Facile Synthesis of Hierarchical Nanosized Single‐Crystal Aluminophosphate Molecular Sieves from Highly Homogeneous and Concentrated Precursors

The synthesis of hierarchical nanosized zeolite materials without growth modifiers and mesoporogens remains a substantial challenge. Herein, we report a general synthetic approach to produce hierarchical nanosized single‐crystal aluminophosphate molecular sieves by preparing highly homogeneous and concentrated precursors and heating at elevated temperatures. Accordingly, aluminophosphate zeotypes of LTA (8‐rings), AEL (10‐rings), AFI (12‐rings), and ‐CLO (20‐rings) topologies, ranging from small to extra‐large pores, were synthesized. These materials show exceptional properties, including small crystallites (30–150 nm), good monodispersity, abundant mesopores, and excellent thermal stability. A time‐dependent study revealed a non‐classical crystallization pathway by particle attachment. This work opens a new avenue for the development of hierarchical nanosized zeolite materials and understanding their crystallization mechanism.     

Reversible Assembly of Microgels by Metallo‐Supramolecular Chemistry

The combination of supramolecular chemistry and soft colloids as microgels represents an ambitious way to develop multi‐versatile colloidal assemblies. Hereafter, terpyridine‐functionalized poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgel building blocks are shown to undergo an assemble–freeze–disassemble process. The microgel assemblies, which are controlled by monitoring the attractive and repulsive potentials between the soft colloidal particles, are then frozen by forming inter‐particle metal–terpyridine bis‐complexes upon addition of the metallic cation (such as Fe^II, Co^II). By oxidation of the metal–terpyridine bis‐complex links, the aggregates open up, which is due to the complex dissociation releasing the connected particles in the form of single microgels. We extended our work to the development of 1D filaments and 2D membranes materials made of soft particles connected via supramolecular chemistry.     

Designing a 0D/2D S‐Scheme Heterojunction over Polymeric Carbon Nitride for Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Inactivation of Bacteria

Constructing heterojunctions between two semiconductors with matched band structure is an effective strategy to acquire high‐efficiency photocatalysts. The S‐scheme heterojunction system has shown great potential in facilitating separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers, as well as acquiring strong photoredox ability. Herein, a 0D/2D S‐Scheme heterojunction material involving CeO₂ quantum dots and polymeric carbon nitride (CeO₂/PCN) is designed and constructed by in situ wet chemistry with subsequent heat treatment. This S‐scheme heterojunction material shows high‐efficiency photocatalytic sterilization rate (88.1 %) towards Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) under visible‐light irradiation (λ≥420 nm), which is 2.7 and 8.2 times that of pure CeO₂ (32.2 %) and PCN (10.7 %), respectively. Strong evidence of S‐scheme charge transfer path is verified by theoretical calculations, in situ irradiated X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance.     

Ultrafast,Low‐Cost,and Mass Production of High‐Quality Graphene

Fast, mass, and low‐cost production of high‐quality graphene, which is alluring, remains a great challenge, even though some approaches have shown potential for mass synthesis of graphene. Very recently a great breakthrough was made by Tour and co‐workers (Nature 2020, 577, 647–651): in just a second, easily exfoliated and highly crystalline graphene was produced from abundant carbon‐containing species by cost‐effective flash Joule heating with a low energy input of 7.2 kJ per gram graphene. Such an ultrafast, economic, and scalable process for high‐quality graphene production can be considered as a milestone in the graphene field and is highlighted in this article.     

Lead Mixed Oxyhalides Satisfying All Fundamental Requirements for High‐Performance Mid‐Infrared Nonlinear Optical Materials

To design high‐performance mid‐infrared (mid‐IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials, we have focused on the combination of a heavy metal lone pair cation, Pb²⁺ and mixed oxyhalides. A systematic investigation in PbO‐PbCl₂‐PbBr₂ system led us to discover the first examples of NLO lead mixed oxyhalides, namely, Pb₁₃O₆Cl₄Br₁₀, Pb₁₃O₆Cl₇Br₇, and Pb₁₃O₆Cl₉Br₅. All the reported materials have remarkably comprehensive properties including broad IR transparency (up to 14.0 μm), qualified second harmonic generation (SHG) responses (0.6–0.9×AgGaS₂), wide band gaps (3.05–3.21 eV), and ease of crystal growth. Interestingly, a centimeter‐sized single crystal (2.9×1.3×0.5 cm³) of Pb₁₃O₆Cl₉Br₅ revealing a wide transparent range (0.384–14.0 μm) and high laser damage threshold (LDT) (14.6×AgGaS₂) has been successfully grown in an open system. The study suggests that all the reported mixed oxyhalides are outstanding candidates for mid‐IR NLO materials.     

