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In this work, a series of carbon dots (CDs) modified hollow g-C3N4 spheres (HCNS-Cx) were constructed via a double in situ approach using cyanamide and glucose as precursors, respectively. As HCNS-Cx was synthesized by one-step in situ thermal polymerization of two precursors, which could make CDs and g-C3N4 keep tight connection and increase the separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The average diameter and wall thickness of the HCNS-Cx are about 355 nm and 55 nm, respectively. Under the visible light irradiation, the H2 evolution rate (HER) of HCNS-C1.0 (2322 μmol g−1 h−1) was 19 times that of bulk g-C3N4 (122 μmol g−1 h−1) and 1.8 times that of HCNS without CDs modification (1289 μmol g−1 h−1), respectively. And its apparent quantum efficiency is 17.93% at 420 nm. The specific surface area, light absorption capacity, and charge carrier mobility of HCNS-Cx could be dramatically improved due to the introduction of CDs and hollow structures of g-C3N4 spheres, resulting in a significant improvement of photocatalytic activity.

As one of the most promising fluorescent nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have been extensively studied for their fluorescent properties in solution. However, research on the synthesis of multicolor solid-state fluorescence (SSF) CDs (from blue to red) is rarely reported. Herein, we used o-phenylenediamine, m-phenylenediamine and p-phenylenediamine with dithiosalicylic acid (DTSA) in the solvothermal reaction using acetic acid as a solvent to obtain aggregation-induced emissive (AIE) CDs of red (620 nm), green (520 nm), and blue (478 nm), respectively. XPS spectra and TEM image show that with the red-shift of luminescence, the particle size and content of C = O of the CDs gradually increases. Finally, based on the non-matrix solid-state multicolor luminescence characteristics of CDs, the application of white light LED devices is realized. Besides, based on the fat-soluble properties of CDs, fingerprint detection applications are realized.

Flexible aqueous battery is considered to be one of the most promising energy storage devices for powering flexible electronics. However, inferior interfacial compatibility in electrode–electrolyte interfaces and inefficient ionic channel of electrolytes usually result in potential troubles when applied in practical applications. Herein, we report a mild synthetic route to a sodium lignosulfonate-polyacrylamide hydrogel electrolyte with a high adhesiveness to achieve low electrode–electrolyte interfacial resistance and fast ionic conduction. Comprehensive experiments show that the catechol groups from sodium lignosulfonate demonstrate strong interactions with both cathode and anode materials, and thus greatly reduce the contact resistances across the electrodes. Meanwhile, the existence of sulfonate groups significantly enhances the ionic conductivity of the hydrogel electrolyte. Benefiting from this design, a low ohmic resistance of 3.8 Ω (i.e., 11.4 Ω cm2 ), a low charge transfer resistance of 22.5 Ω (i.e., 67.5 Ω cm2 ), a high ionic conductivity of 31.1 mS cm−1 as well as a 100% capacity retention upon harsh bending deformation can be realized in the flexible zinc ion battery, which are significantly superior to those in the traditional candidates. The present investigation provides new insight into addressing the interfacial issue plaguing flexible energy storage devices.

The introduction of polymer additives provides a simple effective method to modify perovskite grain boundaries to improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, the high-quality methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) perovskite film is prepared by adding the protonated polyamide-amine dendrimer (NH3+-PAMAM) to the perovskite precursor solution to regulate the crystalline growth process. The cross-linked perovskite grain structure induced by dendritic NH3+-functionalized PAMAM macromolecules results in the formation of compact and pinhole-free perovskite film owing to the suppression of perovskite gain boundaries. Finally, the unsealed NH3+-PAMAM modified PSC device achieves the highest PCE value of 16.03%, representing an increase of 48% compared with the control PSC device. Also, the unencapsulated NH3+-PAMAM-modified PSC device retained 75% of initial PCE value after being exposed to an ambient environment for 20 days, which is obviously higher than 10% for the control device. The improvements of perovskite morphology and photovoltaic performance are attributed to the modification of NH3+-PAMAM dendrimers.

The CuSCN-containing perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are presently of great research focus due to the high carrier mobility and well-aligned work function of the CuSCN hole-transporting layer. The improvement of photovoltaic performance and stability is still an important subject in the practical applications of CuSCN-containing PSCs. Herein, a facile approach to improve the efficiency and stability of CuSCN-containing PSCs is developed by spin-coating the triphenylamine-based macromolecules between the CuSCN hole-transporting layer and metallic electrode, such as linear macromolecule poly-TPD and branched macromolecule CRA-TPA. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CuSCN-containing PSCs is increased by linear triphenylamine-based macromolecule poly-TPD to 10.36% while the PCE value of CuSCN-containing PSCs, being modified by branched triphenylamine-based macromolecule CRA-TPA, reaches up to 11.97%. Evidently, the PCE values are nearly two times higher than 5.95% of CuSCN-containing control device. The photovoltaic improvement of macromolecule-modified CuSCN-containing PSCs is mainly caused by the strong hole-transporting capacity of triphenylamine-based macromolecules inducing the reduction of charge recombination, which is derived from the reduced potential barrier of hole transportation including the flatness and coverage improvement in the triphenylamine-based macromolecular functional layer. In addition, the stability of macromolecule-modified CuSCN-containing PSCs is significantly improved due to the protection of triphenylamine-based macromolecular layer on the perovskite film, so that the unencapsulated macromolecule-modified CuSCN-containing PSC device can keep over 70–80% of initial PCE value after 20-day exposure under ambient environment (relative humidity (RH) = 50%, 25°C). This work provides a facile approach to enhance the efficiency and stability of CuSCN-containing PSCs through the modification of triphenylamine-based macromolecules between the CuSCN hole-transporting layer and metallic electrode.

In recent years, low-cost wearable energy storage devices attract much more attention. In this work, the PET/CuS/PPy composite electrodes are fabricated for portable flexible solid-state supercapac...

