Nature Of Ga Research Articles

Resolving decades of debate: the surprising role of high-temperature covalency in the structure of liquid gallium.

Liquid metals (LMs) have the potential to revolutionise many important technologies, ranging from battery components to catalytic reactions. Low melting temperature gallium (Ga) is particularly promising as a solvent in many LM alloys, due to the low energy cost of maintaining its liquid state. However, despite 30+ years of study on the nature of Ga's liquid structure, it remains enigmatic with significant disagreement among the many published reports. In this work, we reconcile many of the conflicts through analysis of extensive ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of bulk Ga liquid at different temperatures. Contrary to previous assumptions, covalency becomes more important in the liquid at higher temperatures, meaning that covalency is not a significant feature of the liquid near the phase transition temperature. This explains the experimental observation of a decrease of resistivity of the metal upon melting, and its subsequent anomalously nonlinear increase with temperature. This revised understanding of structuring in the liquid has implications for the way these alloys are tailored for specific applications in the rapidly developing field of LMs.

Application of HCl treatment to tailor the Ga species and propane aromatization performance of various Ga incorporated MFI catalysts

The identification of various Ga species in Ga-zeolites plays a crucial role in the development of appropriate catalysts because catalytic performance depends significantly on the state of Ga. This proves to be challenging, however, because of the limited pool of conventional characterization techniques, and the diversity of chemically possible Ga conformations. Here, through investigation on three characteristic Ga-zeolites with distinct states of Ga, we demonstrate that qualitative information on the nature of Ga in these catalysts could be derived by a facile HCl treatment, based on the ability of HCl to preferably eliminate the Ga species that share weaker interaction with the zeolite. Furthermore, the treatment was able to successfully tailor the Ga species in certain Ga-zeolites by selectively retaining the most desirable species for propane activation, leading to a considerable enhancement in propane aromatization performance.

The mobility and plant uptake of gallium and indium, two emerging contaminants associated with electronic waste and other sources

Gallium (Ga) and indium (In) are increasingly susceptible to soil contamination via disposal of electronic equipment. Chemically similar to aluminium (Al), these elements may be mobile and bioavailable under acidic conditions. We sought to determine extent and nature of Ga and In mobility in the soil – plant system and thus their potential to enter the food chain. Batch sorption experiments on a high fertility silt loam (pH 5.95, CEC 22 meq 100 g−1) showed strong retention of both elements to the soil matrix, with mean distribution coefficient (KD) values of 408 and 2021 L kg−1 for Ga and In respectively. KD increased with concentration, which we attributed to precipitation of excess ions as insoluble hydroxides. KD decreased with increased pH as Ga/In(OH)2+ and Ga/In(OH)2+ transitioned to Ga/In(OH)4-. Movement into the aboveground portions of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was low, with bioaccumulation factors of 0.0037 for Ga and 0.0002 for In; foliar concentrations peaked at 11.6 mg kg−1 and 0.015 mg kg−1 respectively. The mobility of Ga and In in the soil - plant system is low compared to other common trace element contaminants such as cadmium, copper, and zinc. Therefore, Ga and In are likely to accumulate in soils and soil ingestion, either directly, via inhaled dust, or dust attached to food, will be the largest pathway into the food chain. Future work should focus on the effect of redox conditions on Ga and In, as well as uptake into acidophilic plants such as Camellia spp., which accumulate Al.

Pressure dependent elastic and structural ( B3– B1) properties of Ga based monopnictides

By formulating an effective interionic interaction potential that incorporates the long-range Coulomb, the covalency effects, the charge transfer caused by the deformation of the electron shells of the overlapping ions, the Hafemeister and Flygare type short-range overlap repulsion extended up to the second neighbour ions and the van der Waals (vdW) interaction, the pressure dependent elastic and thermodynamical properties of the III–V semiconductors as Ga Y ( Y = N, P, As) are studied. The estimated values of phase transition pressure of Ga Y ( Y = N, P, As) are in reasonably good agreement with the available data on the phase transition pressures ( P t = 41, 22, 17 GPa). The vast volume discontinuity in pressure–volume phase diagram identifies a structural phase transition from zinc-blende ( B3) to rock salt ( B1) structure. Later on, the Poisson's ratio ν, the ratio R S/ B of S (Voigt averaged shear modulus) over B (bulk modulus), elastic anisotropy parameter, elastic wave velocity, average wave velocity and Debye temperature as functions of pressure is calculated. From Poisson's ratio and the ratio R S/ B it is inferred that Ga Y ( Y = N, P, As) is brittle [ductile] in zinc-blende ( B3) [Sodium Chloride ( B1)] phase. To our knowledge this is the first quantitative theoretical prediction of the pressure dependence of ductile (brittle) nature of Ga Y compounds and still awaits experimental confirmations.

Turning on gibberellin and abscisic acid signaling

The phytohormones gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) play essential and often antagonistic roles in regulating plant growth, development and stress responses. The long-awaited identification of receptors for both GA and ABA has shed light upon the initial events that surround the perception of these two phytohormones. The discovery of these receptors also challenges conventional views of plant hormone signaling and raises intriguing questions regarding the nature of GA and ABA perception and the initiation of their signaling pathways. Moreover, recent advances in understanding GA and ABA signaling point to the existence of multiple, non-linear cell- and compartment-specific pathways that regulate genomic and non-genomic responses to these phytohormones.

LOCAL ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF N ATOMS IN Ga(In)AsN BY SOFT-X-RAY ABSORPTION AND EMISSION: OPTICAL EFFICIENCY

The local electronic structure of N atoms in Ga ( In ) AsN diluted alloys ( N concentration of 3%) is determined by soft-X-ray emission and absorption spectroscopies as element specific probes. The experimental spectra reflect the local 2p orbital-projected density-of-states of N impurities, the main recombination centers in Ga ( In ) AsN , which appears to deviate dramatically from crystalline GaN in both valence and conduction bands. In particular, we observe a N local charge transfer from the valence band maximum to deeper valence states, which fundamentally limits the optical efficiency of Ga ( In ) AsN , unless different N local environments are formed. The incorporation of In in large concentrations forms In -rich N local environments such as In 4 N , which become the main recombination centers in Ga ( In ) AsN due to a local decrease of the band gap. A k-conserving process of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering is discovered, which allows probing of the k-character of valence and conduction states despite the random alloy nature of Ga ( In ) AsN .

Nitrogen local electronic structure in Ga(In)AsN alloys by soft-x-ray absorption and emission: Implications for optical properties

Soft-x-ray-emission and -absorption spectroscopies with their elemental specificities are used to determine the local electronic structure of N atoms in Ga(In)AsN diluted semiconductor alloys (N concentrations about 3%) in view of applications of such materials in optoelectronics. Deviations of the N local electronic structure in Ga(In)AsN from the crystalline state in GaN are dramatic in both valence and conduction bands. In particular, a depletion of the valence-band maximum in the N local charge, taking place at the N impurities, appears as one of the fundamental origins of reduced optical efficiency of Ga(In)AsN. Incorporation of In in large concentrations forms In-rich N local environments such as ${\mathrm{In}}_{4}\mathrm{N}$ which become the main recombination centers in GaInAsN. Furthermore, a k character of some valence and conduction states, despite the random-alloy nature of Ga(In)AsN, manifests itself in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering.