Solvothermal synthesis and luminescence properties of CdS:Mn nanorods

CdS:Mn nanorods have been produced via a solvothermal approach in the nonaqueous solvent of ethylenediamine. An absolutely dominant single Mn²⁺ emission originating from the d-d (⁴T₁-⁶A₁) transition was obtained in CdS:Mn nanocrystals at room temperature. The effects of varying reaction temperature, molar ratio of S/Cd, and reaction time on the crystallinity and luminescence of CdS:Mn nanocrystals were systematically investigated. 1% Mn²⁺-doped CdS nanorods without any other additives were synthesized at 130°C for 10 h with an S/Cd molar ratio of 2:1. They show a rod-like shape, and their luminescence intensity around 593 nm is almost the strongest of all the nanorod samples investigated. CdS:Mn nanorods promise potential applications in nanoscale electronic and photonic devices.     

Gold nanorods: Synthesis and optical properties

The main results of studying the synthesis, growth mechanisms, and optical properties of gold nanorods published in the last 5–8 years are briefly reviewed. Hydrosols of gold nanorods with variable axial ratios are synthesized in the micellar solution of ionic surfactants by sead-mediated growth procedure using the stage of particle separation in the glycerol concentration gradient. Results of synthesis in systems containing one surfactant, albeit with different Ag/Au molar ratios and different amounts of gold seeding particles, agree with the published data. It is shown that, in the case of the mixture of two surfactants, the Ag/Au ratio is an efficient controlling parameter of the synthesis of nanorods with large axial ratios. The extinction and differential light scattering, spectra dynamic light scattering, and the depolarization of laser light scattering at 90° are used for the optical control of synthesis. Three fractions are observed in separated samples. One of these fractions is characterized by the only short wavelength plasmon resonance at 570 nm corresponding, in agreement with the published data, to cubic particles. Measurements of the extinction spectra of nanorods in water-glycerol mixtures reveal higher sensitivity of the longitudinal plasmon resonance to the dielectric environment relative to the transverse resonance. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the relative shift of plasmon resonance is proportional to the relative increment of refractive index of the surrounding medium. To calculate optical properties of nanorods, we employed a model of cylinders with semispherical ends (s-cylinders) corresponding to the shape of real particles and admitting the exact solution by the T-matrix method with a computational burden that is an order of magnitude lower than that used in the discrete dipole method. The set of dependences of the longitudinal resonance wavelength on the axial ratio of different-thickness particles complies with our data and published measurements. Theoretical and experimental values of depolarization ratio I _VH/I _VV for nanorods and nanospheres with different sizes prepared with both citrate (15–46 nm) and original thiocyanate (90 nm) reduction of HAuCl₄ are compared. It is shown that the depolarization parameter of light scattered by a nanorod suspension can exceed the theoretical limit (1/3) for common dielectric particles. The measured 10%-depolarization ratio for 90-nm spheres was far beyond the set of “size-depolarization” measurements for 15–46-nm-dia particles prepared by the citrate method and is indicative of the improved spherical morphology of 90-nm particles. This assumption was confirmed by TEM data, which also revealed both the presence of a noticeable amount of nanorods with a large axial ratio and “nanowires” of about the same thickness. A new analytic calibration for determining the diameter of spherical particles (5–100 nm) by the spectral position of the sol extinction maximum is proposed.     

Liquid-crystalline polymer brushes: deformation and microphase segregation

A statistical theory of the structure and thermodynamics of a planar brush (‘accordion’) formed by bridged polymer chains containing mesogenic segments and immersed in a solvent is developed. It is shown that deformation of an accordion can lead to the formation of a two-phase structure with coexisting liquid-crystalline (LC) and swollen microphases. Phase diagrams for accordions with different grafting densities are obtained. The influence of anisotropic interaction between mesogenic segments on the structure of phase diagrams is investigated.     

Synthesis and optical properties of CdS nanoribbons

Rapid production of single crystalline CdS nanoribbons with hexagonal wurtzite phase has been achieved by thermal evaporation of CdS powder on Si wafers. The flow rate of the carrier (Ar) gas along with the synthesis temperature plays an important role in defining the size and shape of the CdS nanoribbons. Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic observations revealed the nanoribbons to have a flat end as well as side surfaces which will make it ideal for optoelectronic devices such as nanolasers and light emitting diodes based on individual nanoribbons. The nanoribbons have widths within 200-400 nm and lengths approximately a few hundred micrometers. Room-temperature photoluminescence measurements show green emission centered at approximately 525 nm which may be ascribed to the near band edge emission. The Raman spectra of the CdS nanoribbons show peaks around 304, 609, 915, and 1220 cm(-1) corresponding to the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-order longitudinal optical phonon modes, respectively.     

