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We present a new high-throughput platform for studying titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalytic oxidation reactions by performing reactions on a TiO2-coated surface, followed by direct analysis of oxidation products from the surface by desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS). For this purpose, we coated a round glass wafer with photocatalytically active anatase-phase TiO2using atomic layer deposition. Approximately 70 aqueous 1 μL samples can be injected onto the rim of the TiO2-coated glass wafer, before the entire wafer is exposed to UV irradiation. After evaporation of water, the oxidation products can be directly analyzed from the sample spots by DESI-MS, using a commercial rotating sample platform. The method was shown to provide fast photocatalytic oxidation reactions and analysis with throughput of about four samples per minute. The feasibility of the method was examined for mimicking phase I metabolism reactions of amodiaquine, buspirone and verapamil. Their main photocatalytic reaction products were mostly similar to the products observed earlier in TiO2photocatalysis and in in vitro phase I metabolism assays performed using human liver microsomes.

LiMn2O4is a promising candidate for a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries because of its ability to intercalate lithium ions reversibly through its three-dimensional manganese oxide network. One of the promising techniques for depositing LiMn2O4thin-film cathodes is atomic layer deposition (ALD). Because of its unparalleled film thickness control and film conformality, ALD helps to fulfill the industry demands for smaller devices, nanostructured electrodes, and all-solid-state batteries. In this work, the intercalation mechanism of Li+ions into an ALD-grown β-MnO2thin film was studied. Samples were prepared by pulsing LiOtBu and H2O for different cycle numbers onto about 100 nm thick MnO2films at 225 °C and characterized with X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis, and residual stress measurements. It is proposed that for <100 cycles of LiOtBu/H2O, the Li+ions penetrate only to the surface region of the β-MnO2film, and the samples form a mixture of β-MnO2and a lithium-deficient nonstoichiometric spinel phase LixMn2O4(0 < x< 0.5). When the lithium concentration exceeds x≈ 0.5 in LixMn2O4(corresponding to 100 cycles of LiOtBu/H2O), the crystalline phase of manganese oxide changes from the tetragonal pyrolusite to the cubic spinel, which enables the Li+ions to migrate throughout the whole film. Annealing in N2at 600 °C after the lithium incorporation seemed to convert the films completely to the pure cubic spinel LiMn2O4.

In this paper, we studied the influence of LiAlO2 coatings of 0.5, 1 and 2 nm thickness prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition onto LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 electrodes, on their electrochemical behavior at 30 and 60degC. It was demonstrated that upon cycling, 2 nm LiAlO2 coated electrodes displayed [?]3 times lower capacity fading and lower voltage hysteresis comparing to bare electrodes. We established a correlation among the thickness of the LiAlO2 coating and parameters of the self-discharge processes at 30 and 60degC. Significant results on the elevated temperature cycling and aging of bare and LiAlO2 coated electrodes at 4.3 V were obtained and analyzed for the first time. By analyzing of X-ray diffraction patterns of bare and 2 nm coated LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 electrodes after cycling, we concluded that cycled materials preserved their original structure described by R-3m space group and no additional phases were detected.

Lithium manganese oxide spinels are promising candidate materials for thin-film lithium-ion batteries owing to their high voltage, high specific capacity for storage of electrochemical energy, and minimal structural changes during battery operation. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) offers many benefits for preparing all-solid-state thin-film batteries, including excellent conformity and thickness control of the films. Yet, the number of available lithium-containing electrode materials obtained by ALD is limited. In this article, we demonstrate the ALD of lithium manganese oxide, LixMn2O4, from Mn(thd)3, Li(thd), and ozone. Films were polycrystalline in their as-deposited state and contained less than 0.5 at. % impurities. The chemical reactions between the lithium precursor and the film were found not to be purely surface-limited but to include a bulk component as well, contrary to what is usually found for ALD processes. In addition, we show a process for using Li(thd)/ozone and LiOtBu/water treatments to transform ALD-MnO2and ALD-V2O5into LixMn2O4and LixV2O5, respectively. The formed LixMn2O4films were characterized electrochemically and found to show high electrochemical capacities and high cycling stabilities.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique is a thin film deposition method that provides highly conformal films on 3D structured supports, including powder materials. The technique relies on sequential self-limiting gas-to-surface reactions which enable control of thin film depositions even down to the atomic level on complex surface geometries. Even if ALD technique has been used in the semiconductor industry in production scale for several years now, there are rather few reports on ALD of battery materials. However, the recent development in processes for lithium containing films clearly opens up new possibilities. Promising applications of ALD include 3D structured all-solid-state batteries and surface modification of electrode powders. The present paper presents an overview of the present status in application of ALD in the field of lithium ion batteries.

The effects of preparation process and starting material on hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity of alumina supported ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium–molybdenum hydrotreating catalysts were investigated. Conventional impregnation method and gradual gas phase adsorption were compared as a preparation route. The HDS tests showed that controlled gas phase deposition is advantageous in the preparation of the monometallic catalyst systems. The most promising HDS activity was achieved with the RuMo/Al2O3catalyst prepared from binuclear organometallic complex. This suggests that the direct ruthenium–molybdenum bond in the structure of the catalyst precursor favors the formation of highly active surface phase. The oxidation and reduction behavior of the catalysts was studied by oxygen pulse chemisorption (PCO) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). A clear relationship was observed between the method of preparation and the reactivity of the surface species.