Structural,electronic, and optical properties of ZnO:ZnSnN2 compounds for optoelectronics and photocatalyst applications

Semiconductors with suitable band gap are highly desirable for the applications in optoelectronic and energy conversion devices. In this work, using the recently developed strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) density functional calculations in conjunction with hybrid functional, we investigate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of earth abundant element based ZnO:ZnSnN₂ compounds formed through alloying. The proposed ZnO:ZnSnN₂ compounds in the low energy configurations possess band gaps of 2.28 eV-2.52 eV. The decrease in band gap compared to ZnO is mainly attributed to the p-d repulsion between N 2p+O 2p and Zn 3d electrons that lifts the top of valence band. For the ZnO:ZnSnN₂ compounds studied the band edges straddle the water redox potentials and the absorption onsets lie in the visible light range. Our studies are helpful for ZnO:ZnSnN₂ compounds' experimental synthesis and future application in optoelectronics and photocatalyst.     

Aggregation-Induced Emission by Molecular Design: A Route to High-Performance Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells

The emission efficiency of organic semiconductors (OSCs) often suffers from aggregation caused quenching (ACQ). An elegant solution is aggregation-induced emission (AIE), which constitutes the design of the OSC so that its morphology inhibits quenching π–π interactions and non-radiative motional deactivation. The light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) can be sustainably fabricated, but its function depends on motion of bulky ions in proximity of the OSC. It is therefore questionable whether the AIE morphology can be retained during LEC operation. Here, we synthesize two structurally similar OSCs, which are distinguished by that 1 features ACQ while 2 delivers AIE. Interestingly, we find that the AIE-LEC significantly outperforms the ACQ-LEC. We rationalize our finding by showing that the AIE morphology remains intact during LEC operation, and that it can feature appropriately sized free-volume voids for facile ion transport and suppressed non-radiative excitonic deactivation.     

Surface-Degenerate Semiconductor Photocatalysis for Efficient Water Splitting without Sacrificial Agents via a Reticular Chemistry Approach

The production of green hydrogen through photocatalytic water splitting is crucial for a sustainable hydrogen economy and chemical manufacturing. However, current approaches suffer from slow hydrogen production (<70 μmol ⋅ g_cat⁻¹ ⋅ h⁻¹) due to the sluggish four-electrons oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and limited catalyst activity. Herein, we achieve efficient photocatalytic water splitting by exploiting a multifunctional interface between a nano-photocatalyst and metal–organic framework (MOF) layer. The functional interface plays two critical roles: (1) enriching electron density directly on photocatalyst surface to promote catalytic activity, and (2) delocalizing photogenerated holes into MOF to enhance OER. Our photocatalytic ensemble boosts hydrogen evolution by ≈100-fold over pristine photocatalyst and concurrently produces oxygen at ideal stoichiometric ratio, even without using sacrificial agents. Notably, this unique design attains superior hydrogen production (519 μmol ⋅ g_cat⁻¹ ⋅ h⁻¹) and apparent quantum efficiency up to 13-fold and 8-fold better than emerging photocatalytic designs utilizing hole scavengers. Comprehensive investigations underscore the vital role of the interfacial design in generating high-energy photoelectrons on surface-degenerate photocatalyst to thermodynamically drive hydrogen evolution, while leveraging the nanoporous MOF scaffold as an effective photohole sink to enhance OER. Our interfacial approach creates vast opportunities for designing next-generation, multifunctional photocatalytic ensembles using reticular chemistry with diverse energy and environmental applications.     

半导体电极的平带电位

平带电位(E_(fb))是半导体/电解质溶液体系的重要概念,是半导体电极在平带状态时的电极电位,它是半导体电极特有的可以实验测定的物理量。利用Mott-Schottky曲线以及光电化学等方法可以测定平带电位,判断半导体的类型以及估算半导体的载流子浓度,其数值可用于推测半导体的能级结构,确定半导体材料的价带或导带能级位置。这对于与太阳能开发利用相关的半导体光催化和光电化学研究都是非常重要的。本文分析了半导体电极的能带弯曲及影响因素,首次提出半导体界面层内费米能级弯曲,阐明半导体电极平带电位的物理意义及其测定方法,以帮助初学者理解和应用平带电位。     

Localized surface plasmon resonance properties and biomedical applications of copper selenide nanomaterials

