All-temperature barocaloric effects at pressure-induced phase transitions

Zhao, X.*; Zhang, Z.*; Hattori, Takanori; Wang, J.*; Li, L.*; Jia, Y.*; Li, W.*; Xue, J.*; Fan, X.*; Song, R.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 16, p.7713_1 - 7713_8, 2025/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63068-z

Caloric effects usually occur in the vicinity of solid-state phase transitions with a limited refrigeration temperature span. Here, we introduce and realize an unprecedented concept -all temperature barocaloric effect, i.e., a remarkable barocaloric effect in KPF across an exceptionally wide temperature span, from 77.5 to 300 K and potentially down to 4 K, covering typical room temperature, liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen, and liquid helium refrigeration regions. The directly measured barocaloric adiabatic temperature change reaches 12 K at room temperature and 2.5 K at 77.5 K upon the release of a 250 MPa pressure. This effect is attributed to a persistent phase transition to a rhombohedral high pressure phases. We depict the thermodynamic energy landscape to account for the structural instability. This unique all-temperature barocaloric effect presents a novel approach to highly applicable solid-state refrigeration technology, transcending the conventional multi-stage scenario.

High-pressure polymerization of phenol toward degree-4 carbon nanothread

Yang, X.*; Che, G.*; Wang, Y.*; Zhang, P.*; Tang, X.*; Lang, P.*; Gao, D.*; Wang, X.*; Wang, Y.*; Hattori, Takanori; et al.

Nano Letters, 25(3), p.1028 - 1035, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04895

Saturated sp-carbon nanothreads (CNTh) have garnered significant interest due to their predicted high Young's modulus and thermal conductivity. While the incorporation of heteroatoms into the central ring has been shown to influence the formation of CNTh and yield chemically homogeneous products, the impact of pendant groups on the polymerization process remains underexplored. In this study, we investigate the pressure-induced polymerization of phenol, revealing two phase transitions occurring below 0.5 and 4 GPa. Above 20 GPa, phenol polymerizes into degree-4 CNThs featuring hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. Hydrogen transfer of hydroxyl groups was found to hinder the formation of degree-6 nanothreads. Our findings highlight the crucial role of the hydroxyl group in halting further intracolumn polymerization and offer valuable insights for future mechanism research and nanomaterial synthesis.

Brightening triplet excitons enable high-performance white-light emission in organic small molecules via integrating n-- transitions

Yang, Q.*; Yang, X.*; Wang, Y.*; Fei, Y.*; Li, F.*; Zheng, H.*; Li, K.*; Han, Y.*; Hattori, Takanori; Zhu, P.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.7778_1 - 7778_9, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52196-7

Luminescent materials that simultaneously embody bright singlet and triplet excitons hold great potential in optoelectronics, signage, and information encryption. However, achieving high-performance white-light emission is severely hampered by their inherent unbalanced contribution of fluorescence and phosphorescence. Herein, we address this challenge by pressure treatment engineering via hydrogen bonding cooperativity effect to realize the mixture of n-- transitions, where the triplet state emission was boosted from 7% to 40% in isophthalic acid (IPA). A superior white-light emission based on hybrid fluorescence and phosphorescence was harvested in pressure-treated IPA, and the photoluminescence quantum yield was increased to 75% from the initial 19% (blue-light emission). In-situ high-pressure IR spectra, X ray diffraction, and neutron diffraction reveal continuous strengthening of the hydrogen bonds with the increase of pressure. Furthermore, this enhanced hydrogen bond is retained down to the ambient conditions after pressure treatment, awarding the targeted IPA efficient intersystem crossing for balanced singlet/triplet excitons population and resulting in efficient white-light emission. This work not only proposes a route for brightening triplet states in organic small molecule, but also regulates the ratio of singlet and triplet excitons to construct high-performance white-light emission.

