Lasing in an assembled array of silver nanocubes.

We demonstrate a surface lattice resonance (SLR)-based plasmonic nanolaser that leverages bulk production of colloidal nanoparticles and assembly on templates with single particle resolution. SLRs emerge from the hybridization of the plasmonic and photonic modes when nanoparticles are arranged into periodic arrays and this can provide feedback for stimulated emission. It has been shown that perfect arrays are not a strict prerequisite for producing lasing.

Tailored Design of Mesoporous Nanospheres with High Entropic Alloy Sites for Efficient Redox Electrocatalysis.

High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) are a versatile material with unique properties, tailored for various applications. They enable pH-sensitive electrocatalytic transformations like hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrogen oxidation reactions (HOR) in alkaline media. Mesoporous nanostructures with high surface area are preferred for these electrochemical reactions, but designing mesoporous HEA sis challenging.

Regulating Functional Groups Enhances the Performance of Flexible Microporous MXene/Bacterial Cellulose Electrodes in Supercapacitors.

Ultrathin MXene-based films exhibit superior conductivity and high capacitance, showing promise as electrodes for flexible supercapacitors. This work describes a simple method to enhance the performance of MXene-based supercapacitors by expanding and stabilizing the interlayer space between MXene flakes while controlling the functional groups to improve the conductivity. TiCT MXene flakes are treated with bacterial cellulose (BC) and NaOH to form a composite MXene/BC (A-M/BC) electrode with a microporous interlayer and high surface area (62.

Biobased chitosan-derived self-nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofibers containing nitrogen-doped zeolites for efficient removal of uremic toxins during hemodialysis.

Highly efficient adsorbents are needed to remove uremic toxins and reduce the economic and societal burden of the current dialysis treatments in resource-limited environments. In this study, nanostructured porous carbon nanofibers with nitrogen-doped zeolites (NZ-PCNF) were prepared, by electrospinning zeolites with chitosan-poly(ethylene oxide) blends, followed by a one-step carbonization process, without further activation steps or aggressive chemical additives for N-doping. The results showed that N-zeolites were successfully integrated into an ultrafine carbon nanofiber network, with a uniform nanofiber diameter of approximately 25 nm, hierarchical porous structure (micro- and mesopores), and high specific surface area (639.

Materials Space-Tectonics: Atomic-level Compositional and Spatial Control Methodologies for Synthesis of Future Materials.

Reactions occurring at surfaces and interfaces necessitate the creation of well-designed surface and interfacial structures. To achieve a combination of bulk material (i.e.

Designing reliable and accurate isotope-tracer experiments for CO photoreduction.

The photoreduction of carbon dioxide (CO) into renewable synthetic fuels is an attractive approach for generating alternative energy feedstocks that may compete with and eventually displace fossil fuels. However, it is challenging to accurately trace the products of CO photoreduction on account of the poor conversion efficiency of these reactions and the imperceptible introduced carbon contamination. Isotope-tracing experiments have been used to solve this problem, but they frequently yield false-positive results because of improper experimental execution and, in some cases, insufficient rigor.

Plasmon-Triggered Ultrafast Operation of Color Centers in Hexagonal Boron Nitride Layers.

High-quality emission centers in two-dimensional materials are promising components for future photonic and optoelectronic applications. Carbon-enriched hexagonal boron nitride (hBN:C) layers host atom-like color-center (CC) defects with strong and robust photoemission up to room temperature. Placing the hBN:C layers on top of Ag triangle nanoparticles (NPs) accelerates the decay of the CC defects down to 46 ps from their reference bulk value of 350 ps.

The revelation of glucose adsorption mechanisms on hierarchical metal-organic frameworks using a surface plasmon resonance sensor.

The gold layer on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor chip cannot detect small molecules, such as glucose without the use of specific receptors. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are useful in biosensing technologies for capturing and co-localizing enzymes and receptors with the target biomolecule. In many previous studies, the properties of the MOFs were often ignored, with these studies focusing on the selection of appropriate receptors.

Noble-Metal-Metalloid Alloy Architectures: Mesoporous Amorphous Iridium-Tellurium Alloy for Electrochemical N Reduction.

