First-principles study of rectification in bis-2-(5-ethynylthienyl)ethyne molecular junctions

Using density functional theory (DFT) combined with the first-principles nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF), we investigated the electron-transport properties and rectifying behaviors of several molecular junctions based on the bis-2-(5-ethynylthienyl)ethyne (BETE) molecule. To examine the roles of different rectification factors, asymmetric electrode-molecule contacts and donor-acceptor substituent groups were introduced into the BETE-based molecular junction. The asymmetric current-voltage characteristics were obtained for the molecular junctions containing asymmetric contacts and donor-acceptor groups. In our models, the computed rectification ratios show that the mode of electrode-molecule contacts plays a crucial role in rectification and that the rectifying effect is not enhanced significantly by introducing the additional donor-acceptor components for the molecular rectifier with asymmetric electrode-molecule contacts. The current-voltage characteristics and rectifying behaviors are discussed in terms of transmission spectra, molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian (MPSH) states, and energy levels of MPSH states.     

Improvement in carrier mobility of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) nanowires synthesized in porous alumina templates

Polymeric nanowires of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) are electrochemically synthesized using porous anodic alumina oxide (AAO) membranes as templates. Four‐point resistivity measurements on more than 100 PEDOT nanowires with different diameters (50–250 nm) reveal a statistically significant size‐dependent phenomenon in which the nanowires with a smaller diameter exhibit higher conductivity. Structural characterization with Raman spectroscopy and doping level estimation with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that the observed conductivity enhancement can be attributed to improved carrier mobility in PEDOT nanowires having an elongated conjugation structure because of the effect of the AAO template. From the estimated doping levels (～5%) and conductivity data (～100 S/cm), it is found that the carrier mobility reach 2.0 cm²/V s for the nanowire with the smallest diameter, as compared with 4.0 × 10^?4 cm²/V s for a bulk PEDOT film. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Spin-Crossover Assisted Spin-Switching and Rectification Action in Half-Metallic Graphitic Carbon Nitride(g-C4N3)

Herein, we report on the potential multifunctional spintronic action of half-metallic graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₄N₃). We observed electrostatic spin-crossover action at an applied electric field of −0.77 V nm⁻¹, which eventually leads to spin-switching action and change in sign of bias dependent spin injection coefficient. The system also acts as a spin polarized charge current rectifier with rectification ratio of 65.41 in spin-up channel only. This electric field-controlled spin switching action and simultaneous existence of rectification action makes graphitic carbon nitride a perfect multifunctional spintronic system-an ideal material for quantum logic gate design. Results obtained have been substantiated through transmission spectra and transmission pathways analyses. An analysis of projected device density of states of the system and molecular projected self consistent Hamiltonian states analysis reveals that the electron flow of the system is mainly facilitated by 2p orbitals of C and N atoms.     

Theoretical studies of the transport property of oligosilane

The transport mechanisms of four σ-conjugated systems were comparatively studied by combining ATK and Gaussian 03 calculations. It was found that the charge-doped oligosilane behaved in a different way from the boron doped and phosphorus doped oligosilanes in terms of the transmission property. The charge-doped oligosilane showed almost no conductivity owing to the damage of the electron transfer path by charge-doping. By contrast, the boron doped and phosphorus doped oligosilanes were demonstrated to be good semiconductors and NDR behavior was observed for them. This is a reasonable result after the analysis of the transmission spectra, MPSH states, energy gap, conjugation effect, and scattering effect.     

Sol‐Gel Synthesis and Photocatalytic Study of Visible Light Active N‐Doped KSbWO6

KSbWO₆ was prepared by sol‐gel method. N‐doped KSbWO₆ (KSbWO_6–xN_x) was obtained by heating KSbWO₆ and urea at 400 °C. Both the compounds are characterized by powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD), TEM, SEM‐EDS, X‐ray photo electronic spectroscopy (XPS), and UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV‐DRS). A shift in the peak positions of powder XRD and XPS spectra was observed. The band gap energy (E_g) of KSbWO₆ and N‐doped KSbWO₆ was obtained from their diffused reflectance spectra.E_g was reduced from 3.17 eV to 2.56 eV upon nitrogen doping in KSbWO₆. The reduction of the E_g is attributed to the lifting of valence band of N‐doped KSbWO₆, due to the mixing of O 2p states with N 2p states. The photocatalytic activity of both the samples was studied by degradation of methylene blue (MB). The nitrogen doped KSbWO₆ shows higher photocatalytic activity compared to that of KSbWO₆.     

