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.

Charge carrier transporting, photoluminescent, and electroluminescent properties of zinc(II)-2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolate complex

Zinc(II)-2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolate complex is an excellent white-light-emitting material. Despite some studies devoted to this complex, no information on the real origin of the unusually broad electroluminescent (EL) emission is available. Therefore, we investigate photoluminescent and EL properties of the zinc complex. Orange phosphorescent emission at 580 nm was observed for the complex in thin film at 77 K, whereas only fluorescent emission was obtained at room temperature. Molecular orbitals, excitation energy, and emission energy of the complex were investigated using quantum chemical calculations. We fabricated the device with a structure of ITO/F16CuPc(5.5 nm)/Zn-complex/Al, where F16CuPc is hexadecafluoro copper phthalocyanine. The EL spectra varied strongly with the thickness of the emissive layer. We observed a significant change in the emission spectra with the viewing angles. Optical interference effects and light emission originating both from fluorescence and from phosphorescence can explain all of the observed phenomena, resulting in the broad light emission for the devices based on the Zn complex. We calculated the charge transfer integral and the reorganization energy to explain why the Zn complex is a better electron transporter than a hole transporter.

Investigation of facilitated ion-transfer reactions at high driving force by scanning electrochemical Microscopy

The kinetics of facilitated ion-transfer (FIT) reactions at high driving force across the water/1,2-dichloroethane (W/DCE) interface is investigated by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The transfers of lithium and sodium ions facilitated by dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6) across the polarized W/DCE interface are chosen as model systems because they have the largest potential range that can be controlled externally. By selecting the appropriate ratios of the reactant concentrations (Kr c(M)+/c(DB18C6)) and using nanopipets as the SECM tips, we obtained a series of rate constants (k(f)) at various driving forces (Delta(O)(W) phi(ML+)(0') - Es, Delta(O)(W) phi(ML+)(0') is the formal potential of facilitated ion transfer and Es is the potential applied externally at the substrate interface) based on a three-electrode system. The FIT rate constants k(f) are found to be dependent upon the driving force. When the driving force is low, the dependence of 1n k(f) on the driving force is linear with a transfer coefficient of about 0.3. It follows the classical Butler-Volmer theory and then reaches a maximum before it decreases again when we further increase the driving forces. This indicates that there exists an inverted region, and these behaviors have been explained by Marcus theory.

A nonmonotonic dependence of standard rate constant on reorganization energy for heterogeneous electron transfer processes on electrode surface

In the present work a nonmonotonic dependence of standard rate constant (k(0)) on reorganization energy (lambda) was discovered qualitatively from electron transfer (Marcus-Hush-Levich) theory for heterogeneous electron transfer processes on electrode surface. It was found that the nonmonotonic dependence of k(0) on lambda is another result, besides the disappearance of the famous Marcus inverted region, coming from the continuum of electronic states in electrode: with the increase of lambda, the states for both Process I and Process II ET processes all vary from nonadiabatic to adiabatic state continuously, and the lambda dependence of k(0) for Process I is monotonic thoroughly, while for Process II on electrode surface the lambda dependence of k(0) could show a nonmonotonicity.

Green electroluminescent polyfluorenes containing 1,8-naphthalimide moieties as color tuner

A series of copolymers (CNPFs) containing low-band-gap 1,8-naphthalimide moieties as color tuner was prepared by a Yamamoto coupling reaction of 2,7-dibromo-9,9-dioctylfluorene (DBF) and different amount of 4-(3,6-dibromocarbazol-9-yl)-N-(4'-tert-butyl-phenyl)-1,8-naphthalimide (Br-CN) (0.05-1 mol% feed ratio). The light emitting properties of the resulting copolymers showed a heavy dependence on the feed ratio. In photoluminescence (PL) studies, an efficient color tuning through the Forster energy transfer mechanism was revealed from blue to green as the increase of Br-CN content, while in electroluminescence (EL) studies, the color tuning was found to go through a charge trapping mechanism. It was found that by introduction of a very small amount of Br-CN (0.1-0.5 mol%) into polyfluorene, the emission color can be tuned from blue to pure green with Commission International de l'Echairage (CIE) coordinates being (0.21, 0.42) and (0.21, 0.48). A green emitting EL single-layer device based on CNPF containing 0.1 mol% of Br-CN showed good performances with a low turn-on voltage of 4.2 V, a brightness of 9104 cd/m(2), the maximum luminous efficiency of 2.74 cd/A and the maximum power efficiency of 1.51 lm/W.

