Tuning the Liquid Crystallinity and Electroluminescence via Sulfonation of S-Annulated Perylene Tetraester.

This study presents a comparative analysis of S-annulated perylene tetraester (PTE-S) and its sulfone (PTE-SO) analogue. This sulfone modification reduced melting point and stabilized a room temperature columnar rectangular (Col) phase in contrast to its parent PTE-S which showed a crystalline behaviour at room temperature. This molecular design also leads to red-shifted absorbance and emission in comparison to PTE-S, along with a tuning of photoluminescence from sky blue to green, achieving an impressive quantum yield of 85 %.

Solution-based electrostatic self-assembly route for obtaining graphene-transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures.

Heterostructures of 2D materials have provided splendid insights into fundamental phenomena and are also promising for numerous applications. However, the protocols for obtaining them remain highly specific and lack scalability. Herein, the demonstrated protocol employs surfactant-assisted exfoliation and centrifugation-based size-selection of nanosheets for synthesizing heterostructures through electrostatic self-assembly.

Amorphous Anode Materials for Fast-charging Lithium-ion Batteries.

Fast-charging technology is set to revolutionize the field of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), driving the creation of next-generation devices with the ability to get charged within a short span of time. From the anode perspective, it is of paramount importance to design materials that can withstand continuous Li insertion/deinsertion at high charging rates and still remain unaffected by factors such as mechanical fractures, electrolyte side reactions, polarisation, lithium plating and heat generation. Herein, the recent advancements in the design of amorphous materials as anodes for fast-charging LIBs have been discussed.

Light-regulated morphology control in supramolecular polymers.

Stimuli-responsive materials have gained significant recent interest owing to their versatility and wide applications in fields ranging from materials science to biology. In the majority of examples, external stimuli, including light, act as a remote source of energy to depolymerize/deconstruct certain nanostructures or provide energy for exploring their functional features. However, there is little emphasis on the creation and precise control of these materials.

3R-NbS as a highly stable anode for sodium-ion batteries.

Anode materials for advanced sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) require major improvements with regard to their cycling stability, which is a crucial parameter for long-term battery operation. Herein, we report 3R-NbS, synthesised by a simple solid-state annealing route, as an anode for SIBs with remarkable cycling stability for 2500 cycles at 0.5 A g.

Biotene: Earth-Abundant 2D Material as Sustainable Anode for Li/Na-Ion Battery.

Natural ores are abundant, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. Ultrathin (2D) layers of a naturally abundant van der Waals mineral, Biotite, have been prepared in bulk via exfoliation. We report here that this 2D Biotene material has shown extraordinary Li-Na-ion battery anode properties with ultralong cycling stability.

Dual-Functional Electrochromic Smart Window Using WO·HO-rGO Nanocomposite Ink Spray-Coated on a Low-Cost Hybrid Electrode.

Electrochromic windows have gained growing interest for their ability to change their optical state in the visible and NIR ranges with minimal input power, making them energy-efficient. However, material processing costs, fabrication complexity, and poor electrochromic properties can be barriers to the widespread adoption of this technology. To address these issues, electrochromic material and fabrication processes are designed to realize their potential as a cost-effective and energy-efficient technology.

Influence of van der Waals Interactions between the Alkyl Chains of Surface Ligands on the Size and Size Distribution of Nanocrystals Prepared by the Digestive Ripening Process.

Thermal heating of polydispersed nanocrystals (NCs) with surface-active organic ligands in a solvent leads to the formation of monodispersed NCs, and this process is known as digestive ripening (DR). Here, by performing DR on Au NCs using different-chain-length amine and thiol ligands, we evidently show that ligands with C chain length result in the formation of NCs with narrow size distributions when compared to C, C, and C chain length ligands. Furthermore, our findings also show that in the case of alkyl thiol, the NC size remains more or less the same, while the size distribution gets altered significantly with the chain length.

Tailoring Chiral Discotic Liquid Crystals: Mesophase Engineering through Alternative Approaches and Chain Lengths.

