Biomedical subjects

Stefan T Bromley

Publications and source records attributed to Stefan T Bromley.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Band gap variation in Prussian Blue via cation-induced structural distortion.

The charge-transfer band gap of the iron cyanide framework material Prussian Blue and its dependence on the type and location of the charge-compensating interstitial cations (K(+), Rb(+), Cs(+)) are investigated via periodic density functional (DF) calculations. The calculated variation in the band gap magnitude with respect to cation type confirms recent experimental results on cation-induced spectral shifts. The role of both the cation interaction with the framework and the cation-induced lattice expansion are examined with respect to their influence on the band gap. The gap magnitude is related to the cation type but is found to be more strongly affected by cation-induced lattice distortion as the cation passes through the material. Our results support the possibility of engineering the electronic structure of Prussian Blue type materials through guest-induced host-framework distortion.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Molecular dynamics-based approach to study the anisotropic self-diffusion of molecules in porous materials with multiple cage types: application to H2 in losod.

The anisotropic self-diffusion of molecular hydrogen in the multiple cage clathrasil losod (LOS) is modeled by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of up to 1 micros for the temperature range 900-1200 K while treating the framework as fully flexible. The LOS diffusion tensor is calculated employing an analytical method based on hopping rates. The diffusion in the c-direction of the unit cell is found to be approximately two times more rapid than in the a- and the b-directions, a characteristic of importance for the application of LOS as a membrane. The overall diffusion is based on five different hop types for which the individual hopping rates and diffusion barriers are calculated separately. We show explicitly that the shape and volume of the cages have a significant effect on the hopping rates and further that even small deformations of the circular Si6O6 apertures have a large influence on the energetic barrier for hydrogen diffusion. Compared to the single cage clathrasils dodecasil 3C (MTN) and sodalite (SOD), LOS has a lower diffusion rate. However, from a technical point of view this rate (at 573 K) is still fast enough for LOS to be interesting as a size-selective membrane or as a hydrogen-adsorption medium.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Columnar-to-disk structural transition in nanoscale (SiO2)N clusters.

Extensive large-scale global optimizations refined by ab initio calculations are used to propose (SiO2)N N = 14-27 ground states. For N < 23 clusters are columnar and show N-odd-N-even stability, energetically and electronically. At N = 23 a columnar-to-disk structural transition occurs reminiscent of that observed for SiN. These transitions differ in nature but have the same basis, linking the nanostructural behavior of an element (Si) and its oxide (SiO2). Considering the impact of devices based on the nanoscale manipulation of the result is of potential technological importance.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

From cluster calculations to molecular materials: a mixed pseudopotential approach to modeling mixed-valence systems.

In this paper we present a technique for finding an appropriate parameterization of ultrasoft pseudopotentials for modeling mixed-valence materials. For the example of hexacyanometallate molecular building blocks, we show how ionic cluster calculations can be used to determine a set of parameters for the metal centers. Pseudopotentials chosen in such a way are then shown to be suitable for periodic calculations of the corresponding mixed-valence materials (e.g., Prussian Blue).

Ferrocyanides↗

PubMed2005

Interaction of SiO2 with single-walled carbon nanotubes.

The effects of coating of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) with a nonbonded layer of silica are investigated via model system employing fully coordinated silica clusters. The geometric and electronic structures of the SWNT@SiO(2) composite system are calculated using periodic density functional (DF) calculations for a range of confining silica coatings. We show that silica can provide a protective bound coating to a single walled nanotube, which, importantly, only weakly perturbs the underlying properties of both components. Detailed analysis of the charge redistribution and changes in electronic structure upon coating the SWNT are performed to support this conclusion. Furthermore, as allowed by our versatile model system, the energetics of rotating a silica "bearing" around a nanotube "spindle" is also calculated to indicate the possibilities for SWNT@SiO(2)-based nanomechanical devices.

Nanotubes, Carbon↗

PubMed2004

Correlation between crystal structure and mobility in organic field-effect transistors based on single crystals of tetrathiafulvalene derivatives.

Recently, it was reported that crystals of the organic material dithiophene-tetrathiafulvalene (DT-TTF) have a high field-effect charge carrier mobility of 1.4 cm(2)/(V x s). These crystals were formed by a simple drop-casting method, making this material interesting to investigate for possible applications in low-cost electronics. Here, organic single-crystal field-effect transistors based on materials related to DT-TTF are presented and a clear correlation between the crystal structure and the electrical characteristics is observed. The observed relationship between the mobilities in the different crystal structures is strongly corroborated by calculations of both the molecular reorganization energies and the maximum intermolecular transfer integrals. The most suitable materials described here exhibit mobilities that are among the highest reported for organic field-effect transistors and that are the highest reported for solution-processed materials.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Importance of intermolecular interactions in assessing hopping mobilities in organic field effect transistors: pentacene versus dithiophene-tetrathiafulvalene.

We report on a computational study to understand the high mobility found in dithiophene-tetrathiafulvalene (DT-TTF) transistors, with respect to that known for pentacene, using an extended measure of the reorganization energy (lambdareorg). We demonstrate the high importance of considering intermolecular interactions to assess hole-hopping mobilities. We find that due to the steric, polarizable environment and the structural changes induced by local intermolecular charge delocalization, the calculated lambdareorg for DT-TTF decreases from 0.574 eV in the isolated molecule to 0.042 eV in the crystal embedded molecule, which is of the same order of the previously reported value found for the isolated pentacene molecule, 0.098 eV.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Understanding the interface between oxides and metals.

Computational methods based on DFT are applied to modelling structure and bonding in oxide supported metals. We examined three systems of contemporary interest: Cu/ZnO, Pd,Pt/ZrO2 and bimetallic transition metal clusters on silica supports.

Journal Article↗