Supercycle Al-Doped ZnMgO Alloys via Atomic Layer Deposition for Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

Colloidal quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) have been significantly improved in terms of device performance and lifetime by employing zinc oxide (ZnO) as an electron transport layer (ETL). Although atomic layer deposition (ALD) allows fabrication of uniform, high-quality ZnO films with minimal defects, the high conductivity of ZnO has hindered its straightforward application as an ETL in QD-LEDs. Herein, we propose fabrication of Al-doped ZnMgO (Al:ZnMgO) ETLs for QD-LEDs through a supercycle ALD, with alternating depositions of various metal oxides.

synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles in for light-driven ammonia production.

Ammonia (NH) is an important commodity chemical used as an agricultural fertilizer and hydrogen-storage material. There has recently been much interest in developing an environmentally benign process for NH synthesis. Here, we report enhanced production of ammonia from diazotrophs under light irradiation using hybrid composites of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and bacterial cells.

Selective photocatalytic C-C coupling of benzyl alcohol into hydrobenzoin using Pt-deposited CdS nanosheets passivated with cysteamine.

Achieving high selectivity towards hydrobenzoin (HB) from photocatalytic carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling reaction of benzyl alcohol (BzOH) remains a challenge due to side competing reactions and subsequent conversions of HB into its derivatives. In this study, we have developed a high-performance CdS-based photocatalyst for synthesizing HB with precisely controlled surface properties and structure, achieving high selectivity for HB synthesis. We employed strategies such as cysteamine passivation and Pt deposition to address issues related to photogenerated charge trapping and recombination, thereby enhancing the photocatalytic capability of CdS.

Advanced Vitrimer with Spiropyran Beads: A Multi-Responsive, Shape Memory, Self-Healing, and Reprocessable Smart Material.

Thermosetting materials have limitations in terms of reshaping and recycling due to their irreversible bond structures, leading to significant plastic waste issues. Recently, epoxy vitrimers based on dynamic covalent bond exchange have been introduced as promising alternatives to traditional thermosets. Particularly, they demonstrate significant potential applications in the field of multi-responsive materials.

Spatial Control of Nickel Vacancies in Colloidal NiMgO Nanocrystals for Efficient and Stable All-inorganic Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

Colloidal quantum dot (QD)-based light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) have reached the pinnacle of quantum efficiency and are now being actively developed for next-generation displays and brighter light sources. Previous research has suggested utilizing inorganic hole-transport layers (HTLs) to explore brighter and more stable QD-LEDs. However, the performance metrics of such QD-LEDs with inorganic HTLs generally lag behind those of organic-inorganic hybrid QD-LEDs employing organic HTLs.

Revealing the Filler-Matrix Interfacial Interactions: Real-Time Observation with Mechano-Responsive Spiropyran Microbeads.

Interfacial interactions between polymers and fillers play a crucial role in determining the performance of composite materials. In this study, mechano-responsive spiropyran (SP) beads, which exhibit fluorescence changes under stress, serve as force probes to evaluate force transfer efficiency across two types of interfaces: noncovalent and covalent. These interfaces are engineered by respectively employing physical blending and grafting polymerization to integrate hydroxyl SP beads with a polyurethane (PU) matrix.

Controlling the Phase Distribution of Single Bromide Quasi-2-Dimensional Perovskite Crystals via Solvent Engineering for Pure-Blue Light-Emitting Diodes.

To achieve pure-blue emission (460-470 nm), we manipulate the crystallization process of the quasi-2D perovskite, (PBA)CsPbBr, prepared by a solution process. The strategy involves controlling the distribution of "" phases with different bandgaps, solely utilizing changes in the precursor's supersaturation to ensure that the desired emission aligns with the smallest bandgap. Adjustments in photoluminescence (PL) wavelength are made by changing the solute concentration and solvent polarity, as these factors heavily influence the diffusion of cations, a crucial determinant for the value of "".

Strain-graded quantum dots with spectrally pure, stable and polarized emission.

Structural deformation modifies the bandgap, exciton fine structure and phonon energy of semiconductors, providing an additional knob to control their optical properties. The impact can be exploited in colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), wherein structural stresses can be imposed in three dimensions while defect formation is suppressed by controlling surface growth kinetics. Yet, the control over the structural deformation of QDs free from optically active defects has not been reached.

Oligomeric Zinc Thiolates Tethering Multidentate Carboxylates for Nondestructive Aqueous Phase Transfer of Quantum Dots.

Functionalization of quantum dots (QDs) via ligand exchange is prone to debase their photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) owing to the unavoidable surface damage by excess reactants, and even worse in aqueous medium. Herein, the oligomeric zinc thiolate as the multidentate hydrophilic ligand featuring facile synthetic protocol is proposed. A simple reaction between ZnCl and 3-mercaptopropionic acid produces oligomeric ligands containing 3-6 zinc thiolate units, where the terminal moieties provide multidentate anchoring to the surface as well as hydrophilicity.

