resolved X-ray absorption spectra of ionized liquid water and demonstrate that OH radicals, H3O+ ions, and solvated electrons all leave distinct X-ray-spectroscopic signatures. Particularly, this allows us to characterize the electron solvation process through a tool that focuses on the electronic response of oxygen atoms in the immediate vicinity of a solvated electron. Our experimental results, supported by ab initio calculations, confirm the formation of a cavity in which the solvated electron is trapped. We show that the solvation dynamics are governed by the magnitude of the random structural fluctuations present in water. As a consequence, the solvation time is highly sensitive to temperature and to the specific way the electron is injected into water.

In this theoretical investigation, we analyze light-induced nonlinear spin Hall currents in a gated single-layer 1T ′ -WTe2, flowing transversely to the incident laser polarization direction. Our study encompasses the exploration of the second and third-order rectified spin Hall currents using an effective low-energy Hamiltonian and employing the Kubo’s formalism. We extend our analysis to a wide frequency range spanning both transparent and absorbing regimes, investigating the influence of light frequency below and above the optical band gap. Additionally, we investigate the influence of an out-of-plane gate potential on the system, disrupting inversion symmetry and effectively manipulating both the strength and sign of nonlinear spin Hall responses. We predict a pronounced third-order spin Hall current relative to its second-order counterpart. The predicted nonlinear spin currents show strong anisotropic dependence on the laser polarization angle. The outcomes of our study contribute to a generalized framework for nonlinear response theory within the spin channel will impact the development of emerging field of opto-spintronic., QC 20240308

Parity-violating superconductors can support a low-dimension local interaction that becomes, upon condensation, a purely spatial Chern-Simons term. Solutions to the resulting generalized London equations can be obtained from solutions of the ordinary London equations with a complex penetration depth, and suggest several remarkable physical phenomena. The problem of flux exclusion by a sphere brings in an anapole moment, the problem of current-carrying wires brings in an azimuthal magnetic field, and the problem of vortices brings in currents along the vortices. We demonstrate that interactions of this kind, together with a conceptually related dimensionally reduced Chern-Simons interaction, can arise from physically plausible microscopic interactions., QC 20240503

We explore the efficacy of entanglement entropy as a tool for detecting thermal phase transitions in a family of gauge theories described holographically. The rich phase diagram of these theories encompasses first and second-order phase transitions, as well as a critical and a triple point. While entanglement measures demonstrate some success in probing transitions between plasma phases, they prove inadequate when applied to phase transitions leading to gapped phases. Nonetheless, entanglement measures excel in accurately determining the critical exponent associated with the observed phase transitions, providing valuable insight into the critical behavior of these systems., QC 20240213

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is a well-established experimental technique that allows probing of the electronic structure of quantum materials using relatively high-energy photons. ARPES has been extensively used to study important classes of materials such as topological insulators, high-temperature superconductors, two-dimensional materials or interface systems. Although the technique was originally developed over 60 years ago, the last decade has witnessed significant advancements in instrumentation. In this review, we survey recent progress in ARPES, with a focus on developments in novel light sources and electron detection methods, which enable the expansion of ARPES into spin-, time-, or space-resolved domains. Important examples of ARPES results are presented, together with an outlook for the field., QC 20240208

Diamond possesses exceptional physical properties due to its remarkably strong carbon-carbon bonding, leading to significant resilience to structural transformations at very high pressures and temperatures. Despite several experimental attempts, synthesis and recovery of the theoretically predicted post-diamond BC8 phase remains elusive. Through quantum-accurate multimillion atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we have uncovered the extreme metastability of diamond at very high pressures, significantly exceeding its range of thermodynamic stability. We predict the post-diamond BC8 phase to be experimentally accessible only within a narrow high pressure-temperature region of the carbon phase diagram. The diamond to BC8 transformation proceeds through premelting followed by BC8 nucleation and growth in the metastable carbon liquid. We propose a double-shock compression pathway for BC8 synthesis, which is currently being explored in experiments at the National Ignition Facility., QC 20240216

