Synthesis of tin oxide-coated gold nanostars and evaluation of their surface-enhanced Raman scattering activities

Tin oxide-coated gold nanostar hybrid nanostructures are prepared by first synthesizing gold nanostars (ca. 400 nm), then introducing Na₂SnO₃ precursor followed by its hydrolysis and formation of a tin oxide layer on nanoparticle surface. The synthesized hybrid structures have been characterized by combination of UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray studies, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The TEM and SEM analyses showed that gold nanostars have a coating with an approximate thickness of 15 nm. The tin (IV) oxide coating on the gold nanostars was identified by XRD and XPS analyses and confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was performed on tin oxide-coated and uncoated gold nanostars with crystal violet as a probe molecule. The SERS studies revealed field enhancement properties of Au nanostars, thus their strong SERS activity remained after tin oxide coating.     

Modelling and simulation of chlorophyll fluorescence from PSII of a plant leaf as affected by both illumination light intensities and temperatures

The emission of chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) from photosystem II (PSII) of plant leaves the couple with photoelectron transduction cascades in photosynthetic reactions and can be used to probe photosynthetic efficiency and plant physiology. Because of population increase, food shortages, and global warming, it is becoming more and more urgent to enhance plant photosynthesis efficiency by controlling plant growth rate. An effective model structure is essential for plant control strategy development. However, there is a lack of reporting on modelling and simulation of PSII activities under the interaction of both illumination light intensities and temperatures, which are the two important controllable factors affecting, plant growth, especially for a greenhouse. In this work, the authors extended their work on modelling photosynthetic activities as affected by light and temperature to cover both the interaction effects of illumination light intensities and temperature on ChlF emission. Experiments on ChlF were performed under different light intensities and temperatures and used to validate the developed model structure. The average relative error between experimental data and model fitting is <0.3%, which shows the effectiveness of the developed model structure. Simulations were performed to show the interaction effect of light and temperature effects on photosynthetic activities.Inspec keywords: global warming, photosynthesis, botany, fluorescenceOther keywords: model fitting, developed model structure, interaction effect, chlorophyll fluorescence, plant leaf, illumination light intensities, photoelectron transduction cascades, photosynthetic reactions, photosynthetic efficiency, plant physiology, plant photosynthesis efficiency, plant growth rate, effective model structure, plant control strategy development, PSII activities, modelling photosynthetic activities, ChlF emission, controllable factors, light intensities     

Nanocrystalline silicon as the light emitting material of a field emission display device

A nanocrystalline Si-based paste was successfully tested as the light emitting material in a field emission display test device that employed a film of carbon nanofibers as the electron source. Stable emission in the 550-850?nm range was obtained at 16?V?μm(-1). This relatively low field required for intense cathodoluminescence (CL) from the PSi paste may lead to longer term reliability of both the electron emitting and the light emitting materials, and to lower power consumption. Here we describe the synthesis, characterization, and analyses of the light emitting nanostructured Si paste and the electron emitting C nanofibers used for building the device, including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The corresponding spectra and field emission curves are also shown and discussed.     

A study of plastic deformation by exoelectron emission

The photoelectron emission from a metal is enhanced by plastic deformation—a phenomenon commonly known as exoelectron emission. We have developed a scanning apparatus based upon this effect, which offers a new approach to the study of metal deformation and fatigue. A small spot of ultraviolet light scans the surface of the sample, and the electron emission is detected by an electron multiplier and recorded as a function of position. In this way the distribution and extent of deformation may be detected and displayed. Examples are presented of the emission produced from aluminium and steel subjected to various modes of deformation. The emission produced by tensile deformation is compared with the emission under compression. The deformation introduced by fatigue cycling produces very localized emission, very early in the fatigue life. The intensity of this emission increases continuously with continued fatigue cycling. These results are discussed in terms of the cracking of the brittle oxide, the heterogeneous nature of metal deformation, and the initiation and propagation of fatigue damage.     

Electron Transfer in Nanoscale Contact Electrification: Photon Excitation Effect

Contact electrification (CE) (or triboelectrification) is a well‐known phenomenon, and the identity of the charge carriers and their transfer mechanism have been discussed for decades. Recently, the species of transferred charges in the CE between a metal and a ceramic was revealed as electron transfer and its subsequent release is dominated by the thermionic emission process. Here, the release of CE‐induced electrostatic charges on a dielectric surface under photon excitation is studied by varying the light intensity and wavelength, but under no significant raise in temperature. The results suggest that there exists a threshold photon energy for releasing the triboelectric charges from the surface, which is 4.1 eV (light wavelength at 300 nm) for SiO₂ and 3.4 eV (light wavelength at 360 nm) for PVC; photons with energy smaller than this cannot effectively excite the surface electrostatic charges. This process is attributed to the photoelectron emission of the charges trapped in the surface states of the dielectric material. Further, a photoelectron emission model is proposed to describe light‐induced charge decay on a dielectric surface. The findings provide an additional strong evidence about the electron transfer process in the CE between metals and dielectrics as well as polymers.     

Gold nanostars: surfactant-free synthesis, 3D modelling, and two-photon photoluminescence imaging

Understanding the control of the optical and plasmonic properties of unique nanosystems--gold nanostars--both experimentally and theoretically permits superior design and fabrication for biomedical applications. Here, we present a new, surfactant-free synthesis method of biocompatible gold nanostars with adjustable geometry such that the plasmon band can be tuned into the near-infrared region 'tissue diagnostic window', which is most suitable for in vivo imaging. Theoretical modelling was performed for multiple-branched 3D nanostars and yielded absorption spectra in good agreement with experimental results. The plasmon band shift was attributed to variations in branch aspect ratio, and the plasmon band intensifies with increasing branch number, branch length, and overall star size. Nanostars showed an extremely strong two-photon photoluminescence (TPL) process. The TPL imaging of wheat-germ agglutinin (WGA) functionalized nanostars on BT549 breast cancer cells and of PEGylated nanostars circulating in the vasculature, examined through a dorsal window chamber in vivo in laboratory mouse studies, demonstrated that gold nanostars can serve as an efficient contrast agent for biological imaging applications.     

Stabilization and Encapsulation of Gold Nanostars Mediated by Dithiols

Surface chemistry plays a pivotal role in regulating the morphology of nanoparticles, maintaining colloidal stability, and mediating the interaction with target analytes toward practical applications such as surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)‐based sensing and imaging. The use of a binary ligand mixture composed of 1,4‐benzenedithiol (BDT) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) to provide gold nanostars with long‐term stability is reported. This is despite BDT being a bifunctional ligand, which usually leads to bridging and loss of colloidal stability. It is found however that neither BDT nor CTAC alone are able to provide sufficient colloidal and chemical stability. BDT‐coated Au nanostars are additionally used as seeds to direct the encapsulation with a gold outer shell, leading to the formation of unusual nanostructures including semishell‐coated gold nanostars, which are characterized by high‐resolution electron microscopy and electron tomography. Finally, BDT is exploited as a probe to reveal the enhanced local electric fields in the different nanostructures, showing that the semishell configuration provides significantly high SERS signals as compared to other core–shell configurations obtained during seeded growth, including full shells.     

Annealing effect on the photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanorod array prepared by a PLD-assistant wet chemical method

Well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays were synthesized by a wet chemical method on the glass substrate with ZnO thin film as seed layer prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The effect of annealing temperature on the luminescence characteristics was investigated. As the annealing temperature increased, the photoluminescence properties show a general enhancing tendency. The nanorod array with high ultraviolet emission and negligible visible light emission (designated by the photoluminescence intensity ratio of ultraviolet to visible emission of 66.4) is obtained by annealing the sample at 700 °C for 1 h. Based on the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectra, the mechanisms of visible emission were discussed.     

Shape-dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering in gold-Raman probe-silica sandwiched nanoparticles for biocompatible applications

To meet the requirement of Raman probes (labels) for biocompatible applications, a synthetic approach has been developed to sandwich the Raman-probe (malachite green isothiocyanate, MGITC) molecules between the gold core and the silica shell in gold-SiO? composite nanoparticles. The gold-MGITC-SiO? sandwiched structure not only prevents the Raman probe from leaking out but also improves the solubility of the nanoparticles in organic solvents and in aqueous solutions even with high ionic strength. To amplify the Raman signal, three types of core, gold nanospheres, nanorods and nanostars, have been chosen as the substrates of the Raman probe. The effect of the core shape on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been investigated. The colloidal nanostars showed the highest SERS enhancement factor while the nanospheres possessed the lowest SERS activity under excitation with 532 and 785 nm lasers. Three-dimensional finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulation showed significant differences in the local electromagnetic field distributions surrounding the nanospheres, nanorods, and nanostars, which were induced by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The electromagnetic field was enhanced remarkably around the two ends of the nanorods and around the sharp tips of the nanostars. This local electromagnetic enhancement made the dominant contribution to the SERS enhancement. Both the experiments and the simulation revealed the order nanostars > nanorods > nanospheres in terms of the enhancement factor. Finally, the biological application of the nanostar-MGITC-SiO? nanoparticles has been demonstrated in the monitoring of DNA hybridization. In short, the gold–MGITC-SiO? sandwiched nanoparticles can be used as a Raman probe that features high sensitivity, good water solubility and stability, low-background fluorescence, and the absence of photobleaching for future biological applications.     

