One of the most detrimental loss mechanisms in Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) is reabsorption of emitted light from the luminophore. Silicon Nanocrystals (SiNCs) offer a solution due to the high apparent Stokes shift, but the poor absorption properties limit their performance as LSC luminophores. Coupling an organic dye to SiNCs represents a smart approach to obtain sensitization of SiNC luminescence by the organic dyes, thus, resulting in tunable and improved optical properties of LSCs. In particular, 9,10-diphenylanthracene was employed as a UV sensitizer for SiNCs in order to produce LSCs with an aesthetic appearance suitable to smart window application and optical efficiency as high as 4.25%. In addition, the role of the energy transfer process on LSC performance was elucidated by a thorough optical and photovoltaic characterization.

In vivo studies demonstrated tumor accumulation of luminescent SiNCs, 48 hours clearance and a 3-fold improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in time-gated imaging compared to steady-state acquisition, demonstrating their potentiality for luminescence guided surgery.

A suitable description of the photoluminescence dynamics in a complex system such as an ensemble of semiconductor nanocrystals can bring invaluable insight into its carrier dynamics. In this contribution, we study a system of silicon nanocrystals sensitized by light-harvesting diphenylanthracene molecules enhancing their absorption. The emission-wavelength-resolved photoluminescence decay of this system can be well-described by the Becquerel (compressed hyperbola) function, featuring a characteristic power-law-like tail. This shape of the photoluminescence decay function is linked to a model based on trapping and releasing of excited carriers, which are the cause of the longer tail. Our model allows us to estimate the value of the trap capture cross-section of σt ≈ 1.5 × 10–16 cm2.

Presented herein are two fully characterized gold tetrathiocyanocorroles representing a potentially significant new class of NIR-emissive 5d-metallocorroles. The four SCN groups on the bipyrrole unit of the corrole exert...

The synthesis, structural, spectroscopic characterization, and DFT/TD‐DFT calculations of antimony corroles are reported herein. The studied complexes can be described as [(Corr)SbIII] and [(Corr)(oxo)SbV]2, where Corr is the trianion of corrole. All these complexes are diamagnetic in nature as is evident from sharp peaks with normal chemical shifts in the 1H NMR spectra. Single crystal XRD analysis reveals that the antimony(V) corrole complex is the bis‐μ‐oxo‐bridged dinuclear antimony(V). Both the tetra and hexa‐coordinated [(Corr)SbIII] and [(Corr)(oxo)SbV]2 antimony complexes adopt domed‐structure with weak d‐π electron coupling. The Sb−O bond distances in the co‐facial dimer of [(Corr)(oxo)SbV]2 are 1.9802(16) Å (DFT: 2.0141 Å) (for Sb1−O1), and 1.9639(17) Å (DFT: 1.9957 Å) (for Sb2−O2) respectively. We observed that even though iodosobenzene is frequently used to oxidize [(Corr)SbIII] species, the oxidation of [(Corr)SbIII] is indeed very facile in nature and it even occurred in the air‐equilibrated CHCl3 solution while storing for few days. Excitation of these antimony (III/V) corrole complexes in DCM/MeOH (1 : 1) at 77 K results in red emission with maxima at 640–720 nm. The singlet oxygen production of [(Corr)(oxo)SbV]2 has a quantum yield of 69 % and is two times higher than the analogous [(Corr)SbIII] derivatives.

The reversible and fatigue-resistant photoswitching of azobenzene chromophores is preserved at the surface of silicon nanocrystals; a photosensitized Z → E photoisomerization of azobenzene is observed upon selective excitation of the silicon core.

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The Cover Feature shows a bis‐μ‐oxo‐bridged dinuclear antimony(V) complex. This corrolato(oxo)antimony(V) dimer exhibits blue‐shifted absorption bands in comparison to antimony(III) corrole complexes, demonstrating that the oxidation state of the Sb drastically affects the photophysical properties of antimony corroles. The quantum yield of singlet oxygen production for the antimony(V) dimer has a value of 69 % and is two times higher compared to that of antimony(III) corroles. More information can be found in the Research Article by P. Ceroni, S. Kar and co‐workers.