Light‐driven and aggregation‐induced emission from side‐chain azoindazole polymers

The well‐defined azoindazole‐containing homopolymer, poly(6‐{6‐[(4‐dimethylamino) phenylazo]‐indazole}‐hexyl methacrylate) (PDHMA), and amphiphilic diblock copolymer, poly({6‐[6‐(4‐dimethylamino)phenylazo]‐indazole}‐hexyl methacrylate)‐b‐poly(2‐(dimethylamino)ethylmethacrylate) (PDHMA_m‐b‐PDMAEMA_n), were successfully prepared via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization technique. The homopolymer and amphiphilic diblock copolymer in CH₂Cl₂ exhibited intense fluorescence emission accompanied by trans–cis photoisomerization of azoindazole group under UV irradiation. The experiment results indicated that the intense fluorescence emission may be attributed to an inhibition of photoinduced electron transfer of the cis form of azoindazole. On the other hand, the intense fluorescence emission of amphiphilic diblock copolymers in water‐tetrahydrofuran mixture was observed, which increased with the volume ratio of water in the mixed solvent. The self‐aggregation behaviors of three amphiphilic diblock copolymers were examined by transmission electron microscopy, laser light scattering, and UV–vis spectra. The restriction of intramolecular rotation of the azoindazole groups in aggregates was considered as the main cause of aggregation‐induced fluorescence emission. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011.     

Synthesis and characterization of indium-doped ZnO nanowires with periodical single-twin structures

In-doped ZnO (IZO) nanowires have been synthesized by a thermal evaporation method. The morphology and microstructure of the IZO nanowires have been extensively investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The products in general contain several kinds of nanowires. In this work, a remarkable type of IZO zigzag nanowire with a periodical twinning structure has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). HRTEM observation reveals that this type of IZO nanowire has an uncommonly observed zinc blend crystal structure. These nanowires, with a diameter about 100 nm, grow along the [111] direction with a well-defined twinning relationship and a well-coherent lattice across the boundary. In addition, an IZO nanodendrite structure was also observed in our work. A growth model based on the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism is proposed for interpreting the growth of zigzag nanowires in our work. Due to the heavy doping of In, the emission peak in photoluminescence spectra has red-shifted as well as broadened seriously.     

Chaotropic Monovalent Anion‐Induced Rectification Inversion at Nanopipettes Modified by Polyimidazolium Brushes

A nonintuitive observation of monovalent anion‐induced ion current rectification inversion at polyimidazolium brush (PimB)‐modified nanopipettes is presented. The rectification inversion degree is strongly dependent on the concentration and species of monovalent anions. For chaotropic anions (for example, ClO₄^?), the rectification inversion is easily observed at a low concentration (5 mm ), while there is no rectification inversion observed for kosmotropic anions (Cl^?) even at a high concentration (1 m ). Moreover, at the specific concentration (for example, 10 mm ), the variation of rectification ratio on the type of anions is ranged by Hofmeister series (Cl^?≥NO₃^?>BF₄^?>ClO₄^?>PF₆^?>Tf₂N^?). Estimation of the electrokinetic charge density (σ^ek) demonstrates that rectification inversion originates from the charge inversion owing to the over‐adsorption of chaotropic monovalent anion. To qualitatively understand this phenomenon, a concentration‐dependent adsorption mechanism is proposed.     

