Surface-tuning TiO NR photoanodes using CoO interlayers and NiFe-LDH cocatalysts for photoelectrochemical wastewater treatment.

Increasing multidrug-resistant pathogenic microbial around the world become a global problem, making it imperative to develop effective methods for bacterial inactivation in wastewater. In this study, we propose a multifunctional photoelectrochemical (PEC) system to successfully disinfect microbial cells and degrade orange (II) dyes. CoO NP were synthesized by spin-coating onto hydrothermally synthesized TiO nanorod arrays followed by electrodeposited NiFe-LDH to develop the NiFe-LDH/CoO NP-TiO NRs.

Dual Chalcogen-Bonding Interaction for High-Performance Filterless Narrowband Organic Photodetectors.

A novel green-absorbing organic molecule featuring dual intramolecular chalcogen bonds is synthesized and characterized. This molecule incorporates two such bonds: one between a tellurium atom and the oxygen atom of a carbonyl moiety, and the other between the tellurium atom and the adjacent nitrogen atom within a pyridine moiety. The molecule, featuring dual intramolecular chalcogen bonds exhibits a narrow absorption spectrum and elevated absorption coefficients, closely aligned with a resonance parameter of approximately 0.

Water Hydrogen-Bond Mediated Layer by Layer Alignment of Lipid Rafts as a Precursor of Intermembrane Processes.

Lipid rafts, which are dynamic nanodomains in the plasma membrane, play a crucial role in intermembrane processes by clustering together and growing in size within the plane of the membrane while also aligning with each other across different membranes. However, the physical origin of layer by layer alignment of lipid rafts remains to be elucidated. Here, by using fluorescence imaging and synchrotron X-ray reflectivity in a phase-separated multilayer system, we find that the alignment of raft-mimicking L domains is regulated by the distance between bilayers.

Impact of molecular symmetry on crystallization pathways in highly supersaturated KHPO solutions.

Solute structure and its evolution in supersaturated aqueous solutions are key clues to understand Ostwald's step rule. Here, we measure the structural evolution of solute molecules in highly supersaturated solutions of KHPO (KDP) and NHHPO (ADP) using a combination of electrostatic levitation and synchrotron X-ray scattering. The measurement reveals the existence of a solution-solution transition in KDP solution, caused by changing molecular symmetries and structural evolution of the solution with supersaturation.

In situ fabrication of Ag decorated porous ZnO photocatalyst via inorganic-organic hybrid transformation for degradation of organic pollutant and bacterial inactivation.

In this study, in situ silver (Ag) - porous ZnO photocatalysts were synthesized via solvothermal and post-annealing treatment. The formation of the porous ZnO structure due to the removal of organic moieties from the inorganic-organic hybrids Ag-ZnS(en) during the annealing process. The optimal Ag-ZnO photocatalyst showed excellent photocatalytic degradation activity, with 95.

TiO nanorod/nanotube interface reconstruction and synergistic role of oxygen vacancies and gold in H-Au-TiO NR/NT for photoelectrochemical bacterial inactivation and water splitting.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting by semiconductor photoanodes is limited by sluggish water oxidation kinetics coupled with serious charge recombinations. In this paper, an effective strategy of TiO nanorod/nanotube nanostructured interface reconstruction, oxygen vacancies and surface modification were employed for stability and efficient charge transport in the photoanodes. Successive anodization and hydrothermal routes were adopted for the TiO NR/NT photoanodes interface reconstruction, followed by Au nanoparticles/clusters (Au NP) loading and hydrogen treatment.

Synergistic role of hydrogen treatment and heterojunction in H-WO/TiO NT/Ti foil-based photoanodes for photoelectrochemical wastewater detoxification and antibacterial activity.

The process of photoelectrochemical wastewater detoxification is limited by significant charge recombination, which is difficult to suppress with efficient single-material photoanodes. We demonstrated the effectiveness of hydrogen treatment in evaluating charge separation properties in WO/TiO NT/Ti foil heterojunction photoanodes. The influence of varying hydrogen annealing (200-400 °C) on the structural and photoelectrochemical properties of WO/TiO NS/NT heterojunction is studied systematically.

Synergistic role of in-situ Zr-doping and cobalt oxide cocatalysts on photocatalytic bacterial inactivation and organic pollutants removal over template-free FeO nanorods.

