Improved thermal stability of the near-infrared Al-modulated Zn3Ga2GeO8: Cr3+ phosphors for plant growth applications

The exploration of the high thermal stability near-infrared (NIR) phosphors is significantly crucial for the development of plant lighting. However, NIR phosphors suffer from the poor chemical and thermal stability, which severely limits their long-term operation. Here, the successful improvement of luminous intensity (149.5%) and thermal stability at 423 K of Zn₃Ga₂GeO₈ (ZGGO): Cr³⁺ phosphors is achieved for the introduction of Al³⁺ ions into the host. The release of carriers in deep traps inhibits the emission loss for the thermal disturbance. Furthermore, an NIR light emitting diodes (LEDs) lamp is explored by combining the optimized Zn₃Ga_1.1675Al_0.8GeO₈: 0.0325Cr³⁺ phosphors with a commercial 460 nm blue chip, and the emission band can match well with the absorption bands of photosynthetic pigments and the phytochrome (P_R and P_FR) of plants. The explored LEDs lamp further determines the growth and the pheromone content of the involved plants for the participation of the NIR emission originated from Cr³⁺ ions. Our work provides a promising NIR lamp as plant light with improved thermal stability for long-term operation.     

Detecting Cysteine in Bioimaging with a Near-Infrared Probe Based on a Novel Fluorescence Quenching Mechanism

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes are very significant for detecting cysteine in biological systems. Herein, we report a highly selective and sensitive NIR turn-on fluorescent probe (BDP-NIR) based on BODIPY with large Stokes shift (105 nm) for detecting Cys. We clarified the sensing mechanism based on the different thiol-induced S_NAr substitution/rearrangement reaction of the probe with cysteine and homocysteine/glutathione, which leads to the corresponding amino- and thiol-BODIPY dyes with distinct photophysical properties. Moreover, a novel mechanism of fluorescence quenching was demonstrated by density functional theory calculation. The reason for the fluorescence quenching of the probe might be intersystem crossing (from singlet to triplet excited state). Moreover, BDP-NIR had a high linear dynamic range of 0–500 μM, which was promising for detecting cysteine quantificationally. Significantly, BDP-NIR was capable of sensing endogenous cysteine in living cells and in vivo.     

Black phosphorus junctions and their electrical and optoelectronic applications

Black phosphorus(BP),an emerging two-dimensional material,is considered a promising candidate for next-genera-tion electronic and optoelectronic devices due to in-plane anisotropy,high mobility,and direct bandgap.However,BP devices face challenges due to their limited stability,photo-response speed,and detection range.To enhance BP with powerful electric-al and optical performance,the BP heterostructures can be created.In this review,the state-of-the-art heterostructures and their electrical and optoelectronic applications based on black phosphorus are discussed.Five parts introduce the perform-ance of BP-based devices,including black phosphorus sandwich structure by hBN with better stability and higher mobility,black phosphorus homojunction by dual-gate structure for optical applications,black phosphorus heterojunction with other 2D materials for faster photo-detection,black phosphorus heterojunction integration with 3D bulk material,and BP via As-doping tunable bandgap enabling photo-detection up to 8.2 μm.Finally,we discuss the challenges and prospects for BP electric-al and optical devices and applications.     

Photomemory and Pulse Monitoring Featured Solution-Processed Near-Infrared Graphene/Organic Phototransistor with Detectivity of 2.4 × 1013 Jones

Emerging graphene/organic phototransistors are eye-catching technologies owing to their unique merits including easy/low-cost fabrication, temperature independent, and achieving various functions. However, their development in the near-infrared (NIR) region is experiencing a bottleneck of inferior sensitivity due to low exciton dissociation efficiency and inefficient charge extraction rate. Here, a novel-design solution-processed graphene/organic NIR phototransistor is reported, that is, creatively introducing electron extraction layer of ZnO on graphene channel and employing organic ternary bulk heterojunction as photosensitive layer, successfully breaking that bottleneck. The phototransistor exhibits a high responsivity of 6.1 × 10⁶ A W⁻¹, a superior detectivity of 2.4 × 10¹³ Jones, and a remarkable minimum detection power of 1.75 nW cm⁻² under 850 nm radiation. Considering its excellent NIR detection performance, a noncontact transmission-type pulse monitoring is carried out with no external circuit support, from which human pulse signal and heart rate can be displayed in real time. The phototransistor, interestingly, can be switched into a photomemory function with a retention time of 1000 s in the atmosphere through a gate voltage of −20 V. The design takes the characteristics of graphene/organic phototransistors to a higher level, beyond the limit of sensitivity, and opens up a novel approach for developing multifunction devices.     

In-line characterization of dispersion uniformity evolution during a twin-screw blending extrusion based on near-infrared spectroscopy

Properties of an immiscible polymer blend have been proved to be closely related to dispersion uniformity of the minor phase. At present, dispersion uniformity is difficult to evaluate during the blending process, resulting in hysteretic feedback. Aiming at this problem, this work utilized near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to in-line characterize dispersion uniformity evolution during a twin-screw extrusion. A multichannel NIR measurement system was set up and applied to evaluate the blending process of polypropylene and polyolefin elastomer (POE). Based on the NIR spectra collected at different positions of the extruder, five prediction models of POE content were established using the light gradient boosting machine algorithm. Dispersion uniformity was characterized through the fluctuation of the predicted content. The evolution of dispersion under such processing parameters was consistent with scanning electron microscopy.     