Research on synthesis and conductivity of ferrocenyl Schiff base and its salt

Ferrocenyl Schiff base was synthesized through the condensation of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde and p‐phenylenediamine under neutral conditions, and then a new interesting category of organometallic charge transfer complex was obtained by the doping of ferrocenyl Schiff base with Fe³⁺, Al³⁺ and Ti³⁺ salts. The effects of the dosage of doping agent and doping temperature on the room‐temperature electric conductivity of samples were discussed; in addition, the temperature dependence of the electric conductivity of samples was studied, their structures and compositions were characterized by ¹H‐NMR spectra, infrared spectra, ultraviolet spectra and an electron probe X‐ray microanalyser. The results showed that the electric conductivity of sample can increase 4–5 orders of magnitude after doping with a metallic salt, and the electric conductivity has a positive temperature coefficient effect. The electrical activation energies of the complexes in the range 0.09–1.54 eV were calculated from Arrhenius plots, indicating their favourable semiconducting behaviour. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charge‐transfer transitions and optic spectra of chromites: A model computation

In the cluster approach, we consider the peculiarities of charge‐transfer (CT) states and CT O 2p → Cr 3d transitions in the octahedral (CrO₆)^9? complex. We have computed the reduced matrix elements of electric‐dipole transition operator on many‐electron wave functions — the initial and final states of CT transitions. We have parameterized the obtained results and computed the relative intensities of various allowed CT transitions in the absence of the mixing of CT configurations having the same symmetry. Using the Tanabe‐Sugano technique, we have taken into account this mixing and obtained the energies of many‐electron CT transitions and their actual intensities as well. We have also allowed for the Coulomb interaction between the 2p‐electrons of the O^2? ligands and the 3d‐electrons of the central Cr³⁺ ion in the (CrO₆)^9? cluster. This interaction proved insignificant for the optic spectra. Modeling the optic spectrum of chromium‐based oxides has yielded a complicated CT band consisting of 33 lines with the main maximum at about 7 eV and satellites in the range of 4–5 and 8–9 eV. The total extent of the CT band is about 8 eV. The model spectrum is in satisfactory agreement with experimental data, which shows the limited validity of the generally accepted notion of a simple structure of CT spectra. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Reinterpretation of Dynamic Vibrational Spectroscopy to Determine the Molecular Structure and Dynamics of Ferrocene

Molecular distortion of dynamic molecules gives a clear signature in the vibrational spectra, which can be modeled to give estimates of the energy barrier and the sensitivity of the frequencies of the vibrational modes to the reaction coordinate. The reaction coordinate method (RCM) utilizes ab initio‐calculated spectra of the molecule in its ground and transition states together with their relative energies to predict the temperature dependence of the vibrational spectra. DFT‐calculated spectra of the eclipsed (D_5h) and staggered (D_5d) forms of ferrocene (Fc), and its deuterated analogue, within RCM explain the IR spectra of Fc in gas (350 K), solution (300 K), solid solution (7–300 K), and solid (7–300 K) states. In each case the D_5h rotamer is lowest in energy but with the barrier to interconversion between rotamers higher for solution‐phase samples (ca. 6 kJ mol^?1) than for the gas‐phase species (1–3 kJ mol^?1). The generality of the approach is demonstrated with application to tricarbonyl(η⁴‐norbornadiene)iron(0), Fe(NBD)(CO)₃. The temperature‐dependent coalescence of the ν(CO) bands of Fe(NBD)(CO)₃ is well explained by the RCM without recourse to NMR‐like rapid exchange. The RCM establishes a clear link between the calculated ground and transition states of dynamic molecules and the temperature‐dependence of their vibrational spectra.     

Tungsten and nitrogen co‐doped TiO2 nanobelts with significant visible light photoactivity

Tungsten and nitrogen co‐doped TiO₂ nanobelts (W/N‐TNBs) have been successfully synthesized via 1‐step hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology, and composition of prepared samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The prominent phase of all as‐prepared samples is anatase crystal. For samples with N doping, new energy states can be introduced on top of O 2p states which reduced the band gap by 1.1 eV. The reduced band gap leads to efficient visible light activity. The 3%‐W/N‐TNBs were found to exhibit the highest activity. The photocatalytic performance of 3%‐W/N‐TNBs under visible light is about 4.8 times than that of pure TiO₂ nanobelts, which emphasizes the synergistic effect of W and N co‐doping for effectively inhibiting the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. In addition, our results testify the different redox potentials of the photoelectrons at different final states.     