Amorphous noble metals with high surface areas have attracted significant interest as heterogeneous catalysts due to the numerous dangling bonds and abundant unsaturated surface atoms created by the amorphous phase. However, synthesizing amorphous noble metals with high surface areas remains a significant challenge due to strong isotropic metallic bonds. This paper describes the first example of a mesoporous amorphous noble metal alloy [iridium-tellurium (IrTe)] obtained using a micelle-directed synthesis method.

Shape influence on the ultrafast plasmonic properties of gold nanoparticles.

The aim of shape-controlled colloidal synthesis of gold (Au) is to produce Au nanoparticles (NPs) with fine control of shapes, sizes, and dispersities. We show how transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) can be used to rapidly and accurately quantify the vast ensemble of shapes of Au NPs in solution within minutes, including the synthesized nanorods, decahedra, and nanospheres. Colloidal solutions containing Au NPs were measured in TAS and their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) modes were classified according to the shape, wavelength and number of peaks.

Tailoring the Structure of Chitosan-Based Porous Carbon Nanofiber Architectures toward Efficient Capacitive Charge Storage and Capacitive Deionization.

Carbon nanoarchitectures derived from biobased building blocks are potential sustainable alternatives to electrode materials generated with petroleum-derived resources. We aim at developing a fundamental understanding on the connection between the structure and electrochemical performance of porous carbon nanofiber (PCNF) architectures from the polysaccharide chitosan as a biobased building block. We fabricated a range of PCNF architectures from the chitosan carbon precursor and tailored their structure by varying the amount and molecular weight of the sacrificial pore-forming polymer poly(ethylene oxide).

Recent Advances and Perspectives of Battery-Type Anode Materials for Potassium Ion Storage.

Potassium ion energy storage devices are competitive candidates for grid-scale energy storage applications owing to the abundancy and cost-effectiveness of potassium (K) resources, the low standard redox potential of K/K, and the high ionic conductivity in K-salt-containing electrolytes. However, the sluggish reaction dynamics and poor structural instability of battery-type anodes caused by the insertion/extraction of large K ions inhibit the full potential of K ion energy storage systems. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the exploration of promising anode materials.

Realizing Superior Redox Kinetics of Hollow Bimetallic Sulfide Nanoarchitectures by Defect-Induced Manipulation toward Flexible Solid-State Supercapacitors.

As a typical battery-type material, CuCo S is a promising candidate for supercapacitors due to the high theoretical specific capacity. However, its practical application is plagued by inherently sluggish ion diffusion kinetics and inferior electrical transport properties. Herein, sulfur vacancies are incorporated in CuCo S hollow nanoarchitectures (HNs) to accelerate redox reactivity.

Metal-Organic Framework-Derived CoO/Carbon Composite Array for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their derivatives are promising materials for energy conversion and storage. This study demonstrates a solvent-free method to fabricate a CoO/carbon composite array derived from ZIF-67 for asymmetric supercapacitors. Tree-like Co metal arrays are electrodeposited on a surface and then directly converted into composite ZIF-67/Co-based MOF arrays via a chemical vapor deposition method (MOF-CVD).

Random Lasing via Plasmon-Induced Cavitation of Microbubbles.

Numerous laboratories have observed random lasing from optically pumped solutions of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) suspended with organic dye molecules. The underlying mechanism is typically attributed to the formation of closed-loop optical cavities enabled by the large local field and scattering enhancements in the vicinity of plasmonic NPs. In this manuscript, we propose an alternative mechanism that does not directly require the plasmon resonance.

Free-standing membranes from the chemical exfoliation of mesoporous amorphous titania thin film.

Thin films are typically bound to their substrate, limiting their integration on rough, porous, curved or chemically/thermally sensitive surfaces. Instead of employing tedious and expensive back-etching processes, specific chemical routes can enable the exfoliation of such thin structures. Herein, we demonstrate that an alkaline treatment can exfoliate a hybrid thin film comprising amorphous titania embedded in well-ordered block-copolymer micelles, which can be redeposited elsewhere.

Temperature-dependent electronic structure of bixbyite α-MnO and the importance of a subtle structural change on oxygen electrocatalysis.

Bixbyite -MnO is an inexpensive Earth-abundant mineral that can be used to drive both oxygen evolution (OER) and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) in alkaline conditions. It possesses a subtle orthorhombic cubic phase change near room temperature that suppresses Jahn-Teller distortions and presents a unique opportunity to study how atomic structure affects the electronic structure and catalytic activity at a temperature range that is easily accessible in OER/ORR experiments. Previously, we observed that heat-treated -MnO had a better performance as a bifunctional catalyst in the oxygen evolution (OER) and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) (.

Ultrafine self-N-doped porous carbon nanofibers with hierarchical pore structure utilizing a biobased chitosan precursor.

Ultrafine porous carbon nanofiber network with ~40 nm fiber diameter is realized for the first time utilizing a biobased polymer as carbon precursor. A simple one-step carbonization procedure is applied to convert the electrospun chitosan/poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibers to self-N-doped ultrafine hierarchically porous carbon nanofiber interconnected web. The pore formation process is governed by the immiscible nature of the two polymers and the sacrificial character of poly(ethylene oxide) with low carbon yield at the carbonization temperature (800 °C).

Amorphous Alloy Architectures in Pore Walls: Mesoporous Amorphous NiCoB Alloy Spheres with Controlled Compositions a Chemical Reduction.

Amorphous bimetallic borides are an emerging class of catalytic nanomaterial that has demonstrated excellent catalytic performance due to its glass-like structure, abundant unsaturated active sites, and synergistic electronic effects. However, the creation of mesoporous Earth-abundant bimetallic metal borides with tunable metal proportion remains a challenge. Herein, we develop a sophisticated and controllable dual-reducing agent strategy to synthesize the mesoporous nickel-cobalt boron (NiCoB) amorphous alloy spheres (AASs) with adjustable compositions by using a soft template-directed assembly approach.

Plasmonic-induced self-assembly of WGM cavities via laser cavitation.

We show how photoexcitation of a single plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) in solution can create a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) droplet resonator. Small nano/microbubbles are initially formed by laser-induced heating that is localized by the plasmon resonance. Fast imaging shows that the bubbles collect and condense around the NP and form a droplet in the interior of the bubble.

A universal approach for the synthesis of mesoporous gold, palladium and platinum films for applications in electrocatalysis.

High-surface-area mesoporous materials expose abundant functional sites for improved performance in applications such as gas storage/separation, catalysis, and sensing. Recently, soft templates composed of amphiphilic surfactants and block copolymers have been used to introduce mesoporosity in various materials, including metals, metal oxides and carbonaceous compounds. In particular, mesoporous metals are attractive in electrocatalysis because their porous networks expose numerous unsaturated atoms on high-index facets that are highly active in catalysis.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Mesoporous Architectured Ru Films Using Supramolecular Templates.

The electrochemical synthesis of mesoporous ruthenium (Ru) films using sacrificial self-assembled block polymer micelles templates, and its electrochemical surface oxidation to RuO is described. Unlike standard methods such as thermal oxidation, the electrochemical oxidation method described here retains the mesoporous structure. Ru oxide materials serve as high-performance supercapacitor electrodes due to their excellent pseudocapacitive behavior.

Scalable synthesis of holey graphite nanosheets for supercapacitors with high volumetric capacitance.

We prepared a material composed of high-density holey graphite nanosheets (HGNs) that supports a high gravimetric capacitance of 295 F g and a volumetric capacitance of 384 F cm for use as electrodes in supercapacitor devices. This method is a simple and scalable route to obtain large amounts of holey two-dimensional materials with high electrochemical performances.

Mesoporous Iron-doped MoS/CoMoS Heterostructures through Organic-Metal Cooperative Interactions on Spherical Micelles for Electrochemical Water Splitting.

Mesoporous metal sulfide hybrid (meso-MoS/CoMoS) materials via a soft-templating approach using diblock copolymer polystyrene--poly(acrylic acid) micelles are reported. The formation of the meso-MoS/CoMoS heterostructures is based on the sophisticated coassembly of dithiooxamide and metal precursors (, Co, PMo), which are subsequently annealed in nitrogen atmosphere to generate the mesoporous material. Decomposing the polymer leaves behind mesopores throughout the spherical MoS/CoMoS hybrid particles, generating numerous electrochemical active sites in a network of pores that enable faster charge transfer and mass/gas diffusion that enhance the electrocatalytic performance of MoS/CoMoS.