Herein, we synthesized in-situ Zr-doped FeO NRs photocatalyst by successive simple hydrothermal and air quenching methods. The synergistic roles of CoO (1 wt%) and Zr-doping on bacteria inactivation and model organic pollutants over FeO NRs photocatalyst were studied in detail. Initially, rod-like Zr ((0-8) %)-doped FeO NRs were produced via a hydrothermal method.

Giant Orbital Anisotropy with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Established at the Pseudomorphic Interface of the Co/Pd Superlattice.

Orbital anisotropy at interfaces in magnetic heterostructures has been key to pioneering spin-orbit-related phenomena. However, modulating the interface's electronic structure to make it abnormally asymmetric has been challenging because of lack of appropriate methods. Here, the authors report that low-energy proton irradiation achieves a strong level of inversion asymmetry and unusual strain at interfaces in [Co/Pd] superlattices through nondestructive, selective removal of oxygen from Co O /Pd superlattices during irradiation.

Large-Area Epitaxial Film Growth of van der Waals Ferromagnetic Ternary Chalcogenides.

Following the first experimental realization of intrinsic ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals (vdW) crystals, several ternary metal chalcogenides with unprecedented long-range ferromagnetic order have been explored. However, the synthesis of large-area 2D ternary metal chalcogenide thin films is a great challenge, and a generalized synthesis has not been demonstrated yet. Here, a quick and scalable synthesis of epitaxially aligned ferromagnetic ternary metal chalcogenide thin films (Cr Ge Te , Cr Si Te , Mn Si Te ) is reported.

Scalable High-Pressure Synthesis of sp-sp Carbon Nanoribbon via [4 + 2] Polymerization of 1,3,5-Triethynylbenzene.

Pressure-induced polymerization of aromatics is an effective method to construct extended carbon materials, including the diamond-like nanothread and graphitic structures, but the reaction pressure of phenyl is typically around 20 GPa and too high to be applied for large-scale preparation. Here by introducing ethynyl to phenyl, we obtained a sp-sp carbon nanoribbon structure by compressing 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene (TEB), and the reaction pressure of phenyl was successfully decreased to 4 GPa, which is the lowest reaction pressure of aromatics at room temperature. Using experimental and theoretical methods, we figured out that the ethynylphenyl of TEB undergoes [4 + 2] dehydro-Diels-Alder (DDA) reaction with phenyl upon compression at an intermolecular C···C distance above 3.

Surface Diffusion and Epitaxial Self-Planarization for Wafer-Scale Single-Grain Metal Chalcogenide Thin Films.

Although wafer-scale single-grain thin films of 2D metal chalcogenides (MCs) have been extensively sought after during the last decade, the grain size of the MC thin films is still limited in the sub-millimeter scale. A general strategy of synthesizing wafer-scale single-grain MC thin films by using commercial wafers (Si, Ge, GaAs) both as metal source and epitaxial collimator is presented. A new mechanism of single-grain thin-film formation, surface diffusion, and epitaxial self-planarization is proposed, where chalcogen elements migrate preferentially along substrate surface and the epitaxial crystal domains flow to form an atomically smooth thin film.

Preliminary Validation of a Continuum Model for Dimple Patterns on Polyethylene Naphthalate via Ar Ion Beam Sputtering.

This work reports the self-organization of dimple nanostructures on a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) surface where an Ar ion beam was irradiated at an ion energy of 600 eV. The peak-to-peak roughness and diameter of dimple nanostructures were 29.1~53.

MgO Thin Film Growth on Si(001) by Radio-Frequency Sputtering Method.

Herein, sputtering duration and annealing temperature effects on the structure and local electronic structure of MgO thin films were studied using synchrotron radiation based X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopic investigations. These films were grown at substrate temperature of 350 °C by varying sputtering duration from 25 min to 324 min in radio frequency (RF) sputtering method followed by post-deposition annealing at 400, 600 and 700 °C for 3 h. These films were amorphous upto certain sputtering durations, typically upto 144 min and attains crystallization thereafter.

Color modulation by selective excitation activated defects and complex cation distribution in ZnMgAlO nanocrystals.

Complex cation distribution in spinel solid solution, fosters defect generation and permutates the optical properties. To scrutinize the effect on structural properties, viz. the cation distribution and defect states upon substitution of Zn with Mg; and to tune the emission properties, Zn1-xMgxAl2O4 (0.