Induction and inversion of chirality in poly‐L‐lysine and methyl orange complex

The mechanism of complexation of poly‐L‐lysine (PLL) with methyl orange (MO) and the appearance of induced circular dichroism (ICD) were investigated as a function of dye concentration and temperature and compared with that of the PLL‐ethyl orange complex. The formation of stoichiometric complexes with uniform size and intensities of ICDs depended on the length of alkyl groups (methyl and ethyl) as determined from quartz crystal microbalance measurement, absorption spectra, and CD spectra data. Furthermore, at constant PLL concentration, a dependence of the inversion of the ICD on the MO concentration (CMO) was observed in the PLL‐MO complexes, which to our knowledge has not been reported for a constant dye concentration system. The positive ICD in the PLL‐MO complexes observed at CMO lower than 2.0 × 10^?5 M showed reversible changes in response to heating and cooling, whereas the negative ICD in PLL‐MO complexes observed at higher CMO inverted to positive ICD values in response to a decrease in temperature. These results demonstrate the alkyl group substituent in the dye, dye concentration, and temperature play important roles in the formation of PLL‐azo dye complex and ICD appearance. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Theoretical study of the kojic acid structure in gas phase and aqueous solution

Density functional calculations at the B3LYP/6‐311++G** level have been performed to determine the ground‐state conformational preference for kojic acid, a widely used skin‐whitening, antibrowning, and antibacterial agent. It is found that the gas phase consists almost entirely of the 5‐hydroxy‐2‐(hydroxymethyl)‐4H‐pyran‐4‐one tautomer, although several rotamers of this are prevalent. In aqueous solution, however, other tautomers are also present. The validity of the calculations is confirmed by the observed FTIR, NMR, and UV–vis spectra, which show good correspondence with the theoretical spectra. The electronic interactions are interpreted in terms of charge and bond order analysis as well as the composition of the HOMO and LUMO. The calculations show that kojic acid has partial aromatic character and is a good nucleophile. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Design and proof of reversible micelle‐to‐vesicle multistimuli‐responsive morphological regulations

Multistimuli‐responsive precise morphological control over self‐assembled polymers is of great importance for applications in nanoscience as drug delivery system. A novel pH, photoresponsive, and cyclodextrin‐responsive block copolymer were developed to investigate the reversible morphological transition from micelles to vesicles. The azobenzene‐containing block copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)‐b‐poly(2‐(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate‐co‐6‐(4‐phenylazo phenoxy)hexyl methacrylate) [PEO‐b‐P(DEAEMA‐co‐PPHMA)] was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. This system can self‐assemble into vesicles in aqueous solution at pH 8. On adjusting the solution pH to 3, there was a transition from vesicles to micelles. The same behavior, that is, transition from vesicles to micelles was also realizable on addition of β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) to the PEO‐b‐P(DEAEMA‐co‐PPHMA) solution at pH 8. Furthermore, after β‐CD was added, alternating irradiation of the solution with UV and visible light can also induce the reversible micelle‐to‐vesicle transition because of the photoinduced trans‐to‐cis isomerization of azobenzene units. The multistimuli‐responsive precise morphological changes were studied by laser light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis spectra. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

One‐Pot Synthesis of Nitrogen‐doped TiO2 Nanowires with Enhanced Photocurrent Generation

A nitrogen‐doped TiO₂ (N‐TiO₂) nanowire film was synthesized via a one‐pot hydrothermal method using triethylamine as nitrogen source. The effect of the concentration of the triethylamine on the films was evaluated. In addition, the N‐TiO₂ nanowires were characterized using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. A 3.2× enhancement of the photocurrent for N‐TiO₂ (0.6) was achieved over the as‐prepared TiO₂ nanowire, under AM1.5G solar illumination. This was due to nitrogen doping, which could narrow the bandgap of titania to extend the adsorption of the catalyst to the visible light region.     

