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As a critical component of electrostatic capacitors, the polymer dielectric directly affects the performance of the capacitor. In this work, Polycarbonate (PC)/Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) asymmetric bilayer polymer dielectrics were prepared, and the influence of different polymer materials' barrier characteristics on various electrical properties of composite dielectrics was studied by changing the direction of applied electric fields. Research has found that the dielectric constant of a composite dielectric is between PVDF and PC (approximately 4.8 at 10 Hz) and is independent of the relative position of PVDF and PC in the dielectric. However, the relative position of PC and PVDF has a significant impact on the energy-storage characteristics of composite dielectrics. When PVDF comes into contact with the negative electrode, even though PC has a higher hole barrier, the composite dielectric can only withstand a maximum electric-field strength of 400 MV/m, which is much lower than the maximum electric-field strength that pure PC can withstand (520 MV/m), and it only achieves an energy-storage density of 3.7 J/cm3. When the PC comes into contact with the negative electrode, the high electron barrier of the PC effectively suppresses the injection of electrons at the electrode. It can withstand the same electric-field strength as PC (520 MV/m), achieving an energy-storage density of 5.48 J/cm3, which is 1.46 times that of pure PC and 1.64 times that of PVDF. This experiment effectively combined the advantages of PC and PVDF by utilizing the electron/hole barrier of polymer materials to obtain a fully organic dielectric with excellent energy-storage performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The new series of donor-π-acceptor dyes have been designed using pyridine derivatives as a donor group and thienothiophene as a π-spacer group, which were linked via 10 acceptor groups. The highest occupied molecular orbital energies range from − 6.177 to − 5.786 eV, whereas the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies range from − 2.181 to − 3.664 eV. A6 dye has smaller energy gap, lower hardness, higher electrophilicity index, and good photovoltaic performance than other sensitizers. The lowest dihedral angle is observed in A1, A2, A6, A7, and A8 which are appropriate for intramolecular charge transfer between the molecules. The A8 has higher light harvesting efficiency, which increases the photovoltaic efficiency of the designed dye. The A6, A7, and A8 dyes spend less time in the excited state, which means they emit photons more efficiently than other dyes. The interaction between donor to π-spacer (red line) parts of the dyes has the bonding interaction (positive), and π-spacer to acceptor (blue line) parts of the dyes have the bonding and antibonding (negative) behaviours. The dyes A5 and A9 have 305.79 and 357.71 times higher β0 values than urea (0.781 × 10−30 esu) molecules. The spectral properties of the A6 dye strongly affect the structural modification. Methods: The density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) approach B3LYP/6-311G (d,p) basic set were used to optimize the designed dyes. All the calculations are performed using Gauss view 6.0 and Gaussian 09 software. The density of state spectrum is plotted using Gauss sum 2.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The world's energy and environmental requirements are changing due to rapid population growth and industrial growth, and solar cells can be used to meet these demands. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are solar cells in which energy conversion occurs via a process similar to photosynthesis in plants. DSSC development is still in its infancy. DSSCs can operate under cloudy conditions and indirect sunlight and have attracted considerable attention due to their low cost and high efficiency. We designed two metal-free TPA-based dyes (Dye2 and Dye3) based on the reference dye Mg207 (Dye1) by increasing the donor strength of the molecule, as such dyes have shown enhanced efficiency in DSSCs. Moreover, the triphenylamine (TPA) moiety has been demonstrated to be a good donor that prevents charge recombination. Intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) from the donor to acceptor moiety was found in the sensitizers, and electrons were promoted to the conduction band (CB) of the TiO2 semiconductor. The negative binding energy of the dye@TiO2 clusters indicated that dye adsorption on the semiconductor surface was stable. The double donor increased the electron injection and electronic coupling constants in Dye2 and Dye3, indicating that these newly designed dyes have superior charge injection capacity. Accordingly, the efficiencies of DSSCs with Dye2 and Dye3 were 9.77% and 9.62%, respectively, and substitution with the TPA unit at the -R1 and -R2 positions in Dye1 resulted in better power conversion compared to the parent compound (9.09%). Increased donor strength improved photovoltaic performance by increasing current density and light-harvesting efficiency. This is a good molecular design approach for preparing targeted donor- π -acceptor (D- π -A) organic dyes with high DSSC efficiency. Methods: To predict the charge transport and optoelectronic characteristics of the TPA dyes, quantum chemical calculations were carried out using Gaussian16. The ground-state (S0) optimized geometries of the sensitizers were computed by utilizing DFT at the B3LYP/6-31G** level. The absorption spectra (λ max) were computed by employing TD-DFT with various functionals (B3LYP, PBE1PBE, CAM-B3LYP, and BHandHLYP) in the gas and solvent (DCM) phases. Among the studied functionals, BHandHLYP was found to be best at successfully reproducing the experimental data. Thus, the absorption spectra of the newly designed dyes and dye@TiO2 were calculated at the BHandHLYP/6-31G** level. The dye@TiO2 cluster optimizations were carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G**(LANL2DZ) level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a technique for the wafer-level testing of the gate dielectrics of metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) devices by the high-field injection of electrons into the dielectric using a mode of increasing injection current density up to a set level. This method provides the capability to control a change in the charge state of the gate dielectric during all the testing. The proposed technique makes it possible to assess the integrity of the thin dielectric and at the same time to control the charge effects of its degradation. The method in particular can be used for manufacturing processes to control integrated circuits (ICs) based on MIS structures. In the paper, we propose an advanced algorithm of the Bounded J-Ramp testing of the gate dielectric and receive its approval when monitoring the quality of the gate dielectrics of production-manufactured MIS devices. We found that the maximum value of positive charge obtained when tested by the proposed method was a value close to that obtained when the charge was injected into the dielectric under a constant current with a Bounded J value despite large differences in the rate of degradation of the dielectric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crown leaves of pineapple possess a wealth of smooth and glossy silk medium-length fibers, primarily composed of cellulose and lignin, accompanied by constituents such as fats, waxes, pectin, uronic acid, anhydride, pentosan, color pigments, and inorganic substances. These fibers exhibit an anisotropic nature and are characterized by hydrogen bonding interactions, rendering them effective in conjunction with semiconductor oxide (TiO2) through their cellulosic fibrils. The dye extracted from Pineapple Crown Leaves (PCL) using ethanol was subjected to FTIR and UV–visible spectroscopy. The FTIR analysis revealed absorption peaks at 3268 cm−1 and 2922 cm−1, confirming the presence of –OH and –CH stretching attributed to the fibrils within the dye. UV–visible spectroscopy further demonstrated absorption within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Additionally, a photoluminescence study of the dye showcased emission within the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Subsequently, a solar cell incorporating this dye underwent JV characterization, yielding an efficiency of 1.0034%, along with fill factor, open-circuit voltage, and short-circuit current density values of 0.40644, 0.7058 V, and 3.4906 mA/cm2, respectively. To gain deeper insights and facilitate optimization for large-scale installations, a simulation model utilizing PC1D was proposed to explore the influential parameters of the Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The crown leaves of pineapple possess a wealth of smooth and glossy silk medium-length fibers, primarily composed of cellulose and lignin, accompanied by constituents such as fats, waxes, pectin, uronic acid, anhydride, pentosan, color pigments, and inorganic substances. These fibers exhibit an anisotropic nature and are characterized by hydrogen bonding interactions, rendering them effective in conjunction with semiconductor oxide (TiO2) through their cellulosic fibrils. The dye extracted from Pineapple Crown Leaves (PCL) using ethanol was subjected to FTIR and UV–visible spectroscopy. The FTIR analysis revealed absorption peaks at 3268 cm−1 and 2922 cm−1, confirming the presence of –OH and –CH stretching attributed to the fibrils within the dye. UV–visible spectroscopy further demonstrated absorption within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Additionally, a photoluminescence study of the dye showcased emission within the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Subsequently, a solar cell incorporating this dye underwent JV characterization, yielding an efficiency of 1.0034%, along with fill factor, open-circuit voltage, and short-circuit current density values of 0.40644, 0.7058 V, and 3.4906 mA/cm2, respectively. To gain deeper insights and facilitate optimization for large-scale installations, a simulation model utilizing PC1D was proposed to explore the influential parameters of the Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).