In this work, a simple and efficient method is introduced to prepare biomass-based porous carbon with excellent performance by changing the content of component (e.g., cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and extractives) of the raw materials. When the content of the components change, the corresponding carbon skeleton will be separated, resulting in a structure that is conducive to activation conditions. Using bagasse with fiber tubular structure as carbon precursor, the synthetic hierarchical porous carbon (BHPC-4) possesses a high specific surface area (SSA) of 3135 m2 g−1 more than the control sample (2484 m2 g−1). Benefitting from the improvement of the structure, the BHPC-4 electrode exhibits an appealing capacitance of 410.5F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and long-term cycling stability of 100% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles in the 6.0 M KOH system. Furthermore, a delightful energy density of 25.6 Wh kg−1 at a 226 W kg−1 can be achieved in 1.8 V Na2SO4 aqueous symmetrical supercapacitors. This method has universal significance in preparing high-porosity and high-performance biomass-based carbon materials for various energy storage/conversion.

Random resistive access memory (RRAM) devices with a simple structure, low power consumption, and tunable switching behavior have emerged as promising candidates to simulate biological synapses. Here, we demonstrate solution-processable RRAM devices with FeC–rGO nanocomposites by intercalating nano-aggregating ferrocenes (FeCs) between the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets, in which FeCs anchor on the surface of rGO through π–π stacking interactions. The Al/FeC–rGO/ITO devices fabricated by spin-coating exhibit a low SET/RESET voltage of −1.7 V/+2.1 V and a high ON/OFF ratio of 108, which results from the formation/rupture of conductive paths between rGO sheets gated by the redox of FeCs. Besides, the devices show high repeatability, excellent durability and favorable flexibility. In addition, the obtained device can be utilized to simulate the potentiation and depression of synapses by applying a pulse voltage below VSET, further contributing to image pattern recognition. Thus, this approach aims to fabricate information storage devices for future use in artificial intelligence.

Porous carbon has been constructed in various strategies for hydrogen storage. In this work, a simple-effective strategy was proposed to transform sustainable biomass into porous carbon by degrade partial lignin and hemicellulose with Na2SO3 and NaOH aqueous mixture. This method collapses the biomass structure to provide more active sites, and also avoid the generation and accumulation of non-porous carbon nanosheets. As a result, the as-prepared sample possesses high specific surface area (2849 m2 g−1) and large pore volume (1.08 cm3 g−1) concentrating almost completely on micropore. Benefit to these characteristics, the as-prepared sample exhibits appealing hydrogen storage capacity of 3.01 wt% at 77 K, 1 bar and 0.85 wt% at 298 K, 50 bar. The isosteric heat of hydrogen adsorption is as high as 8.0 kJ mol−1, which is superior to the most biochars. This strategy is of great significance to the conversion of biomass and the preparation of high-performance hydrogen storage materials.

Biomass is a major resource for the preparation of carbon dots (CDs) and improving the production yield of CDs is a challenge. Herein, we select corn cobs as cheap, abundant, and renewable biomass to prepare CDs with a production yield as high as 55%. Through studying the main components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) of a corn cob, we determine that such a high yield is derived from the high content of hemicellulose and extremely low lignin content of the corn cob. This indicates that hemicellulose is beneficial to the formation of CDs during the hydrothermal process, while cellulose and hemicellulose are not. This mechanism is further verified using four other biomass sources (linen stalks, coir fibres, peanut shells, and bamboos) with different cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents. Based on fluorescence quenching, the prepared CDs display excellent feasibility for Fe3+ selective detection with a good linear correlation ranging from 0 to 120 μM. This work reveals the effects of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin biomass on CDs thus providing a novel strategy for the selection of a precursor and large-scale preparation of CDs, laying the groundwork for the industrial synthesis and application of CDs.

Evolution of fast-charging alkali-metal ion battery (AIB) is of great importance, but severely limited by the high ion/electron transport resistance in the electrode structure. Carbon-based composites have demonstrated competitive results for accelerating the related technology development. However, their efficient design, versatile synthesis and diverse structural variability remain the major challenges. Herein, we propose a general and versatile protocol for synthesizing a hierarchical network structure composed of metal compound (e.g., metal oxide, metal selenide and metal sulfide) encapsulated in carbon nanoparticle unit, and demonstrate its superiority for fast-charging anode of AIB. Key to this strategy is utilization of a rational hybrid assembly comprising of chelating resin and metal ions as building blocks. The strong coordinate-covalent bond between chelating resin and metal ions not only realizes a highly homogeneous organic/inorganic interface at the molecular level, but also confines metal ions to in-situ generate metal compound nanoparticles uniformly distributed into the carbon framework after a carbonization treatment, endowing a strong binding at the carbon/non-carbon interface structure. Benefitting from the well-organized structure, the resultant network-structured metal compound@carbon composites exhibit extraordinary fast-charging alkali-metal ion storage performance. For example, the typical network-structured Fe2O3@carbon composite anode can be fully charged within 2.2 ​min and discharge continuously for more than 120 ​min with a large charge/discharge capacity of 730 ​mAh g−1 in lithium ion batteries, and is able to be fully charged within 5.6 ​min accompanying with a long discharge time of about 110 ​min and a high charge/discharge capacity of 92 ​mAh g−1 in potassium ion batteries.

Abiotic stress severely threatens agriculture. Herein, we studied the effect of heteroatom-free carbon dots (CDs) on the alleviation of abiotic stresses in rice for the first time. During in vitro coincubation, suspended rice cells were exposed to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate sodium (2,4-D-Na, 30 μg mL-1), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D, 5 μg mL-1), NaCl (0.15 mol·L-1), and high light (2000 Lux), both with and without CDs (100 μg mL-1). After a week, CDs significantly reduced the inhibition rate of 2,4-D-Na on the rice cell biomass from 48.16 to 27.44% and increased the biomass of rice cells exposed to 2,4-D, NaCl, and high light, by 4.12, 1.10, and 4.01 times that of the control (pure nutrient medium), respectively. Furthermore, the growth of CD-germinated rice seedlings was not obviously affected by 2,4-D-Na, 2,4-D, and NaCl. Further results showed that the CDs demonstrated an intrinsic free-radical scavenging property and could increase the peroxidase activity and the contents of phenolics and flavonoids in rice by 125.81, 39.60, and 47.63%, respectively. Furthermore, CDs improved the nutrient assimilation of rice cells under 2,4-D stress by 14.69%. With higher antioxidant capacity and sufficient nutrients, the CD-treated rice showed excellent resistance to abiotic stresses. This study suggested the great potential of CDs in protecting crops against abiotic stress.