Linearly polarized emission from CdSe/CdS core-in-rod nanostructures: Effects of core position.

Semiconductor nanocrystals with an anisotropic morphology exhibit unique properties, most notably their linear polarization. The colloidal growth of semiconductor nanorods with core dots inside, also referred to as dot-in-rod (DIR) structure, has enabled the synthesis of anisotropic nanocrystals with better stability and controllable fluorescence polarization. In this study, we synthesize CdSe/CdS DIR nanocrystals, in which the position of the CdSe core particle can be controlled by using different ligand compositions during the CdS growth.

Photodynamic treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infection using indium phosphide quantum dots.

Infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose an impending threat to humanity, as the evolution of MDR bacteria outpaces the development of effective antibiotics. In this work, we use indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) to treat infections caused by MDR bacteria photodynamic therapy (PDT), which shows superior bactericidal efficiency over common antibiotics. PDT in the presence of InP QDs results in high-efficiency bactericidal activity towards various bacterial species, including , , and .

Efficient, Selective CO Photoreduction Enabled by Facet-Resolved Redox-Active Sites on Colloidal CdS Nanosheets.

Advances in nanotechnology have enabled precise design of catalytic sites for CO photoreduction, pushing product selectivity to near unity. However, activity of most nanostructured photocatalysts remains underwhelming due to fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and sluggish hole transfer. To address these issues, we construct colloidal CdS nanosheets (NSs) with the large basal planes terminated by S atomic layers as intrinsic photocatalysts (CdS-S NSs).

Direct patterning of colloidal quantum dots with adaptable dual-ligand surface.

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) stand at the forefront of a variety of photonic applications given their narrow spectral bandwidth and near-unity luminescence efficiency. However, integrating luminescent QD films into photonic devices without compromising their optical or transport characteristics remains challenging. Here we devise a dual-ligand passivation system comprising photocrosslinkable ligands and dispersing ligands to enable QDs to be universally compatible with solution-based patterning techniques.

Light-Driven Ammonia Production by Cultured in Medium Containing Colloidal Quantum Dots.

There is an evergrowing demand for environment-friendly processes to synthesize ammonia (NH) from atmospheric nitrogen (N). Although diazotrophic N fixation represents an undeniably "green" process of NH synthesis, the slow reaction rate makes it less suitable for industrially meaningful large-scale production. Here, we report the photoinduced N fixation using a hybrid system composed of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) and aerobic N-fixing bacteria, .

Steering Interface Dipoles for Bright and Efficient All-Inorganic Quantum Dot Based Light-Emitting Diodes.

The state-of-the-art quantum dot (QD) based light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) reach near-unity internal quantum efficiency thanks to organic materials used for efficient hole transportation within the devices. However, toward high-current-density LEDs, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and head-up display, thermal vulnerability of organic components often results in device instability or breakdown. The adoption of a thermally robust inorganic hole transport layer (HTL), such as NiO, becomes a promising alternative, but the large energy offset between the NiO HTL and the QD emissive layer impedes the efficient operation of QD-LEDs.

Surface state-induced barrierless carrier injection in quantum dot electroluminescent devices.

The past decade has witnessed remarkable progress in the device efficiency of quantum dot light-emitting diodes based on the framework of organic-inorganic hybrid device structure. The striking improvement notwithstanding, the following conundrum remains underexplored: state-of-the-art devices with seemingly unfavorable energy landscape exhibit barrierless hole injection initiated even at sub-band gap voltages. Here, we unravel that the cause of barrierless hole injection stems from the Fermi level alignment derived by the surface states.

Polarized Electroluminescence Emission in High-Performance Quantum Rod Light-Emitting Diodes via the Langmuir-Blodgett Technique.

Due to their anisotropic structure, quantum rods (QRs) feature unique properties that differ from quantum dots, such as suppression of non-radiative Auger recombination and linearly polarized light emission. Despite many potential advantages, the progress of QR-based light-emitting diodes (QR-LEDs) is left behind due to the difficulty in aligning QRs. In this study, polarized electroluminescence emission is reported in high-performance QR-LEDs by employing the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique.

Fluorescence Switchable Block Copolymer Particles with Doubly Alternate-Layered Nanoparticle Arrays.

The precise self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) and inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) under 3D confinement offers microparticles with programmable nanostructures and functionalities. Here, fluorescence-switchable hybrid microspheres are developed by forming doubly alternating arrays of Au NPs and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) within polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) BCP domains. These doubly alternating arrays afford controlled nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) between the QDs and Au NPs that is dependent on the layer-to-layer distance.