We study the appearance of first-order dynamical phase transitions (DPTs) as "intermittent"coexisting phases in the fluctuations of random walks on graphs. We show that the diverging timescale leading to critical behavior is the waiting time to jump from one phase to another. This timescale is crucial for observing the system's relaxation to stationarity and demonstrate ergodicity of the system at criticality. We illustrate these results through three analytical examples which provide insights into random walks exploring random graphs., QC 20240201

Flat band electronic systems exhibit a rich landscape of correlation-driven phases, both at the charge neutrality and finite electronic density, featuring exotic electromagnetic and thermodynamic responses. Motivated by these developments, in this paper, we explicitly include the effects of the chemical potential in a holographic model featuring approximately flat bands. In particular, we explore the phase diagram of this holographic flat band system as a function of the chemical potential. We find that at low temperatures and densities, the system features a nematic phase, transitioning into the Lifshitz phase as the chemical potential or temperature increases. To further characterize the ensuing phases, we investigate the optical conductivity and find that this observable shows strong anisotropies in the nematic phase., QC 20240201

The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis describes how most isolated many-body quantum systems reach thermal equilibrium. However, the hypothesis is violated by phenomena such as many-body localization and quantum many-body scars. In this work, we study a finite, two-dimensional, disordered model hosting a tower of scar states. This construction is a particular instance of a general framework and we demonstrate its generality by constructing two disordered models hosting a different tower of scar states. At weak disorder, we find numerically that the spectra are nonthermal, and the scar states appear as exact eigenstates with high entropy for certain bipartitions. At strong disorder, the spectra localize and the scar states are identified as inverted scars since the scar states are embedded in a localized background as opposed to a thermal background. We argue that, for the considered type of models, the localization is stronger than what would be naively expected, and we show this explicitly for one of the models. The argument also provides guidelines for obtaining similarly strong localization in other scarred models. We study the transition from the thermal phase to localization by observing the adjacent gap ratio shifting from the Wigner surmise to the Poisson distribution with increasing disorder strength. Moreover, the entanglement entropy transitions from volume-law scaling with system size at weak disorder to area-law scaling at strong disorder. Finally, we demonstrate that localization protects scar revivals for initial states with partial support in the scar subspace., QC 20240215

The size and modulus misfit between solute and parent atoms gives rise to strengthening, solid solution hardening (SSH). With the development of Argon’s expression for the interaction energies for solute atoms and dislocations for size and modulus misfit, both effects can now be modeled without the introduction of adjustable or arbitrary parameters. These expressions are used to derive models for SSH during creep. Although the constants for the modulus misfit can be an order larger than those for size misfit, the latter effect is still dominating. The interaction energy gives a direct contribution to the activation energy for creep. The solutes form Cottrell atmospheres around the dislocations. For slowly diffusion elements, these atmospheres give rise to a drag force that slows down the motion of the dislocations. Fast diffusing elements have to break away from the dislocations to enable their motion. This creates a break stress that is the source of SSH in this case., QC 20240125