A carbon-coated g-C3N4 nanotube (C-TCN) was constructed via the concurrent thermal polymerization of urea and carbonization of glucose. When the mass ratio of glucose to urea was 1/30, after the pr...

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have been studied for years as one of the most promising fluorescent nanomaterials. Herein, CQDs were prepared rapidly by a simple, eco-friendly one-pot hydrothermal method in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Different sizes of CQDs are obtained by changing the reaction time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry demonstrated the existence of a large number of oxygen-containing groups on the surface of CQDs. The as-prepared CQDs exhibited bright yellow luminescence under UV light, they are applied for bioimaging of HeLa cells, and showed bright luminescence and excellent biocompatibility.

Recyclable low-temperature phase change microcapsules (LTPCMs) have the potential applications in the short-distance cold chain transportation due to their reliable reusability in cold storage. Herein, LTPCMs are synthesized via in-situ suspension copolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate in absence of harm substances, providing the non-crosslinking copolymer shells. n-Dodecane, n-tridecane and n-tetradecane, inducing the microphase separation of non-crosslinking copolymers, are successfully encapsulated to achieve n-do-LTPCMs, n-tri-LTPCMs and n-tetra-LTPCMs, which respectively bear the high phase change enthalpy of 110.53 J·g−1 at −8.69 °C, 38.33 J·g−1/93.71 J·g−1 at −17.61 °C/−4.96 °C and 166.79 J·g−1 at 8.59 °C and subsequently show the cold-discharging periods of 30 min, 40 min and 120 min. The multiple circulation of cold-discharging process indicates the excellent recyclability for cold storage owing to their unchanged cold-discharging period. Especially, n-tetra-LTPCM-65 bears the best comprehensive cold-storing performance in all the previously reported LTPCMs, such as narrow cold-discharging temperature range of 3–4 °C, long cold-discharging period of 69–120 min and low cold-discharging capacity of 33.4 J·g−1·K−1. This work successfully provided the recyclable LTPCMs for cold storage in the short-distance cold chain transportation.

By adopting an adhesive polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to encapsulate fluorescent carbon dots (CDs), a novel approach to prolong foliar fluorescent CD retention for enhancing lettuce photosynthesis was de...

A series of halogenated aminobenzonitrile modified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was prepared by a one-step calcination of dicyandiamide and 2-amino-5-halogen-benzonitriles (X-ABN, X = F, Cl, Br or I, 1.67 wt% of dicyandiamide) together, and named as X-ABN-CN. The resulting X-ABN-CN photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The characterization results indicated that X-ABN-CN have been successfully prepared, and the π-conjugated system and electronic structure of X-ABN-CN could be improved via copolymerization, Ullmann reaction and in situ halogen doping. Under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm), the photocatalytic activity of X-ABN-CN were much higher than that of pure g-C3N4 and increase with the increase of halogen atomic number. The hydrogen evolution rate of I-ABN-CN (131.4 μmol h−1) was 7.4 times that of g-C3N4 (17.7 μmol h−1). Furthermore, the corresponding mesoporous X-ABN-CN (X-ABN-MCN, X = F, Cl, Br or I) were prepared by using SiO2 nanoparticles as template. As expected, I-ABN-MCN showed the highest photocatalytic activity in all mesoporous samples, which is about 8.8 times that of g-C3N4. The results manifest that the copolymerization, Ullmann reaction, in situ halogen doping and mesoporous structure could be integrated together to modify g-C3N4 by a simple one-step calcination process.

A series of novel hyper-structured molecular (HSM) thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters, in which the TADF units and host units are bound together into one inactive core through flexible linkages, were designed. Phenoxazine-triphenyltriazine (PXZ-Trz), 1,3-bis(9H-carbazol-9-yl)benzene (mCP) and calix[4]resorcinarene (CRA) were chosen as the TADF unit, the host unit and the core, respectively. A series of CRA-based HSM emitters, CRA-PXZ-Trz(X)-mCP(100−X) (X = 0, 12.5, 25, 50, 75, 87.5 or 100) were successfully synthesized by a two-step click reaction. Upon using non-doped CRA-PXZ-Trz(87.5)-mCP(12.5) as the light-emitting layer, the solution-processable OLEDs emitted yellow-green light, and displayed an external quantum efficiency of 16.7% at 100 cd m−2.

Maximizing the utilization of the ultraviolet portion in the solar radiation spectrum has always been a goal for plant growth in order to minimize the harm and harvest the benefits. For this reason, fluorescent, amine-functionalized, and water-soluble silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) were fabricated with a mono-dispersed size of 2.4 nm. The SiQDs were used as artificial antennas to amplify the light harvesting ability and consequently enhance the photosynthesis in Italian lettuce. Upon ultraviolet excitation, the intense blue emission from the quantum dots matched very well to the absorption of the chloroplasts, allowing for the ultraviolet portion in solar radiation to be effectively utilized. The consumed optical energy enhanced the photosystem II activity, which made the amplification of photosynthesis possible. More importantly, in vivo, the quantum dots significantly promoted Italian lettuce seedling growth at concentrations below 30 mg L-1 on the root length, seedling height, and biomass by increasing the soluble sugar and water content by 49.8% and 40.9%, respectively. Interestingly, the chlorophyll a and b content increased to 41.0 and 114.8%, respectively, with no inhibition, even at the highest dose of 200 mg L-1. This study provides a new perspective on the use of quantum dots to amplify the utilization of ultraviolet light in agriculture.