光电平板显示屏的实验研究

为克服场发射电子源在平板显示屏中存在的不稳定性和不均匀性问题 ,研制了以光电发射源替代场致发射源的光电平板显示屏。本文介绍了光电平板显示屏的结构 ,并对显示屏的组成部分进行了分析讨论     

Photoelectron production in BaF2-TMAE detectors

The wavelength dependence of the photoelectron yield in a BaF₂-TMAE detector was studied. We found that the signal in such a detector stems mainly from an emission of scintillation light at 195 nm. The decay time constant of this component is the same as that of the 220 nm component: (870±30) ps.     

Laser-produced lithium plasma as a narrow-band extended ultraviolet radiation source for photoelectron spectroscopy

Extended ultraviolet (EUV) emission characteristics of a laser-produced lithium plasma are determined with regard to the requirements of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The main features of interest are spectral distribution, photon flux, bandwidth, source size, and emission duration. Laser-produced lithium plasmas are characterized as emitters of intense narrow-band EUV radiation. It can be estimated that the lithium Lyman-alpha line emission in combination with an ellipsoidal silicon/molybdenum multilayer mirror is a suitable EUV source for an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy microscope with a 50-meV energy resolution and a 10-mum lateral resolution.     

Study of structural and optical properties of Ge doped ZnO films

The Ge doped ZnO films were deposited on quartz substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The effects of doping and substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of the Ge doped ZnO films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible transmission spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The XRD patterns showed that Zn₂GeO₄ phases were formed in the films. With the increase of substrate temperature the crystallization of Zn₂GeO₄ was improved, and that of ZnO phases turned worse, and no diffraction peak of ZnO was observed when the substrate temperature was 700 °C. Obvious ultraviolet (UV) light emission was found due to ZnO grains, and it was much stronger than that of un-doped ZnO films. The enhancement of UV light emission at about 380 nm may be caused by excitons which were formed at the interface between Zn₂GeO₄ and ZnO grains. In the visible region of the PL spectra, the green light emission peak of samples at about 512 nm was associated with defects in ZnO. A red shift of the green light emission peak was observed which can be explained by the fact that there is a luminescence center at about 548 nm taking the place of the defect emission of ZnO with the increase of substrate temperature. The red shift of the green light emission peak and the 548 nm green light emission peaks of the PL spectrum show that some Ge²⁺ should replace the Zn²⁺ positions during the Zn₂GeO₄ grains growth and form the Ge²⁺ luminescence centers in Zn₂GeO₄ grains.     

Self-assembly of a novel beta-In2S3 nanostructure exhibiting strong quantum confinement effects

The 3D beta-In2S3 flowerlike architecture assembled from nanoflakes was prepared via a novel complex-precursor assisted (CPA) solvothermal route. The as-prepared beta-In2S3 powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), transition electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis) spectra, and photoluminescence spectrum. The novel 3D beta-In2S3 nanostructure exhibit a strong quantum confinement effect. FT-IR spectra were used to investigate the coordinative chemical effect in the complex. A possible mechanism was discussed.     

Photodetachment of negative hydrogen ion in circularly polarized monochromatic and bichromatic laser fields

We theoretically have investigated the detachment of negative hydrogen ion in circularly polarized monochromatic and bichromatic laser fields by calculating the photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs). We find that the PMDs are controlled by the electric field of laser pulse. For circularly polarized monochromatic laser fields, the PMDs are perfect and isotropic rings, and the photodetachment rates in random direction are same. For this case, the photoelectron momentum spectra directly reflect the electronic distributions of negative hydrogen ion. For circularly polarized bichromatic laser field, the PMDs are inversion asymmetric, but symmetric about a certain axis. The emission directions of the photoelectrons vary with the electric field shape, that is to say that the emission directions of the photoelectrons vary with the carrier-envelope (CE) phases, which decide the electric field of laser pulse. The maximal photodetachment rates and the spectra shape, however, are same for the different CE phases.     