Template synthesis of nanocomposite CdS with nonlinear optical properties

Russian Chemical Bulletin -     

Preparation and optical properties of worm-like gold nanorods

A type of worm-like nanorods was successfully synthesized through conventional gold nanorods reacting with Na2S2O3 or Na2S. The generated worm-like gold nanorods comprise shrunk nanorod cores and enwrapped shells. Therefore, a gold-gold sulfide core-shell structure is formed in the process, distinguishing from their original counterparts. The formation of the gold chalcogenide layers was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Experimental results showed that the thickness of the gold chalcogenide layers is controllable. Since the increase of shell thickness and decrease of gold nanorod core take place simultaneously, it allows one to tune the plasmon resonance of nanorods. Proper adjustment of reaction time, temperature, additives and other experimental conditions will produce worm-like gold nanorods demonstrating desired longitudinal plasmon wavelength (LPW) with narrow size distributions, only limited by properties of starting original gold nanorods. The approach presented herein is capable of selectively changing LPW of the gold nanorods. Additionally, the formed worm-like nanorods possess higher sensitive property in localized surface plasmon resonance than the original nanorods. Their special properties were characterized by spectroscopic methods such as Vis-NIR, fluorescence and resonance light scattering. These features imply that the gold nanorods have potential applications in biomolecular recognition study and biosensor fabrications.     

Growth and optical properties of wurtzite-type CdS nanocrystals

This paper reports wurtzite-type CdS nanostructures synthesized via a hydrothermal reaction route using dithiol glycol as the sulfur source. The reaction time was found to play an important role in the shape of the CdS nanocrystals: from dots to wires via an oriented attachment mechanism. This work has enabled us to generate nanostructures with controllable geometric shapes and structures and thus optical properties. The CdS nanostructures show a hexagonal wurtzite phase confirmed by X-ray diffraction and show no evidence for a mixed phase of cubic symmetry. The Raman peak position of the characteristic first-order longitudinal optical phonon mode does not change greatly, and the corresponding full width at half-maximum is found to decrease with the CdS shape, changing from nanoparticles to nanowires because of crystalline quality improvement. The photoluminescence measurements indicate tunable optical properties just through a change in the shape of the CdS nanocrystals; i.e., CdS nanoparticles show a band-edge emission at approximately 426 nm in wavelength, while the CdS nanowires show a band-edge emission at approximately 426 nm as well as a weaker trap-state green emission at approximately 530 nm in wavelength. These samples provide an opportunity for the study of the evolution of crystal growth and optical properties, with the shape of the nanocrystals varying from nearly spherical particles to wires.     

Effect of polymer nature on the structure and properties of gel composites with incorporated bentonite particles

Composite gels based on polyacrylamide and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) with incorporated sodium bentonite particles are synthesized. It is shown that the presence of hydrophobic isopropyl groups in a polymer molecule promotes the subsequent formation of highly ordered aggregates of clay and cetylpyridinium chloride in a gel composite. An increase in temperature results in the collapse of composite gels based on poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide); however, no marked changes in the structure of lamellar aggregates of clay and surfactant are observed. It is revealed that the gel can stabilize lamellar structures formed in organoclay suspension prior to the incorporation into swollen polymer network.     

Phase transformation and optical properties of Cu-doped ZnS nanorods

ZnS nanorods doped with 0-15 mol% of Cu have been prepared by simple solvothermal process. With gradual increase in the Cu concentration, phase transformation of the doped ZnS nanorods from wurtzite to cubic was observed. Twins and stacking faults were developed due to atomic rearrangement in the heavily doped ZnS nanorods during phase transformation. UV-vis-NIR absorbance spectroscopy ruled out the presence of any impure Cu-S phase. The doped ZnS nanorods showed luminescence over a wide range from UV to near IR with peaks at 370, 492-498, 565 and 730 nm. The UV region peak is due to the near-band-edge transition, whereas, the green peak can be related to emission from elementary sulfur species on the surfaces of the nanorods. The orange emission at 565 nm may be linked to the recombination of electrons at deep defect levels and the Cu(t₂) states present near the valence band of ZnS. The near IR emission possibly originated from transitions due to deep-level defects.     