Cooperativity of Catechols and Amines in High‐Performance Dry/Wet Adhesives

The outstanding adhesive performance of mussel byssal threads has inspired materials scientists over the past few decades. Exploiting the amino‐catechol synergy, polymeric pressure‐sensitive adhesives (PSAs) have now been synthesized by copolymerizing traditional PSA monomers, butyl acrylate and acrylic acid, with mussel‐inspired lysine‐ and aromatic‐rich monomers. The consequences of decoupling amino and catechol moieties from each other were compared (that is, incorporated as separate monomers) against a monomer architecture in which the catechol and amine were coupled together in a fixed orientation in the monomer side chain. Adhesion assays were used to probe performance at the molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic levels by a combination of AFM‐assisted force spectroscopy, peel and static shear adhesion. Coupling of catechols and amines in the same monomer side chain produced optimal cooperative effects in improving the macroscopic adhesion performance.     

Computation of Electromagnetic Properties of Molecular Ensembles

We outline a methodology for efficiently computing the electromagnetic response of molecular ensembles. The methodology is based on the link that we establish between quantum-chemical simulations and the transfer matrix (T-matrix) approach, a common tool in physics and engineering. We exemplify and analyze the accuracy of the methodology by using the time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory simulation data of a single chiral molecule to compute the T-matrix of a cross-like arrangement of four copies of the molecule, and then computing the circular dichroism of the cross. The results are in very good agreement with full quantum-mechanical calculations on the cross. Importantly, the choice of computing circular dichroism is arbitrary: Any kind of electromagnetic response of an object can be computed from its T-matrix. We also show, by means of another example, how the methodology can be used to predict experimental measurements on a molecular material of macroscopic dimensions. This is possible because, once the T-matrices of the individual components of an ensemble are known, the electromagnetic response of the ensemble can be efficiently computed. This holds for arbitrary arrangements of a large number of molecules, as well as for periodic or aperiodic molecular arrays. We identify areas of research for further improving the accuracy of the method, as well as new fundamental and technological research avenues based on the use of the T-matrices of molecules and molecular ensembles for quantifying their degrees of symmetry breaking. We provide T-matrix-based formulas for computing traditional chiro-optical properties like (oriented) circular dichroism, and also for quantifying electromagnetic duality and electromagnetic chirality. The formulas are valid for light-matter interactions of arbitrarily-high multipolar orders.     

Designing Hole Transport Materials with High Hole Mobility and Outstanding Interface Properties for Perovskite Solar Cells

Organic–inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted much attention due to their rapid increase in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), and many efforts are devoted to further improving the PCEs. Designing highly efficient hole transport materials (HTMs) for PSCs may be one of the effective ways. Herein we theoretically designed three new HTMs (FDT−N, FDT−O, and FDT−S) by introducing a nitrogen-phenyl group, an oxygen atom, and a sulfur atom into the spiro core of an experimentally synthesized HTM (FDT), respectively. And then we performed quantum chemical calculation to study their application potential. The results show that the devices with FDT−O and FDT−S instead of FDT may have higher open circuit voltages owing to their lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. Moreover, FDT−S exhibits the best hole transport performance among the studied HTMs, which may be due to the significant HOMO-HOMO overlap in the hole hopping path with the largest transfer integral. Furthermore, the results on interface properties indicate that introducing oxygen and sulfur atoms can enhance the MAPbI₃/HTM interface interaction. The present work not only offers two promising HTMs (FDT−O and FDT−S) for PSCs but also provides theoretical help for subsequent research on HTMs.