Nanomaterials with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) locating in the near-infrared region have broad application prospects in the field of biomedicine. However, the biggest problem that limits the biomedical application of such nanomaterials lies in two aspects: First, the potential long-term in vivo toxicity caused by the metabolism of many nanomaterials with LSPR effect; Second, most of current nanomaterials with LSPR effect are difficult to achieve LSPR wavelength tunability in the near-infrared region to adapt to different biomedical applications. Copper selenide nanomaterials are composed of selenium and copper, which are necessary nutrient elements for human life. Because of the active and flexible chemical properties of selenium and copper, copper selenide nanomaterials can not only be effectively degraded and utilized in human body, but also be endowed with various physicochemical properties by chemical modification or doping. Recently, copper selenide nanomaterials have shown unique properties such as LSPR in the near-infrared region, making them attractive for near-infrared thermal ablation, photoacoustic imaging, disease marker detection, multimode imaging, and so on. Currently, to the best of our knowledge, there is no review on the LSPR properties of copper selenide nanomaterials and its biomedical applications. This review first discusses the relationship between the physicochemical properties and the LSPR of copper selenide nanomaterials and then summarizes the latest progress in the application of copper selenide nanomaterials in biological detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. In addition, the advantages, and prospects of copper selenide nanomaterials in biomedicine are also highlighted.     

直接带隙半导体In2(PS3)3单层结构与电子特性的第一性原理研究

高载流子迁移率和可调直接带隙是低维电子器件应用的两个关键特性.但目前发现的此类二维材料稀少.鉴于此在第一性原理计算的基础上,本文系统研究了In₂(PS₃)₃单层的稳定性、电子结构性质和机械性质.研究结果表明,In₂(PS₃)₃单层是具有直接带隙的半导体材料(1.58 eV).在-3%到3%应变下,In₂(PS₃)₃单层的带隙是可以调节的(1.3～1.8 eV).声子谱、分子动力学和弹性常数的计算结果表明,In₂(PS₃)₃单层是热力学、动力学和机械稳定的.此外,In₂(PS₃)₃单层的剥离能(0.21 J m^-2)小于石墨烯的剥离能(0.36 J m^-2),有望像石墨烯一样机械剥离得到.这些优异的的性能使得In     

Analysis of a Parabolic Cross-Diffusion Semiconductor Model with Electron-Hole Scattering

The global-in-time existence of non-negative solutions to a parabolic strongly coupled system with mixed Dirichlet–Neumann boundary conditions is shown. The system describes the time evolution of the electron and hole densities in a semiconductor when electron-hole scattering is taken into account. The parabolic equations are coupled to the Poisson equation for the electrostatic potential. Written in the quasi-Fermi potential variables, the diffusion matrix of the parabolic system contains strong cross-diffusion terms and is only positive semi-definite such that the problem is formally of degenerate type. The existence proof is based on the study of a fully discretized version of the system, using a backward Euler scheme and a Galerkin method, on estimates for the free energy, and careful weak compactness arguments.     

Finite-difference calculation of donor energy levels in a spherical quantum dot subject to a magnetic field

The ground and excited states of a donor impurity at the center of a spherical quantum dot subject to a magnetic field are calculated within the effective-mass approximation. The barriers are infinitely high and the differential equation is solved by combining the finite-difference method with the Richardson extrapolation. The binding and transition energies are more accurate than the available variational values, and excellent agreement is found with the hydrogen atom. The transition energies for a medium-size quantum dot are given.     

Controlling the stability and the electronic structure of transition metal dichalcogenide single layer under chemical doping

By means of ab initio calculation based on density-functional theory (DFT), we have investigated the electronic and optical properties of single layer MoSe₂ under chemical doping by various groups, such as ?H, ?OH, ?NH₂ and ?CH₃. This work is generalized for all polymorph 1H, 1T, 1T′ and the new investigated phase 1T″. We found that all those functional groups (FG) bonded covalently to the chalcogen atom (Se). The evaluation of adsorption energy shows that the hydrogen atom binds more strongly than other functional groups in particular with the T phase. Furthermore, the attachment of functional groups to T-MoSe₂ leads to dramatic changes to the structure stability and the optoelectronic properties of the material by tuning its band gap from metallic to a semiconductor. Also, we found that the band gap is strongly depending on the type and the densities of dopants.