Structural Transition and Interdigitation of Alkyl Side Chains in the Conjugated Polymer Poly(3-hexylthiophene) and Their Effects on the Device Performance of the Associated Organic Field-Effect Transistor.

Direct grazing-angle X-ray scattering evidence of the order-disorder transition and interdigitation of side chains in a conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is presented. The free methyl ends of the side chains exhibit closest packing, as in -alkane crystallization, and cause a structural mismatch due to the difference between their packing density and the areal density of the attached ends. This mismatch is resolved by increases in the tilt angle of the side chains and local interdigitation.

Alkyl Conformation and π-π Interaction Dependent on Polymorphism in the 1,8-Naphthalimide (NI) Derivative.

The 1,8-naphthalimide (NI) derivative Lumogen F Violet 570 exhibits different photoluminescence (PL) and aggregation-caused quenching properties due to its crystal polymorphism, which depends on the solvent evaporation process in tetrahydrofuran solution. In the slow drying process, molecules aggregated into an energetically more stable form (time-dependent density functional theory calculation), of which the PL peak maximum was 453 nm, corresponding to blue emission at the 365 nm excitation. However, the fast evaporation process induces an energetically less stable form, with a PL peak maximum of 508 nm, corresponding to green emission.

ZnO:Ga-graded ITO electrodes to control interface between PCBM and ITO in planar perovskite solar cells.

Ga-doped ZnO (GZO)-graded layer, facilitating electron extraction from electron transport layer, was integrated on the surface of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) cathode by using graded sputtering technique to improve the performance of planar n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The thickness of graded GZO layer was controlled to optimize GZO-indium tin oxide (ITO) combined electrode for planar n-i-p PSCs. At optimized graded thickness of 15 nm, the GZO-ITO combined electrode showed an optical transmittance of 95%, a resistivity of 2.

Highly self-diffused Sn doping in α-FeO nanorod photoanodes initiated from β-FeOOH nanorod/FTO by hydrogen treatment for solar water oxidation.

In this study, we present an advanced strategy of low-temperature hydrogen annealing combined with high- temperature quenching in air for activating α-FeO nanorod photoanodes to boost the photoelectrochemical performance. We report that various low-temperature annealing conditions (340, 360, 380, and 400 °C) under hydrogen gas flow convert β-FeOOH into magnetite (FeO) as well as introduce Sn diffusion from FTO substrates to its surface. Furthermore, high-temperature quenching (800 °C) resulted in the phase change of magnetite (FeO) into hematite (α-FeO) and self Sn doping into the hematite lattice.

Manipulating the crystal structure of a conjugated polymer for efficient sequentially processed organic solar cells.

Recently, the sequential (Sq) process, which forms nanoscale network structures from quasi-solid-state inter-diffusion through swelling and annealing, is considered to be one of the most efficient methods for fabricating organic solar cells and blend films. Here, we examined the effect of the crystallinity and orientation of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) molecules on the formation of the nanostructure by carrying out a Sq process using various solvents with different boiling points. We showed that the moderate crystallinity promoted suitable inter-diffusion between the donor (P3HT) and acceptor ([6,6]-pentadeuterophenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester, PCBM), and hence was important for achieving high-performance solar cells using Sq processing.

Data on the effect of improved TiO/FTO interface and Ni(OH) cocatalyst on the photoelectrochemical performances and stability of CdS cased ZnInS/TiO heterojunction.

This data article presents the experimental evidences of the effect of TiO-fluorine doped tin oxide interface annealing and Ni(OH) cocatalysts on the photoelectrochemical, structural, morphological and optical properties of Ni(OH)/CdS/ZnInS/TiO heterojunction. The Raman spectroscopy exhibits the sharp features of the rutile phase of TiO and in agreement with the X-ray diffraction data. The band gap energy of the 500 °C sample was found to be 3.

Using Femtosecond Laser Irradiation to Enhance the Vertical Electrical Properties and Tailor the Morphology of a Conducting Polymer Blend Film.

We report femtosecond infrared laser-induced selective tailoring of carrier transport as well as surface morphology on a conducting polymer blend thin film. Maximal 2.4 times enhancement on vertical current transport in poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester, was achieved by this irradiation.