Improving light-harvesting efficiency and suppressing interfacial charge recombination are of paramount importance to the development of Cu (II/I) redox shuttle-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Here, we present a rational molecular engineering on D-A-π-A organic sensitizers featuring with fluorenyl-substituted bulky donor (HY57, HY60, and HY61) for Cu (II/I) mediated DSSCs. By gradually enhancing conjugation and rigidity of the π-spacer and auxiliary acceptor moieties, the light-harvesting and electron-injection efficiencies can be simultaneously improved. The large size of fluorenyl-substituted arylamine donor together with abundant alkyl chains decorated on the molecular structures assist dense assembly of dye monolayer at surface of nanocrystalline TiO2, which largely suppress interfacial charge recombination losses. When applied in Cu (II/I) mediated DSSCs, the combination of an auxiliary acceptor of phenanthrene-fused-quinoxaline (PFQ) and a π-spacer of cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) in dye HY61 results in a simultaneous enhancement in short-circuit current (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC), thus improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 7.3% for reference dye HY59 to 10.3% for HY61. This study demonstrates that rigid and fused building block is promising towards constructing highly efficient organic sensitizers.

As a critical component of electrostatic capacitors, the polymer dielectric directly affects the performance of the capacitor. In this work, Polycarbonate (PC)/Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) asymmetric bilayer polymer dielectrics were prepared, and the influence of different polymer materials’ barrier characteristics on various electrical properties of composite dielectrics was studied by changing the direction of applied electric fields. Research has found that the dielectric constant of a composite dielectric is between PVDF and PC (approximately 4.8 at 10 Hz) and is independent of the relative position of PVDF and PC in the dielectric. However, the relative position of PC and PVDF has a significant impact on the energy-storage characteristics of composite dielectrics. When PVDF comes into contact with the negative electrode, even though PC has a higher hole barrier, the composite dielectric can only withstand a maximum electric-field strength of 400 MV/m, which is much lower than the maximum electric-field strength that pure PC can withstand (520 MV/m), and it only achieves an energy-storage density of 3.7 J/cm3. When the PC comes into contact with the negative electrode, the high electron barrier of the PC effectively suppresses the injection of electrons at the electrode. It can withstand the same electric-field strength as PC (520 MV/m), achieving an energy-storage density of 5.48 J/cm3, which is 1.46 times that of pure PC and 1.64 times that of PVDF. This experiment effectively combined the advantages of PC and PVDF by utilizing the electron/hole barrier of polymer materials to obtain a fully organic dielectric with excellent energy-storage performance.

Improving light-harvesting efficiency and suppressing interfacial charge recombination are of paramount importance to the development of Cu (II/I) redox shuttle-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Here, we present a rational molecular engineering on D-π-p-π organic sensitizers featuring with fluorenyl-substituted bulky donor (HY57, HY60, and HY61) for Cu (II/I) mediated DSSCs. By gradually enhancing conjugation and rigidity of the p-spacer and auxiliary acceptor moieties, the light-harvesting and electron-injection efficiencies can be simultaneously improved. The large size of fluorenyl-substituted arylamine donor together with abundant alkyl chains decorated on the molecular structures assist dense assembly of dye monolayer at surface of nanocrystalline TiO2, which largely suppress interfacial charge recombination losses. When applied in Cu (II/I) mediated DSSCs, the combination of an auxiliary acceptor of phenanthrene-fused-quinoxaline (PFQ) and a p-spacer of cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT) in dye HY61 results in a simultaneous enhancement in short-circuit current (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC), thus improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 7.3% for reference dye HY59 to 10.3% for HY61. This study demonstrates that rigid and fused building block is promising towards constructing highly efficient organic sensitizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a technique for the wafer-level testing of the gate dielectrics of metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) devices by the high-field injection of electrons into the dielectric using a mode of increasing injection current density up to a set level. This method provides the capability to control a change in the charge state of the gate dielectric during all the testing. The proposed technique makes it possible to assess the integrity of the thin dielectric and at the same time to control the charge effects of its degradation. The method in particular can be used for manufacturing processes to control integrated circuits (ICs) based on MIS structures. In the paper, we propose an advanced algorithm of the Bounded J-Ramp testing of the gate dielectric and receive its approval when monitoring the quality of the gate dielectrics of production-manufactured MIS devices. We found that the maximum value of positive charge obtained when tested by the proposed method was a value close to that obtained when the charge was injected into the dielectric under a constant current with a Bounded J value despite large differences in the rate of degradation of the dielectric.

Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves along with whistler mode waves are suggested to be responsible for causing the persistent diffuse aurora in Jupiter. In this work, for the first time we systematically analyze the ECH waves in the Jovian inner magnetosphere, which was surveyed by Juno during the later orbits (>25). We find that in the Jovian inner magnetosphere, ECH waves occur in two specific regions—one equatorial and the other off-equatorial, just outside the Io torus. Equatorial ECH waves have higher intensity compared to their off-equatorial counterpart. We also notice an overlap between the region of mid-latitude hot injections and the region of off-equatorial ECH wave occurrence. Finally, we show an event to describe the complex nature of ECH wave growth/damping varying with particle density structures of the injection region at mid-latitude.

A new photosensitizer 1-WS55 (dyad) based on two dyes with excellent properties, azulenocyanine (1) and WS55, is proposed at the density functional theory level (M06/def2-SVP). 1 is a dye having a broad NIR absorption (~ 1000 nm), and WS55 is a metal-free organic dye that presents a huge photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.5%. The dyad presents a panchromatic absorption along the UV–Vis-NIR region. It exhibits two intense Q bands (880, 926 nm) in the NIR region, one strong band (672 nm) in the visible region, and several bands in 300–600 nm. Charge transfer bands in the dyad from 1 to WS55 were found in the visible region, which favors the adsorption on an anatase TiO2 surface. The interaction energies dyad (dye)-TiO2 were calculated as a periodic system and corrected by the basis set superposition error. These show better adsorption for the dyad than fragments 1 and WS55. The electron injection calculated from the dye (dyad) to TiO2 suggests an efficient solar energy conversion because of ΔGinj > 0.2 eV. Additionally, calculations performed for the reorganization energy of electrons and holes indicate that the dyad presents the highest charge mobility. In summary, the dyad proposed 1-WS55 constitutes an excellent candidate to be used as a potential photosensitizer for the DSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge carriers' generation from zinc includes silicon quantum dots (ZnSiQDs) layer sandwiched in-between porous silicon (PSi) and titania nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) layer-based solar cell is an efficient way to improve the cell's performance. In this view, ZnSiQDs layer with various QDs sizes have been inserted, separating the PSi and TiO2NPs layers to achieve some graded bandgap quantum dot solar cells (GBQDSCs). In this process, ZnSiQDs of mean diameter 1.22 nm is first prepared via the top-down method. Next, ZnSiQDs have been re-grown using the bottom-up approach to get various mean diameters of 2.1, 2.7 and 7.4 nm. TiO2NPs of mean diameter in the range of 3.2 to 33.94 nm have been achieved via thermal annealing. The influence of different ZnSiQDs sizes on the designed GBGQDSCs performance has been determined. The proposed cell attains a short circuit current of 40 mA/cm2 and an efficiency of 4.9%. It has been shown that the cell performance enhances by optimizing the energy levels alignment in the PSi, ZnSiQDs, TiO2NPs layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Chloride modification accelerate electron injection. • Chloride modification position is critical for ion migration. • The dense and smooth film facilitate better electrochemical behavior. • Supercapacitor had high cycle stability, maintaining 78% after 10,000 cycles. Ambipolar conducting polymer electrode materials exhibit a wide voltage window, contributing to fast development of high-energy–density storage devices. The doping levels of p-doped and n-doped in ambipolar conducting polymers determine the electrochemical performance of energy storage devices. However, n-doped materials always face low doping efficiency, caused by difficulty in electron injection and ion migration, thereby affecting specific capacitance and stability. In this study, two ambipolar conductive polymers were developed, in which the n-doped imine group was chlorinated to improve electron injection, and the mechanism of ion migration process was studied by changing the chlorination of different positions relative to the carbonyl group. The influence of chloride modification on n-doped electrochemical energy storage was thoroughly investigated. The results show that chloride modification can lower the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level of the monomer and make electron injection easier. Interestingly, the chloride modification position not only affects the oxidation–reduction of the carbonyl, but also the binding of the carbonyl with lithium ions. If the chloride modification position is too close to the carbonyl, lithium-ion migration in ambipolar conducting polymer will be restricted, although electron injection is beneficial. Based on this design, the developed PEPCl conducting polymer exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, and the mechanism of chlorination modification of ambipolar polymer electrode materials is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Here, this work presents an air-stable ultrabright inverted organic light-emitting device (OLED) by using zinc ion-chelated polyethylenimine (PEI) as electron injection layer. The zinc chelation is demonstrated to increase the conductivity of the PEI by three orders of magnitude and passivate the polar amine groups. With these physicochemical properties, the inverted OLED shows a record-high external quantum efficiency of 10.0% at a high brightness of 45,610 cd m−2 and can deliver a maximum brightness of 121,865 cd m−2. Besides, the inverted OLED is also demonstrated to possess an excellent air stability (humidity, 35%) with a half-brightness operating time of 541 h @ 1000 cd m−2 without any protection nor encapsulation.

