Facile Synthesis and Assemblies of Flowerlike SnS2 and In3+-Doped SnS2: Hierarchical Structures and Their Enhanced Photocatalytic Property

Novel flowerlike SnS2 and In3+-doped SnS2 hierarchical structures have been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal route using biomolecular L-Cysteine-assisted methods. The L-cysteine plays an important role both as assistant and as sulfur source. Experiments with various parameters indicate that the pH values have a strong effect on the morphology of the assembly. Based on the experiments, a growth mechanical process was proposed. The synthetic samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM (HRTEM), BET measurement, TGA, and XPS in detail.

Type I collagen-mediated synthesis of noble metallic nanoparticles networks and the applications in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering and electrochemistry

In this paper, we demonstrated an effective enviromentally friendly synthesis route to prepare noble metallic (Au, Ag, Pt and Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) networks mediated by type I collagen in the absence of any seeds or surfactants. In the reactions, type I collagen served as stabilizing agent and assembly template for the synthesized metallic NPs. The hydrophobic interaction between collagen and mica interface as well as the hydrogen bonds between inter- and intra-collagen molecules play important roles in the formation of collagen-metallic NPs networks. The noble metallic NPs networks have many advantages in the applications of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and electrochemistry detection. Typically, the as-prepared Ag NPs networks reveal great Raman enhancement activity for 4-ATP, and can even be used to detect low concentration of DNA base, adenine.

Atomic force microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of DNA based on DNA-nanoparticle complexes

We report a simple method for the label-free detection of double-stranded DNA using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). We prepared cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-capped silver nanoparticles and a DNA-nanoparticle complex by adding silver nanoparticles to lambda-DNA solutions. In the present study, the utilization of CTAB-capped silver nanoparticles facilitates the electrostatic interaction between DNA molecules and silver nanoparticles; at the same time, the introduction of DNA avoids adding aggregating agent for the formation of nanoparticle aggregates to obtain large enhancement of DNA, because the DNA acts as both the probe molecules and aggregating agent of Ag nanoparticles.

Novel Hybrid Electrocatalyst with Enhanced Performance in Alkaline Media: Hollow Au/Pd Core/Shell Nanostructures with a Raspberry Surface

In this paper, a hollow Au/Pd core/shell nanostructure with a raspberry surface was developed for methanol, ethanol, and formic acid oxidation in alkaline media. The results showed that it possessed better electrocatalyst performance than hollow Au nanospheres or Pd nanoparticles. The nanostructure was fabricated via a two-step method. Hollow Au nanospheres were first synthesized by a galvanic replacement reaction, and then they were coated with a layer of Pd grains. Several characterizations such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to investigate the prepared nanostructures.

Monitoring catalytic degradation of dye molecules on silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Catalytic degradation of organic dye molecules has attracted extensive attention due to their high toxicity to water resources. In this paper, we propose a novel method for the fabrication of uniform silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays. The degradation of typical dye molecule rhodamine 6G (R6G), as an example, is investigated in the presence of the as-prepared silver-coated ZnO nanowire arrays. The experimental results show that such composite nanostructures exhibit high catalytic activity, and the reaction follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. Furthermore, these nanowire arrays are desirable SERS substrates for monitoring the catalytic degradation of dye molecules. Compared with traditional UV-visible spectroscopy, SERS technology can reflect more truly the catalytic degradation process occurring on the surface of the catalysts.

Fabrication of Iron Oxide Core/Gold Shell Submicrometer Spheres with Nanoscale Surface Roughness for Efficient Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

A method to synthesize Fe3O4 core/Au shell submicrometer structures with very rough surfaces on the nanoscale is reported. The Fe3O4 particles were first modified with uniform polymers through the layer-by-layer technique and then adsorbed a lot of gold nanoseeds for further Au shell formation. The shell was composed of a large number of irregular nanoscale An particles arranged randomly, and there were well-defined boundaries between these Au nanoparticles. The Fe3O4 core/Au shell particles showed strong plasmon resonance absorption in the near-infrared range, and can be separated quickly from solution by an external magnet.