Hydrogen (H)-bonding is crucial in constructing superstructures in chemical (such as chiral discotic liquid crystals (DLCs)) as well as in biological systems due to its specific and directional nature. In this context, we achieved the successful synthesis of two branches of heptazine-based H-bonded complexes using distinct strategies. Hpz*-Es-C , we incorporated chiral alkyl tails (Hpz-chiral) onto the central C symmetric heptazine core, connected to achiral benzoic acid derivatives (Es-C acid) through H-bonding.

IR regulation through preferential placement of h-BN nanosheets in a polymer network liquid crystal.

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in devices which effectively shield near-infrared light with an additional feature of external field tunability, particularly for energy-saving applications. This article demonstrates an approach for fabricating a highly efficient near-infrared regulating device based on a polymer network liquid crystal reinforced with nanosheets of hexagonal-boron nitride (BN). The device achieves ∼84% IR scattering capability over a wavelength range of 800-2300 nm, and can also be regulated by an electric field.

NbO a Highly Stable, Ultrafast Anode Material for Li- and Na-Ion Batteries.

Anode materials with fast charging capabilities and stability are critical for realizing next-generation Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and Na-ion batteries (SIBs). The present work employs a simple synthetic strategy to obtain NbO and studies its applications as an anode for LIB and SIB. In the case of the LIB, it exhibited a specific capacity of 344 mAh g at 100 mA g.

Towards complete photonic band gap in a high refractive index nanoparticle-doped blue phase liquid crystal.

Three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals with complete photonic band gap (PBG) are fascinating due to the possibility of controlling light in all directions. Realizing such photonic crystals is nontrivial due to symmetry requirements and associated fabrication challenges. Liquid crystalline cubic blue phases (BPs) are soft 3D photonic crystals with an incomplete PBG due to the low refractive index contrast (<0.

Biogenic Silver Nanoparticles/Mg-Al Layered Double Hydroxides with Peroxidase-like Activity for Mercury Detection and Antibacterial Activity.

Over the past decade, the attention of researchers has been drawn to materials with enzyme-like properties to substitute natural enzymes. The ability of nanomaterials to mimic enzymes makes them excellent enzyme mimics; nevertheless, there is a wide berth for improving their activity and providing a platform to heighten their potential. Herein, we report a green and facile route for leaves extract-assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) decorated on Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (Mg-Al-OH@TGLE-AgNPs) as a nanocatalyst.

Highly Soluble Ambipolar anti-Perylene-3,4 : 9,10-bis(benzimidazole)s Stabilize a Room-Temperature Columnar Hexagonal Phase.

A new series of highly soluble perylene anti-bis(4,5-dialkoxybenzimidazole)s bearing branched flexible chains stabilizing room temperature columnar hexagonal phase and with balanced ambipolar charge carrier mobility is reported for the first time. Only the anti isomer was successfully separated and characterized. These compounds have a high extinction coefficient, small optical band gap and wide absorption range, thus making them a promising class of ambipolar organic semiconductors capable of self-organizing.

Spontaneous Decoration of Ultrasmall Pt Nanoparticles on Size-Separated MoS Nanosheets.

Liquid exfoliation can be considered as a viable approach for the scalable production of 2D materials due to its various benefits, although the polydispersity in the obtained nanosheet size hinders their straightforward incorporation. Size-separation can help alleviate these concerns, however a correlation between nanosheet size and property needs to be established to bring about size-specific applicability. Herein, size-selected aqueous nanosheet dispersions have been obtained via centrifugation-based protocols, and their chemical activity in the spontaneous reduction of chloroplatinic acid is investigated.

Realizing the Lowest Bandgap and Exciton Binding Energy in a Two-Dimensional Lead Halide System.

Finding stable analogues of three-dimensional (3D) lead halide perovskites has motivated the exploration of an ever-expanding repertoire of two-dimensional (2D) counterparts. However, the bandgap and exciton binding energy in these 2D systems are generally considerably higher than those in 3D analogues due to size and dielectric confinement. Such quantum confinements are most prominently manifested in the extreme 2D realization in ()PbI ( = 1 or 2) series of compounds with a single inorganic layer repeat unit.

Low temperature synthesis of crystalline pyrite FeS for high energy density supercapacitors.