This study explores the challenges to photo-reforming sacrificial chemicals into beneficial by-products while improving photocatalytic activity in H 2 O 2 production by addressing several issues. The resorcinol-formaldehyde/graphitic carbon nitride composite (RF 0.2 GCN) with nanosheet-like RF morphology achieved a higher degree of surface-to-surface contact through -C-NH-CH 2 - and -NH-CH-OH than the nanosphere (RF 0.8 GCN). The RF 0.2 GCN produced H 2 O 2 at 325.2 µg g−1 s−1 in the presence of oxalic acid (OA) at pH 2.1 with apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 12.7 %. The conduction band position potential was +0.54 V NHE , which is thermodynamically unfavorable for H+/H 2 (E°: 0.00 V NHE) and O 2 / · O 2 - (E°: −0.046 V NHE) reaction and also inhibits the decomposition of H 2 O 2 (H 2 O 2 / · OH, E°: +0.39 V NHE). Furthermore, the decomposition of OA formed formic acid (FA) at 82 % selectivity and concurrent CO 2 · - formation could promote electron density in the conduction band via its electron-donating ability·H 2 O 2 was purified by isolating FA using anion exchange resin, and FA was recovered by desorption from the resin using HCl (pH 3). [Display omitted] • Nano-sheets stacking facilitates LLCT between the two photocatalysts. • Upcycling sacrificial chemicals into valuable chemical by-products. • Suitable band position for desirable direct O 2 → H 2 O 2 pathway. • Simultaneous production of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid. • Hydrogen peroxide and formic acid separation by ion-exchange resins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dual side transparent OLED devices with an Ag top cathode are achieved. • The efficient electron injection is fulfilled by inserting a 3 nm thick LiF layer. • Different from LiF/Al, the working mechanism of LiF/Ag cathode is tunneling mode. • A MoO 3 dielectric layer is capped on Ag cathode for light extraction. • Light extraction is greatly improved by the capping layer in terms of EL properties. Transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TrOLEDs) offer enormous promising applications in next-generation consumer electronic devices. Herein, TrOLEDs based on a silver (Ag) top cathode are fabricated via vacuum deposition. The semi-transparent and efficient Ag cathode has been fulfilled by combining the optimization of the thickness and deposition rate of Ag films with the modification of lithium fluoride (LiF) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO 3). The introduction of an optimal LiF layer is beneficial for electron injection, which could be explained by tunneling model due to its insulation property. And a MoO 3 dielectric layer is capped on Ag cathode for light extraction due to its high refraction index. The electroluminescent (EL) properties collected from the top Ag cathode side are remarkably improved by the capping MoO 3 dielectric layer while maintaining the EL performance collected from the bottom anode side. This work provides a meaningful guidance for the construction of TrOLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: By using a zinc ion-chelated polyethylenimine as electron injection layer, an inverted organic light-emitting device (OLED) was successfully prepared with an external quantum efficiency over 10% at a brightness of 45,610 cd m−2. The chelation between zinc ion and amine groups not only passivates polar amine groups, but also fuses separated electronic orbitals. The inverted OLED show an excellent air stability with an operating time of 541 h @ 1,000 cd m−2 without any protection. Here, this work presents an air-stable ultrabright inverted organic light-emitting device (OLED) by using zinc ion-chelated polyethylenimine (PEI) as electron injection layer. The zinc chelation is demonstrated to increase the conductivity of the PEI by three orders of magnitude and passivate the polar amine groups. With these physicochemical properties, the inverted OLED shows a record-high external quantum efficiency of 10.0% at a high brightness of 45,610 cd m−2 and can deliver a maximum brightness of 121,865 cd m−2. Besides, the inverted OLED is also demonstrated to possess an excellent air stability (humidity, 35%) with a half-brightness operating time of 541 h @ 1000 cd m−2 without any protection nor encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge carriers’ generation from zinc includes silicon quantum dots (ZnSiQDs) layer sandwiched in-between porous silicon (PSi) and titania nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) layer-based solar cell is an efficient way to improve the cell’s performance. In this view, ZnSiQDs layer with various QDs sizes have been inserted, separating the PSi and TiO2NPs layers to achieve some graded bandgap quantum dot solar cells (GBQDSCs). In this process, ZnSiQDs of mean diameter 1.22 nm is first prepared via the top-down method. Next, ZnSiQDs have been re-grown using the bottom-up approach to get various mean diameters of 2.1, 2.7 and 7.4 nm. TiO2NPs of mean diameter in the range of 3.2 to 33.94 nm have been achieved via thermal annealing. The influence of different ZnSiQDs sizes on the designed GBGQDSCs performance has been determined. The proposed cell attains a short circuit current of 40 mA/cm2 and an efficiency of 4.9%. It has been shown that the cell performance enhances by optimizing the energy levels alignment in the PSi, ZnSiQDs, TiO2NPs layers.

