The photocatalytic reduction of N₂ to NH₃ is typically hampered by poor binding of N₂ to catalytic materials and by the very high energy of the intermediates involved in this reaction. Solvated ...electrons directly introduced into the reactant solution can provide an alternative pathway to overcome such limitations. Here we demonstrate that illuminated hydrogen-terminated diamond yields facile electron emission into water, thus inducing reduction of N₂ to NH₃ at ambient temperature and pressure. Transient absorption measurements at 632 nm reveal the presence of solvated electrons adjacent to the diamond after photoexcitation. Experiments using inexpensive synthetic diamond samples and diamond powder show that photocatalytic activity is strongly dependent on the surface termination and correlates with the production of solvated electrons. The use of diamond to eject electrons into a reactant liquid represents a new paradigm for photocatalytic reduction, bringing electrons directly to reactants without requiring molecular adsorption to the surface.
Nanomaterials provide tremendous opportunities to advance human welfare in many areas including energy storage, catalysis, photovoltaic energy conversion, environmental remediation, and agriculture. ...As nanomaterials become incorporated into commercial processes and consumer products in increasing amounts, it will be essential to develop an understanding of how these materials interact with the environment. The broad spectrum and complexity of nanomaterials drive a need for molecular-level design rules. Ultimately a grand challenge is to use the power of chemistry to ensure that nanoenabled technologies can come to fruition in an environmentally benign manner.
Violet electroluminescence is rare in both inorganic and organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Low-cost and room-temperature solution-processed lead halide perovskites with high-efficiency and ...color-tunable photoluminescence are promising for LEDs. Here, we report room-temperature color-pure violet LEDs based on a two-dimensional lead halide perovskite material, namely, 2-phenylethylammonium (C6H5CH2CH2NH3 +, PEA) lead bromide (PEA)2PbBr4. The natural quantum confinement of two-dimensional layered perovskite (PEA)2PbBr4 allows for photoluminescence of shorter wavelength (410 nm) than its three-dimensional counterpart. By converting as-deposited polycrystalline thin films to micrometer-sized (PEA)2PbBr4 nanoplates using solvent vapor annealing, we successfully integrated this layered perovskite material into LEDs and achieved efficient room-temperature violet electroluminescence at 410 nm with a narrow bandwidth. This conversion to nanoplates significantly enhanced the crystallinity and photophysical properties of the (PEA)2PbBr4 samples and the external quantum efficiency of the violet LED. The solvent vapor annealing method reported herein can be generally applied to other perovskite materials to increase their grain size and, ultimately, improve the performance of optoelectronic devices based on perovskite materials.
Understanding crystal growth and improving material quality is important for improving semiconductors for electronic, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic applications. Amidst the surging interest in ...solar cells based on hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites and the exciting progress in device performance, improved understanding and better control of the crystal growth of these perovskites could further boost their optoelectronic and photovoltaic performance. Here, we report new insights on the crystal growth of the perovskite materials, especially crystalline nanostructures. Specifically, single crystal nanowires, nanorods, and nanoplates of methylammonium lead halide perovskites (CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3) are successfully grown via a dissolution-recrystallization pathway in a solution synthesis from lead iodide (or lead acetate) films coated on substrates. These single crystal nanostructures display strong room-temperature photoluminescence and long carrier lifetime. We also report that a solid–liquid interfacial conversion reaction can create a highly crystalline, nanostructured MAPbI3 film with micrometer grain size and high surface coverage that enables photovoltaic devices with a power conversion efficiency of 10.6%. These results suggest that single-crystal perovskite nanostructures provide improved photophysical properties that are important for fundamental studies and future applications in nanoscale optoelectronic and photonic devices.
Multicolor carbon dots (CDs) have been developed recently and demonstrate great potential in bio-imaging, sensing, and LEDs. However, the fluorescence mechanism of their tunable colors is still under ...debate, and efficient separation methods are still challenging. Herein, we synthesized multicolor polymeric CDs through solvothermal treatment of citric acid and urea in formamide. Automated reversed-phase column separation was used to achieve fractions with distinct colors, including blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange and red. This work explores the physicochemical properties and fluorescence origins of the red, green, and blue fractions in depth with combined experimental and computational methods. Three dominant fluorescence mechanism hypotheses were evaluated by comparing time-dependent density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculation results to measured characteristics. We find that blue fluorescence likely comes from embedded small molecules trapped in carbonaceous cages, while pyrene analogs are the most likely origin for emission at other wavelengths, especially in the red. Also important, upon interaction with live cells, different CD color fractions are trafficked to different sub-cellular locations. Super-resolution imaging shows that the blue CDs were found in a variety of organelles, such as mitochondria and lysosomes, while the red CDs were primarily localized in lysosomes. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the photoluminescence mechanism of multicolor CDs and help to guide future design and applications of these promising nanomaterials.
