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Photocatalytic selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol into benzaldehyde at normal temperature and pressure is one of the important topics in the catalysis field.

Mixed-valence Cu phthalocyanine/graphene/g-C3N4 ultrathin heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

In this work, the Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+ and Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+,Bi3+ phosphors are synthesized by high temperature solid state reactions. Various characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rietveld refinement, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, afterglow spectroscopy, decay curves and thermoluminescence (TL) spectroscopy, are used to examine the phase purity and PL properties of all samples. The XRD results show that all samples belong to the targeted orthorhombic Sr3Al2O5Cl2 phase with the space group of P212121. Upon excitation with UV light, Eu2+-related reddish photoemission and afterglow luminescence are observed in the Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+ samples. More remarkably, we find that co-doping with Bi3+ ions can enhance the Eu2+-related photoemission and afterglow intensity as well the afterglow duration. For the optimal Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+,Bi3+ sample, the afterglow luminescence can continue for nearly 550 min in the dark, which is almost 3-fold the duration of the afterglow luminescence of the optimal Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+ sample. The TL spectra reveal that co-doping with Bi3+ ions can enhance the defect population that corresponds to trap depths at 63 °C, 75 °C and 150 °C, of which the former two trap depths may help to improve the Eu2+-related luminescence in addition to the afterglow property. Due to an increase in the trap concentration, there is an increase in the re-trapping possibility for the released carriers. This work not only achieves enhanced afterglow luminescence of the Sr3Al2O5Cl2:Eu2+ phosphor by co-doping with the non-rare earth (RE) Bi3+ ions, but also provides new insights into the design of RE and non-RE related enhanced afterglow photonic materials for the future.

In the present work, p-type skutterudites La0.8Ti0.1Ga0.1Fe3CoSb12 composite with n-type Fe3Si nanoprecipitate was fabricated via an in situ method. Both thermoelectric and mechanical properties of La0.8Ti0.1Ga0.1Fe3CoSb12/xFe3Si composites were thoroughly investigated. With the introduction of homogeneously dispersed nanosized Fe3Si in the matrix, the power factor is almost unchanged due to the counteraction between the decreased electrical conductivity and the significantly enhanced Seebeck coefficient. Simultaneously, the total thermal conductivity was decreased for samples with Fe3Si nanoprecipitate because of the reduced electronic thermal conductivity. As a result, a ZT value of about 1.2 at 700 K has been achieved for La0.8Ti0.1Ga0.1Fe3CoSb12/0.1Fe3Si sample, whose ZT value was slightly enhanced in comparison with the Fe3Si-freeLa0.8Ti0.1Ga0.1Fe3CoSb12 sample. Furthermore, the indentation fracture toughness of La0.8Ti0.1Ga0.1Fe3CoSb12/0.1Fe3Si was improved by nearly 30% compared to the Fe3Si-free skutterudites.

Tungsten disulfide (WS2), a typical transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) material, transits from an indirect to direct bandgap when the thickness is thinned to a monolayer, thereby allowing for applications in transistors, photodetectors, and electroluminescent devices. The vibrational and optical properties of WS2 strongly depend on the fabrication methods, such as mechanical exfoliation (ME) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Here we provide a comparative study on the vibrational and optical properties of CVD-grown and ME-prepared few-layered WS2 by using several optical spectroscopic techniques. We observe dramatic differences in their Raman response, differential reflectance, photoluminescence (PL) and second-harmonic generation (SHG), which are all possibly related to their structural defects. Surprisingly, we find that the PL from a CVD-grown WS2 bilayer is almost unpolarized and exhibits no significant difference in the two circularly polarized excitations, while these polarization dependences are much stronger for an ME-prepared bilayer. More interestingly, we observe that the CVD-grown bilayer has an unprecedentedly stronger SHG signal than both ME-prepared and CVD-grown monolayers. Our results not only point out the importance of improving current CVD-based growth methods to achieve large-area TMDC materials with optical, electrical and structural properties comparable to small-area few-layered flakes prepared by ME methods, but also demonstrate the promise of using CVD-grown bilayer TMDCs in general for nonlinear optoelectronic applications.

Photocarrier recombination dynamics in ternary chalcogenide CuInS2 quantum dots (CIS QDs) was studied by means of femtosecond transient-absorption (TA) and nanosecond time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Under strong excitation, the TA dynamics in CIS QDs is well described by a simple rate equation including single-carrier trapping, free-to-bound recombination, and trap-assisted Auger recombination. Under weak excitation, on the other hand, the PL decays of the QDs are composed of a short-lived component caused by surface trapping and a long-lived one caused by free-to-bound recombination. It is found that the surface trapping accelerates markedly with decreasing QD size while the free-to-bound radiative recombination hardly depends on the QD size. Besides this, we observed both a decrease in the PL lifetimes and a dynamic spectral redshift, which are attributed to the surface trapping and the coexistent inhomogeneous broadening in CIS QDs. The spectral redshift becomes less pronounced in CIS/ZnS core/shell QDs because of the suppression of the fast nonradiative recombination caused by the passivation of the surface traps. These results give clear evidence that the free-to-bound model is appropriate for interpreting the optical properties of CIS QDs.

We studied the spin rotation of electrons in CdS quantum dots (QDs) and CdS QDs with charge acceptors by means of time-resolved Faraday rotation (TRFR) at room temperature. The electron spin rotation had an oscillatory component in the TRFR signal and the oscillation frequency proportional to the magnetic field gave a g-factor of the electrons of 1.965 ± 0.006. The non-oscillatory component came from the population of excitons and showed an additional decay in CdS QDs with hole acceptors. The electron spin rotation signal was largely enhanced and lasted for a spin coherence time of T2* = 450 ps in CdS QDs tethered to TiO2 electron acceptors, where the spin initialization was triggered by the positive trion transition. These results give clear evidence that the electron spin rotation signal in QDs can be enhanced by transient p-doping.

Visible light-responsive photocatalytic technology holds great potential in water treatment to enhance purification efficiency, as well as to augment water supply through the safe usage of unconventional water sources. This review summarizes the recent progress in the design and fabrication of visible light-responsive photocatalysts via various synthetic strategies, including the modification of traditional photocatalysts by doping, dye sensitization, or by forming a heterostructure, coupled with π-conjugated architecture, as well as the great efforts made within the exploration of novel visible light-responsive photocatalysts. Background information on the fundamentals of heterogeneous photocatalysis, the pathways of visible light-responsive photocatalysis, and the unique features of visible light-responsive photocatalysts are presented. The photocatalytic properties of the resulting visible light-responsive photocatalysts are also covered in relation to the water treatment, i.e., regarding the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds and inorganic pollutants, as well as photocatalytic disinfection. Finally, this review concludes with a summary and perspectives on the current challenges faced and new directions in this emerging area of research.

To date, growing interest has been devoted to fabricating graphene–metal oxide hybrid composites for a plethora of applications including photocatalysis. However, controllable synthesis of such composite materials by virtue of facile and rational routes still remains challenging. Herein, we report, for the first time, the design of an in situ, ultrasonic-assisted growth strategy for the tailored production of well-dispersed, rhombus-shaped ZnMoOx/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composites. The resultant composites exhibit a superior and recyclable natural-sunlight-driven photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of Rhodamine B, where the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency can be achieved for the ZnMoOx/RGO composites with 3 wt% RGO dosage. In addition, the synthesized hybrids possess a high areal capacitance with a good cycling performance, as well as an interesting noticeable antibacterial activity, offering special insights into the usage of such composites for a wide range of applications.