Abstracts

Sodium-ion battery (NIB) system is an emerging technology and can be considered as a suitable alternative for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the large abundance and distribution of sodium on earth and similar working principles to LIB. Among those cathodes for NIBs, layered transition metal oxides (NaxMO2) receive more attention because of their higher capacity, appropriate operating potentials, higher ionic conductivity, and ease of synthesis [1]. [...]

X-ray Absorption Fine Structure experiments conducted at synchrotron facilities are currentlylimited by the performance of the current generation of Silicon and Germanium detectors. Inorder to mitigate this limitation, the detector consortium of the European project LEAPS-INNOVhas undertaken an ambitious R&D program devoted to develop a new generation of multi-elementmonolithic Germanium detectors for X-ray detection. [...]

The formation of small voids in polycrystalline absorbers has been repeatedly reported, whether after device fabrication ordegradation. Although it certainly increases risk of delamination and complicates deposition of additional top layers and cells, itis not clear whether or how detrimental it is for photovoltaic performance. [...]

A radical shift to the Circular Economy is urgently needed to cope with the challenge of finite resources decreasing at afrightening pace while the quantity of waste increases alarmingly. The European Commission' Circular Economy Action Plan(CEAP) adopted in March 2020 has identified seven key product value chains that must rapidly become circular, given theirenvironmental impacts and circularity potentials. [...]

Chiral molecules are present ubiquitously in nature. They have two enantiomeric forms, which are mirror images ofeach other and cannot be superimposed onto one another through rotation. [...]

Accessing simple molecules is crucial to our understanding of chemical reactivity. Particularly, characterization of heavier homologues of molecules essential to life, e.g., carbonic acid and urea, can lead to new insights. [...]

Here we report the study on the cis and trans isomers of decahydro-2-naphthol and various complexes with it.Decahydro-2-naphthol is structurally analogous to a section of the steroid hormone androsterone, which has been recently studied by rotational spectroscopy. For the large (from a rotational spectroscopy point of view) molecule androsterone, no experimental gas-phase structure was observed. [...]

Even though the interaction between polar water and hydrophobic molecules such as PAHs is very subtle, soot or dustparticles do play a key role in the water nucleation in atmospheres and in interstellar space. To understand this processand predict their structures and properties, an accurate understanding of the shallow potential energy surface betweenPAH-water clusters is essential. [...]

Exploring the conformational landscape of multi-conformational systems, suchas macrolactones, can be challenging, as their great flexibility leads to small structuralchanges that result in a large number of energy minima. High-resolution gas-phasemicrowave spectroscopy has proven to be unique technique, being able to isolate anddiscern conformers or clusters unambiguously without masking effects. [...]

Silicon is among the most abundant elements in interstellar environments, being only one order of magnitude less thanC, N, and O. More than 15 gas-phase silicon bearing molecules have been already detected and a large fraction of siliconis considered to be locked up in interstellar dust grains, where also polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a majorconstituent. [...]