Highly enhanced photocatalytic performance of Zn(1−x)MgxO/rGO nanostars under sunlight irradiation synthesized by one-pot refluxing method

The current research presents a simple, coast-effective, and one-pot refluxing method to synthesize Zn_(1?x)Mg_xO nanostructures, which were decorated on graphene oxide (GO) sheets. In the first step, the effect of refluxing time on structure and morphology of the pristine ZnO nanostructures was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the pristine ZnO nanostructures were formed after 8?h of the refluxing process. Field emission electron microscope (FESEM) images showed that stars-shape ZnO nanostructures were formed after 10?h of refluxing time. Further refluxing process for 12?h showed that morphology and structure of the ZnO nanostructures were not changed. However, after 14?h additional phases were formed. Therefore, ZnO and Zn_(1?x)Mg_xO nanostars that were decorated on GO sheets were synthesized during 10?h. XRD patterns indicated that GO sheets were changed into reduced graphene oxides (rGO) during the refluxing process. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images revealed that ZnO nanostars with more branches were decorated on rGO sheets. However, the TEM images showed that the morphology of Zn_xMg_(1?x)O/rGO nanocomposites were changed significantly with the increase of Mg concentration up to 6%. Photocatalytic performance of the products was examined under natural sunlight irradiation. The results showed that the rGO and Mg concentrations had significant roles in the photocatalytic performance of ZnO nanostars. The concentrations of Mg and rGO increased up to 4% were the optimum concentration for enhancing photocatalytic performance of Zn_(1?x)Mg_xO/rGO nanocomposites. In addition, room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and photocurrent measurement results indicated that Mg and rGO with optimum concentration caused decrease of electron-hole recombination rate.     

掺锶量对羟基磷灰石形貌及其荧光特性的影响

采用水热合成法制备了一系列具有不同微观形貌和荧光性能的掺锶羟基磷灰石粉末。通过X射线衍射、红外光谱、电子能谱、扫描电镜和荧光光谱表征样品的物相、形貌及荧光性能。结果表明: 所制备的样品形貌为1~ 3 μm的由微小晶粒聚集而成的球形颗粒, 但随着掺锶量的变化, 组成球形颗粒的微小晶粒形貌会出现较大的差异。 未掺锶羟基磷灰石晶粒形貌为短棒状, 随着掺锶量的增加, 微小晶粒逐渐变为片状而后转变为长棒状。样品能在紫外光(波长351 nm)激发下发出明亮的蓝色荧光(波长375~500 nm, 最强峰位432 nm), 且荧光强度随掺锶量增加先增强, 而后减弱, 在掺锶量为30mol%时达到最大。     

RGO/ZnO纳米棒复合材料的合成及光催化性能

采用水热合成法制备ZnO纳米棒及RGO/ZnO纳米棒复合材料。研究不同含量的RGO对RGO/ZnO纳米棒复合材料光催化活性的影响。采用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、场发射电子显微镜(FESEM)、光电子能谱仪(XPS)及漫反射紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)检测手段对RGO/ZnO进行表征。结果显示:RGO与ZnO纳米棒成功复合。加入GO的含量不同,获得的RGO/ZnO样品在可见光区域的吸光度值不同。以甲基橙作为模拟污染物的光催化结果表明,RGO/ZnO复合材料具有高的紫外-可见光光降解效率,加入GO与ZnO的质量比为3%时,样品紫外-可见光光催化性能最佳,120min内甲基橙基本可以完全降解;且在波长大于400nm可见光照射下,RGO/ZnO具有一定的可见光活性,180min内其降解甲基橙效率最大可达26.2%。同时,RGO/ZnO具有较好的光稳定性。     

Photoelectron emission caused by surface plasmons in silver nanoparticles

A new intense band of photoelectron emission peaked at a wavelength of 490 nm has been observed in granular silver films with a nanoparticle size of 10–50 nm. Coinciding with an optical reflection band, the new photoelectron emission peak is related to the excitation of surface plasmons in silver nanoparticles. The quantum yield of photoemission (0.25%) for the new band is approximately equal to that for a longwave band of the classical silver-oxygen-cesium photocathode. It is demonstrated that the photoelectron emission from both photoemitters has a common nature and a time constant on the order of several femtoseconds can be obtained.     

Growth of ITO thin films by magnetron sputtering: OES study,opticaland electrical properties

In this work tin doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto soda lime glass substrates by the direct current magnetron sputtering system analyzing process of deposition with optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The dependence of electro-optical characteristics of the deposited films on the sputtering pressure, O₂/Ar working gas flow ratio and the discharge power was investigated. Transparency of the ITO films was measured using the ultraviolet and visible light spectrometer (UV–vis). The X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method was applied for analysis of thin films surface chemical composition. It was found that in-situ measurement of plasma emission spectra allowed prediction and control of parameters of ITO thin films, namely resistivity and transparency. The correlation between the thin films resistivity, optical transparency and kinetics of deposition was examined.