Dual-responsive nanoparticles are designed by functionalizing magnetic cores with light-responsive ligands. These materials respond to both light and magnetic fields and can be assembled into various higher-order structures, depending on the relative contributions of these two stimuli.
We show that bimolecular reactions between species confined to the surfaces of nanoparticles can be manipulated by the nature of the linker, as well as by the curvature of the underlying particles.
The
new 2D colloidal semiconductor ultrathin nanosheets provide an appealing
combination of properties. Controlling
both their morphology and composition offers another path to control
their physical properties. Homogeneously alloyed structures with tunable
properties were obtained using NaBH4 which controls the
precursor reactivity. The effect of NaBH4 on the degree
of alloying, shape control, and optical properties
of the alloyed colloidal nanosheets is presented here. The alloyed
structures are a monolayer thicker than the pure CdS or CdSe. In relatively
low Se contents, the addition of NaBH4 produced high quality
alloyed nanosheets that are uniform, in the wurtzite phase and with
small thickness distribution as evident from transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and optical characterization.
Atomic resolution phase images provide evidence to both stacking faults
formation across the entire width of the sheet as well as local disorder,
suggesting a combined mechanism of oriented attachment of patches
that are fused and extended by unidirectional growth.
Metal–semiconductor hybrids
are a promising architecture
for functional nanostructures because they efficiently promote charge
separation. The morphology of the hybrid supports two mechanisms of
charge generation and transfer, namely, the excitation of electrons
to the conduction band of the semiconductor or the induction of surface
plasmon resonance on the metal. Here, we compared the photocatalytic
activity of nanoparticles with a core–shell or dimer morphology,
using Pt, Pd, or Au as the metal and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), which comprises abundant and environmentally friendly elements,
as the semiconductor. Their performance as photocatalysts was evaluated
by using Methylene Blue (MB) degradation under light irradiation.
We found that although large Au cores improved the photocatalytic
activity of the CZTS nanoparticles, the highest catalytic activity
was that of Pt–CZTS and Pd–CZTS dimers. Conversely,
using small metal particles as cores degraded the activity of the
CZTS due to the formation of an internal boundary and the occupation
of potentially optically active volume. In addition, the results point
out that depositing multiple metal particles is not beneficial for
photocatalysis.
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