Understanding the Impacts of Impurities on Processing

非技术描述：杂质存在于几乎所有的原料和前体中，这些杂质的去除可能是耗时的，能源密集的和非常昂贵的。相比之下，本项目旨在研究杂质对促进模型系统五氧化二钒的高能晶体面、表面和体缺陷的发展所产生的积极影响，该系统具有非常理想的化学、电化学和催化性能，用于能量转换和存储。这些杂质可以改变所得晶体的体积和表面化学、形态、结晶度和物理性质，从而显著影响其性能和应用。虽然半导体中的掺杂（在电子级或ppm水平）和离子导体中的氧化物掺杂（在冶金级或百分之几）已经得到了很好的研究和理解，但关于杂质对所得到的晶体的加工、形态和性质的影响的信息有限，这些晶体广泛用于能量转换和存储以及许多其他应用，包括环境监测和修复。技术细节：本项目以五氧化二钒为模型体系，重点研究杂质对无机材料的加工、形貌和性能的影响和影响，重点研究亚微米或纳米尺寸及其在能量转换和存储方面的应用。杂质，通常伴随着其他缺陷，如氧空位，也可能被纳入晶格或驻留在表面。这些杂质可以改变所得晶体的体积和表面化学、结晶度、形态和物理性质，使其偏离热力学平衡，从而显著影响其性能和应用，同时大大降低加工成本。该项目产生的结果将丰富对杂质在材料的加工、形态和性能方面的基本认识。通过招收不同的学生，设想更广泛的影响；培养一种积极的文化，接受、尊重和容忍他人的差异；培养本科生和研究生；将最新研究成果纳入课程；并与太平洋西北国家实验室（PNNL）合作。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Impurities exist in almost all raw materials and precursors and the removal of such impurities can be time-consuming, energy intensive and very costly. In contrast, this project is to investigate the positive impacts impurities can have to promote the development of high energy crystal facets, and surface and bulk defects in a model system, vanadium pentoxide, with much desired chemical, electrochemical, and catalytic properties for energy conversion and storage. These impurities can modify the bulk and surface chemistry, morphology, crystallinity, and the physical properties of the resulting crystallites, and thereby significantly impact their performance and applications. Although the doping in semiconductors (at the electronic grade or ppm level) and the doping in oxides for ionic conductors (at metallurgical grade or a few percent) have been well studied and understood, there is limited information on the impacts of impurities on the processing, morphology, and properties of the resulting crystallites that are widely used in energy conversion and storage as well as many other applications including environment monitoring and remediation. TECHNICAL DETAILS: This project is to investigate the influences and impacts of impurities on the processing, morphology and properties of inorganic materials with vanadium pentoxide as a model system, focusing on submicrometer or nanometer sizes, and their applications in energy conversion and storage. Impurities, often accompanied with other defects such as oxygen vacancies may also be incorporated into the crystal lattice or reside on the surface. Such impurities can modify the bulk and surface chemistry, crystallinity, morphology, and the physical properties of the resulting crystallites away from thermodynamic equilibrium and, thus, significantly impact on their performance and applications with much reduced processing cost. The results generated by this project will enrich the fundamental understanding of the impurities on the processing, morphologies and properties of materials. Broader impacts are envisioned through the recruitment of diverse students; fostering a positive culture that accepts, respects, and tolerates differences of others; training of both undergraduate and graduate students; incorporating recent research results into courses; and working cooperatively with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).