Chiral anomalies and topological phases of matter form the basis of the research presented in this dissertation. The chiral anomaly is considered both in the context of magnetic Weyl semimetals and in the context of non-Hermitian Dirac actions. Topological phases of matter play a role in this work through the research on Weyl semimetals and in the formulation of local topological markers. The simplest example of magnetic Weyl semimetals consist of two Weyl cones separated in momentum space by a magnetisation vector which acts as an axial gauge field. We describe the emergence of axial electromagnetic fields by considering a magnetic field driven domain wall in this magnetisation. The parallel axial magnetic and axial electric fields give rise to the axial anomaly, and in turn to the chiral magnetic effect; a nonequilibrium current located at the domain wall. The chiral magnetic effect is a source of electromagnetic radiation, and a measurement of this radiation would provide evidence of the existence of the axial anomaly. Electronic manipulation of domain walls is a central objective in spintronics. We describe how the axial anomaly, in terms of external electromagnetic fields, acts as a torque on the domain wall, and allows for electric control of the equilibrium configuration of the domain wall. We show how the axial anomaly is used to flip the chirality of the domain wall by tuning the electric field. Measuring the change in domain wall chirality constitutes a signal of the axial anomaly. We also describe how the Fermi arc boundary states of the Weyl semimetal at the domain wall result in an effective hard axis anisotropy which allows for large domain wall velocities irrespective of the intrinsic anisotropy of the material. Our interest in non-Hermitian chiral anomalies stems from the existence of topological phases of matter in non-Hermitian models. We evaluate the chiral anomaly for a non-Hermitian Dirac theory with massless fermions with complex Fermi velociti, Kirala anomalier och topologiska faser av materia utgör grunden för den forskning som presenteras i denna avhandling. Den kirala anomalin studeras både i samband med magnetiska Weyl-semimetaller och i termer av en icke-Hermitisk verkansintegral. Vi undersöker topologiska faser av materia både genom Weyl-semimetaller och i formuleringen av lokala topologiska markörer. Den enklaste beskrivningen av magnetiska Weyl-semimetaller består av två så kallade Weyl-koner. Dessa kan separeras genom att addera en term som kan ses som ett axiellt gaugefält, och som beter sig som en magnetiseringsvektor. Vi beskriver uppkomsten av axiella elektromagnetiska fält genom att betrakta en magnetfältsdriven domänvägg i denna magnetisering. Kombinationen av axiella magnetiska och elektriska fält resulterar i den kirala anomalin, och i sin tur till den kirala magnetiska effekten. Detta manifesteras i en icke-jämviktsström som följer med domänväggen. Den viktiga slutsatsen här är att den kirala magnetiska effekten är en källa till elektromagnetisk strålning, och en mätning av denna skulle därför fungera som en indirekt observation av den kirala anomalin. Att finna verktyg att manipulera domänväggar med är ett centralt mål inom spinntronik. Vi beskriver explicit hur den axiella anomalin fungerar som ett vridmoment på domänväggen, och därmed möjliggör för en elektrisk kontroll av domänväggen. Vi visar speciellt hur det är möjligt att vända domänväggens kiralitet genom att ändra elektriska fältets styrka. En mätning av förändringen i domänväggens kiralitet utgör en signal för den axiella anomalin. Vi beskriver vidare hur utnyttjande av Fermiytans egenskaper vid domänväggen möjliggör stora domänväggshastigheter oberoende av materialets inneboende anisotropi. Vårt intresse för icke-Hermitiska kirala anomalier bottnar i förekomsten av icke-Hermitiska topologiska faser. Vi utvärderar den kirala anomalin för en icke-Hermitisk modell med masslösa fermioner med komplexa Fermi-hastigheter kopplade t, QC 2024-01-31

We investigate false vacuum decay of a relativistic scalar field initialized in the metastable minimum of an asymmetric double-well potential. The transition to the true ground state is a well-defined initial-value problem in real time, which can be formulated in nonequilibrium quantum field theory on a closed time path. We employ the nonperturbative framework of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) quantum effective action at next-to-leading order in a large-N expansion. We also compare to classical-statistical field theory simulations on a lattice in the high-temperature regime. By this, we demonstrate that the real-time decay rates are comparable to those obtained from the conventional Euclidean (bounce) approach. In general, we find that the decay rates are time dependent. For a more comprehensive description of the dynamics, we extract a time-dependent effective potential, which becomes convex during the nonequilibrium transition process. By solving the quantum evolution equations for the one- and two-point correlation functions for vacuum initial conditions, we demonstrate that quantum corrections can lead to transitions that are not captured by classical-statistical approximations., QC 20240118Nordita, Stockholm University

