This paper describes an investigation into the general trend in electronic properties of anatase TiO2 photocatalysts co-doped with transition metals and nitrogen employing first-principles density functional theory. Fourteen different transition metals (M), including Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, and Cd, have been considered. The characteristic band structures of the co-dopi...

In this work we present the preparation and characterization of cerium doped lanthanum zirconate (LCZO) films and non-stoichiometric lanthanum zirconate (LZO) buffer layers on metallic Ni-5% W substrates using chemical solution deposition (CSD), starting from aqueous precursor solutions. La₂Zr₂O₇ films doped with varying percentages of Ce at constant La concentration (La0.5CexZr1-xOy) were prep...

Graphene-based solid-state catalysis represents a new direction in applications of graphene and has attracted a lot of interests recently. However, the difficulty in fine control and large-scale production of previously proposed graphene catalysts greatly limits their industrial applications. Here we present a novel way to enhance the catalytic activity of graphene, which is highly efficient ye...

Nickel-based hydroxide hierarchical nanoarrays (NiyM(OH)x HNAs M = Fe or Zn) are doped with non-noble transition metals to create nanostructures and regulate their activities for the oxygen evolution reaction. Catalytic performance in these materials depends on their chemical composition and the presence of nanostructures. These novel hierarchical nanostructures contain small secondary nanoshee...

We investigated the formation of large-grain polycrystalline silicon films on glass substrates for application in low-cost thin film crystalline silicon solar cells. Since the use of glass substrates constrains process temperatures, our chosen approach to form large-grain polycrystalline silicon templates is selective nucleation and solid phase epitaxy (SNSPE). In this process, selective crysta...

Since many decades nickel yttria-stabilized zirconia cermet (Ni/YSZ) has been the most frequently used fuel electrode material for high temperature solid oxide cells (SOCs). However, in recent years there considerable effort to improve Ni/YSZ performance through surface engineering. In this work, we report a simple strategy apply nanosized un-doped (CeO x ) and Ni-doped (NiCeO y ceria particles...

The defect formation energies of transition metals (Cr, Fe, and Ni) doped in the pseudo-H passivated ZnO nanowires and bulk are systematically investigated using first-principles methods. The general chemical trends of the nanowires are similar to those of the bulk. We also show that the formation energy increases as the diameter of the nanowire decreases, indicating that the doping of magnetic...