Recent advances in manipulating plasmonic properties of metal/semiconductor heterostructures have opened up new avenues for basic research and applications. Herein, we present a versatile strategy for the assembly of arrays of plasmonic metal/semiconductor hemispherical nano-heterostructures (MSHNs) with control over spacing and size of the metal/semiconductor heterostructure array, which can facilitate a wide range of scientific studies and applications. The strategy combines nanosphere lithography for generating the metal core array with solution-based chemical methods for the semiconductor shell that are widely available and kinetically controllable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe quest to control chromophore/semiconductor properties to enable new technologies in energy and information science requires detailed understanding of charge carrier dynamics at the atomistic level, which can often be attained through the use of model systems. Perylene-bridge-anchor compounds are successful models for studying fundamental charge transfer processes on TiO, which remains among the most commonly investigated and technologically important interfaces, mostly because of perylene's advantageous electronic and optical properties. Nonetheless, the ability to fully exploit synthetically the substitution pattern of perylene with linker (= bridge-anchor) units remains little explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2019
The ZnO/CuO heterojunction promises high efficiency in photocurrent conversion and other light-driven processes, but the lattice mismatch between ZnO and CuO leads to slow electron transfer and low conversion efficiency. In addition, the stability of CuO is still the main challenging and limiting factor for device applications in real environments. CuO is a mixed semiconductor of CuO and CuO, which is a promising alternative to CuO in device fabrication due to its better stability and photocatalytic efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeutral and deprotonated anionic Ni(II), Pd(II), Cu(II), and Cu(III) complexes of tetrakis(perfluorophenyl)-N-confused porphyrin (PF-NCP) were prepared and investigated by UV-visible and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopies. As in the previously reported Ni(II) adduct of tetraphenyl N-confused porphyrin, we observe sign reverse (positive to negative intensities with increasing energy) features in the MCD spectra of the neutral Ni(II), Pd(II), and Cu(II) complexes of PF-NCP, which is indicative of rare ΔHOMO < ΔLUMO relationships. Upon deprotonation of Ni(II), Pd(II), and Cu(II) complexes, these features revert to those of more typical porphyrin MCD spectra consistent with a ΔHOMO > ΔLUMO condition.
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