Search

© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Interest in graphene as a two-dimensional quantum-well material for energy applications and nanoelectronics has increased exponentially in the last few years. The recent advances in large-area single-sheet fabrication of pristine graphene have opened unexplored avenues for expanding from nanoto meso-scale applications. The relatively low level of absorptivity and the short lifetimes of excitons of single-sheet graphene suggest that it needs to be coup led with light sensitizers in order to explore its feasibility for photonic applications, such as solar-energy conversion. Red-emitting CdSe quantum dots are employed for photosensitizing single-sheet graphene with areas of several square centimeters. Pyridine coating of the quantum dots not only enhances their adhesion to the graphene surface, but also provides good electronic coup ling between the CdSe and the two-dimensional carbon allotrope. Illumination of the quantum dots led to injection of n-carrier in the graphene phase. Time-resolved spectroscopy reveals three modes of photoinduced electron transfer between the quantum dots and the graphene occurring in the femtosecond and picosecond time-domains. Transient absorption spectra provide evidence for photoinduced hole-shift from the CdSe to the pyridine ligands, thereby polarizing the surface of the quantum dots. That is, photoinduced electrical polarization, which favors the simultaneous electron transfer from the CdSe to the graphene phase. These mechanistic insights into the photoinduced interfacial charge transfer have a promising potential to serve as guidelines for the design and development of composites of graphene and inorganic nanomaterials for solar-energy conversion applications.

The utilization of fluorescence quenching microscopy (FQM) for quick visualization of chemical functionalization in relatively large regions of graphene, grown via chemical vapor deposition (CVD), is discussed. Through reactive ion plasma etching, patterns of p-type CVD-grown graphene functionalized with fluorine are generated. 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) is used as the fluorescent agent. The emission of DCM is quenched to a different extent by fluorinated and pristine graphene, which provides the fluorescence-imaging contrast essential for this metrology. To probe the functionalized surface patterns with DCM, the dye is dispersed in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) then the graphene surface is coated, forming a 30-nm-thick DCM-PMMA layer. Fluorescence images of dye-coated graphene distinctly reveal the difference between the chemically treated and as-grown regions. The pristine graphene quenches the DCM emission more efficiently than the fluorinated graphene. Therefore, the regions with pristine graphene appear darker on the fluorescence images than the regions with fluorinated graphene, enabling large-scale mapping of the functionalized regions in CVD grown graphene sheets Due to its simplicity and consistent results, FQM is now poised for widespread adoption by graphene manufacturers as a basis for facile and high throughput metrology of large-scale graphene sheets.

Biocompatible and green luminescent monodisperse silver/phenol formaldehyde resin core/shell spheres with controllable sizes, in the range of 180 to 1000 nm, and interesting architectures (centric, eccentric, and coenocytic core/shell spheres) have been synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal approach. These spheres can be used as bioimaging labels for human lung cancer H1299 cells. The results demonstrate that the nanoparticles can be internalized into cells and exhibit no cytotoxic effects, showing that such novel biocompatible core/shell structures can potentially be used as in vivo bioimaging labels. This facile one-pot polymerization and encapsulation technique may provide a useful tool to synthesize other core/shell particles that have potential application in biotechnology.