As one of the key elements of indoor agriculture, horticultural light sources are developing rapidly towards requiring high energy density, high output power and high stability, which poses a challenge for traditional phosphor conversion devices. To address this, an all-inorganic blue-red dual-emitting light convertor consisting of Ba1.3Sr1.7MgSi2O8:Eu2+,Mn2+ (BSMS) phosphor-in-glass (PiG) plates was prepared to improve the duration lifetime of converted high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and meet the light quality requirements of photosynthesis for indoor agriculture. The obtained samples show an external quantum efficiency of 45.3%, outstanding thermal stability and a specific emission spectrum that highly matches the absorption of chlorophyll and β-carotene. Moreover, a proof-of-concept BSMS-PiG horticultural lamp for application in an indoor plant factory was successfully fabricated based on a ∼370 nm emitting LED chip. The blue-red ratio of its spectrum could be regulated by controlling the thickness of BSMS-PiG and the concentrations of Mn2+ ions within BSMS-PiG. The BSMS-PiG horticultural LEDs were applied to the indoor cultivation of Romaine lettuce. The results indicated that the biomass of Romaine lettuce was 58.21% greater than that of control lettuce samples cultivated under commercial plant lamps. In particular, the content values of total chlorophyll, β-carotene and soluble protein were improved. The BSMS-PiG horticultural LED is a potential candidate to act as a high-power horticultural light source.

Flavin mononucleotide (FMN) belongs to the large family of flavins, ubiquitous yellow-coloured biological chromophores that contain an isoalloxazine ring system. As a cofactor in flavoproteins, it is found in various enzymes and photosensory receptors, like those featuring the light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain. The photocycle of FMN is triggered by blue light and proceeds via a cascade of intermediate states. In this work, we have studied isolated FMN in an aqueous solution in order to elucidate the intrinsic electronic and vibrational changes of the chromophore upon excitation. The ultrafast transitions of excited FMN were monitored through the joint use of femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) and transient absorption spectroscopy encompassing a time window between 0 ps and 6 ns with 50 fs time resolution. Global analysis of the obtained transient visible absorption and transient Raman spectra in combination with extensive quantum chemistry calculations identified unambiguously the singlet and triplet FMN populations and addressed solvent dynamics effects. The good agreement between the experimental and theoretical spectra facilitated the assignment of electronic transitions and vibrations. Our results represent the first steps towards more complex experiments aimed at tracking structural changes of FMN embedded in light-inducible proteins upon photoexcitation.

Biogenic amines (BAs) from rotten food cause serious harm to sensitive people. Therefore, the development of a smart label that can intuitively monitor the degree of food decay in real-time is of great significance in food safety. Herein, we report the synthesis of pH-responsive carbon dots with red emission (R-CDs) by the solvothermal treatment of citric acid and urea. The fluorescence intensity of R-CDs gradually increased as the pH of the solution increased from 1 to 12. We studied the mechanisms of pH response and found that H-aggregation occurred when R-CDs were in acidic solution and caused quenching; when they were distributed in alkaline solution, the Fermi level shift caused reduced self-absorption and enhanced red fluorescence emission. The intense red emission of R-CDs is beneficial for the visual detection of alkaline organic amines and BAs derived from rotten shrimp to achieve food safety detection. Moreover, the R-CDs can be used as a promising pH-sensitive fluorescent ink, which has broad prospects and significance in anticounterfeiting and information encryption.

Stimuli-responsive shape-memory materials are a category of fascinating smart materials, which undergo reversible shape transformation with environmental changes. Among a large number of stimuli-responsive shape-memory materials, light-driven materials have sparked tremendous attention because of their stability, remote operability and environmentally friendly. Herein, we report a novel strategy for the synthesis of a light-responsive shape-memory polymer that is made from carbon dots and polyvinyl alcohol. The as-prepared carbon dots are endowed with good visible light absorption and excellent photothermal conversion, which enable the carbon dot/polyvinyl alcohol composite polymer to serve as a light-responsive shape-memory polymer. The carbon dots not only work as photothermal agents but also offer additional hydrogen bond interaction, which accelerates the shape-memory recovery rate. The results show that the composite polymer can realize shape recovery using relatively low laser power. Most importantly, the as-prepared carbon dot/polyvinyl alcohol composite polymer not only possesses great research potential in different types of fields, such as medical and sensing, but also provides a effective and economic strategy for taking the advantage of light.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is one of the most used semiconducting polymers for organic photovoltaics because it has potential for commercialization due to its easy synthesis and stability. Although the rapid development of the small molecular non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have largely improved the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) based on other complicated p-type polymers, the PCE of P3HT-based OSCs is still low. In addition, the design principle and structure-properties correlation for the NFAs matching well with P3HT are still unclear and need to be investigated in depth. Here we designed a series of NFAs comprised of acceptor (A) and donor (D) units with an A2-A1-D-A1-A2 configuration. These NFAs are abbreviated as Qx3 , Qx3b and Qx3c , where indaceno[1,2- b :5,6- b′ ]dithiophene (IDT), quinoxaline (Qx) and 2-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)rhodanine serve as the middle D, bridged A1 and the end group A2, respectively. By subtracting the phenyl side groups appended on both IDT and Qx skeletons, the absorption spectra, energy levels and crystallinity could be regularly modulated. When paired with P3HT, three NFAs show totally different photovoltaic performance with PCEs of 3.37% (Qx3) , 6.37% (Qx3b) and 0.03% (Qx3c) , respectively. From Qx3 to Qx3b , the removing of phenyl side chain in the middle IDT unit results in the increase of crystallinity and electron mobility. However, after subtracting all the grafted phenyl side groups on both IDT and Qx units, the final molecule Qx3c exhibits the lowest PCE of only 0.03%, which is mainly attributed to the serious phase-separation of the blend film. These results demonstrate that optimizing the substituted position of phenyl side groups for A2-A1-D-A1-A2 type NFAs is vital to regulate the optoelectronic property of molecule and morphological property of active layer for high performance P3HT-based OSCs.