Understanding the origin and sensitivity of carbon dot emission will improve their utility in various applications.
We report the preparation and characterization of highly efficient and robust photocathodes based on heterostructures of chemically exfoliated metallic 1T-MoS2 and planar p-type Si for solar-driven ...hydrogen production. Photocurrents up to 17.6 mA/cm2 at 0 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode were achieved under simulated 1 sun irradiation, and excellent stability was demonstrated over long-term operation. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed low charge-transfer resistances at the semiconductor/catalyst and catalyst/electrolyte interfaces, and surface photoresponse measurements also demonstrated slow carrier recombination dynamics and consequently efficient charge carrier separation, providing further evidence for the superior performance. Our results suggest that chemically exfoliated 1T-MoS2/Si heterostructures are promising earth-abundant alternatives to photocathodes based on noble metal catalysts for solar-driven hydrogen production.
Metastable structural polymorphs can have superior properties and applications to their thermodynamically stable phases, but the rational synthesis of metastable phases is a challenge. Here, a new ...strategy for stabilizing metastable phases using surface functionalization is demonstrated using the example of formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) perovskite, which is metastable at room temperature (RT) but holds great promises in solar and light-emitting applications. We show that, through surface ligand functionalization during direct solution growth at RT, pure FAPbI3 in the cubic perovskite phase can be stabilized in nanostructures and thin films at RT without cation or anion alloying. Surface characterizations reveal that long-chain alkyl or aromatic ammonium (LA) cations bind to the surface of perovskite structure. Calculations show that such functionalization reduces the surface energy and plays a dominant role in stabilizing the metastable perovskite phase. Excellent photophysics and optically pumped lasing from the stabilized single-crystal FAPbI3 nanoplates with low thresholds were demonstrated. High-performance solar cells can be fabricated with such directly synthesized stabilized phase-pure FAPbI3 with a lower bandgap. Our results offer new insights on the surface chemistry of perovskite materials and provide a new strategy for stabilizing metastable perovskites and metastable polymorphs of solid materials in general.
New and emerging nanotechnologies are increasingly using nanomaterials that undergo significant chemical reactions upon exposure to environmental conditions. The rapid advent of lithium ion batteries ...for energy storage in mobile electronics and electric vehicles is leading to rapid increases in the manufacture of complex transition metal oxides that incorporate elements such as Co and Ni that have the potential for significant adverse biological impact. This Perspective summarizes some of the important technological drivers behind complex oxide materials and highlights some of the chemical transformations that need to be understood in order to assess the overall environmental impact associated with energy storage technologies.
Over the past decade, there has been a renewed interest in the use of transition metal polypyridyl complexes as photoredox catalysts for a variety of innovative synthetic applications. Many ...derivatives of these complexes are known, and the effect of ligand modifications on their efficacy as photoredox catalysts has been the subject of extensive, systematic investigation. However, the influence of the photocatalyst counteranion has received little attention, despite the fact that these complexes are generally cationic in nature. Herein, we demonstrate that counteranion effects exert a surprising, dramatic impact on the rate of a representative photocatalytic radical cation Diels–Alder reaction. A detailed analysis reveals that counteranion identity impacts multiple aspects of the reaction mechanism. Most notably, photocatalysts with more noncoordinating counteranions yield a more powerful triplet excited state oxidant and longer radical cation chain length. It is proposed that this counteranion effect arises from Coulombic ion-pairing interactions between the counteranion and both the cationic photoredox catalyst and the radical cation intermediate, respectively. The comparatively slower rate of reaction with coordinating counteranions can be rescued by using hydrogen-bonding anion binders that attenuate deleterious ion-pairing interactions. These results demonstrate the importance of counteranion identity as a variable in the design and optimization of photoredox transformations and suggest a novel strategy for the optimization of organic reactions using this class of transition metal photocatalysts.
PDF