One-dimensional CoPt nanorods and their anomalous IR optical properties

One-dimensional (1D) CoPt nanorods were synthesized by a galvanic displacement reaction. The morphology of the nanomaterials was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis confirmed the coexistence of Co and Pt in the 1D nanorods. Studies of cyclic voltammetry (CV) demonstrated that the 1D CoPt nanorods exhibit a better electrocatalytic property for CO oxidation than that of bulk Pt electrode does. In situ electrochemical FTIRS illustrated, for the first time, that the 1D CoPt nanorods display abnormal infrared effects (AIREs), which was previously revealed mainly on 2D film nanomaterials.     

Synthesis and optical properties of colloidal tungsten oxide nanorods

Thermal decomposition of W(CO)6 in oleylamine in the presence of mild oxidant Me3NO.2H2O produces tungsten oxide nanorods with diameters ranging from 3 to 6 nm. The size of nanorods can be easily varied by the employed surfactant ratio or reaction temperature. The prepared tungsten oxide nanorods exhibit strong photoluminescence (PL) peaks in 300-500 nm, which show a weak size dependency.     

Nonlinear optical properties of polyvinylcarbazole composites with graphene

The study has focused on polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) composites with graphene. It has been shown that there is a noticeable nonadditive shoulder on the long-wavelength edge of the optical absorption of PVK in these samples, which can be attributed to the formation of a charge-transfer complex between PVK as a donor and graphene as an acceptor. The formation of the complex causes a significant nonlinear optical effect in the PVK/graphene composite. The revealed increase in both the nonlinearity coefficient with increasing laser intensity and the cross section with increasing incident energy density is due to the formation of the graphene^?· radical anion, an additional species contributing to nonlinear absorption, with an increase in the radiation energy density. Nonlinear optical properties of PVK composites with graphene isolated from a solution in tetrachloroethane after 1.5-h centrifugation (sample 1) have been considered. It has been suggested that a significant decrease in optical transmission of laser radiation by the composite T _OA = 0.4 at an energy density at focus of 502 J/cm² is due to the formation of the PVK/graphene charge-transfer complex responsible for the nonadditive shoulder on the long-wavelength optical absorption edge of PVK. During photoexcitation of graphene in the PVK/graphene composites at a laser wavelength of 1064 nm, mobile holes are generated in PVK, indicating the formation of graphene^?· radical anions as a result of charge transfer from PVK to photoexcited graphene. The observed increase in both β with an increase in the laser radiation intensity and the cross section (σ_exc — σ₀) with an increase in the incident energy density may be due to either the contribution of nonlinear transitions (S ₀ → S ₂, S ₀ → S ₁ → S ₂, T ₁ → T ₂) or the formation of the additional species, the graphene-· radical anions, participating in nonlinear absorption by increasing the energy density at the focus (F _foc, J/cm²).     

Structure and properties of nickel-organosilicon polymer composites

Preparation of an electrically conducting heat-resistant composite from nickel powder (conducting component) and plasticized or unplasticized polymethylphenylsiloxane (binding matrix) was studied. The optimal preparation conditions and component ratio were determined. The phase composition, thermal resistance, and electrical conductivity of a coating based on this composite were studied in relation to the preparation temperature.     

Liquid-crystalline rigid-core semiconductor oligothiophenes: influence of molecular structure on phase behaviour and thin-film properties

The design, synthesis and properties of liquid-crystalline semiconducting oligothiophenes containing dithienothiophene (DTT), benzothiadiazole (BTZ) and carbazole (CBZ) rigid cores are described. The effect of molecular structure (shape, size and substitution) on their thermal behaviour and electrical properties has been investigated. Polarised optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses have revealed highly ordered smectic mesophases for most of the newly synthesised compounds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies performed at various temperatures have shown that the smectic order is retained in the crystalline state upon cooling across the transition temperature, affording cast films with a more favourable morphology for FET applications.     

Structure-electrical properties relationships of polymer composites filled with Fe-powder

Structure-properties relationships of composite materials, consisting of a polymer matrix and metal inclusions, is very important for designing new materials with desirable properties. In the present work the electrical and dielectric properties of several composites, consisting of a polymer matrix and iron (Fe) particles as filler, were investigated. Broadband dielectric relaxation spectroscopy measurements were carried out. The electrical behaviour of the composites is described in terms of the percolation theory. Percolation threshold values were calculated and the values of the dielectric permittivity critical exponent were found in good agreement with the theoretical ones. The influence of using different polymer matrices on the physical properties of the composites was also of particular interest. The results were related to the microstructure of the composites and a schematic model was proposed.     

Soft template synthesis of ZnO nanorods and their optical properties

A simple solution route was developed to fabricate monodisperse wurtzite ZnO nanorods. The as-prepared samples were 5 ??m in length and 70?C100 nm in diameter. The crystallinity, morphology, and structure of the rod-like ZnO microcrystals were examined. The crystal phases and the microstructure of the nanorods were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Room- and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectra were employed to investigate the surface states of the samples. The deep-level emission band was barely observable at both room and cryogenic temperatures.     

