Engineering nanostructures of CuO-based photocatalysts for water treatment: Current progress and future challenges

Nowadays, increasing extortions regarding environmental problems and energy scarcity have stuck the development and endurance of human society. The issue of inorganic and organic pollutants that exist in water from agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities has directed the development of advanced technologies to address the challenges of water scarcity efficiently. To solve this major issue, various scientists and researchers are looking for novel and effective technologies that can efficiently remove pollutants from wastewater. Nanoscale metal oxide materials have been proposed due to their distinctive size, physical and chemical properties along with promising applications. Cupric Oxide (CuO) is one of the most commonly used benchmark photocatalysts in photodegradation owing to the fact that they are cost-effective, non-toxic, and more efficient in absorption across a significant fraction of solar spectrum. In this review, we have summarized synthetic strategies of CuO fabrication, modification methods with applications for water treatment purposes. Moreover, an elaborative discussion on feasible strategies includes; binary and ternary heterojunction formation, Z-scheme based photocatalytic system, incorporation of rare earth/transition metal ions as dopants, and carbonaceous materials serving as a support system. The mechanistic insight inferring photo-induced charge separation and transfer, the functional reactive radical species involved in a photocatalytic reaction, have been successfully featured and examined. Finally, a conclusive remark regarding current studies and unresolved challenges related to CuO are put forth for future perspectives.     

超越SNOM探针通光孔径尺寸的金属纳米间隙超分辨测量

采用电磁场有限元方法,数值模拟了孔径型扫描近场光学显微镜(aperture Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy,a-SNOM)在照明模式下的工作过程.针对金偶极天线结构,改变天线长度和纳米间隙尺寸,计算了a-SNOM探针孔径的远场辐射速率随探针端面中心坐标变化的扫描曲线,实现了超越a-SNOM探针通光孔径尺寸的天线金属纳米间隙的超分辨测量,对于100nm通光孔径的探针,可分辨最小尺寸为10nm(0.016倍波长)的金属间隙.通过对比金属和介质偶极天线的a-SNOM探针远场辐射速率测量的计算结果,表明天线金属纳米间隙的超分辨测量的实现是由于金属间隙表面等离激元的激发.     

压力诱导发光 未来可期

科技创新的根源是基于基础科学研究的提升,而“从0到1”的突破是需要长期的积累和灵感的。本文讲述了发现压力诱导发光这一新现象的思想和材料设计。     

Time-resolved photoluminescence study of excited states in nanostructured melanin

Abstract

Time resolved emission spectra (TRES), 3D maps of photoluminescence excitation-emission (PLE maps), 3D maps of TRES, and kinetics of photoluminescence (PL) spectra of natural and synthetic melanin, as well as melanin composites with surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate, have been studied. The kinetics of PL and TRES for the melanin and the composites were investigated at low temperatures that allowed to discuss melanin’s intermolecular complexation, nano-aggregation and formation of charge transfer states. Particularly, the radiation of Frenkel excitons from fragments of different degrees of conjugation that are the parts of molecular nanodisks of melanin is observed. Furthermore, charge transfer excitons (CT-excitons) can be formed and observed at both room and helium temperatures. Some bands in the PL spectra of melanin, depending on temperature, behave like excimer radiation. The studies are aiming to understand the electronic properties of various melanins, particularly natural ones.     

Combined Spectroscopic and TD-DFT Analysis to Elucidate Substituent and Acidochromic Effects in Organic Dyes: A Case Study on Amino- versus Nitro-Substituted 2,4-Diphenylquinolines

A combined spectroscopic and TD-DFT case study was performed, to identify a robust method to calculate the complex near UV/Vis absorption spectra of various amino- vs. nitro-substituted 2,4-diphenylquinolines, which vary strongly under neutral and successively acidic conditions. For this, different DFT functionals were tested for geometry optimization and the TD part to calculate the neutral and different protonated species in a fast screening approach, i. e. using single point calculations in an implicit solvent. Offset-corrected M06HF, hitherto only applied to polymers, was identified as a suitable method to reproduce the absorption spectra in a reasonable fashion for all different substitution pattern and all different protonated species at different pH values; moreover, the method properly predicts the energetic ordering of low-lying n-π* and ππ* transitions, which is decisive for the non-/emissive nature of the different compounds. In all, this might provide a valuable tool for computer-aided design of related classes of compounds.     