Enhanced charge collection in polymer photovoltaic cells by using an ethanol-soluble conjugated polyfluorene as cathode buffer layer

We report enhanced polymer photovoltaic (PV) cells by utilizing ethanol-soluble conjugated poly (9, 9-bis (6'-diethoxylphosphorylhexyl) fluorene) (PF-EP) as a buffer layer between the active layer consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6, 6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester blend and the Al cathode. Compared to the control PV cell with Al cathode, the introduction of PF-EP effectively increases the shunt resistance and improves the photo-generated charge collection since the slightly thicker semi-conducting PF-EP layer may restrain the penetration of Al atoms into the active layer that may result in increased leakage current and quench photo-generated excitons. The power conversion efficiency is increased ca. 8% compared to the post-annealed cell with Al cathode.

Enhanced crystallization of the gamma-form of propylene-ethylene copolymer in its miscible blends with propylene homopolymer

BACKGROUND: How to promote the formation of the gamma-form in a certain propylene-ethylene copolymer (PPR) under atmospheric conditions is significant for theoretical considerations and practical applications. Taking the epitaxial relationship between the alpha-form and gamma-form into account, it is expected that incorporation of some extrinsic alpha-crystals, developed by propylene homopolymer (PPH), can enhance the crystallization of the gamma-form of the PPR component in PPR/PPH blends.RESULTS: The PPH component in the blends first crystallizes from the melt, and its melting point and crystal growth rate decrease with increasing PPR fraction. On the other hand, first-formed alpha-crystals of the PPH component can induce the lateral growth of PPR chains on themselves, indicated by sheaf-like crystal morphology and positive birefringence, which is in turn responsible for enhanced crystallization of the gamma-form of the PPR component.

Enhanced luminescence of BPO4 by mixing with SiO2 and Al2O3

In this paper, BPO4-xSiO(2) (X: SiO2/BPO4 molar ratio, 0-70%) and BPO4-xAl(2)O(3) (X: Al2O3/BPO4 molar ratio, 0-20%) powder samples were prepared by the Pechini-type sol-gel (PSG) process using glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) as additives. The structure and optical properties of the resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), diffuse reflection spectra, photoluminescence (PL) excitation and emission spectra, kinetic decay, and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), respectively. It was found that the Pechini-type sol-gel-derived BPO4-xSiO(2) annealed at 1000 degrees C and BPO4-xAl(2)O(3) annealed at 960 degrees C exhibited bright bluish-white emissions centered at 428 and 413 nm, respectively. The luminescence decay curve analysis indicates that each sample has two kinds of lifetimes (more than 0.4 ms and less than 10 ns) and two types of kinetic decay behaviors, which can be fitted into a double-exponential function and a single-exponential function, respectively.

Nafion-graphene nanocomposite film as enhanced sensing platform for ultrasensitive determination of cadmium

In this work, an ultrasensitive platform for the detection of cadmium (Cd2+) combining the nafion-graphene nanocomposite film with differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) analysis was presented. It is found that this sensing platform exhibits enhanced response to the determination of the Cd2+ and has been used to determine the Cd2+ in real sample with good recovery.

Enhanced amplified spontaneous emission using layer-by-layer assembled cowpea mosaic virus

Layer-by-layer assembly technique was used to construct ultrathin film of cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) by electrostatic interactions, and the film was employed as a precursor on which an OF8T2 film was deposited by spin coating. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was observed and improved for the OF8T2 film. Compared with OF8T2 film on quartz, the introduction of CPMV nanoparticles reduced the threshold and loss, and remarkably increased the net gain. The threshold, loss, and gain reached 0.05 mJ/ pulse, 6.9 cm(-1), and 82 cm(-1), respectively. CPMV nanoparticles may enormously scatter light, resulting in a positive feedback, thus the ASE is easily obtained and improved.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of 4-aminothiophenol self-assembled monolayers in sandwich structure with nanoparticle shape dependence: Off-surface plasmon resonance condition