A study on the interaction between ibuprofen and bilayer lipid membrane

Ibuprofen is a well-known nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which can interact with lipid membranes. In this paper, the interaction of ibuprofen with bilayer lipid membrane was studied by UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance spectroscopy. UV-vis spectroscopy data indicated directly that ibuprofen could interact with lipid vesicles. In electrochemical experiments, ibuprofen displayed a biphasic behavior on bilayer lipid membrane supported on a glassy carbon electrode. It could stabilize the lipid membrane in low concentration, while it induced defects formation, even removed off bilayer lipid membrane from the surface of the electrode with increasing concentration. The mechanism about the interaction between ibuprofen and supported bilayer lipid membrane was discussed.

Effects of solution viscosity on heterogeneous electron transfer across a liquid/liquid interface

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is employed to investigate the effect of solution viscosity on the rate constants of electron transfer (ET) reaction between potassium ferricyanide in water and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in 1,2-dichloroethane. Either tetrabutylammonium (TBA(+)) or ClO4- is chosen as the common ion in both phases to control the interfacial potential drop. The rate constant of heterogeneous ET reaction between TCNQ and ferrocyanide produced in-situ, k(12), is evaluated by SECM and is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the aqueous solution and directly proportional to the diffusion coefficient of K4Fe(CN)(6) in water when the concentration of TCNQ in the DCE phase is in excess. The k(12) dependence on viscosity is explained in terms of the longitudinal relaxation time of the solution. The rate constant of the heterogeneous ET reaction between TCNQ and ferricyanide, k(21), is also obtained by SECM and these results cannot be explained by the same manner.

Facilitated ion transfer across the micro-liquid /liquid interface supported at the tip of a silanized micropipette

Glass micropipettes with silanized inner walls can be filled with an organic solvent for voltammetric measurements in an aqueous solution. This arrangement was employed to investigate systematically the mechanism of facilitated potassium ion transfer by an ionophore dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6) across a micro-water/1.2-dichloroethane(W/DCE) interface supported at the tip of a silanized micropipette. Our experimental results verify that this facilitated ion transfer across the liquid/liquid interface did occur by an interfacial complexation-dissociation process (TIC-TID mechanism). The ratio of the diffusion coefficient of DB18C6 to that of its complexed ion in the DCE phase was calculated to be 1.74 +/- 0.07.

Effective energy transfer and luminescence of LB films based on europium-substituted heteropolytungstate

The europium-substituted heteropolytungstate K13Eu(SiW11O39)(2) was successfully assembled into two lipids by LB technique for the first time. X-ray diffraction has shown a well defined lamellar for the LB films. The LB films have been characterized by fluorescence spectra and the characteristic luminescence behaviors were discussed. The ligand-metal charge transfer band could be observed in the spectra of the LB films, which could not be found in that of heteropolytungstate solid. The results of fluorescence spectra indicate the energy could be effectively transferred from ligands to the Eu3+ ions in the LB films and the luminescence efficiency was increased greatly. The influences of various lipids on the luminescence of polyoxometalates were investigated. The various interactions between monolayer and polyanions have different effect on the luminescence properties of europium-substituted heteropolytungstate.

Study of electron-transfer reactions across an externally polarized water/1,2-dichloroethane interface by scanning electrochemical microscopy

A novel method to study electron-transfer (ET) reactions between ferrocene in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and a redox couple of K3Fe(CN)(6) and K4Fe(CN)(6) in water using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) with a three-electrode setup is reported. In this work, a water droplet that adheres to the Surface of a platinum disk electrode is immersed in a DCE solution. The aqueous redox couple serves both as a reference electrode on the platinum disk and as an electron donor/acceptor at the polarized liquid/liquid inter-face. With the present experimental approach, the liquid/liquid interface can be polarized externally, while the electron-transfer reactions between the two phases can be monitored independently by SECM. The apparent heterogeneous rate constants for the ET reactions were obtained by fitting the experimental approach curves to the theoretical values. These rate constants obey the Butler-Volmer theory i.e., them, are found to be potential dependent.