Exploration of effective ways to highly porous carbon is a critical but remains challenging issue for high-performance supercapacitors. Here, we propose a new and facile strategy to synthesize polyacrylonitrile-based porous carbon (PPC) material. The as-prepared PPC not only possesses a well-defined hierarchical pore structure, but also exhibits the highest BET surface area of 3751 m2 g−1 and the largest pore volume of 2.48 cm3 g−1 among all the materials derived from polyacrylonitrile. The key to this preparation strategy is utilization of KNO3 as a mediator for pre-oxidation of polyacrylonitrile, which leads to construction of a fluffy and rigid semi-carbonized framework for the easy accessibility of activator KOH. Benefiting from the well-developed porosity, the PPC electrode exhibits an unusually high capacitance of 448 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and an outstanding long-term stability of 96.5% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles in 1.0 V aqueous supercapacitors. Additionally, a remarkable energy density of 23.6 Wh kg−1 can be delivered at a high out-put power density of 220 W kg−1 in 1.8 V aqueous supercapacitors. These attractive electrochemical properties enable PPC to go far beyond many reported carbonaceous electrodes, which is expected to be as competitive candidate for high-performance supercapacitor electrode.

In this work, a facile and effective route is introduced to optimize the performance of biomass-based porous carbon materials by partially degrading the component (e.g., lignin, hemicellulose, and ...

In this paper, a common low-cost chemical material-polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is transformed into porous carbon with excellent specific surface area (2564.6–3048.8 m2 g−1) and highly concentrated micropore size distribution (0.7–2.0 nm). Benefit to the unique structure, the as-prepared materials show appealing hydrogen adsorption capacity (4.70–5.94 wt % at 20 bar, 7.15–10.14 wt % at 50 bar), demonstrating a promising prospect of practical application. This work also confirmed that the narrow and deep ultramicropore ( 20 bar), which provides valuable guidance for the construction of ideal porous adsorbent for efficiency hydrogen storage.

Organic conjugated ionic compound 10,10′-dimethyl-9,9′-biacridinum bis(monomethyl terephthalate) (MMT) is doped into graphene oxide (GO) hole-injecting layer to enhance the electroluminescent performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The composite films are characterized in detail by FTIR, SEM, XPS, and UPS. The XPS result indicates the evident π–π stacking interaction between the conjugated structures of GO and MMT. The UPS result shows the decrease in ionization potential of GO due to MMT-doping. As a result, at the optimal doping ratio of 4 wt%, the maximum luminous efficiency of OLEDs is increased to 15.46 cd/A, which is 3.4 times as 4.55 cd/A of the control device. Besides, the luminance is also enhanced to 19950 cd/m2, while the turn-on voltage is decreased to 2.5 V. Doping organic conjugated ionic compound into the GO hole-injecting layer is a facile and efficient approach to improve the electroluminescent performance of OLEDs.

It is a long-lasting challenge to design and synthesize electric double-layered electrode materials with suitable graphitization strength, simultaneously working to achieve a high capacitance for e...

A kind of optical oxygen sensing material was obtained in a simple and low-cost method via assembling water-soluble silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) into the well-ordered channel of SBA-15. The system we had developed showed high selectivity and sensitivity to oxygen which was attributed to large pore sizes and high surface-to-volume ratios of SBA-15. The fluorescence intensities of the samples were recorded under different oxygen volume fractions. By analyzing experimental data, we found the samples had little response to carbon dioxide. The fluorescence intensity decreased prominently as oxygen volume fractions transformed from 0 to 100%. These results indicated that the SBA-15/Si NPs composites had superior properties for oxygen sensing and would provide broad application prospects in oxygen sensing or catalyst.

UV absorbers are very effective in the fields of antiyellowing, resistance of photocatalytic degradation, and sunscreen cosmetics. However, commercialized UV absorbers have the drawbacks of toxicity, low absorption efficiency, transparency, etc. Here, we report for the first time silicon quantum dots as full-band UV absorbers. The NH-refunctionalized silicon quantum dots with high-performance UV absorption were successfully synthesized under the synergistic effect of sodium citrate and ethanediamine, and the (NH, OH)-functionalized silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) with full-band UV absorption can be achieved by reregulating -NH2 and -OH groups on the surface. The as-prepared (NH, OH)-functionalized SiQDs exhibited good stability and underwent treatment of varying pH and temperature. Furthermore, experimental results demonstrated that compared to commercial water-soluble organic UV absorbers, the (NH, OH)-functionalized SiQDs showed better antiyellowing performance for polyurethane and resistance of photocatalytic degradation for rhodamine B, and presented huge application potential in sunscreen cosmetics. Finally, the UV absorption mechanism of SiQDs was explained to be mainly related to Γ → Γ direct band gap transition, which absorb UV light and release it as thermal radiation.

A hyper-structured molecule (HSM) CRA-DR1 and a model molecule Ph-DR1 for photorefractive (PR) application under non-electric field were designed and synthesized via highly reactive “click” reaction between alkynyl derivatives of calix [4]resorcinarene (CRA) or resorcinol and an azide derivative of disperse red 1 (DR1) in satisfactory yields. XRD pattern and UV–Vis absorption spectra indicated that the CRA-DR1 with three-dimensional (3D) CRA core could effectively decrease the aggregation, packing and crystallization of the nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores. AFM images showed a smooth and pinhole-free morphology of the CRA-DR1 film. Two-beam coupling (TBC) experiment was used to test the photorefractive performance in optically transparent films of Ph-DR1 and CRA-DR1 doped with [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as a photosensitizer and N -ethyl-carbazole (ECz) as a plasticizer. Without poling and without external electric filed, the coupling gain coefficient obtained in the CRA-DR1-based composite is 147.4 cm −1 , which is higher than that of Ph-DR1-based composite (132.6 cm −1 ) owing to its asymmetrical 3D CRA core. Coupled with its convenient synthesis and commercial DR1, CRA-DR1 could serve as a good candidate for PR application.

At present, blue-red composite LED light sources used for plant lighting are mainly composed of blue light and red light; the blue light is provided by gallium nitride LED chips, but the full-width at half-maximum (FWHW) is only approximately 25 nm, while the blue light required by plants for photosynthesis is wider. Focusing on this problem, this work reported that a dual emitting phosphor-in-glass plate (Dual-PiGP) was prepared towards a high power and dual broadband emitter, in which BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ (BAM) and CaAlSiN3:Eu2+ (CASN) provide blue and red emission, respectively. Dual-PiGP exhibited several merits, including a high quantum efficiency of 93.90%, a superior thermal stability (80.1%@150 °C of the peak intensity at 25 °C), and a dual broad spectrum with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 50 and 106 nm at 446 and 645 nm, respectively. Moreover, a proof-of-concept Dual-PiGP plant lamp for application in indoor plant factories was successfully fabricated with Dual-PiGP and a 385 nm emitting LED chip, yielding blue- (400–500 nm) and red-light (580–780 nm) emission that matches well with the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll. The Dual-PiGP plant lamps were applied indoors to cultivate Italian lettuce, and commercial plant lamps assembled by LED chips were chosen as reference. The cultivation results indicated that the biomass of Italian lettuce was 12.12% greater than those cultivated using commercial plant lamps. Further analysis also certificated that the content of soluble protein and total chlorophyll were also improved. The Dual-PiGP light converter strategy provides an option for next-generation plant growth LEDs.

