New electrode materials of layered oxides, Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3-xTixO2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 2/3), are successfully synthesized, and their electrochemical performance is examined in aprotic Na cells. A Na//Na2/3Ni1/3Mn1/2Ti1/6O2 cell delivers 127 mA h g(-1) of reversible capacity and the average voltage reaches 3.7 V at first discharge with good capacity retention.

3-were synthesized as single-crystals by a diffusion method. Depending on the solvent combination, two modifications with different core geometries of the gold cluster and different overall packing type can be

We investigated the structural characteristics of Li-rich xLi2MnO3·(1-x)Li[MnyNizCow]O2 cathode material (x around 0.5, y:z:w around 2:2:1) and its electrochemical performance in lithium cells at 30 and 60°C. It was established that nanoparticles of the xLi2MnO3·(1-x)Li[MnyNizCow]O2 compound are intergrown on the nano-scale and are built of thin plates of 40–50 Å. We demonstrated that xLi2MnO3·(1-x)Li[MnyNizCow]O2 electrodes exhibited at 60°C high capacities of ∼270 and ∼220 mAh/g at 1C and 2C rates, respectively. They can be cycled effectively at 30 and 60°C providing capacity ∼250 mAh/g in the initial cycles, but it fades upon prolonged cycling due, to some extent, to increasing the electrode impedance (charge-transfer resistance) especially at the elevated temperature. The effective chemical diffusion coefficient of Li+ in these electrodes measured during charge to 4.7 V by potentiostatic intermittent titration technique (PITT) was found to be ∼10−10 cm2/s. From convergent beam electron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies we established, for the first time, that partial structural transition from layered-type to spinel-type ordering in xLi2MnO3·(1-x)Li[MnyNizCow]O2 electrodes occurred in the initial charge to 4.7 V and even at the early stages of charging at 4.1 V–4.4 V. The thermal behavior of the xLi2MnO3·(1-x)Li[MnyNizCow]O2 material and electrodes are also discussed.

A new, facile and generally applicable synthesis of functionalized gold nanoparticles is presented. It is based on the surfactant-free generation of weakly stabilized nanoparticles by the reduction of HAuCl4 with sodium naphthalenide in diglyme. These nanoparticles were found to lack long-term stability. However, stabilization in both unpolar and polar solvents could straightforwardly be achieved by subsequent addition of various capping ligands. The resulting ligand-capped gold nanoparticles were investigated by TEM microscopy, UV-vis, and FT-IR spectroscopy. Particle core size can be tuned by the amount of reduction agent. The strict separation of the reduction step and the functionalization step in this one-pot synthesis offers an easy and fast access to highly functionalized gold nanoparticles.