Density functional theory study of the structure and energetics of negatively charged oligopyrroles

First‐principles calculations are used to investigate the electronic properties of negatively charged n‐pyrrole oligomers with n = 2–18. Chains of neutral oligomers are bent, whereas the negatively charged oligomers become almost planar due to accumulation of negative charge at the end monomers. Isomers of short oligomers (n < 6) display negative electron affinity although the corresponding anions are energetically stable. For longer oligomers with n ≥ 6, the electron affinity is small and positive, slowly increasing with oligopyrrole length. Doping of 12‐pyrrole with lithium atoms shows that negative oxidation states are possible due to electron transfer from dopant to oligomer at locations close to dopant. These 12‐pyrrole regions support extra negative charge and exhibit a local structural change from benzenoid to quinoid structure in the C? C backbone conjugation. Comparison between neutral and doped polypyrrole (PPy) indicates that doped polymers displays a substantial depletion of the band gap energy and the appearance of dopant‐based bands in the gap for a 50% per monomer doping level. It is predicted that Li‐doped PPy is not metallic. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

O2 dissociative adsorption on the Cu‐, Ag‐, and W‐doped Al(111) surfaces from DFT computation

The O₂ adsorption and dissociation on M‐doped (M = Cu, Ag, W) Al(111) surface were studied by density functional theory. The adsorption energy of adsorbate, the average binding energy and surface energy of Al surface, and the doping energy of doping atom were calculated. All the doped atoms can be stably combined with Al atoms, while being slightly embedded in the surface to a certain depth. The TOP‐type surfaces are the most stable doped surfaces for O₂ adsorption, which is related to the orbital hybridization between the adsorbate and the surface atoms, the electronegativity, and the orbital energy level of the doping atoms. Moreover, the O atoms and doping atoms contribute significantly to the density of states (DOS), especially the O‐p orbital electrons and the d orbital electrons of doping atoms. The degree of O₂ dissociation is related to the doping atoms on Al surfaces, and the doping atoms actually resist the dissociation of O₂. W atoms have the best resistance effect on the O₂ dissociation as compared with Cu and Ag atoms, especially W‐1NN surface, which has both large barrier energy and reaction energy.     

Characterizing the Role of Iodine Doping in Improving Photovoltaic Performance of Dye‐Sensitized Hierarchically Structured ZnO Solar Cells

We report two novel types of hierarchically structured iodine‐doped ZnO (I? ZnO)‐based dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs) using indoline D205 and the ruthenium complex N719 as sensitizers. It was found that iodine doping boosts the efficiencies of D205 I? ZnO and N719 I? ZnO DSCs with an enhancement of 20.3 and 17.9 %, respectively, compared to the undoped versions. Transient absorption spectra demonstrated that iodine doping impels an increase in the decay time of I? ZnO, favoring enhanced exciton life. Mott–Schottky analysis results indicated a negative shift of the flat‐band potential (V_fb) of ZnO, caused by iodine doping, and this shift correlated with the enhancement of the open circuit voltage (V_oc). To reveal the effect of iodine doping on the effective separation of e^?‐h⁺ pairs which is responsible for cell efficiency, direct visualization of light‐induced changes in the surface potential between I? ZnO particles and dye molecules were traced by Kelvin probe force microscopy. We found that potential changes of iodine‐doped ZnO films by irradiation were above one hundred millivolts and thus significantly greater. In order to correlate enhanced cell performance with iodine doping, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, incident‐photon‐current efficiency, and cyclic voltammetry investigations on I? ZnO cells were carried out. The results revealed several favorable features of I? ZnO cells, that is, longer electron lifetime, lower charge‐transfer resistance, stronger peak current, and extended visible light harvest, all of which serve to promote cell performance.     

Effective crystal field for trivalent first transition row ions

In the present work the semiempirical effective crystal field (ECF) method previously designed for electronic structure calculations of transition metal complexes and utilizing non‐Hartree–Fock trial wave function and parameterized for complexes of doubly charged Cr²⁺, V²⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, and Ni²⁺ cations is extended to complexes of triply charged cations of 3d‐elements. With the parameters adjusted the ECF method is applied to calculations of ground states and low‐energy spectra of the d‐shells of fluoro‐, chloro‐, aqua‐, amino‐, and cyano‐complexes of the triply charged cations. Obtained total spin and symmetry of the ground states match the experimentally observed ones. Satisfactory agreement between the calculated and experimental d‐shell electronic transition energies is achieved as well. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002