Emergence of a non-Fowler-Nordheim-type behavior for a general planar tunneling barrier

In this work we investigate a generalized tunneling barrier for planar emitters at zero-temperature. We present the evidence of the emergence of a non-Fowler-Nordheim-type general behavior for the field emission current density in the case that the Fermi energy (μ) is comparable with or smaller that the decay width ($d_F$). Therefore, for some non-metals or materials that have very small Fermi energy the standard Fowler-Nordheim-type theory may require a correction. In the opposite regime, i.e., for μ much larger that $d_F$, we confirm that the conventional theory is suitable for metals.     

窄线宽光纤激光器在1030 nm波段实现3 kW近衍射极限输出

基于大模场面积掺镱光纤搭建了全光纤1030 nm高功率窄线宽光纤激光主振荡功率放大系统,实现了3004 W的最高功率输出,斜率效率69.27%,是目前报道的输出功率最高的1030 nm波段近衍射极限光纤激光器。最高输出功率时,x,y方向的光束质量因子分别为1.169,1.174,3 dB光谱宽度为0.18 nm,放大自发辐射抑制比达到37 dB。     

HL-2A装置中性束发射光谱 诊断系统的研制与测试

在HL-2A装置上完成了一套32通道束发射诊断系统(BES)，可对径向r=12~44cm, 极向-7.5~+7.5cm二维空间范围内的长波长()电子密度扰动信息进行测量，其时间分辨率达到0.5ms，空间分辨率1~2cm。系统由内置于真空室的非对称镜头组、传输光纤、高性能探测器模块以及辅助的冷却和真空设备构成。系统的噪声在低频时(f<100kHz)主要由散粒噪声贡献，在较高频率时由散粒噪声和e噪声共同决定。在典型的HL-2A装置放电模式中，对于200kHz以下的扰动，该系统的信噪比(SNR)均大于3。     

Computational Study on the Charge Transport and Optical Spectra of Anthracene Derivatives in Aggregates

A recent experiment [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017 , 56, 722–727] found that a (1 : 9) blend film of two anthracene derivatives, 2-fluorenyl-2-anthracene ( FlAnt ) and 2-anthryl-2-anthracence ( 2 A ), exhibit both efficient white light emission and high hole mobility, thus promising for organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs). Employing quantum chemistry at the polarizable continuum model (PCM) and the quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) levels, we investigated the excited-state structures, optical spectra, band structure and the carrier mobility for FlAnt and 2 A from solution to aggregate phases. We suggest using the ratio of intermolecular excitonic coupling J and intramolecular excited state relaxation energy E to judge the bathochromic shift in optical emission in aggregates. For FlAnt , ρ=J/E is calculated to be less than 0.17, a critical value we identified earlier, and the spectra in solution and aggregate phases present quite similar features (blue emission). However, ρ is ∼0.5 for 2 A systems, and the calculated emission in the aggregate phase exhibits a remarkable bathochromic shift. In addition, the 0–0 emission is strongly suppressed in the herringbone stacking. These observations justify the experimental findings that (i) 2 A is blue emissive in solution but yellow-green in the aggregate phase, whereas FlAnt is always blue, and (ii) the blend of them show white emission. By using the “quantum nuclear tunneling” model we proposed earlier, we found the hole mobility for FlAnt and 2 A are 0.5 and 4.2 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively, indicating both are good hole transport materials.     

六方相LaOF∶Er,Yb的上转换发光及温度传感特性

氟氧化物兼有氧化物优异的稳定性和氟化物的低声子能量,是上转换发光材料的一种热点基质材料,因而研究六方相LaOF∶Er,Yb的上转换发光性能及其温度特性具有重要意义。本文采用水热法制备了六方相LaOF∶Er,Yb荧光材料,通过X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)和荧光光谱对其结构和上转换荧光性能进行表征。实验结果表明,水热法120℃得到六方相LaF3,经800℃和1000℃退火后分别形成四方相LaOF和六方相LaOF。980 nm激发下,六方相LaOF∶Er,Yb中Yb3+与Er3+存在能量传递,通过双光子吸收产生绿光和红光的上转换荧光,并且Yb3+与Er3+的最佳浓度分别为3%和1%。最后研究了六方相LaOF∶Er,Yb在温度传感方面的应用,其在150~400 K温度范围的相对灵敏度和绝对灵敏度分别为0.037 K-1和0.0043 K-1。该材料具有优异的温度传感特性,对荧光温度传感器件的设计和应用具有指导意义。