2H MoS2 nanoflakes were exfoliated and surface-modified by amine (-NH2) groups in a simple three-step water-based approach. The NH2-modified MoS2 sheets were used as humidity sensitive layer for estimating various levels of relative humidity (RH) (10%–90%). The devices demonstrated a maximum response of 720% for 90% RH with ${t}_{{\text {response}}} =1.2$ s and ${t}_{{\text {recovery}}} =3.1$ s, respectively, when operated at 1 V. The device also displayed low hysteresis and good stability with a maximum error in response to ±5% when tested for 50 days. The device demonstrated a good response at lower RHs. To explain this enhancement of response, a novel “pseudo electron injection model” has been put forward. It established that the enhanced response was due to the increased electron transfer from the MoS2–NH2 system (with lone pairs) to the humidity layer resulting in an electron accumulation at the MoS2 layer, and thus lowering the conduction band minima (CBM) of the MoS2 system beneath. This accumulation amplified the device current significantly resulting in sensor performance enhancement. The CBM-lowering and electron population due to this pseudo electron injection were expressed as a function of the thickness of adsorbed humidity and the MoS2–NH2 layers, thereby finally expressing the enhanced response. From the models, extinction coefficients affecting CBM-lowering were calculated as $\alpha = -0.042$ eV and $\beta = -0.49$ eV nm−1 which supported the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a model of the space charge limited (SCL) electron injection into a gap combined with trap-filled dielectric solid and vacuum or a gap combined with two different trap-filled dielectric solid. An optimized calculation method is proposed to calculate the SCL current density $J$ inside the gap under different gap voltages $V_{g}$. The $n$ scaling of $J$ – $V_{g}^{n}$ varies in a different range of $V_{g}$ , which is described as the Ohm regime, trap-limited regime, and SCL regime. It is found that the $n$ scaling is dependent on electron mobility and relative length scale between two media, which indicates that traps in the dielectric have a profound impact on SCL electron transport properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have developed rapidly in recent years. However, compared with the p-type OFETs, the n-type devices always show poorer performance due to their hard electron injection and low stability. It is necessary to further improve the charge injection properties of n-type OFETs. In this work, indium (In) layers, as an interlayer above contacts, were adopted for electron injection improvement in the n-type poly((N, N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalenedicarboximide-2,6-diyl)-alt-5, 5'-(2, 2'-bithiophene)) (N2200) OFETs. The injection barrier, such as Schottky barrier, at the metal/semiconductor interface was effectively weakened with the In interlayers thickness (TIn) increasing from 0 to 6 nm. The mechanism of electron injection changed from thermionic emission to tunneling, as the TIn reaching 6 nm. It results in a marked improvement in electrical properties for N2200 OFETs. The mobility increased from 0.09 to 0.29 cm2 ⋅ V−1 ⋅ s−1 while the subthreshold swing decreased from 2.7 to 0.8 V ⋅ dec−1 with the TIn. This work provides an efficient approach for the electron injection improvement in n-type OFETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic random access memory (DRAM) disturb known as rowhammer (RH) has come to dominate the insecurity of computing systems worldwide. Several studies have concentrated on electron injection from a switching cell select transistor and capture by nearby storage node junctions as being the main mechanism for the effect. This article for the first time looks in-depth at RH from the point of view of both electron injection and capture, and capacitive crosstalk. The absence of such comprehensive studies at the silicon level in the literature can be attributed to its sensitive nature within the industry and highlights the difficulty of DRAM scaling. This review article, therefore, forms a broad foundation to extend understanding of this dangerous disturb mechanism and in so doing provides an informed view on the ability of future DRAM technologies to solve RH once and for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influence of initial momentum and the injection angle of electron in to the magnetized plasma in a laser wake-field accelerator have been studied.It has been seen that the use of external magnetic field in the opposite direction of laser pulse propagation leads to an increase in the wake-field amplitude and a decrease in laser pulse group velocity in comparison to the use of external magnetic field in same direction of laser pulse propagation or unmagnetized plasma case. The results show, the effect of initial momentum variation on the final energy gained by electron is lower in comparison with the effect of injection angle variation. It is observed when the injection angle is increased, the electron can stay more in acceleration phase and reach to more final energy. The maximum final energy of accelerated electron is about 2.5 GeV when the magnetic field is applied along the reverse direction. Also, the electron energy is increased with the increase of injection angle and lowest energy is related to the case of magnetic field applied along the reverse direction.