Study of electron transfer across the liquid/ice-like matrix interface by scanning electrochemical microscopy

In this work, we report the findings of a study on scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to investigate the interfacial electron-transfer (ET) reaction between the 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane radical anion (TCNQ(.-)) in 1,2-dichloroethane and ferricyanide in an ice-like matrix (a mixture of insulting ice and conductive liquid) under low temperatures. Experimental results indicate that the formed liquid/ice-like matrix interface is superficially similar in electrochemical characteristics to a liquid/liquid interface at temperatures above -20 degreesC. Furthermore, imaging data show that the surface of the ice-like matrix is microscopically flat and physically stable and can be applied as either a conductive or an insulting substrate for SECM studies. Perchlorate ion was selected as the common ion in both phases, the concentrations of which controlled the interfacial potential difference. The effect of perchlorate concentration in the DCE phase on interfacial reactions has been studied in detail. The apparent heterogeneous rate constants for TCNQ(.-) oxidation by Fe(CN)(6)(3-) in another phase under different temperatures have been calculated by a best-fit analysis, where the experimental approach curves are compared with the theoretically derived relationships. Reaction rate data obey Butler-Volmer formulation before and after the freezing point, which is similar to most other known cases of ET reactions at liquid/liquid interfaces. However, there is a sharp change observed for heterogeneous rate constants around the freezing point of the aqueous phase, which reflects the phase transition. At temperatures below -20 degreesC, surface-confined voltammograms for the reduction of ferricyanide were obtained, and the ice-like matrix became an insulating one, which indicates that the aqueous phase is really a frozen phase.

Photosensitization of TiO2 nanoparticulate thin film electrodes by CdS nanoparticles

Surface photovoltage spectra (SPS) measurements of TiO2 show that a large surface state density is present on the TiO2 nanoparticles and these surface states can be efficiently decreased by sensitization using US nanoparticles as well as by suitable heat treatment. The photoelectrochemical behavior of the bare TiO2 thin film indicates that the mechanism of photoelectron transport is controlled by the trapping/detrapping properties of surface states within the thin films, The slow photocurrent response upon the illumination can be explained by the trap saturation effect. For a TiO2 nanoparticulate thin film sensitized using US nanoparticles, the slow photocurrent response disappears and the steady-state photocurrent increases drastically, which suggests that photosensitization can decrease the effect of surface states on photocurrent response.

Site substitution and energy transfer of Eu2+ and Ce3+ in KMgF3 : Eu and KMgF3 : Eu-Ce single crystals

The high-resolution emission spectra of KMgF3 : Eu and KMgF3 : Eu-Ce single crystals were measured at 77 K. The site substitution of Eu2+ and Eu2+-Ce3+ co-doped system in KMgF3 was discussed. Eu2+ substituted for K+ sites on three different site-symmetry: cubic, trigonal and tetragonal. The attribution of all lines occurring in the emission spectra were ascertained. The indirect energy transfer from P-6(5/2) states of Eu2+ to 4f5d states of Ce3+ in KMgF3 : Eu-Ce was observed and the energy transfer mechanism was studied. The d-d interaction among levels was proposed.

Scanning electrochemical microscopy study of electron transfer across the water/1,2-dichloroethane interface induced by common ions

In this work, we report the reverse electron transfer reaction between TCNQ in 1, 2-dichloroethane (DCE) and ferrocyanide in water. This process is a thermodynamic unfavorable reaction and the reverse electron transfer reaction can only be obtained by scanning electrochemical microscopy(SECM) in the presence of suitable potential-determining ions, which govern the interfacial potential difference. In our case, the potential determining ions are tetrabutylammonium ion(TBA(+)) and tetraphenylarsonium ion (TPAs+). The effects of the concentrations of TBA(+) and TPAs+ in two phases and other parameters have been studied in detail. The apparent heterogeneous rate constants(k(i)) were obtained under different values of K-p(K-p=c(i)(w)/c(i)(o)) for both cases by fitting the SECM approach curves with theoretical ones and the results showed that they were controlled by the interfacial potential differences. The relationship between apparent heterogeneous rate constants and the interfacial potential differences obeys Butler-Volmer theory.

Study of energy transfer in KMgF3 : Eu-X (X = Gd, Cr, Ce) by the decay model of P-6(7/2) exited state of Eu2+

Energy transfer processes between Eu2+ and Gd3+, Cr3+, Ce3+ ions in KMgF3, which are difficult to study spectroscopically, have been investigated by using the proposed four-level decay model of the P-6(7/2) excited state of the Eu2+ ion. Gd3+ and Ce3+ transfer its energy to the vibronic transition of the P-6(7/2) --> S-8(7/2) transition of Eu2+, whereas Cr3+ receive energy from Eu2+ via the d-d interaction. The energy transfer from the Eu2+ 4f(6)5d level to the Ce3+ 4f5d state is observed spectroscopically, and the energy transfer mechanism is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.