Entries by Katy

Organic Enantiomeric Ferroelectrics with High Piezoelectric Performance: Imidazolium l- and d-Camphorsulfonate

Ferroelectric materials have been widely used in daily life and industrial production, as memories, transducers, capacitors, sensors, and so forth. Recently, great interest in molecular ferroelectrics has emerged because of their structural flexibility, tunability, and homochirality. Chemical design has opened up a new era for molecular ferroelectrics, where we can realize the targeted design and […]

A new molecular material as a dopant-free hole-transporting layer for stable perovskite solar cells

In this work, a new small molecular material, 9,9′-(pyrene-1,6-diyldimethylylidene)bis[N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)-9H-fluorene-2,7-diamine] (PFD), as a hole-transporting layer was designed for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). PFD has a rigid and flat pyrene unit as the central building block and a symmetric structure to increase the conjugation degree for better carrier conductivity. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.6% was […]

Strong self-sensitized green and NIR emission in NaYS2 doped with Pr3+ and Yb3+ by inducing Laporte allowed and charge transfer transitions

Down conversion of solar UV and blue light is one of the few ways of surpassing the Shockley-Queisser limit of solar cells. One of the most efficient down conversion systems is the Pr3+ – Yb3+ lanthanide pair. However, these ions do not provide any strong absorption for solar UV and blue light, thus require sensitizing. In this work, […]

UV laser induced photolysis of glycolic acid isolated in argon matrices

The photochemistry of matrix-isolated glycolic acid, induced by UV light, was studied by FTIR spectroscopy and B3LYPD3/6-311++G(3df,3pd) calculations. Several decomposition pathways were found to take place upon 212 nm and 226 nm wavelengths irradiation. A number of complexes formed between photoproducts were identified, among them those of formaldehyde with water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as well […]

Emission colour changes in the CaF2 sub-microspheres doped with Yb3+, Er3+ and Mn2+ ions

A series of CaF2-doped phosphors was synthesized in situ in hydrothermal conditions (in a DAB- 2 reactor), in the presence of sodium citrate as a complexing agent preventing premature precipitation. The materials were doped with Yb3+/Er3+ pair of ions, which resulted in up-conversion emission. Additionally, Mn2+ ions were incorporated into the structure of the CaF2 […]

GdF 3 hollow spheres: self-assembly and multiple emission spanning the UV to NIR regions under 980 nm excitation

Materials with a hollow structure have drawn a lot of attentions due to their potential applications in controlled drug delivery and catalysis. When these hollow materials are integrated with upconversion nanocrystals, it is possible to modulate the release of loaded drugs with ultraviolet emission and to further trace the particles by near-infrared emission. However, reports […]

Electrochemical and Photophysical Properties of Ruthenium (II) Complexes Equipped with Sulfurated Bipyridine Ligands

The development of new solar-to-fuel scenarios is of great importance, but the construction of molecular systems that convert sunlight into chemical energy represents a challenge. One specific issue is that the molecular systems have to be able to accumulate redox equivalents to mediate the photodriven transformation of relevant small molecules, which mostly involves the orchestrated […]

Directed self-assembly of viologen-based 2D semiconductors with intrinsic UV–SWIR photoresponse after photo/thermo activation

Extending photoresponse ranges of semiconductors to the entire ultraviolet–visible (UV)–shortwave near-infrared (SWIR) region (ca. 200–3000 nm) is highly desirable to reduce complexity and cost of photodetectors or to promote power conversion efficiency of solar cells. The observed up limit of photoresponse for organic-based semiconductors is about 1800 nm, far from covering the UV–SWIR region. Here […]

Bodipy-Phenylethynyl Anthracene Dyad: Spin-Orbit Charge Transfer Intersystem Crossing and Triplet Excited-State Equilibrium

Spin-orbit charge transfer-induced intersystem crossing (SOCT-ISC) is a promising method to design heavy atom-free triplet photosensitizers (PSs). Herein, a new organic triplet PS, BDP-An (Bodipy-phenylethynyl anthracene dyad) has been synthesized and studied. In polar solvents, charge transfer (CT) emission band was observed, and the singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ) is up to 95%. From femtosecond transient absorption […]