Effect of the Growth Conditions on Organic Crystals with Rare Earth Ions and 1,10-Phenanthroline.

Using a simple solution growth technique, we grow crystals with phenanthroline as a ligand and various rare earth ions: thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), gadolinium (Gd), lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd), europium (Eu), and erbium (Er). We then selected the composition that forms thin plates with well-defined shapes, Er(NO)Phen, and explored the effects of various conditions on crystal formation and growth, including temperature regime, light illumination, and substrates where the crystals are formed and grown. The composition and local environment strongly affect the size and shape of microcrystals and substrate coverage.

Hydrothermal synthesis of chiral carbon dots.

Nanocolloids that are cumulatively referred to as nanocarbons, attracted significant attention during the last decade because of facile synthesis methods, water solubility, tunable photoluminescence, easy surface modification, and high biocompatibility. Among the latest development in this reserach area are chiral nanocarbons exemplified by chiral carbon dots (CDots). They are expected to have applications in sensing, catalysis, imaging, and nanomedicine.

Probing Charge Transport Kinetics in a Plasmonic Environment with Cyclic Voltammetry.

Possible modifications in electrochemical reaction kinetics are explored in a nanostructured plasmonic environment with and without additional light illumination using a cyclic voltammetry (CV) method. In nanostructured gold, the effect of light on anodic and cathodic currents is much pronounced than that in a flat system. The electron-transfer rate shows a 3-fold increase under photoexcitation.