A novel green approach to acetylene hydrochlorination yielding vinyl chloride is presented using 1-alkyl-3-methyimidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) as single component metal-free catalysts. The effects of anion species and substituent group in the imidazolium cation on the reaction are investigated. Through the catalytic performance and computational simulation, the catalytic mechanism of single component ILs for metal-free acetylene hydrochlorination is proposed. It is suggested that ILs as single component metal-free catalysts must consist of chloride anion, which is participate in the reaction process of acetylene hydrochlorination to form [HCl2]− through the activation of HCl molecule. Notably, the structural modification of conjugated cation will be the key factor to further improve the catalytic efficiency. The mechanistic understanding has an important significance to modify the metal-free catalytic efficiency of ILs for acetylene hydrochlorination.

To evaluate the supplementary blue light intensity on growth and health-promoting compounds in pak choi (Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis var. communis), four blue light intensity treatments (T0, T50, T100 and T150 indicate 0, 50, 100, and 150 µmol m−2 s−1, respectively) were applied 10 days before harvest under greenhouse conditions. Both of cultivars (greenand red-leaf pak choi) under T50 had the highest yield, content of chlorophyll and sugars. With light intensity increasing, antioxidant compounds (vitamin C and carotenoids) significantly increased, while nitrate content showed an opposite trend. The health-promoting compounds (phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and glucosinolates) were significantly higher under supplementary light treatment than T0, so as the antioxidant capacity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and ferric-reducing antioxidant power). The species-specific differences in photosynthetic pigment and health-promoting compounds was found in green- and red-leaf pak choi. T50 treatment could be used for yield improvement, whereas T100 treatment could be applied for quality improvement. Results showed that blue light intensity can regulate the accumulation of biomass, morphology and health-promoting compounds in pak choi under greenhouse conditions.

In this work, a non-toxic and mild strategy was presented to efficiently fabricate porous and nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets. Silkworm cocoon (SCs) acted as carbon source and original nitrogen source. Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) could facilitate the SCs to expose silk protein and played a catalytic role in the subsequent activation of calcium chloride (CaCl2). Calcium chloride served as pore-making agent. The as-obtained carbon materials with protuberant porous nanosheets exhibit high specific surface area of 731 m2 g−1, rich native nitrogen-doped of 7.91 atomic %, wide pore size distribution from 0.5 to 65 nm, and thus possessing high areal specific capacitances of 34 μF cm−2 as well as excellent retention rate of 97% after 20 000 cycles at a current density of 20 A g−1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The assembled carbon nanosheet-based supercapacitor displays a maximum energy density of 21.06 Wh kg−1 at the power density of 225 W kg−1 in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. Experimental results show that a mild and non-toxic treatment of biomass can be an effective and extensible method for preparing optimal porous carbon for electrochemical energy storage.

Highly blue-luminescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are obtained by hydrothermal treatment of graphene oxide in the presence of ammonia. The yield of N-GQDs is about 8.7% in weight. A high quantum yield of maximum 24.6% at an excitation wavelength of 340 nm is achieved. They are applied for bioimaging of HeLa cells, and showed bright luminescence and excellent biocompatibility.

Fluorescence of carbon dots (CDs) has grown well for substantial applications, but the long-lived photoluminescence, such as room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), still catch less attention due to the serious deactivation of triplets under ambient conditions, leading to extremely low radiative efficiency. Herein, we simultaneously achieved both of them by incorporating CDs into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with the assistance of electrospinning technology. Through systematic investigation, ordered mesoporous structure from the electrospun CDs/PVA nanofibers can effectively stabilize the triplet states of CDs, thus enabling the reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) process for TADF and realizing the first example in CDs/polymer system. RTP is closely related to the triplet excited states of the carbonyls located at the surface of CDs and PVA molecule can rigidify these groups with hydrogen bonds, which can prevent quenching from atmospheric oxygen to promote the RTP and TADF behaviors in the air atmosphere. The afterglow spectrum of these nanofibers exhibits dual emission centered at 456 nm and 569 nm, originated from TADF and RTP, respectively. By changing the excitation wavelength or by adjusting the temperature of measurement, the color of the photoluminescence (PL) can be systematically tailored, the white-light emitting is promising. Moreover, these nanofibers show a long average afterglow lifetime of 1.61 s with visually recognizable period of 9 s. Moreover, CDs/PVA composites (nanofibers, solution, film, and aerogel) demonstrate potentialities in optical imaging, writing, anti-counterfeiting, temperature sensing.

A facility fluorescent sensor was fabricated for highly selective and sensitive detection of Fe3+ relying on red emissive carbon dots (RCDs) used as the target sensitive fluorophore. Fluorescence quenching are attributed to the strong coordination interaction between the target ions and the phenolic hydroxyl groups on the surface of RCDs. Interestingly, the fluorescent nanoprobe also showed great potential in detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA), attributed to the existence of Fe3+ ions. Serum albumins are the most abundant proteins spreaded throughout the circulatory system of all kinds of organisms, which play a crucial role in the process of metabolism. More importantly, the ratiometric fluorescent probe is easy to fabricate by mixturing blue emissive carbon dots (BCDs) with RCDs together, the fluorescence intensity of RCDs can be obviously quenched by Fe3+ ions or BSA under a single excitation wavelength, but that of BCDs is weakly changed, leading to the ratiometric fluorescence response with a good linear wider range of 0–400 μM and 0–320 μM, respectively. This ratiometric probe has also successfully been applied in real samples, that are cow urine and lake water, and observed to be almost no interference in the detection of Fe3+ ions.

