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This research was funded by the Latvian Scientific Council grant LZP-2018/2-0083. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, as the Center of Excellence, has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Program H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under Grant Agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2., Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) MoS2 and WS2 monolayers (MLs) deposited atop of crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) and graphene-like ZnO (g-ZnO) substrates have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) using PBE and GLLBSC exchange-correlation functionals. In this work, the electronic structure and optical properties of studied hybrid nanomaterials are described in view of the influence of ZnO substrates thickness on the MoS2 @ZnO and WS2 @ZnO two-dimensional (2D) nanocomposites. The thicker ZnO substrate not only triggers the decrease of the imaginary part of dielectric function relatively to more thinner g-ZnO but also results in the less accumulated charge density in the vicinity of the Mo and W atoms at the conduction band minimum. Based on the results of our calculations, we predict that MoS2 and WS2 monolayers placed at g-ZnO substrate yield essential enhancement of the photoabsorption in the visible region of solar spectra and, thus, can be used as a promising catalyst for photo-driven water splitting applications. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.--//-- Published under the CC BY 4.0 licence., Latvian Scientific Council grant LZP-2018/2-0083; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, as the Center of Excellence, has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Program H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under Grant Agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.

gur, mahmut/0000-0001-9942-6324 WOS: 000494606000001 A new thiadiazole ligand, N-ethyl-5- (benzo[b]thien-2-yl-)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine (BTH), was prepared from 3-methyl-1-benzofuran-2-carboxylic acid and N-ethylhydrazinecarbothioamide precursors. Corresponding silver(I) complex, tetrakis(N-ethyl-5-(benzo[b]thien-2-yl-)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine)silver(I) nitrate [Ag-2(BTH)(4)](NO3)(2) (1), was prepared. The structures of BTH and 1 were characterized by H-1-NMR, C-13-NMR, FT-IR, elemental analysis and HR-MS techniques. Furthermore, molecular structure of 1 was illuminated by X-ray crystallography. Owing to strong anagsotic interaction, crystal structure of the complex revealed an intriguing asymmetric monomer unit even with two same ligands in 2:1 metal-to-ligand stoichiometry. Photoluminescence properties of the complex were investigated by solid and solution media emission measurements. Excited and emissive state behavior of the complex was further analyzed by quantum chemical TD-DFT calculations and natural transition orbital (NTO) analyses. Giresun UniversityGiresun University [FEN-BAP-A-160317-33] This work was supported by Giresun University under grant (Project No. FEN-BAP-A-160317-33).

Photoinitiated phenomena play a crucial role in many living organisms. Plants, algae, and bacteria absorb sunlight to perform photosynthesis, and convert water and carbon dioxide into molecular oxygen and carbohydrates, thus forming the basis for life on Earth. The vision of vertebrates is accomplished in the eye by a protein called rhodopsin, which upon photon absorption performs an ultrafast isomerisation of the retinal chromophore, triggering the signal cascade. Many other biological functions start with the photoexcitation of a protein-embedded pigment, followed by complex processes comprising, for example, electron or excitation energy transfer in photosynthetic complexes. The optical properties of chromophores in living systems are strongly dependent on the interaction with the surrounding environment (nearby protein residues, membrane, water), and the complexity of such interplay is, in most cases, at the origin of the functional diversity of the photoactive proteins. The specific interactions with the environment often lead to a significant shift of the chromophore excitation energies, compared with their absorption in solution or gas phase. The investigation of the optical response of chromophores is generally not straightforward, from both experimental and theoretical standpoints; this is due to the difficulty in understanding diverse behaviours and effects, occurring at different scales, with a single technique. In particular, the role played by ab initio calculations in assisting and guiding experiments, as well as in understanding the physics of photoactive proteins, is fundamental. At the same time, owing to the large size of the systems, more approximate strategies which take into account the environmental effects on the absorption spectra are also of paramount importance. Here we review the recent advances in the first-principle description of electronic and optical properties of biological chromophores embedded in a protein environment. We show their applications on paradigmatic systems, such as the light-harvesting complexes, rhodopsin and green fluorescent protein, emphasising the theoretical frameworks which are of common use in solid state physics, and emerging as promising tools for biomolecular systems

The lowest excited states of the diimide molecule have been calculated by three different SCF-type methods, the performances of which are analyzed in regard to the prediction of geometries and energies. The calculations have been performed with two basis sets (STO-3G and 4-31G) both supplemented with more diffuse functions on the N atoms. Lowest energy pathways for thetrans-cis interconversion in the various states are presented for the three calculation methods and for the two basis sets.