Mn 4 þ -activated fluoride compounds, as an alternative to commercial (oxy)nitride phosphors, are emerging as a new class of non-rare-earth red phosphors for high-efficacy warm white LEDs. Currently, it remains a challenge to synthesize these phosphors with high photoluminescence quantum yields through a convenient chemical route. Herein we propose a general but convenient strategy based on efficient cation exchange reaction, which had been originally regarded only effective in synthesizing nano-sized materials before, for the synthesis of Mn 4 þ -activated fluoride microcrystals such as K 2 TiF 6 , K 2 SiF 6 , NaGdF 4 and NaYF 4 . Particularly we achieve a photoluminescence quantum yield as high as 98% for K 2 TiF 6 :Mn 4 þ . By employing it as red phosphor, we fabricate a high-performance white LED with low correlated colour temperature (3,556 K), high-colour-rendering index (R a ¼ 81) and luminous efficacy of 116 lm W À 1 . These findings show great promise of K 2 TiF 6 :Mn 4 þ as a commercial red phosphor in warm white LEDs, and open up new avenues for the exploration of novel non-rare-earth red emitting phosphors.

Modular optimization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was realized by incorporation of coordinatively unsaturated single atoms in a MOF matrix. The newly developed MOF can selectively capture and photoreduce CO with high efficiency under visible-light irradiation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the presence of single Co atoms in the MOF can greatly boost the electron-hole separation efficiency in porphyrin units. Directional migration of photogenerated excitons from porphyrin to catalytic Co centers was witnessed, thereby achieving supply of long-lived electrons for the reduction of CO molecules adsorbed on Co centers. As a direct result, porphyrin MOF comprising atomically dispersed catalytic centers exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic conversion of CO , which is equivalent to a 3.13-fold improvement in CO evolution rate (200.6 μmol g h ) and a 5.93-fold enhancement in CH generation rate (36.67 μmol g h ) compared to the parent MOF.

Water splitting represents a promising technology for renewable energy conversion and storage, but it is greatly hindered by the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, using Au-nanoparticle-decorated Ni(OH)2 nanosheets [Ni(OH)2-Au] as catalysts, we demonstrate that the photon-induced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excitation on Au nanoparticles could significantly activate the OER catalysis, specifically achieving a more than 4-fold enhanced activity and meanwhile affording a markedly decreased overpotential of 270 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm(-2) and a small Tafel slope of 35 mV dec(-1) (no iR-correction), which is much better than those of the benchmark IrO2 and RuO2, as well as most Ni-based OER catalysts reported to date. The synergy of the enhanced generation of Ni(III/IV) active species and the improved charge transfer, both induced by hot-electron excitation on Au nanoparticles, is proposed to account for such a markedly increased activity. The SPR-enhanced OER catalysis could also be observed over cobalt oxide (CoO)-Au and iron oxy-hydroxide (FeOOH)-Au catalysts, suggesting the generality of this strategy. These findings highlight the possibility of activating OER catalysis by plasmonic excitation and could open new avenues toward the design of more-energy-efficient catalytic water oxidation systems with the assistance of light energy.

Metal-halide perovskites represent a class of promising light absorbers for efficient solar cells. [1][2][3][4][5] The propensity of perovskite films for low-cost solution processing also encourages scientists to explore potential applications beyond solar cells. [6][7][8][9] In particular, as emitters, perovskites exhibit intriguing luminescent properties such as narrowband emission, spectral tunability, and high quantum efficiency, which enables applications in the microlasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). [10][11][12][13] The luminescence efficiency of perovskites generally relies on nanostructures that can spatially confine excitons, and consequently reduce the possibility of nonradiative recombination during the carrier/ exciton migration. However, nanocrystals, due to boundary scattering of carriers, generally face the problem of poor charge transport, which is undesirable for LED performance. 2D perovskites, where bulky organic layers and inorganic layers are alternately and periodically arranged, feature natural quantum-well structures. This quantum-well structure is regarded as promising LED emitters for decades. [14][15][16] However, low photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs, typically < 1%) of 2D perovskites at room temperature is a bottleneck to achieving high-performance LEDs. [17] The low PLQYs may be attributed to insufficient confinement of Wannier type excitons within the inorganic layers [18] as suggested by the long charge-carrier/exciton diffusion length (60 nm). [19] Engineering crystal structures of low-dimensional (0D to 2D) perovskites by employing suitable organic ammonium cations is the predominant methods for the tuning of luminescence, both in spectral coverage and efficiency. [20,21] In these cases, severe structural distortion of metal halide octahedra is a common feature because of the size mismatch between organic and inorganic components, which results in potential fluctuations. [22,23] Such fluctuations of potential within an inorganic layer of perovskite sometimes, but not always, [20,21] slow the diffusion of carriers or excitons, and consequently induce self-trapped excitons (STEs), which represents a type of bound states for efficient radiative recombination. However, the occurrence of exciton self-trapping in semiconductors is the exception rather than the rule. [24] In parallel, compositional engineering As emerging efficient emitters, metal-halide perovskites offer the intriguing potential to the low-cost light emitting devices. However, semiconductors generally suffer from severe luminescence quenching due to insufficient confinement of excitons (bound electron-hole pairs). Here, Sn-triggered extrinsic self-trapping of excitons in bulk 2D perovskite crystal, PEA 2 PbI 4 (PEA = phenylethylammonium), is reported, where exciton self-trapping never occurs in its pure state. By creating local potential wells, isoelectronic Sn dopants initiate the localization of excitons, which would further induce the large lattice deformation around the impurities to accommodate the se...

Cesium-lead halide perovskites (e.g. CsPbBr ) have gained attention because of their rich physical properties, but their bulk ferroelectricity remains unexplored. Herein, by alloying flexible organic cations into the cubic CsPbBr , we design the first cesium-based two-dimensional (2D) perovskite ferroelectric material with both inorganic alkali metal and organic cations, (C H NH ) CsPb Br (1). Strikingly, 1 shows a high Curie temperature (T =412 K) above that of BaTiO (ca. 393 K) and notable spontaneous polarization (ca. 4.2 μC cm ), triggered by not only the ordering of organic cations but also atomic displacement of inorganic Cs ions. To our knowledge, such a 2D bilayered Cs -based metal-halide perovskite ferroelectric material with inorganic and organic cations is unprecedented. 1 also shows photoelectric semiconducting behavior with large "on/off" ratios of photoconductivity (>10 ).

Modular optimization of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) was realized by incorporation of coordinatively unsaturated single atoms in a MOF matrix. The newly developed MOF can selectively capture and photoreduce CO2 with high efficiency under visible‐light irradiation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the presence of single Co atoms in the MOF can greatly boost the electron–hole separation efficiency in porphyrin units. Directional migration of photogenerated excitons from porphyrin to catalytic Co centers was witnessed, thereby achieving supply of long‐lived electrons for the reduction of CO2 molecules adsorbed on Co centers. As a direct result, porphyrin MOF comprising atomically dispersed catalytic centers exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic conversion of CO2, which is equivalent to a 3.13‐fold improvement in CO evolution rate (200.6 μmol g−1 h−1) and a 5.93‐fold enhancement in CH4 generation rate (36.67 μmol g−1 h−1) compared to the parent MOF.

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Broadband white-light emission was realized in a polar two-dimensional hybrid perovskite, (2meptH2)PbBr4 (2mept = 2-methyl-1,5-diaminopentane). The white-light emission originates from self-trapped excitons owing to the distortion-induced polar structure. Notably, it exhibits a high photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 3.37% and an ultrahigh colour rendering index of 91.