Maolin Pang

Synthesis, morphological control, and antibacterial properties of hollow/solid Ag2S/Ag heterodimers.

Ag(2)S and Ag are important functional materials that have received considerable research interest in recent years. In this work, we develop a solution-based synthetic method to combine these two materials into hollow/solid Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers at room temperature. Starting from monodisperse Cu(2)O solid spheres, CuS hollow spheres can be converted from Cu(2)O through a modified Kirkendall process, and the obtained CuS can then be used as a solid precursor for preparation of the Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers through ion exchange and photo-assisted reduction. We have found that formation of the Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers is instantaneous, and the size of Ag nanocrystals on the hollow spheres of Ag(2)S can be controlled by changing the concentration and power of reducing agents in the synthesis. The growth of Ag nanoparticles on hollow spheres of Ag(2)S in the dimers is along the [111] direction of the silver crystal; the light absorption properties have also been investigated. Furthermore, coupling or tripling of Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers into dumbbell-like trimers ((Ag(2)S)(2)/Ag, linear) and triangular tetramers ((Ag(2)S)(3)/Ag, coplanar) can also be attained at 60 degrees C by adding the bidentate ligand ethylenediamine as a cross-linking agent. To test the applicability of this highly asymmetric dipolar composite, photocatalytic inactivation of Escherichia coli K-12 in the presence of the as-prepared Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers has been carried out under UV irradiation. The added Ag(2)S/Ag heterodimers show good chemical stability under prolonged UV irradiation, and no appreciable solid dissolution is found. Possible mechanisms regarding the enhanced antibacterial activity have also been addressed.

Preparation, patterning and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline Gd2O3 : A (A = Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+) phosphor films via Pechini sol-gel soft lithography

Nanocrystalline Gd2O3:A (A = Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+) phosphor films and their patterning were fabricated by a Pechini sol-gel process combined with a soft lithography. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy, UV/vis transmission and photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as lifetimes were used to characterize the resulting films. The results of XRD indicated that the films began to crystallize at 500 degreesC and that the crystallinity increased with the elevation of annealing temperatures. Uniform and crack free non-patterned phosphor films were obtained by optimizing the composition of the coating sol, which mainly consisted of grains with an average size of 70 nm and a thickness of 550 nm. Using micro-molding in capillaries technique, we obtained homogeneous and defects-free patterned gel and crystalline phosphor films with different stripe widths (5, 10, 20 and 50 mum). Significant shrinkage (50%) was observed in the patterned films during the heat treatment process. The doped rare earth ions (A) showed their characteristic emission in crystalline Gd2O3 phosphor films due to an efficient energy transfer from Gd2O3 host to them. Both the lifetimes and PL intensity of the rare earth ions increased with increasing the annealing temperature from 500 to 900 degreesC, and the optimum concentrations for Eu3+, Dy3+, sm(3+), Er3+ were determined to be 5, 0.25, 1 and 1.5 mol% of Gd3+ in Gd2O3 films, respectively.

Host-Sensitized Luminescence of Dy3 + in Nanocrystalline β ­ Ga2 O 3 Prepared by a Pechini-Type Sol-Gel Process

Nanocrystalline undoped β-Ga 2 O 3 and Dy 3 + -doped β-Ga 2 O 3 were prepared through a Pechini-type sol-gel process. All the samples began to crystallize at 600°C, and the crystallinity increased with the increase of annealing temperatures until 1000°C. Field emission-scanning electron microscopy study revealed that the β-Ga 2 O 3 :Dy 3 + sample is composed of aggregated particles with sizes ranging from 40 to 80 nm and spherical morphology. Undoped β-Ga 2 O 3 sample shows a strong blue emission peaking at 438 nm. The Dy 3 + , mainly occupied the octahedral Ga 3 + sites in β-Ga 2 O 3 , shows its characteristic emissions in the blue 460-505 nm ( 4 F 9 / 2 - 6 H 1 5 / 2 ) and yellow 570-0600 nm ( 4 F 9 / 2 - 6 H 1 3 / 2 ) regions due to an efficient energy transfer from the β-Ga 2 O 3 host lattices. The optimum concentration for the luminescence Dy 3 + is determined to be 2 atom % of Ga 3 + in Ga 2 O 3 host.

Highly Monodisperse MIII-Based soc-MOFs (M = In and Ga) with Cubic and Truncated Cubic Morphologies

In this work, we carry out an investigation on shape-controlled growth of In(III)- and Ga(III)-based square-octahedral metal-organic frameworks (soc-MOFs). In particular, controllable crystal morphological evolution from simple cubes to complex octadecahedra has been achieved, and resultant highly uniform crystal building blocks promise new research opportunities for preparation of self-assembled MOF materials and related applications.

Patterning and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor films by sol–gel soft lithography

Nanocrystalline Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor films and their patterning were fabricated by a Pechini sol-gel process combined with a soft lithography. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical microscopy, UV/vis transmission and photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as lifetimes were used to characterize the resulting films. The results of XRD indicated that the films began to crystallize at 500 degreesC and the crystallinity increased with the elevation of annealing temperatures. Uniform and crack free non-patterned phosphor films were obtained, which mainly consisted of grains with an average size of 70 nm. Using micro-molding in capillaries technique, we obtained homogeneous and defects-free patterned gel and crystalline phosphor films with different stripe widths (5, 10, 20 and 50 mum). Significant shrinkage (50%) was observed in the patterned films during the heat treatment process. The doped Eu3+ showed its characteristic emission in crystalline Y2O3 phosphor films due to an efficient energy transfer from Y2O3 host to them. Both the lifetimes and PL intensity of the Eu3+ increased with increasing the annealing temperature from 500 to 900 degreesC, and the optimum concentrations for Eu3+ were determined to be 5 mol%.