In this work, and experimentally propose inserting an SiO2 intermediate layer between the Ti and n-AlGaN layer to improve the electron injection efficiency. When the SiO2 intermediate layer is adopted, the SiO2 layer can share a part of the applied voltage and then weakens the surface depletion effect, which is confirmed by the capacitance–voltage measurement. Furthermore, the energy bending of the SiO2 layer pushes the affinity of Ti to be even higher than the conduction band of the Al0.60Ga0.40N layer, which then screens the Schottky barrier and favors the election injection. The influence of the thickness of the SiO2 intermediate layer is also investigated in this work. When the SiO2 layer becomes thick, the tunneling capability of the electrons will be significantly limited due to the increased tunnel region width, leading to increased forward voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a plasma-generating system based on a non-self-sustained glow discharge with external electron injection and a hollow cathode in the shape of a tube with an internal diameter of 25 mm and a length of 300 mm made of stainless steel AISI 321. It is proved that the parameters of the non-self-sustained glow discharge under (0.2–1) Pa, (100–280) V, and (2–6) A depend on the auxiliary discharge current to a great extent, which is due to the determining influence of electrons injected from the auxiliary discharge plasma on the physical processes in the main discharge. The study of uniformity of temperature distribution on the hollow cathode walls has shown that it can reach ±10% of the average value and greatly depends not only on electric characteristics of the discharge but also on its working pressure. The study further demonstrates that such discharge can burn not only in elongated hollow rectilinear cathodes but also in hollow cathodes of a complex shape produced by welding two tubes at a 90% angle. The efficiency of using emitted electrons to sustain discharge and uniformity of temperature distribution on the walls is improved in the latter configuration. The discharge can be used for ion plasma nitriding of inner surfaces with treatment uniformity of ±8.5% of the average value for complex-shaped hollow cathodes. The mean thickness of the nitrided layer after 1 h of processing steel AISI 321 at 630 °C was $\approx 50~\mu \text{m}$ and the hardness of the nitrided layer exceeded the original value by $\approx 3$ times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two modifications of the molecular structures of Aurantinidin and Betanidin dyes were modeled, and the optical and electrical properties were calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD–DFT). The modification of the structures was done by connecting the units through vinyl groups and using regular electron acceptor and electron donor moieties to the original structures. It has been demonstrated that the modifications improved the electron injection properties of the molecules with higher light-harvesting efficiencies, an increase in the driving force of electron injection ( Δ G inject ), better regeneration energies ( Δ G reg ) and open-circuit photovoltages ( V OC ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, the introduction of solar cells is presented. Old and new generation solar cells are briefly described. Quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs), perovskite solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are concisely introduced. The sensitization mechanism in DSSCs is discussed in detail concerning the spectral and electron injection properties of different dyes. An analysis of the intramolecular charge transfer process in the excited dye molecule is also provided. The use of porphyrin-based dyes as sensitizers in DSSCs is then reviewed. The design, synthesis, and photovoltaic application of a wide variety of porphyrin-based dyes as well as porphyrin dyads are presented and discussed. Theoretical studies of the spectral and electronic properties of different porphyrin-based dyes using DFT and TD-DFT methods are described. The different possibilities for improving the light-to-electrical energy conversion performance are discussed, such as structural modifications through introducing push-pull moieties, which in turn tunes the HOMO-LUMO energy gap of the sensitizing dye used in the DSSC. Experimental, as well as theoretical calculations of adsorption energies of the sensitizing dyes, are crucial for predicting the relative performance and efficiency of the dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The electronic properties required for photosensitizer of type-II core/shell QDs based on group II-VI semiconductor have been studies by first-principles DFT study. • Absorption range and electrons injection channels are often opposed to each other. • Electron-hole recombination is related to the strengths of interaction inside quantum dots. • (ZnTe) 6 (CdSe) 28 is the promising candidate as a feasible sensitizer. Type-II core/shell quantum dots (QDs) present a promising avenue for enhancing the stability and performance of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) by reducing charge carrier recombination through the mitigation of trap states and enhancing charge carrier separation. This paper reports first-principles studies on diverse core/shell QDs consisting of group II-VI elements, namely, ZnSe/CdS, ZnTe/CdSe, CdTe/CdS, ZnTe/CdS, CdTe/CdSe, ZnTe/CdTe and ZnTe/ZnSe. The geometric and electronic properties of these QDs were investigated using first-principles density functional theory. The core/shell structures of each quantum dot were optimized, and their energy stability was confirmed through vibrational frequency analysis. The highest occupied molecular orbital principally constituted by S, Se, or Te states, while the states from the shell form the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. Calculations of optical absorptions and structure optimization after electron transition were conducted using time-dependent density functional theory. The feasibility of type-II core/shell QDs as sensitizers for QDSSCs was assessed by examining absorption spectrum, electron injection, and electron-hole recombination. The results demonstrated that ZnTe/CdSe not only effectively balanced the competition between absorption range and electron injection channels, but also provided a clear advantage in electron–hole separation. Consequently, ZnTe/CdSe holds significant promise as a viable sensitizer for QDSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of new organic dyes (T1 - T6) with nonfullerene acceptors have been theoretically designed around the chemical structure of tyrian purple (T) natural dye. For their ground state energy parameters, all the molecular geometries of those dyes were optimized by density functional theory (DFT) at its Becke, 3-parameter, Lee–Yang–Parr (B3LYP) level of theory with 6–31G+(d,p) basis sets. When benchmarking against several long range and range separated levels of theory, the Coulomb attenuated B3LYP (CAM-B3LYP) produced most accurate absorption maxima (λ max) value to that of T so it was further employed for further Time dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations. Frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) with natural bond orbital (NBO) studies were used to study their intra molecular charge transfer (ICT). All of the dyes had their energy gaps (E g) values between their FMOs to range around 0.96–3.39 eV, whereas the starting reference dye had an E g of 1.30 eV. Their ionization potential (IP) values were ranged to be 3.07–7.25 eV which indicated their nature to loss electrons. The λ max in chloroform was marginally red-shifted with a value 600–625 from T (580 nm). The dye T6 showed its highest linear polarizability (< α >), and first and second order hyperpolarizabilities (β and γ). The synthetic experts can find the present research to design finest NLO materials for current and future uses. [Display omitted] • A study to highlight the importance of theoretical modeling to improve DSSCs performance. • Efficient utilization of Tyrian purple natural dye as a donor moiety. • Exploration of nonlinear optical (NLO) performance for new dyes. • The results shed insights into the design and optimization of organic DSSCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of a secure long-term sustainable energy supply is recognized as a major worldwide technological challenge. The generation of H2 through photocatalysis is an environmentally friendly alternative that can help solve the energy problem. Thus, the development of semiconductor materials that can absorb solar light is an attractive approach. TiO2 has a wide bandgap that suffers from no activity in the visible spectrum, limiting its use of solar radiation. In this research, the semiconductor absorption profile was extended into the visible region of the solar spectrum by preparing porphyrin-TiO2 (P-TiO2) composites of meso-tetra(4-bromophenyl)porphyrin (PP1) and meso-tetra(5-bromo-2-thienyl)porphyrin (PP2) and their In(III), Zn(II) and Ga(III) metal complexes. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed on the porphyrins to gain insight into their electron injection capability. The results demonstrate that P-TiO2 systems merit further in-depth study for applications that require efficient photocatalytic H2 generation.

A new type insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with electron injection (EI-IGBT) is proposed in which an N+-buried layer is implemented in P-base region. The mechanism of the EI-IGBT is that electrons are injected in both OFF- and ON-state, thus accelerated electron-hole recombination is achieved, resulting in a fast turn-off process. Meanwhile, a low forward voltage drop is obtained due to an enhanced conductivity modulation. The simulation results show that, compared with the conventional IGBT, the proposed EI-IGBT delivers a comparable breakdown voltage while featuring an 80% shorter turn-off time (or a 72% lower turn-off loss) or a 23% lower forward voltage drop, resulting in a reduction of total energy loss.

A dye-sensitized solar cell was constructed on the basis of encapsulating the ruthenium polypyridyl photosensitizer Z907 in the macrocycle cucurbit[7]uril (CB7). The work focuses on the photophysical properties of the new host-guest complexes in acetonitrile and water (volume ratio 1:9) and on the top of nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) electrode prior to the addition of poly(3-hexylthiophene) polymer and gold electrode. Complexation to CB7 in aqueous solutions has decreased the emission intensity and excited-state lifetime for metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state at 650 nm by twofold because of collisional quenching, which opens a non-radiative deactivation channel. Similarly, a twofold decrease in the emission intensity and excited-state lifetime of MLCT at 750 nm on the top of TiO2 electrodes was observed with the addition of CB7. Encapsulation of Z907 dye to CB7 host has, also, led to fourfold enhancement in the short circuit current and power conversion efficiency of the final solar cell. The results support the premise that host-guest complexation of CB7 facilitates faster electron injection from Z907 dye into the conduction band of TiO2 electrodes.