Seasonal variations in radon and thoron exhalation rates from solid concrete interior walls observed using in situ measurements

Sakoda, Akihiro; Ishimori, Yuu; Hasan, Md. M.*; Jin, Q.*; Iimoto, Takeshi*

Atmosphere (Internet), 15(6), p.701_1 - 701_12, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15060701

Building materials such as brick and concrete are known indoor radon (Rn) and thoron (Rn) sources. Most radon and thoron exhalation studies are based on the laboratory testing of pieces and blocks of such materials. To discuss if laboratory findings can be applied to a real-world environment, we conducted intensive in-situ exhalation tests on two solid concrete interior walls of an apartment in Japan for over a year. Exhalation rates of radon () and thoron () were measured by a measurement system, mainly consisting of an accumulation chamber and dedicated monitors. The indoor air temperature () and absolute humidity () were measured in parallel, and the wall-surface temperature and water content were occasionally measured. All data obtained here were investigated to reveal environmental and material-associated factors affecting exhalation from the concrete walls. There were weak correlations between or and T or at one tested wall, and moderate correlations of and strong correlations of with or at the other wall. Our findings on were consistent with those in a previous laboratory work where a concrete sample was subject to various temperatures, although a corresponding laboratory study of could not be collected. Additionally, moderate or strong correlation between and was observed for both tested walls. The comparison of the measured data and theoretical calculations revealed a new issue on how much impact each process of the emanation and migration within concrete pore spaces has on radon and thoron exhalation. This study provides an insight into parameterizing radon and thoron source inputs in modeling the spatiotemporal dynamics of indoor radon and thoron.

Archie's cementation factors for natural rocks; Measurements and insights from diagenetic perspectives

Yuan, X.*; Hu, Q. H.*; Fang, X.*; Wang, Q. M.*; Ma, Y.*; Tachi, Yukio

Sedimentary Geology, 465, p.106633_1 - 106633_14, 2024/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2024.106633

First observation of O

Kondo, Yosuke*; Achouri, N. L.*; Al Falou, H.*; Atar, L.*; Aumann, T.*; Baba, Hidetada*; Boretzky, K.*; Caesar, C.*; Calvet, D.*; Chae, H.*; et al.

Nature, 620(7976), p.965 - 970, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06352-6

no abstracts in English

Intruder configurations in Ne at the transition into the island of inversion; Detailed structure study of Ne

Wang, H.*; Yasuda, Masahiro*; Kondo, Yosuke*; Nakamura, Takashi*; Tostevin, J. A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Poves, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Yoshida, Kazuki; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138038_1 - 138038_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138038

Detailed -ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope Ne has been performed using the one-neutron removal reaction from Ne. Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.

New isomers in Cf

Orlandi, R.; Makii, Hiroyuki; Nishio, Katsuhisa; Hirose, Kentaro; Asai, Masato; Tsukada, Kazuaki; Sato, Tetsuya; Ito, Yuta; Suzaki, Fumi; Nagame, Yuichiro*; et al.

Physical Review C, 106(6), p.064301_1 - 064301_11, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.106.064301

Selective recovery of thorium and uranium from leach solutions of rare earth concentrates in continuous solvent extraction mode with primary amine N1923

Nguyen, T. H.*; Le Ba, T.*; Tran, C. T.*; Nguyen, T. T.*; Doan, T. T. T.*; Do, V.-K.; Watanabe, Masayuki; Pham, Q. M.*; Hoang, S. T.*; Nguyen, D. V.*; et al.

Hydrometallurgy, 213, p.105933_1 - 105933_11, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2022.105933

A continuous counter-current extraction for the selective recovery of thorium (Th) and uranium (U) from the Yen Phu (Vietnam) rare earth concentrate leach solutions was systematically studied. The primary amine N1923 was used as an extractant which was prepared in the isoparaffin IP-2028 diluent. Thorium and uranium were selectively recovered in a hydrometallurgical circuit established by continuous mixer-settler extraction, scrubbing, and back-extraction at the laboratory scale. The desired purity of Th and U can be achieved by managing the volume ratio of organic to aqueous phase (O/A ratio) in the corresponding steps. Highly pure Th and U were recovered from the pregnant back-extraction liquor and the raffinate, respectively, which have satisfactory properties for further processing of the subsequent nuclear materials.

Prediction of Double-heavy Tetraquarks Bound States in Quark Model

Meng, Q.*; Hiyama, Emiko; Hosaka, Atsushi; Oka, Makoto; Gubler, P.; Can, K. U.*; Takahashi, Toru*; Zong, H. S.*

Few-Body Systems, 62(4), p.79_1 - 79_5, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00601-021-01665-6