A universal metal-molecule-metal sandwich architecture by the self-assembly of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and Au NPs of various shapes interconnected with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) molecules was presented. These Ag NPs/4-ATP/Au NPs sandwich structures were characterized by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using an off-surface plasmon resonance condition. Enhancement factors (EF) on the order of 10(8) for 9b(b(2)) vibration mode were observed for the 4-ATP self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in such sandwich structures. The factors are 2 orders of magnitude larger than that on the monolayer of Au NPs of various shapes under similar condition. More importantly, remarkable increase in the intensity of b(2) vibrational modes, which is characteristic of the charge transfer (CT) behavior between metal NPs and 4-ATP molecules, was observed in these sandwich structures under 1064 nm excitation. The obtained EF on these sandwich structure for 9b(b(2)) is larger than that for 7a vibration mode by a factor of similar to 10(2), demonstrating the importance of the contribution of the CT mechanism and the CT behavior of metal contacts, which play a significant role in metal-molecule-metal nanosystems.

Electrochemical preparation of silver nanostructure on the planar surface for application in metal-enhanced fluorescence

We introduce a fast and simple method, named the potentiostatic electrodeposition technique, to deposit metal particles on the planar surface for application in metal-enhanced fluorescence. The as-prepared metallic surfaces were comprised of silver nanostructures and displayed a relatively homogeneous morphology. Atomic force microscopy and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy were used to characterize the growth process of the silver nanostructures on the indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces. A typical 20-fold enhancement in the intensity of a nearby fluorophore, [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+), could be achieved on the silvered surfaces. In addition, the photostability of [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) was found to be greatly increased due to the modification of the radiative decay rate of the fluorophore. It is expected that this electrochemical approach to fabricating nanostructured metallic surfaces can be further utilized in enhanced fluorescence-based applications.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of brilliant green on ag nanoparticles and applications in living cells as optical probes

In this article, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of different concentrations of brilliant green (13G) on Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been investigated. The results indicate that only 10(-12) M BG can be detected on AgNPs while as low as 10(-11) M BG can be detected upon the activation of AgNPs by chloride ions. The additional improvement of the detection of BG mainly derives from the increase of the electromagnetic field around AgNPs and partially from the reorientation of BG on AgNPs induced by chloride ions, which was proved by the different spectra feature in the two systems. Adsorption of BG on AgNPs has also been demonstrated in applications of living cells as optical probes based on SERS, indicating that dye-AgNPs can probe the local environment in the living cells. The related cytotoxicity measurements demonstrated that BG-AgNPs produced little cytotoxicity to the cells, which shows great potential in biornedical applications of BG labeled-AgNPs for SERS nanosensors in cells as optical probes. Meanwhile, SERS spectra of BG on AgNPs in the presence chloride ions are expected to be used in living cells as more sensitive optical probes.

Carbon Nanotube/Silica Coaxial Nanocable as a Three-Dimensional Support for Loading Diverse Ultra-High-Density Metal Nanostructures: Facile Preparation and Use as Enhanced Materials for Electrochemical Devices and SERS

In this paper, we have reported a very simple strategy (combined sonication with sol-gel techniques) for synthesizing well-defined silica-coated carbon nanotube (CNT) coaxial nanocable without prior CNT functionalization. After functionalization with NH2 group, the CNT/silica coaxial nanocable has been employed as a three-dimensional support for loading ultra-high-density metal or hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) such as gold NPs, Au/Pt hybrid NPs, Pt hollow NPs, and Au/Ag core/shell NPs. Most importantly, it is found that the ultra-high-density Au/Pt NPs supported on coaxial nanocables (UASCN) could be used as enhanced materials for constructing electrochemical devices with high performance. Four model probe molecules (O-2, CH3OH, H2O2, and NH2NH2) have been investigated on UASCN-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). It was observed that the present UASCN exhibited high electrocatalytic activity toward diverse molecules and was a promising electrocatalyst for constructing electrochemical devices with high performance. For instance, the detection limit for H2O2 with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 was found to be 0.3 mu M, which was lower than certain enzyme-based biosensors.