Novel carbon dots (CDs)/graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) hybrids were fabricated via an in situ thermal polymerization of the precursors, urea and glucose. This heterojunction catalyst exhibited enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity under visible-light (λ > 420). A sample of CDs/g-C3N4 hybrids, CN/G0.5, which was prepared from 0.5 mg of glucose in 6.0 g of urea (8.3 × 10−3 wt% glucose), exhibited the best photocatalytic performance for hydrogen production from water under visible light irradiation, which is about 4.55 times of that of the bulk g-C3N4 (BCN). The improvement of photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the construction of built-in electric field at the interface of CDs and g-C3N4, which could improve the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pair. Moreover, the tight connection of CDs with g-C3N4 would serve as a well electron transport channel, which could promote the photocatalytic H2 evolution ability.

Ultrastable red-emitting phosphor-in-glass (PiG) consisting of 3.5MgO·0.5MgF2·GeO2:Mn4+ (MMG:Mn4+) phosphor in a glass matrix was prepared for superior artificial plant growth LEDs (PGLs). These obtained PiG plates show a thermal conductivity of 1.671 W m−1 K−1 and an external quantum efficiency of 27.5%, which provides the strong foundation for the application in high-power artificial plant growth LEDs (PGLs). Furthermore, a proof-of-concept PGL using 36 pieces of the title PiG plate and 420 nm-blue LED chip was fabricated. The combination of ∼420 nm from chip and the ∼659 nm chip from the MMG:Mn4+ phosphor provide a well-matched spectrum with the absorption bands of photosynthetic pigments and the phytochrome (PR and PFR) of most green plants. As expected, the as-fabricated PGL-treated milk-Chinese cabbage cultured in the indoor plant factory showed that after 15 day-irradiation, the plant biomass was nearly 48.9% greater in treated sample than those cultured using the general R-B LED lamps. Further analysis also demonstrated that promotive effect can also be obtained in the level of ascorbic acid, soluble protein, soluble sugar and total chlorophyll. The PiG strategy presented in this paper afforded superior high-power artificial plant growth LEDs, which are crucial in the application of ecological agriculture.

Different from their bulk counterparts, plasmonic molybdenum oxide nanomaterials display superior optical and electronic properties, but unfortunately, phase-controlled synthesis of molybdenum oxide nanomaterials with multifunctional performances still remains a challenge. To actualize this, a surfactant-free solvothermal strategy was proposed to fabricate molybdenum oxide nanomaterials with a tunable phase. Encouragingly, the as-prepared molybdenum dioxide nanoparticles (MoO2 NPs) exhibit intense near-infrared (NIR) absorption attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, which results in their application as a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate to detect trace amounts of molecular species including Rhodamine 6G (R6G), crystal violet (CV), IR-780 iodide (IR780) and methylene blue (MB). The detection limit was as low as 5 × 10-8 M and the maximum enhancement factor (EF) was up to 1.10 × 107, compared to other semiconductor nanostructures, the SERS sensitivity may be the best. Meanwhile, with the significant photothermal conversion efficiency up to 61.3%, the plasmonic MoO2 NPs could also be used as a photothermal therapy (PTT) agent for efficient photothermal ablation of cancer cells in vitro.

Red emissive carbon dots (RCDs) dominated by surface state emission mechanism were prepared by one-step hydrothermal method, the photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) of RCDs reaches to 78.3% in N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF). RCDs mainly absorb UV and yellowish green light and emit red light in the region from 550 to 800 nm, which perfectly matches the light needed by plant for photosynthesis. Besides, the fluorescence quenching of RCDs is ascribed to oxidation on the surface of RCDs by oxygen. Further evidences about that are obtained from the changes in fluorescence, singlet oxygen (1O2) signal of RCDs and the amount of O elements between the RCDs and quenched RCDs (QCDs). Antioxidant RCDs/PVA film, served as an agricultural sunlight conversion film, consisting of RCDs, polyvinyl alcohol-1799 (PVA-1799) and ascorbic acid, not only converts yellowish green light (500–610 nm) to red light (610–800 nm) from RCDs with tough, environment-friendly, waterproof properties from PVA-1799, but also gain antioxidant ability on account of ascorbic acid preventing the antioxidant RCDs/PVA film from fluorescence quenching. When antioxidant RCDs/PVA film was applied to the practical agricultural planting, the fresh weight, dry weight and the chlorophyll a content of the mung bean sprouts increased by 10.4% and 13.9%, and 7.1%, respectively. The application of the antioxidant RCDs/PVA film improve the utilization rate of solar energy in agricultural field.

The hybrid BaSO4@SiDs nanocomposites were prepared by assembling silicon nanodots (SiDs) with full-band ultraviolet absorption inside of BaSO4 substrates through electrostatic assembly, which not only significantly overcome the poor stability of SiDs under photo radiation, and endow the BaSO4 with the dual-functions of UV-absorbing behavior and light-conversion property. Using the as-prepared hybrid fluorescent material, PE(polyethylene)/BaSO4@SiDs film exhibits better elongation at break and was experimentally demonstrated to have more outstanding performance of anti-UV radiation than pure PE film, and shows strong blue light emission that is beneficial to promote plant growth. This work provides a strategy for designing and realizing of multifunctional SiDs-based hybrid composites, thus promising the prospective to be used in the fields of anti-UV radiation and optical agriculture plantation.

Visible light has better biocompatibility and is more accessible for anti-counterfeiting compared to UV light. However, the synthesis of visible light excitable CDs-based long afterglow materials is still a challenge, especially in aqueous solution. Herein, we provide the first example of visible-light excitable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in aqueous solution by confining the fluorine and nitrogen co-doped CDs in silica nanoparticles (F, NCDs@SiO2). The hydrogen network and covalent bonds effectively protect the triplet excitons from quenching by water oxygen, so the nanoparticles can produce long-lived TADF in aqueous solutions under the excitation of white light. Meanwhile, the large number of silanol groups on the surface of amorphous silicon endows F, NCDs@SiO2 with water solubility making them possible for time-resolved probes. We reveal that fluorine doping is essential for obtaining visible-light excitable TADF, which redshifts the excitation spectra and narrows the energy level between the singlet and triplet states through strong electron-withdrawing effect and heavy-atom effects. Our work provides a new strategy for the development of visible-light-excited TADF materials in aqueous solution and potential applications of CDs in information encryption, temperature sensor and time-resolved fluorescence bioimaging.

