Superatoms for Better Batteries and Semiconductor ICs

We know that batteries and semiconductors, which are the two most important pillars of all electronic devices, gadgets and applications work on a simple principle of transfer of charge i.e. electrons between atoms. In this process one of the atoms is Donar that supplies an electron and other is Accepter that receives the electron. Usually, there is a transfer of one electron between two atoms and some amount of energy is required to make this transfer happen. If somehow multiple electrons are made to transfer between two atoms and that too at low energy levels it will result in higher performance and better efficiency in batteries and semiconductor devices. Superatoms do exactly that!

Superatom is combination of atoms that act just like a single atom and can imitate the properties of atoms & elements it is composed of. Superatoms can supply and accept multiple electrons while maintaining the structural stability. Figure 1 is a simple illustration of a Superatom.

Figure 1: Simple Illustration of Superatom (Source: Ref. 1)

Alkali atoms have single electron in their valence shell and very less energy is required to release this loosely bound electron from the valance band. However, large amount of energy is required to remove more than one electron. A group of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University headed by Dr. Shiv Khanna have created a process where a cluster of atoms can transfer multiple electrons at low energy levels. In their study they has used aluminum clusters mixed with boron, carbon, silicon and phosphorus paired with the organic ligands. Organic ligands are molecules that bind metal atoms to stabilize and protect them. Very recently in June 2018 this research is published in Nature Communications. The research group in their work claimed that maintaining structural stability and protection during charge transfer in superatoms are the key requirements for creating improved batteries and semiconductor materials. Use of Superatoms based materials could lead to increased surface area which further increases the efficiency of many chemical reactions in the material.

By: Ms. Harpreet Kaur - Assistant Professor, ECE, Chitkara University, H.P.

References

1. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-template-superatoms-batteries.html
2. http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/proposed-superatoms-could-make-better-batteries-and-microchips/
3. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Image/Get?imageInfo.ImageType=GA&imageInfo.ImageIdentifier.ManuscriptID=C4CP03199G
4. http://www.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~kanai/seminar/pdf/Lit_T_Matsumoto_M1.pdf