He Zhu1, Yalan Huang1, Jincan Ren1, Binghao Zhang1, Yubin Ke2, Alex K-Y Jen3, Qiang Zhang4, Xun-Li Wang1,5, Qi Liu1,5. 1. Department of Physics City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 999077 P. R. China. 2. China Spallation Neutron Source Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Science Dongguan 523000 P. R. China. 3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 999077 P. R. China. 4. Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology Department of Chemical Engineering Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. China. 5. Shenzhen Research Institute City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen 518057 P. R. China.
Abstract
The correlation between structure and function lies at the heart of materials science and engineering. Especially, modern functional materials usually contain inhomogeneities at an atomic level, endowing them with interesting properties regarding electrons, phonons, and magnetic moments. Over the past few decades, many of the key developments in functional materials have been driven by the rapid advances in short-range crystallographic techniques. Among them, pair distribution function (PDF) technique, capable of utilizing the entire Bragg and diffuse scattering signals, stands out as a powerful tool for detecting local structure away from average. With the advent of synchrotron X-rays, spallation neutrons, and advanced computing power, the PDF can quantitatively encode a local structure and in turn guide atomic-scale engineering in the functional materials. Here, the PDF investigations in a range of functional materials are reviewed, including ferroelectrics/thermoelectrics, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) magnets, high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), quantum dots (QDs), nano-catalysts, and energy storage materials, where the links between functions and structural inhomogeneities are prominent. For each application, a brief description of the structure-function coupling will be given, followed by selected cases of PDF investigations. Before that, an overview of the theory, methodology, and unique power of the PDF method will be also presented.
The copan class="Chemical">rrelation between structure and function lies at the heart of materials science and engineering. Especially, modern functional materials usually contain inhomogeneities at an atomic level, endowing them with interesting properties regarding electrons, phonons, and magnetic moments. Over the past few decades, many of the key developments in functional materials have been driven by the rapid advances in short-range crystallographic techniques. Among them, pair distribution function (PDF) technique, capable of utilizing the entire Bragg and diffuse scattering signals, stands out as a powerful tool for detecting local structure away from average. With the advent of synchrotron X-rays, spallation neutrons, and advanced computing power, the PDF can quantitatively encode a local structure and in turn guide atomic-scale engineering in the functional materials. Here, the PDF investigations in a range of functional materials are reviewed, including ferroelectrics/thermoelectrics, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) magnets, high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), quantum dots (QDs), nano-catalysts, and energy storage materials, where the links between functions and structural inhomogeneities are prominent. For each application, a brief description of the structure-function coupling will be given, followed by selected cases of PDF investigations. Before that, an overview of the theory, methodology, and unique power of the PDF method will be also presented.
Authors: Xinran Zhang; John Maddock; Tina M Nenoff; Melissa A Denecke; Sihai Yang; Martin Schröder Journal: Chem Soc Rev Date: 2022-04-19 Impact factor: 60.615