Herein, we designed and prepared a magnesium and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots (Mg,N-CDs) for plant photosynthesis, in which Mg and N were in carbonate-like and graphite N forms with 5.38% and 3.83% contents, respectively. During a 1-h incubation with chloroplast suspension, Mg,N-CDs entered chloroplasts and transferred energy to them under a xenon lamp, which increased their photosynthetic activity to reduce DCPIP and ferricyanide by up to 52.48% and 41.86%, respectively. After 16 days of foliar spraying, Mg,N-CDs at 300 μg·mL−1 up-regulated the gene expressions of enzymes (15.26–115.02%) related to chlorophyll synthesis and metabolism in rice plants, increasing chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents by 14.39% and 26.54%, respectively. The rice seedlings treated with Mg,N-CDs at 300 μg·mL−1 exhibited 109.54%, 104.48%, and 127.16% higher photosynthetic activity, electron transport rate, and photosynthetic efficiency relative to the control, respectively. Moreover, Mg,N-CDs also increased the RuBisCO activity of rice plants by 46.62%. With the energy transformation and physiological regulation, Mg,N-CDs (300 μg·mL−1) increased the height and fresh biomass of rice plants by 22.34% and 70.60%, respectively, through the overall improvement of photosynthesis. This study suggests the great potential of Mg,N-CDs in increasing global agricultural production in the future.

Polymers with donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) structure are widely used in organic solar cells (OSCs) because of their tunable optoelectronic properties. With the distinct 2D-conjugated structure and the s*(Si)–p*(C) bond interaction of the trialkylsilyl substitution, the electron-donating unit of 4,8-bis(5-(tripropylsilyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophenes (BDTT-Si) shows large potential to construct promising photovoltaic polymers. However, the studies of π-bridge in BDTT-Si-based polymers are not sufficient, and structure-properties relationship is still unclear. Here, we designed and synthesized three polymers PE7a, PE7b and PE7c, with BDTT-Si and difluorinated benzo[d] [1,2,3]triazole (BTA) as the D unit and A unit, respectively. By using thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT), TT with hexyl (C6-TT) and TT with undecyl (C11-TT) as the π-bridge, the solubility, crystallinity and optoelectronic properties of three polymers can be fine-tuned. When blended with the non-fullerene acceptor Y6, PE7a-c show different photovoltaic performance. The polymer PE7c realized the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.4%, obviously higher than that (9.5%) of J71 with thiophene as π-bridge. The results indicate that the introduction of TT π-bridge with suitable alkyl chain into BDTT-Si containing polymer is an effective strategy to improve the photovoltaic performance.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) polymers are suitable for solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, so far, very few efficient TADF polymers have been reported, which severely limits their commercial application in display and lighting fields. Furthermore, most of the reported TADF polymers are synthesized by the polymerization of low-molecular-weight monomers, which may require complicated modification process or present high steric hindrance resulting in low-molecular-weight polymers. In this work, a series of yellow-green TADF polymeric emitters PTPA-mCP-PxzTrz-X (X = 10, 20, 30, or 40) were designed and synthesized by grafting TADF emitter phenoxazine-triphenyltriazine (PxzTrz) and host unit 1,3-bis(9H-carbazol9-yl)benzene (mCP) onto the pre-obtained triphenylamine-carbazole alternating copolymers. All polymers displayed good solubility and thermal stability. By employing PTPA-mCP-PxzTrz-40 as non-doped emissive layer, the device displayed a maximum luminance of 650.7 cd/m2 and a maximum current efficiency of 3.3 cd/A, which is promising for commercial application.

Seven C-methylcalix[4]resorcinarene (CRA)-based photorefractive (PR) hyper-structured molecular glasses (HSMGs) containing carbazole-based methine nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores were designed and synthesized via esterification between carboxyl-containing asymmetric CRA core molecule and hydroxyl-containing functional compounds. When the feed ratio of hydroxyl-containing NLO functional compounds to carboxyl groups of CRA-COOH was kept at 1.5/1 by mole, the degree of introduction of NLO chromophore to the CRA core was above 70%. All the HSMGs show low glass transition temperatures (Tg), and good solubility in common low boiling point solvents such as THF, CHCl3, etc. Powder XRD and UV–vis absorption in films of HSMGs indicate that the aggregation, packing and crystallization of the NLO chromophores in these HSMGs had been effectively reduced. Doping with N-ethyl-carbazole (ECz) as a plasticizer and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as a photosensitizer, all the HSMGs composites showed good PR effects. All the coupling gain coefficients (Γ) of HSMGs-based composites are about twice to the corresponding small molecular NLO chromophores-based composites, thanks to the decreased NLO chromophores antiparallel packing caused by the asymmetric CRA core. Among them, CRA-CSN/ECz/PCBM (69:30:1, wt%) composite exhibited the best performance with the Γ value of 78.2 cm−1 at the external electric field of 12.5 V μm−1, which is one of the best performance in molecular glasses under the same test conditions. Coupled with their convenient synthesis, this work will provide a new simple design strategy for organic PR materials.

Carbon dots (CDs) obtained from rapeseed pollen with a high production yield, good biocompatibility, good water solubility, low cost, and simple synthesis are systematically characterized. They can be directly added to Hoagland nutrient solution for planting hydroponically cultivated Lactuca sativa L. to explore their influence on the plants at different concentrations. By measuring lettuce indices of growth, morphology, nutrition quality, gas exchange, and content of photosynthetic pigment, amazing growth-promotion effects of CDs were discovered, and the mechanism was analyzed. Moreover, the in vivo transport route of CDs in lettuce was evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic observations under UV light excitation. The results demonstrate that pollen-derived CDs can be potentially used as a miraculous fertilizer for agricultural applications and as a great in vivo plant bioimaging probe.