A novel trench insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with emitter dual injection (EDI-IGBT) is proposed and investigated. The device features the hybrid gate electrode and the tiny P-base. The hybrid gate is a combination of the conventional trench gate (TG) and the accumulation gate (AG). The TG contacts the P-base region and the N-drift region, while the AG contacts the N-drift region only. In the ON-state, the accumulation layer formed by the AG makes an additional accumulation injection in the emitter side, leading to the EDI phenomenon, and hence a low forward voltage drop (${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$). Simultaneously, the tiny P-base region reduces holes extracted by the reverse-biased p-base/n-drift junction, which also contributes to the reduction in ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$. The simulation results show that the EDI-IGBT delivers comparable breakdown voltage and safe operating area (SOA) while featuring a 28% lower ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ , resulting in a reduction in total energy loss. Moreover, the existence of the AG suppresses the gate self-charging effect during the turn-on transient, leading to an improved turn-on performance. The excellent device performance, coupled with industry-standard IGBT-compatible fabrication process, makes the proposed EDI-IGBT a promising candidate for power switching applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a flexible transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) which is notable due to its high electron injection and transmittance. Though graphene-based OLEDs are promising candidates for flexible displays due to the enormous merits offered, a significant decrease in its device efficiency was reported in comparison to the other conventional indium tin oxide-based OLEDs. The device illustrated enhances the performance of the graphene-based flexible OLEDs through balanced charge recombination. A theoretical analysis has been done through performing optical simulations. The structure of the graphene-based OLED is optimized through the employment of efficient cathode and electron injection layer materials to boost the electron injection into the device. With the aid of simulations, it was found that optimum results are obtained with aluminum zinc oxide (Al:ZnO) as the cathode and Al/LiF/Alq3 as the electron injection layer. The proposed structure exhibits high transmittance of 87.14% with a current efficiency of 61.17 cd/A, and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 21.2% at 1000 cd/m2 for the bottom side. An evident improvement in the device performance with 32.9% increase in the current efficiency, and 45.2% increase in the EQE was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of low-resistivity substrate on vertical leakage current (VLC) of AlGaN/GaN-on-Si epitaxial layers has been investigated. AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on both p-type and n-type Si substrates with low resistivity are applied to analyze the vertical leakage mechanisms. The activation energy (Ea) for p-type case is higher than that for n-type at 0–600 V obtained by temperature-dependent current-voltage measurements. An additional depletion region in the region of 0–400 V forms at the AlN/p-Si interface but not for AlN/n-Si. That depletion region leads to a decrease of electron injection and hence effectively reduces the VLC. While in the region of 400–600 V, the electron injection from p-Si substrate increases quickly compared to n-Si substrate, due to the occurrence of impact ionization in the p-Si substrate depletion region. The comparative results indicate that the doping type of low-resistivity substrate plays a key role for VLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A theoretical investigation was carried out using density functional theory at the MN12SX/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory to calculate and compare the photoinduced electron injection for selected members of the anthocyanidin and betalain families. The rate constant of the injection for both families was calculated, and it was verified that the regeneration in the dye during the DSSC operation is caused by an energetic electron injection of the matched electrons in the dye. The present research shows that the rate constant of electron injection of the selected anthocyanidin family was very rapid: Aurantinidin has the overall best injection rate for both families. Aromaticity, the open-circuit voltage V oc , the Δ G inject and Δ G reg values for the selected molecule play a vital role in the comparison of both selected families. A prediction of the best dye based on the above properties was made for the maximum efficiency of the DSSC to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Comparison of structural features of vinyl coupled furan oligomers (VCFOs) with their thiophene derivatives (VCTOs) • Effect of substitution (–NO 2 , –CN and –COOH groups) on the optoelectronic properties is studied. • Absorption spectra and effect of solvation on the absorption spectra are evaluated. • Exciton binding energy, light harvesting efficiency, electron injection properties of VCFOs are studied. • Overall, 21 out of 23 designed VCFOs are found to show better optoelectronic characters. In the present study, twenty three new vinyl coupled furan oligomers (VCFOs) and four already reported thiophene oligomer (VCTOs) have been investigated for potential optoelectronic properties using DFT/TDDFT calculations. Frontier molecular orbital analysis shows that the HOMO-LUMO gap of VCFO7b is the lowest among all the candidates while VCFO1a bears the highest HOMO-LUMO gap. The VCFOs display high NLO activity, exergonic type electron injection characteristics and VCTO1&3 have low NLO activity & endergonic type electron injection characteristics. Furthermore, the study investigates the influence of heterocyclic unit in HOMO-LUMO gap, NLO activity, exciton binding energy, light harvesting efficiency, electron injection properties in VCFOs& VCTOs. As a whole 21 out of 23 designed VCFOs are found to have remarkable optoelectronic properties compared to their corresponding VCTOs. Overall, our results suggest that furan oligomer tunes the optoelectronic properties to a great extent than the thiophene oligomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetra carboxyl Zn-phthalocyanine (TCTZnPc) with thiol linker is anchored onto titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles surface. The presence of a thiol group having lone pair of electrons further increase the electron donating capability of Zn-Phthalocyanine (ZnPc) derivative. TiO2 thin film is prepared and sensitized with the Zn- Phthalocyanine derivative. The type of aggregation of TCTZnPc in DMF and on TiO2 surface is studied from the steady-state absorption spectral techniques. The fluorescence spectral studies are carried out to analyze the quenching of ZnPc fluorescence on TiO2 surface. Further, the time-resolved fluorescence is carried out to confirm the electron injected from excited state TCTZnPc to the TiO2 nanoparticles conduction band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron transfer dynamics in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing triphenylamine Y123 dye were investigated by means of femtosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopy in the visible and mid-IR range of detection. The electron injection process to the titania conduction band was found to appear biphasically with the time constant of the first component within 350 fs and that of the second component between 80 and 95 ps. Subsequently, the effects of continuous irradiation on the ultrafast and fast electron transfer processes were studied in the systems comprising Y123 dye or carbazole MK2 dye in combination with cobalt- or copper-based redox mediators: [Co(bpy)3](B(CN)4)2/3 (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) or [Cu(tmby)2](TFSI)1/2 (tmby = 4,4′,6,6′ tetramethyl-2,2′-bipyridine, TFSI = bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonamide). We have found that the steady-state illumination led to acceleration of the electron injection process due to the lowering of titania conduction band edge energy. Moreover, we have observed that the back electron transfer to the oxidized dye was suppressed. These changes in the initial (up to 3 ns) charge separation efficiency were directly correlated with the photocurrent enhancement.

