Nitrogen-plasma treated hafnium oxyhydroxide as an efficient acid-stable electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions.

Development of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions in strong acids represents a great challenge for developing high efficiency, durable, and cost effective electrolyzers and fuel cells. We report herein that hafnium oxyhydroxide with incorporated nitrogen by treatment using an atmospheric nitrogen plasma demonstrates high catalytic activity and stability for both hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions in strong acidic media using earth-abundant materials. The observed properties are especially important for unitized regenerative fuel cells using polymer electrolyte membranes.

Quantum dot nanoscale heterostructures for solar energy conversion.

Quantum dot nanoscale semiconductor heterostructures (QDHs) are a class of materials potentially useful for integration into solar energy conversion devices. However, realizing the potential of these heterostructured systems requires the ability to identify and synthesize heterostructures with suitably designed materials, controlled size and morphology of each component, and structural control over their shared interface. In this review, we will present the case for the utility and advantages of chemically synthesized QDHs for solar energy conversion, beginning with an overview of various methods of heterostructured material synthesis and a survey of heretofore reported materials systems.

Multiresonant Multidimensional Spectroscopy of Surface-Trapped Excitons in PbSe Quantum Dots.

Recent work spectrally isolated and measured the quantum states associated with ultrafast relaxation from an initially excited 1S excitonic state to a lower energy state that is present in an inadequately capped PbSe quantum dot sample. The relaxed state was attributed to a surface-trapped exciton (STE). This letter reports the line-narrowed, multiresonant, two-dimensional spectrum of this sample.

Epitaxial Heterostructures of Lead Selenide Quantum Dots on Hematite Nanowires.

We present a novel method for synthesizing epitaxial quantum dot-nanowire (QD-NW) heterostructures using the example of colloidal PbSe QDs decorated on furnace-grown hematite (α-Fe2O3) NWs. The direct heterogeneous nucleation of QDs on Fe2O3 NWs relies upon an aggressive surface dehydration of the as-synthesized Fe2O3 NWs at 350 °C under vacuum and subsequent introduction of colloidal reactants resulting in direct growth of PbSe QDs on Fe2O3. The synthesis is tunable: the QD diameter distribution and density of QDs on the NWs increase with increased dehydration time, and QD diameters and size distributions decrease with decreased injection temperature of the colloidal synthesis.

Spin polarization measurement of homogeneously doped Fe(1-x)Co(x)Si nanowires by Andreev reflection spectroscopy.

We report a general method for determining the spin polarization from nanowire materials using Andreev reflection spectroscopy implemented with a Nb superconducting contact and common electron-beam lithography device fabrication techniques. This method was applied to magnetic semiconducting Fe(1-x)Co(x)Si alloy nanowires with x̅ = 0.23, and the average spin polarization extracted from 6 nanowire devices is 28 ± 7% with a highest observed value of 35%.

Synthesis and magnetic properties of Gd doped EuS nanocrystals with enhanced Curie temperatures.

EuS nanocrystals (NCs) were doped with Gd resulting in an enhancement of their magnetic properties. New EuS and GdS single source precursors (SSPs) were synthesized, characterized, and employed to synthesize Eu(1-x)Gd(x)S NCs by decomposition in oleylamine and trioctylphosphine at 290 °C. The doped NCs were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy, which support the uniform distribution of Gd dopants through electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) mapping.

Element-specific magnetometry of EuS nanocrystals.

A soft x-ray absorption and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study of the ferromagnetism in solution-grown EuS nanocrystals (NCs) is reported. The absorption edges of Eu M(5) and M(4), S K, O K, and P K were probed to determine elementally specific contributions to the magnetism of EuS NCs. Differential spin absorption was observed by XMCD at the Eu M(5,4) edges confirming the presence of a magnetic moment on the Eu(2+) 4f shell.