Herein, we report a low-temperature synthesis of crystalline pyrite-FeS through a solid-state annealing route, which was achieved using FeOOH, a metastable precursor, in the presence of HS gas. The as-synthesized pyrite FeS was employed as an electrode for fabricating high energy density supercapacitors. The device delivered a high specific capacitance of 51 mF cm at 20 mV s and showed a superior energy density of 30 μW h cm at a power density of 1.

Alloying with Mn Enhances the Activity and Durability of the CoPt Catalyst toward the Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

To improve the catalytic performance and durability of Pt catalysts used for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), alloying of Pt with other transition metals such as Ru, Co, Ni, and Fe is considered an effective approach. Despite the significant progress made in the preparation of bimetallic alloys and their utilization for MOR, improving the activity and durability of the catalysts to make them commercially viable remains a stiff challenge. In this work, trimetallic Pt(MnCo) (16 < < 41) catalysts were successfully synthesized via borohydride reduction followed by hydrothermal treatment at 150 °C.

Twist-bend nematic drops as colloidal particles: Electric instabilities.

The mesogen 1,''7''-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yl)heptane (CB7CB), doped with a small quantity of an amphiphilic compound, is examined in its biphasic state in which twist-bend nematic (N_{TB}) drops are dispersed in the isotropic fluid. Various flexoelectric and electrokinetic responses of small drops in their escaped-radial-like (ER) geometry, and also of larger ones with parabolic focal conic defects, are discussed. A pair of confocal parabolas with their axes along the applied low-frequency electric field undergo periodic dimensional changes so as to contribute flexoelectrically to free-energy reduction.

First example of ambipolar naphthalene diimide exhibiting a room temperature columnar phase.

A self-assembled ambipolar organic semiconductor based on naphthalene diimide with low clearing temperature, solution processability, and high molar extinction coefficient, exhibiting a room temperature columnar hexagonal liquid crystalline phase is reported.

Twist-bend nematic drops as colloidal particles: Structural features.

The mesogen CB7CB [1″,7″-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yl)heptane], mixed with a small quantity of a long chain amphiphile, is examined for the structural features of twist-bend nematic (N_{TB}) drops acting as colloidal inclusions in the isotropic and nematic environments. In the isotropic phase, the drops nucleating in the radial (splay) geometry develop toward escaped radial, off-centered structures, involving both splay and bend distortions. With further growth, they transform into low-birefringence (near-homeotropic) objects, within which remarkably well-organized networks of parabolic focal conic defects evolve in time.

Modulating nanostructure morphology and mesomorphic properties using unsaturation in cardanol-azo benzenes.

Herein, we report the synthesis and self-assembly of a new class of amphiphilic azo dyes derived from a plant-based phenol, cardanol. Analysis of the self-assembly of these new azo derivatives was intriguing, and they exhibit some unique nanostructures, such as bicelles and microgel-like structures, and smectic-type thermotropic mesophases.

Silk and its composites for humidity and gas sensing applications.

Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural protein largely used in the textile industry with applications in bio-medicine, catalysis as well as in sensing materials. SF is a fiber material which is bio-compatible, biodegradable, and possesses high tensile strength. The incorporation of nanosized particles into SF allows the development of a variety of composites with tailored properties and functions.

Fabrication of Large-Area, Affordable Dual-Function Electrochromic Smart Windows by Using a Hybrid Electrode Coated with an Oxygen-Deficient Tungsten Oxide Ultrathin Porous Film.

Electrochromic (EC) devices are not commercialized extensively owing to their high cost. The best large-area devices in the market suffer from not reaching a distinct dark-colored state. These devices appear more like a blue tinted glass.

Influence of graphene oxide on rheology, mechanical, dielectric, and triboelectric properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite hydrogels prepared a facile one step process.

The present investigation aims to develop hydrogels with higher mechanical stability for triboelectric applications by adopting a simple method to fabricate a graphene oxide (GO) incorporated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite hydrogel. Instead of the traditional repeated freeze-thaw method, high-shear solution mixing followed by solvent exchange with deionized water was adopted. Morphological observations showed dense and undulated microstructures in the nanocomposite hydrogel with increased GO concentration.