Weyl fermions (WFs) in the type-II Weyl semimetal (WSM) WTe₂ are difficult to resolve experimentally because the Weyl bands disperse in an extremely narrow region of the (E−k) space. Here, by using DFT-assisted high-resolution ¹²⁵Te solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) in the temperature range 50–700 K, we succeeded in detecting low energy WF excitations and monitoring their evolution with temperature. Remarkably, WFs are observed to emerge at T∼120 K, while at lower temperatures WTe₂ behaves as a trivial metal. This intriguing phenomenon is induced by the rapid raise of the Fermi level upon heating, which crosses the Weyl bands only for T>120 K. The abrupt change of the NMR parameters at this temperature is signature of a topological Lifshitz transition instead of a cursive energy-bands crossing.

A new family of oxofluorophoshates, AFe(PO₃F)₂ (A = K, (NH₄)₂Cl, NH₄, Rb, and Cs), was synthesized via ionothermal methods using PF₆ ionic liquids. Single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction reveal that AFe(PO₃F)₂ with A = (NH₄)₂Cl crystallizes in a trigonal structure, while AFe(PO₃F)₂ with A = NH₄, Rb, and Cs crystallizes in a triclinic structure. Dimorphic KFe(PO₃F)₂ crystallizes in both the trigonal and triclinic forms. The structures of all compounds feature Yavapaiite-like Fe(PO₃F)₂ slabs, which are characterized by triangular Fe layers, planar in the case of the trigonal structure and undulated in the case of the triclinic one. Magnetization measurements reveal all compounds to order antiferromagnetically at low temperatures. The trigonal phases AFe(PO₃F)₂ (A = K and (NH₄)₂Cl) display complex magnetic H–T phase diagrams. The observation of magnetization plateaus at M_sat/3 (M_sat = saturation magnetization) indicates the existence of the up–up–down (UUD) and V-phases at applied magnetic fields in the magnetically ordered state. Powder neutron diffraction measurements of KFe(PO₃F)₂ confirm the 120° spin structure at zero fields. Along c, the magnetic moments form a commensurate spiral since the spins in each plane are rotated by 90° with respect to the adjacent one. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a non-centrosymmetric version of the 120° spin structure with a 90° rotation between nearest planes has been reported.

A combination of solid-state NMR methods for the extraction of ²³Na shift and quadrupolar parameters in the as-synthesized, structurally complex NaMnO₂ Na-ion cathode material, under magic-angle spinning (MAS) is presented. We show that the integration of the Magic-Angle Turning experiment with Rotor-Assisted Population transfer (RAPT) can be used both to identify shifts and to extract a range of magnitudes for their quadrupolar couplings. We also demonstrate the applicability of the two-dimensional one pulse (TOP) based double-sheared Satellite Transition Magic-Angle Spinning (TOP-STMAS) showing how it can yield a spectrum with separated shift and second-order quadrupolar anisotropies, which in turn can be used to analyze a quadrupolar lineshape free of anisotropic bulk magnetic susceptibility (ABMS) induced shift dispersion and determine both isotropic shift and quadrupolar products. Combining all these experiments, the shift and quadrupolar parameters for all observed Na environments were extracted and yielded excellent agreement with the density functional theory (DFT) based models that were reported in previous literature. We expect these methods to open the door for new possibilities for solid-state NMR to probe half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in paramagnetic materials and other systems exhibiting large shift dispersion.

Perovskite-type oxhydrides such as BaTiO_3−xH_y exhibit mixed hydride ion and electron conduction and are an attractive class of materials for developing energy storage devices. However, the underlying mechanism of electric conductivity and its relation to the composition of the material remains unclear. Here we report detailed insights into the hydride local environment, the electronic structure and hydride conduction dynamics of barium titanium oxyhydride. We demonstrate that DFT-assisted solid-state NMR is an excellent tool for differentiating between the different feasible electronic structures in these solids. Our results indicate that upon reduction of BaTiO₃ the introduced electrons are delocalized among all Ti atoms forming a bandstate. Furthermore, each vacated anion site is reoccupied by at most a single hydride, or else remains vacant. This single occupied bandstate structure persists at different hydrogen concentrations (y = 0.13–0.31) and a wide range of temperatures (∼100–300 K).

