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.

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.

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 .

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, .