Synthesis and optical properties of V2O5 nanorods

A two-step method was proposed in synthesizing V2O5 nanorods on planar substrates, i.e., depositing a V2O3 thin film at approximately 220 degrees C (by heating a pure sheet of vanadium in a rough vacuum) and then heating it in air at approximately 400 degrees C. The V2O5 nanorods produced by this technique are single crystalline and could emit intense visible light at room temperature, possibly due to some defects such as oxygen vacancies which got involved during growth. This study provides a simple and low-substrate-temperature route in fabricating V2O5 nanorods on planar substrates, which might be also applicable to other metal oxides.     

Liquid-crystalline polymer systems: From the past to the present

In the first part of this review, in a brief historical perspective, we consider the evolution of the scientific activity of Nikolai Al’fredovich Platé, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences: from grafted polymer systems to comb-shaped and liquid-crystalline polymers. The main biographical data on Platé are related to his scientific work at Moscow State University, and his research-development strategy to create and study of LC polymers with comb-shaped structure is considered. The second part of the article is devoted to discussion of scientific directions in this area that were developed in the last five years at the Laboratory of Chemical Transformations of Polymers, where Platé started his scientific activity. Special attention is paid to the research data on photochromic liquid-crystal polymers and composites. A concept of the preparation of multifunctional comb-shaped LC polymers containing mesogenic, photochromic, and chiral groups, as well as functional (crown ether) fragments, is presented. The photo-orientational processes occurring in photochromic LC polymers, which were used to prepare “command” surfaces and photo-orientators, are considered in detail. The preparation of a new class of photochromic polyamides with azobenzene, cinnamoyl and coumarin groups, which have been proposed for the obtaining of polymer films with latent data recording, is described. The phase behaviors and photo-optical properties of synthesized photochromic triple LC block copolymers are reported. Examples of holograms based on cholesteric LC blends, which allow double recording on the same polymer film, are presented. The results of investigations of light-controlled cholesteric polymer-stabilized LC networks with crown ether fragments in the compositions of macromolecules that are able to form complexes with metal ions are presented. The methods of preparation of photocontrolled and electrically controlled polymer LC nanocomposites with nanoparticles, as well as research data on their photo-optical properties, are considered.     

Amino acids (l-arginine and l-alanine) passivated CdS nanoparticles: Synthesis of spherical hierarchical structure and nonlinear optical properties

CdS nanoparticles (NPs) passivated with amino acids (l-alanine and l-arginine) having spherical hierarchical morphology were synthesized by room temperature wet chemical method. Synthesized NPs were characterized by ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy to study the variation of band gaps with concentration of surface modifying agents. Increase in band gap has been observed with the increase in concentration of surface modifying agents and was found more prominent for CdS NPs passivated with l-alanine. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis were carried out for the study of crystal structure and morphology of CdS NPs. The average particle size of CdS NPs calculated from Debye-Scherer formula was found to less than 5 nm and agrees well with those determined from UV–vis spectra and TEM data. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was performed to know the functional groups of the grown NPs. Peaks in FT-IR spectra indicate the formation of CdS NPs and capping with l-alanine and l-arginine. Photoluminescence spectra of these NPs were also studied. Finally, colloidal solution of CdS-PVAc was subjected to Z-scan experiment under low power cw laser illumination to characterize them for third order nonlinear optical properties. CdS-PVAc colloidal solution shows enhanced nonlinear absorption due to RSA and weak FCA on account of two photon absorption processes triggered by thermal effect.     

CdS nanoparticles chemically modified PAN functional materials: Preparation and nonlinear optical properties

The fabrication of nanocomposites by covalent inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles in an organic polymer matrix is highly topical and may find applications in the electronics, optics and energy sectors. Incorporation of CdS nanoparticles into the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) matrices could be expected to display improved or enhanced optoelectronic and optical properties. Using a newly synthesized RAFT agent, i.e., CdS-DDAT nanoparticles (DDAT: S-1-Dodecyl-S′-(α, α′-dimethyl-α′′-acetic acid) trithiocarbonate), CdS covalently functionalized polyacrylonitrile (CdS-PAN) nanocomposite material was prepared in the presence of small amount of AIBN under ultrasonic radiation. This material, which exhibits an induced positive nonlinear absorption of incident light, has been well-characterized by a variety of physical techniques such as GPC, UV/vis, FT-IR, TGA, XRD and Z-scan.