Structural and morphological control of crystalline nanoparticles is crucial in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and the development of reaction specific catalysts. To achieve this, colloidal chemistry methods are combined with ab initio calculations in order to define the reaction parameters, which drive chemical reactions to the desired crystal nucleation and growth path. Key in this procedure is the experimental verification of the predicted crystal facets and their corresponding electronic structure, which in case of nanostructured materials becomes extremely difficult. Here, by employing P-31 solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance aided by advanced density functional theory calculations to obtain and assign the Knight shifts, we succeed in determining the crystal and electronic structure of the terminating surfaces of ultrafine Ni2P nanoparticles at atomic scale resolution. Our work highlights the potential of ssNMR nanocrystallography as a unique tool in the emerging field of facet-engineered nanocatalysts. Structural and morphological control of crystalline nanoparticles is crucial in heterogeneous catalysis. Applying DFT-assisted solid-state NMR spectroscopy, we determine the surface crystal and electronic structure of Ni2P nanoparticles, unveiling NMR nanocrystallography as an emerging tool in facet-engineered nanocatalysts.

Reactions of di(2-pyridyl) ketone, (py)(2)CO, with indium(III) halides in CH3NO2 have been studied, and a new transformation of the ligand has been revealed. In the presence of In-III, the C=O bond of (py)(2)CO is subjected to nucleophilic attack by the carbanion -:CH2NO2, yielding the dinuclear complexes [In2X4{(py)(2)C(CH2NO2)(O)}(2)] (X = Cl, 1; X = Br, 2; X = I, 3) in moderate to good yields. The alkoxo oxygens of the two eta(1):eta(2):eta(1)-(py)(2)C(CH2NO2)(O)- ligands doubly bridge the In-III centers and create a {In-2(mu(2)-OR)(2)}(4+) core. Two pyridyl nitrogens of different organic ligands and two terminal halogeno ions complete a distorted-octahedral stereochemistry around each In(III) ion. After maximum excitation at 360 or 380 nm, the solid chloro complex 1 emits blue light at 420 and 440 nm at room temperature, the emission being attributed to charge transfer within the coordinated organic ligand. Solid-state In-115 NMR spectra, in combination with DFT calculations, of 1-3 have been studied in detail at both 9.4 and 14.1 T magnetic fields. The nuclear quadrupolar and chemical shift parameters provide valuable findings concerning the electric field gradients and magnetic shielding at the nuclei of indium, respectively. The experimentally derived C-Q values are 40 +/- 3 MHz for 1, 46 +/- 5 MHz for 2, and 50 +/- 10 and 64 +/- 7 MHz for the two crystallographically independent InIII sites for 3, while the diso values fall in the range 130 +/- 30 to -290 +/- 60 ppm. The calculated C-Q and asymmetry parameter (eta(Q)) values are fully consistent with the experimental values for 1 and 2 and are in fairly good agreement for 3. The results have been analyzed and discussed in terms of the known (1, 3) and proposed (2) structural features of the complexes, demonstrating that In-115 NMR is an effective solid-state technique for the study of indium(III) complexes.

Highly active nickel phosphide (Ni₂P) nanoclusters confined in a mesoporous SiO₂ catalyst were synthesized by a two-step process targeting tight control over the Ni₂P size and phase. The Ni precursor was incorporated into the MCM-41 matrix by one-pot synthesis, followed by the phosphorization step, which was accomplished in oleylamine with trioctylphosphine at 300 °C so to achieve the phase transformation from Ni to Ni₂P. For benchmarking, Ni confined by the mesoporous SiO₂ (absence of phosphorization) and 11 nm Ni₂P nanoparticles (absence of SiO₂) was also prepared. From the microstructural analysis, it was found that the growth of Ni₂P nanoclusters was restricted by the mesoporous channels, thus forming ultrafine and highly dispersed Ni₂P nanoclusters (<2 nm). The above approach led to promising catalytic performance following the order u-Ni₂P@m-SiO₂ > n-Ni₂P > u-Ni@m-SiO₂ > c-Ni₂P in the selective hydrogenation of SO₂ to S. In particular, u-Ni₂P@m-SiO₂ exhibited SO₂ conversions of 94% at 220 °C and ∼99% at 240 °C, which are higher than the 11 nm stand-alone Ni₂P particles (43% at 220 °C and 94% at 320 °C), highlighting the importance of the role played by SiO₂ in stabilizing ultrafine nanoparticles of Ni₂P. The reaction activation energy E_a over u-Ni₂P@m-SiO₂ is ∼33 kJ/mol, which is lower than those over n-Ni₂P (∼36 kJ/mol) and c-Ni₂P (∼66 kJ/mol), suggesting that the reaction becomes energetically favored over the ultrafine Ni₂P nanoclusters.