Luminescent properties of rare-earth-doped CaWO4 phosphor films prepared by the Pechini sol-gel process

CaWO4 phosphor films doped with rare-earth ions (Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+) were prepared by the Pechini sol–gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, atomic force microscopy, and photoluminescence spectra, as well as lifetimes, were used to characterize the resulting powders and films. The results of the XRD analysis indicated that the films began to crystallize at 400°C and that the crystallinity increased with elevation of the annealing temperature. The doped rare-earth ions showed their characteristic emissions in crystalline CaWO4 phosphor films due to energy transfer from WO42− groups to them. Both the lifetimes and PL intensities of the doped rare-earth ions increased with increasing annealing temperature, from 500 to 900°C, and the optimum concentrations for Eu3+, Dy3+, Sm3+, Er3+ were determined as 30, 1.5, 1.5, 0.5 at.% of Ca2+ in CaWO4 films annealed at 900°C, respectively.

Enhanced photoluminescence of Ga2O3:Dy3+ phosphor films by Li+ doping

Ga2O3:Dy3+ and Li+-doped Ga2O3:Dy3+ phosphor films were prepared by a Pechini sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as lifetimes were used to characterize the resulting thin films (and powder samples for comparison). The results of the FTIR and XRD indicated that the films began to crystallize at 700 °C and the crystallinity increased with the elevation of annealing temperatures. Upon excitation into band gap of β-Ga2O3 at 250 nm, the Ga2O3:Dy3+ and Li+-doped Ga2O3:Dy3+ films show similar emission spectra, which mainly consist of the characteristic emission bands of Dy3+ ions (F9∕24–H13∕26 transition at 492 nm and F9∕24–H15∕26 transition at 580 nm) due to an efficient energy transfer from the β-Ga2O3 host lattice to the doped Dy3+ ions. The incorporation of Li+ ions into the Ga2O3:Dy3+ film have enlarged the grain size and enhanced the photoluminescence intensities. The highest emission ...

Luminescence properties of RP1-xVxO4: A (R=Y, Gd, La; A=Sm3+Er3+ x=0, 0.5, 1) thin films prepared by pechini sol-gel process

Thin film phosphors with compositions of RP1-xVxO4: A (R = Y, Gd, La; A = Sm3+, Et3+; x = 0, 0.5, 1) have been prepared by a Pechini sol-gel process. X-Ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra were utilized to characterize the thin film phosphors. The results of XRD showed that a solid solution formed in YVxP1-xO4: A film series from x = 0 to x = 1 with zircon structure, which also held for GdVO4: A film. However, LaVO4: A film crystallized with a different structure, monazite. AFM study revealed that the phosphor films consisted of homogeneous particles ranging from 90 to 400 nm depending on the compositions. Upon short ultraviolet excitation, the films exhibit the characteristic Sm(3+ 4)G(5/2)-H-6(J) (J=5/2, 7/2, 9/2) emission in the red region and Er3+ H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2)-I-4(15/2) emission in the green region, respectively With the increase of x values in YVxP1-xO4: SM3+ (Er3+) films, the emission intensity Of SM3+ (Er3+) increases due to the increase of energy transfer probability from VO43- to Sm3+ (Er3+). Due to the structural effects, the Sm3+ (Er3+) shows similar spectral properties in YVO4 and GdVO4 films, which are much different from those in LaVO4 film.

Self‐Generated Etchant for Synthetic Sculpturing of Cu2O‐Au, Cu2O@Au, Au/Cu2O, and 3D‐Au Nanostructures

Structures of Gold: a simple transformative method for nanoscale sculpturing has been developed. Five different types of complex nanocomposites of cuprite and gold have been formed by using this self-etching approach.

Effects R3+ on the photoluminescent properties of Ca2R8(SiO4)6O2:A?(R = Y,La,Gd;A = Eu3+,Tb3+) phosphor films prepared by the sol?gel process

Using CaCO3, metal oxides (all dissolved by nitric acid) and tetraethoxysilane Si(OC2H5)(4) (TEOS) as the main starting materials, Ca2R8(SiO4)(6)O-2:A (R = Y, La, Gd; A = EU3+, Tb3+) phosphor films have been dip-coated on quartz glass substrates through the sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well as lifetimes were used to characterize the resulting films. The results of XRD indicated that the 1000 degreesC annealed films are isomorphous and crystallize with the silicate oxyapatite structure. AFM and SEM studies revealed that the phosphor films consisted of homogeneous particles ranging from 30 to 90 nm, with an average thickness of 1.30 mum. The Eu3+ and Tb3+ show similar spectral properties independent of R 3, in the films due to their isomorphous crystal structures. However, both the emission intensity and lifetimes of Eu3+ and Tb3+ in Ca2R8(SiO4)(6)O-2 (R = Y, La, Gd) films decrease in the sequence of R = Gd > R = Y > R = La, which have been explained in accordance with the crystal structures.