Transition metal oxide MnO x shows great potential in catalytic formaldehyde (HCHO) pollution degradation at room temperature, but it is difficult to effectively overcome the catalyst deactivation caused by the accumulation of intermediates. Hereon, a 3D conductive aerogel catalyst with cellulose nanofibers (CNF) skeleton supported MnO x nanoflowers and carbon black (CB) was prepared by freeze-drying. Based on the aerogel catalyst (MnO x /CB/CNF), an electro-injection-enhanced catalytic oxidation (EICO) strategy was proposed for HCHO degradation by promoting the formation lattice oxygen and reactive oxygen species O*. In the dynamic test (∼15 ppm at the weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 600000 mL/g MnO x ·h), the HCHO-to-CO 2 conversion efficiency of MnO x /CB/CNF by electro-injection can be enhanced to 76.27%, which is 26.4% higher than that without electro-injection, and the corresponding dynamic efficiency did not show a decreasing trend within 72 h. This proposed EICO strategy may realize the efficient and long-term pollutant degradation at room temperature. [Display omitted] • A three-dimensional aerogel catalyst MnO x /CB/CNF developed by freeze-drying. • Electro-injection-enhanced catalytic oxidation (EICO) strategy was proposed. • MnO x /CB/CNF shows excellent HCHO-to-CO 2 conversion efficiency of 76.27%. • EICO strategy promotes the conversion from O 2 to O* for enhancing catalytic activity. • EICO strategy enhances electrons' migration to inhibit catalysts' deactivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New D-π-A configured organic sensitizers featuring halogen-substituted oxindole-bridged acceptor units have been synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells applications. Among fluorine, bromine, and iodine substitution, the cell based on bromine incorporated dye exhibited the highest efficiency. The oxindoles in these sensitizers were found to assist the electron injection through the chelation of their amide carbonyl groups to the TiO2 surface. This study provides an alternate approach for future rational dye design to gain excellent DSSC performance.

An injection scheme is proposed to realize electron trapping in sub-relativistic plasma wakefield accelerators. A laser under oblique angle of incidence ionizes a dopant gas in plasma and ponderomotively accelerates the released electrons into the direction of wake propagation. This process enables electron trapping in the wakefield even for a wakefield potential below the trapping threshold. We study the scheme theoretically and by means of particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to demonstrate high-quality beam formation and acceleration with sub-micrometer normalized emittances and sub-percent uncorrelated energy spreads.

This work investigates the effect of the second chromophore energy gap on charge generation in porphyrin-based di-chromophoric dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Three di-chromophoric porphyrin dyes (PorY, PorO and PorR) containing three organic chromophores with decreasing frontier orbital energy offsets, including a carbazole-triphenylamine chromophore (yellow, Y), a carbazole fused-thiophene chromophore (orange, O) or a carbazole-thiophene benzothiadiazole thiophene chromophore (red, R), were investigated using optical and electrochemical methods, steady-state photoluminescence and photovoltaic device characterization. Energy transfer from the organic chromophore to the porphyrin was suggested in PorY and PorO as the main charge generation mechanism in DSSCs using these di-chromophoric dyes. On the other hand, electron transfer from the photo-excited porphyrin to the organic chromophore as a competing pathway leading to the loss of photocurrent is suggested for PorR-sensitized solar cells. The latter pathway leading to a loss of photocurrent is due to the lower lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the additional organic chromophore (R) and suggests the limitation of the current di-chromophoric approach to increase the overall efficiency of DSSCs.

Graphical abstract Highlights • A new strategy was applied to construct heterostructural CdS/WO 3−x nanowires as stable non-elemental-metal (NEM) plasmonic photocatalyst. • NEM plasmonic CdS/WO 3−x nanowires exhibited greatly improved plasmonic photocatalytic hydrogen generation under visible/NIR light irradiation. • The high stability and activity of plasmonic photocatalyst CdS/WO 3−x is attributed to surface plasmon resonance of WO 3−x stabilized by continual injection of photoinduced electrons from CdS nanowires. Abstract To remedy the instability problem of the non-elemental-metal (NEM) plasmonic photocatalyst WO 3−x in aqueous solution, a novel strategy of photoinduced electron injection was applied to construct CdS/WO 3−x hetereostructures by growing WO 3−x on semiconductor CdS nanowires. Under visible/near-infrared light irradiation, the NEM plasmonic CdS/WO 3−x nanowires are highly stable and exhibit a much higher activity (1.60 mmol g−1 h−1) than do plasmonic WO 3−x (negligible amount) and semiconductor CdS (0.53 mmol g−1 h−1) in hydrogen generation. Wavelength dependent photocatalytic performance and Single-particle PL study demonstrate that photo-excited electrons on CdS continually inject into conduction band of WO 3−x , so that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the NEM plasmonic photocatalyst WO 3−x is sustained while hot electrons generated by the SPR excitation are consumed for hydrogen generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]