Highly mesoporous SiO2-encapsulated NixPy crystals, where (x, y) = (5, 4), (2, 1), and (12, 5), were successfully synthesized by adopting a thermolytic method using oleylamine (OAm), trioctylphosphine (TOP), and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO). The Ni5P4@SiO2 system shows the highest reported activity for the selective hydrogenation of SO2 toward H2S at 320 degrees C (96% conversion of SO2 and 99% selectivity to H2S), which was superior to the activity of the commercial CoMoS@Al2O3 catalyst (64% conversion of SO2 and 71% selectivity to H2S at 320 degrees C). The morphology of the Ni5P4 crystal was finely tuned via adjustment of the synthesis parameters receiving a wide spectrum of morphologies (hollow, macroporous-network, and SiO2-confined ultrafine clusters). Intrinsic characteristics of the materials were studied by Xray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy/scanning transmission electron microscopy-high-angle annular dark-field imaging, energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, H-2 temperature-programmed reduction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and experimental and calculated P-31 magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance toward establishing the structure-performance correlation for the reaction of interest. Characterization of the catalysts after the SO2 hydrogenation reaction proved the preservation of the morphology, crystallinity, and Ni/P ratio for all the catalysts.

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have received significant attention in recent years in the areas of biomedical and environmental applications. Among them, mixed metal MOFs, although promising, are relatively few in number in comparison with their homometallic analogues. The employment of benzophenone-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid (bphdcH(2)) in mixed metal MOF chemistry provided access to a 3D MOF, [Na2Zn(bphdc)(2)(DMF)(2)](n) (NUIG1). NUIG1 displays a new topology and is a rare example of a mixed metal MOF based on 1D rod secondary building units. UV-vis, HPLC, TGA, XRPD, solid state NMR and computational studies indicated that NUIG1 exhibits an exceptionally high Ibuprofen (Ibu) and nitric oxide adsorption capacity. The MCF-7 cell line was used to assess the toxicity of NUIG1 and Ibu@NUIG1, revealing that both species are non-toxic (cell viability > 70%). NUIG1 exhibits good performance in the adsorption of metal ions (Co-II, Ni-II, Cu-II) from aqueous environments, as was demonstrated by UV-vis, EDX, ICP, SEM and direct and alternate current magnetic susceptibility studies. The colour and the magnetic properties of the M@NUIG1 species depend strongly on the kind and the amount of the encapsulated metal ion in the MOF pores.

Hybrid materials from nanocellulose, lignin, and surface- grafted zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA) chains are prepared to attain antifouling bio-based nanomaterials with enhanced antibacterial performance. The grafting of PSBMA from both cellulose and lignocellulose nanocrystals (CNC and LCNC, respectively) is attempted; however, the materials' analysis with FTIR, XPS, and solid-state C-13 NMR reveals that the grafting on LCNC is negligible. Antifouling and antibacterial performances of CNC and LCNC, as well as PSBMA-grafted CNC, are evaluated by using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, confocal microscopy, and the agar diffusion method using bovine serum albumin and E. coli ACTT 8937 as protein model and bacterial model, respectively. The results demonstrate that the grafting of CNC with PSBMA improves the antifouling and antibacterial activity of the material compared to pristine CNC and LCNC.