Correlating Electronic Structure of Metal Oxide Nanomaterials to Device Performance Using Synchrotron-Excited X-Ray Spectroscopy

摘要

Metal oxide nanomaterials have great potential as the active material in electronics, sodium-and lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaic cells, optoelectronics, and photocatalysis. Accurately characterizing the electronic structure of these materials is difficult by conventional methods, but is vital in assessing the influence of these metal oxide nanomaterials on device performance and identifying the mechanisms for device failure. We use synchrotron-excited oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy to characterize the electronic structure of several metal oxides. After analyzing these data with the aid of spectra simulated using DFT, we are able to provide quantitative estimates of the composition and defects in these materials.