We have sputter-deposited stacks of ultrathin layers from EUROFER97 and tungsten on silicon substrates. Ion beam analysis techniques are used for composition characterisation and microscopy methods are employed for structural examination. The films are subsequently studied by time-of-flight low-energy ion scattering (ToF-LEIS) for primary 10 keV He+ and 8 keV D+ ions to demonstrate an approach of providing accurate and precise experimental reference electronic stopping cross-sections for fusion-relevant steels. The energy-converted ToF-LEIS spectra are compared to Monte-Carlo simulations for quantitative analysis explicitly considering the influence of plural and multiple scattering. We discuss the deduced stopping cross-sections of EUROFER97 in comparison to predictions by SRIM using Bragg's rule of stopping power additivity.

Gadolinium oxyhydride GdHO is a photochromic material that darkens under illumination and bleaches back by thermal relaxation. As an inorganic photochromic material that can be easily deposited by magnetron sputtering, GdHO has very interesting potential applications as a functional material, specially for smart glazing applications. However, the underlying reasons behind the photochromic mechanism - which can be instrumental for the correct optimisation of GdHO for different applications - are not completely understood. In this paper, we rely on the well-established magnetic properties of Gd3+ to shed light on this matter. GdHO thin films present paramagnetic behaviour similar to other Gd3+ compounds such as Gd2O3. Illumination of the films result in a reversible increase of the Curie-Weiss temperature pointing to Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida RKKY interactions, which is consistent with the resistivity decrease observed in the photodarkened films.

Hydrogen as an interstitial solute at grain boundaries (GBs) can have a catastrophic impact on the mechanical properties of many metals. Despite the global research effort, the underlying hydrogen-GB interactions in polycrystals remain inadequately understood. In this study, using Voronoi tessellations and atomistic simulations, we elucidate the hydrogen segregation energy spectrum at the GBs of polycrystalline nickel by exploring all the topologically favorable segregation sites. Three distinct peaks in the energy spectrum are identified, corresponding to different structural fingerprints. The first peak ( -0.205 eV) represents the most favorable segregation sites at GB core, while the second and third peaks account for the sites at GB surface. By incorporating a thermodynamic model, the spectrum enables the determination of the equilibrium hydrogen concentrations at GBs, unveiling a remarkable two to three orders of magnitude increase compared to the bulk hydrogen concentration reported in experimental studies. The identified structures from the GB spectrum exhibit vastly different behaviors in hydrogen segregation and diffusion, with the low-barrier channels inside GB core contributing to short-circuit diffusion, while the high energy gaps between GB and neighboring lattice serving as on-plane diffusion barriers. Mean square displacement analysis further confirms the findings, and shows that the calculated GB diffusion coefficient is three orders of magnitude greater than that of lattice. The present study has a significant implication for practical applications since it offers a tool to bridge the gap between atomic-scale interactions and macroscopic behaviors in engineering materials.& COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Constructing a Z-scheme heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution for graphitic carbon nitride-based (g-C3N4) composites is challenging because integrating g-C3N4 with other semiconductors, without specific band structure design, typically results in type I or type II heterojunctions. These heterojunctions have lower redox ability and limited enhancement in photocatalysis. Herein, we select highly crystalline carbon nitride (HCCN) as a proof-of-concept substrate. For the first time, we develop a AgBr nanosphere/HCCN composite photocatalyst that features an all -solid -state direct Z-scheme heterojunction for visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The electron transfer mechanism is initially studied from the band structures and Fermi levels of HCCN and AgBr. It is subsequently confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron microscopy. The close heterojunction contact and the built-in electron field of the Z-scheme heterojunction promote the migration and separation of photogenerated electrons and holes in the composite photocatalyst. Due to the redistribution of charge carriers, the photocatalyst shows superior redox capability and a markedly enhanced hydrogen evolution performance compared to its individual components. Combining all the advantages, AgBr nanosphere/HCCN reached an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 6 % under the illumination of 410 nm, which is 4 times higher than that of the single HCCN component.