TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, X. A1 - Zhang, J. A1 - Wang, H. A1 - Rogal, J: A1 - Li, H.-Y. A1 - Wei, S.-H. A1 - Hickel, Tilmann T1 - Defect-characterized phase transition kinetics N2 - Phase transitions are a common phenomenon in condensed matter and act as a critical degree of freedom that can be employed to tailor the mechanical or electronic properties of materials. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms of the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions is, thus, at the core of modern materials design. Conventionally, studies of phase transitions have, to a large extent, focused on pristine bulk phases. However, realistic materials exist in a complex form; their microstructures consist of different point and extended defects. The presence of defects impacts the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions, but has been commonly ignored or treated separately. In recent years, with the significant advances in theoretical and experimental techniques, there has been an increasing research interest in modeling and characterizing how defects impact or even dictate phase transitions. The present review systematically discusses the recent progress in understanding the kinetics of defect-characterized phase transitions, derives the key mechanisms underlying these phase transitions, and envisions the remaining challenges and fruitful research directions. We hope that these discussions and insights will help to inspire future research and development in the field. KW - Kinetics KW - Atomistic models KW - Phase transitions KW - Defects PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0117234 SN - 1931-9401 VL - 9 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 42 PB - AIP CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-56507 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Menga, D. A1 - Low, J. L. A1 - Li, Y.-S. A1 - Arcon, I. A1 - Koyutürk, B. A1 - Wagner, F. A1 - Ruiz-Zepeda, F. A1 - Gaberscek, M. A1 - Paulus, B. A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Resolving the Dilemma of Fe-N-C Catalysts by the Selective Synthesis of Tetrapyrrolic Active Sites via an Imprinting Strategy N2 - Combining the abundance and inexpensiveness of their constituent elements with their atomic dispersion, atomically dispersed Fe−N−C catalysts represent the most promising alternative to precious-metal-based materials in proton Exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Due to the high temperatures involved in their synthesis and the sensitivity of Fe ions toward carbothermal reduction, current synthetic methods are intrinsically limited in type and amount of the desired, catalytically active Fe−N4 sites, and high active site densities have been out of reach (dilemma of Fe−N−C catalysts). We herein identify a paradigm change in the synthesis of Fe−N−C catalysts arising from the developments of other M−N−C single-atom catalysts. Supported by DFT calculations we propose fundamental principles for the synthesis of M−N−C materials. We further exploit the proposed principles in a novel synthetic strategy to surpass the dilemma of Fe−N−C catalysts. The selective formation of tetrapyrrolic Zn−N4 sites in a tailor-made Zn−N−C material is utilized as an active-site imprint for the preparation of a corresponding Fe−N−C catalyst. By successive low- and high-temperature ion exchange reactions, we obtain a phase-pure Fe−N−C catalyst, with a high loading of atomically dispersed Fe (>3 wt %). Moreover, the catalyst is entirely composed of tetrapyrrolic Fe−N4 sites. The density of tetrapyrrolic Fe−N4 sites is more than six times as high as for previously reported tetrapyrrolic single-site Fe−N−C fuel cell catalysts. KW - Fe-N-C catalyst KW - Precious-group metal-free catalyst KW - Tetrapyrrolic active-site KW - Single-site catalyst KW - Fuel cell KW - Carbon materials PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c04884 SN - 1520-5126 VL - 143 IS - 43 SP - 18010 EP - 18019 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-53657 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -