title: Structural evolution of reduced GeOxnanoparticles.
abstract: GeOxnanoparticles (NPs) are of growing interest in lithium storage and optoelectronics. GeOxNPs prepared by chemical reduction, exposed to air or retained under N2, then annealed under H2at various temperatures are studied herein using soft X-ray spectroscopy. We find that fresh and air-exposed GeOxNPs evolve rather differently under annealing. The fresh GeOxNPs start as a very amorphous heterogeneous mixture of GeOxand Ge, and during annealing both the valence band and conduction band edges evolve. In contrast, the air-exposed GeOxNPs initially contain quartz-phase GeO2, and during annealing only the conduction band edge evolves due to increased oxygen vacancies forming unoccupied defect states (the valence band does not change until annealing at high temperture, at which point almost all of the GeO2is removed). These findings suggest a preparation and annealing strategy that could be used to tailor GeOxNPs for their intended use in lithium storage or optoelectronic applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. jmcleod@suda.edu.cn ljliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: John A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2040-7540
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McLeod
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. jmcleod@suda.edu.cn ljliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. jmcleod@suda.edu.cn ljliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Linju
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. jmcleod@suda.edu.cn ljliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China. jmcleod@suda.edu.cn ljliu@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lijia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu