Trapping shape-controlled nanoparticle nucleation and growth stages via continuous-flow chemistry.

Continuous flow chemistry is used to trap the nucleation and growth stages of platinum-nickel nano-octahedra with second time resolution and high throughputs to probe their properties ex situ. The growth starts from poorly crystalline particles (nucleation) at 5 seconds, to crystalline 1.5 nm particles bounded by the {111}-facets at 7.

Engineering Interfacial Charge Transfer in CsPbBr Perovskite Nanocrystals by Heterovalent Doping.

Since compelling device efficiencies of perovskite solar cells have been achieved, investigative efforts have turned to understand other key challenges in these systems, such as engineering interfacial energy-level alignment and charge transfer (CT). However, these types of studies on perovskite thin-film devices are impeded by the morphological and compositional heterogeneity of the films and their ill-defined surfaces. Here, we use well-defined ligand-protected perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) as model systems to elucidate the role of heterovalent doping on charge-carrier dynamics and energy level alignment at the interface of perovskite NCs with molecular acceptors.

Highly Efficient Perovskite-Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes by Surface Engineering.

A two-step ligand-exchange strategy is developed, in which the long-carbon- chain ligands on all-inorganic perovskite (CsPbX , X = Br, Cl) quantum dots (QDs) are replaced with halide-ion-pair ligands. Green and blue light-emitting diodes made from the halide-ion-pair-capped quantum dots exhibit high external quantum efficiencies compared with the untreated QDs.

Tailoring ruthenium exposure to enhance the performance of fcc platinum@ruthenium core-shell electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction.

The catalytic properties of noble metal nanocrystals are a function of their size, structure, and surface composition. In particular, achieving high activity without sacrificing stability is essential for designing commercially viable catalysts. A major challenge in designing state-of-the-art Ru-based catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is a key step in water splitting, is the poor stability and surface tailorability of these catalysts.

Air-Stable Surface-Passivated Perovskite Quantum Dots for Ultra-Robust, Single- and Two-Photon-Induced Amplified Spontaneous Emission.

We demonstrate ultra-air- and photostable CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) by using an inorganic-organic hybrid ion pair as the capping ligand. This passivation approach to perovskite QDs yields high photoluminescence quantum yield with unprecedented operational stability in ambient conditions (60 ± 5% lab humidity) and high pump fluences, thus overcoming one of the greatest challenges impeding the development of perovskite-based applications. Due to the robustness of passivated perovskite QDs, we were able to induce ultrastable amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in solution processed QD films not only through one photon but also through two-photon absorption processes.

From porous gold nanocups to porous nanospheres and solid particles--a new synthetic approach.

We report a versatile approach for the synthesis of porous gold nanocups, porous gold nanospheres and solid gold nanoparticles. Gold nanocups are formed by the slow reduction of gold salt (HAuCl4⋅3H2O) using aminoantipyrene (AAP) as a reducing agent. Adding polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to the gold salt followed by reduction with AAP resulted in the formation of porous gold nanospheres.