Preparation of a Near-Infrared Ray Absorption Film from N-Phenylthiocarbamoyl Chitosan Derivative

We recently observed that the decanoylation of N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan (2) with a mixture of decanoic anhydride and pyridine at 60 °C for 24 h afforded N,N-(decanoyl)phenythiocarbamoyl-/2-isothiocynato chitosan decanoate (3b) rather than the expected product N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (3a). This result suggested that some of the N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarmbamoyl groups had been converted to isothiocyanate groups during the decanoylation process. The subsequent reaction of compound 3b with aniline gave N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl/N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (4) in high yield. A solution of compound 4 in CHCl₃ was then added to a solution of copper decanoate (5) in the same solvent, and the resulting mixture was cast onto a glass plate to give a cast film. The film was annealed at 200 °C in an oven to give a greenish film, which showed good near-infrared absorption characteristic in the range of 800–2200 nm.     

Site occupancy and enhanced luminescence of broadband NIR gallogermanate phosphors by energy transfer

Super broadband near-infrared (NIR) La₃Ga₅GeO₁₄(LGGO): Cr³⁺ phosphor is in urgent needs for food testing. Unfortunately, it suffers from poor luminescence intensity in applications. Herein, the enhanced NIR luminescence performance can be realized in LGGO: Pr³⁺, Cr³⁺. The preferential crystallographic site of Cr³⁺ is validated on the basis of EPR spectrum, Rietveld refinement, and the first-principles DFT calculations. It is of great importance that the as-prepared phosphors can be excited by blue light (460 nm), which is beneficial to the application of blue-pumped LEDs. The critical distance of Pr³⁺ in LGGO host has been calculated by concentration-quenching method. For co-doped sample, it is observed that Cr³⁺ luminescence intensity enhancement by a factor of 3 can be achieved by doping Pr³⁺ owing to the energy transfer from Pr³⁺ to Cr³⁺. In addition, the introduction of Pr³⁺ can also improve the Cr³⁺ luminescence intensity at elevated temperature. Furthermore, using the optimized phosphor, a blue-based NIR phosphor-converted LEDs (NIR pc- LEDs) is fabricated, the forward voltage and the intensity of LED hardly change after thermal aging for 500 hours under high temperature/ high humidity condition, indicating its great reliability for NIR pc-LEDs. Therefore, LGGO:Pr³⁺, Cr³⁺ has great potential to serve as an attractive candidate in the application of blue light-excited NIR pc-LEDs in view of its capability for blue to enhanced broadband NIR conversion.     

Diffuse reflectance behavior of the printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics treated with zirconium and cerium dioxide and citric acid in near- and short-wave IR radiation spectral ranges

Near- and short-wave IR emission spectra of printed cotton/nylon blend fabrics coated with inorganic compounds in order to tune their diffuse reflectance behavior to the ones with woodland and desert backgrounds are investigated. In this regard, cotton/nylon blend fabrics printed with a four-color digital pattern were used as the substrate, and different concentrations of zirconium and cerium dioxide (ZrO₂ and CeO₂) with and without citric acid as a cross-linker were loaded on these fabrics using the pad-dry-cure method. The diffuse reflectance of the coated fabrics with various concentrations of nanoparticles and a cross-linker was first measured by near-infrared (NIR) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Then, fabrics with an optimum concentration of nanoparticles and appropriate reflectivity profiles similar to woodland and desert were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), washing, and rubbing fastness properties. In general, NIR and short-wave infrared (SWIR) reflectance of fabrics coated with ZrO₂ and CeO₂ nanoparticles in range of 1% to 1.5% (w/v [%]) was suitable for matching with different environments. According to the findings obtained from the durability test, it was concluded that the washing fastness of the treated fabrics with CeO₂ nanoparticles was excellent in both environments. FE-SEM images of the treated fabrics containing ZrO₂ and CeO₂ indicated that the presence of nanoparticles on the surface of fabrics in woodland patterns was greater than the desert ones. However, the coated fabrics with CeO₂ and citric acid in the woodland pattern have shown better dispersion with a mean particle size of 30 to 60 nm.     

近红外光谱法对松原不同品种大米的确证探究

该文提出一种对松原不同品种大米进行判别的方法,对来自松原的稻花香、小高粱、通系926、吉粳515、农大521,5个品种共368个大米样品,利用波数范围为12000 cm^-1~4000 cm^-1的傅里叶近红外光谱仪获取光谱数据并对数据进行6种方法的预处理。结果表明,一阶导数结合SG9点平滑为最佳预处理方法,并用偏最小二乘判别(partial least squares discrimination analysis,PLS-DA)方法对校正样本建立判别分析模型,用验证集对模型进行验证,模型对验证集中稻花香、小高粱、通系926、吉粳515、农大521共5个品种的识别率均为100%;且优于主成分分析的结果。用来自柳河和梅河的稻花香样本与松原的稻花香样本进行产地判别,结果显示,此模型可以将松原样本与非松原样本进行判别。     

食醋总酸近红外快速检测方法的研究

利用傅立叶变换近红外光谱技术结合偏最小二乘法（PLS）对食醋的总酸进行快速检测分析。随机采集106个不同酸度食醋的实验数据、扫描近红外光谱图，选择最优的光谱预处理方法优化、建立模型。利用模型对15个未参与建模的食醋样品总酸的含量进行预测，外部验证模型的准确性。结果表明，食醋总酸实测值与对应采集的近红外漫反射光谱相关联建立的快速检测模型，其近红外食醋总酸模型的交叉验证决定系数（R2）为0.972 3，交叉验证均方差（RMSECV）为0.062 1。经外部验证后，该模型食醋总酸预测值和实测值的绝对偏差平均值为0.035，最大相对误差为1.383%，两者间相关性系数为0.995。该方法可以快速、高效、简便地用于食醋总酸的快速检测。