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Nanomaterials
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Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond
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Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanophotonics Materials and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2023) | Viewed by 6443

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Maria​ Wächtler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Albert-Einstein-Straße 9, Jena, Germany
2. Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 4, 07743 Jena, Germany
3. Fachbereich Chemie, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
Interests: colloidal semiconductor nanostructures; light harvesting; water splitting; time-resolved spectroscopy; assembly of nanostructures; nonlinear optics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Colloidal semiconductor nanostructures are outstanding materials with optical and electronic properties which are tunable via size and dimensionality due to quantum confinement effects. Further, heterostructures combining domains of different semiconductor materials within one particle offer additional adjustability with respect to spatial confinement or delocalization and separation of charge carriers. These properties can be exploited to tailor structures for optimal harvesting of light in a large part of the visible spectrum and for support of efficient separation of charges, which is the fundament for the application of these materials for light harvesting. The scope of this Special Issue is to cover the recent progress and advances in the research on designing colloidal semiconductor nanostructures and their application for light harvesting, e.g., in assemblies for light-driven catalysis or in photovoltaic devices. Reports on synthesis, characterization, device integration, and application will be collected in this issue. Further, insight from spectroscopic investigations on charge-carrier dynamics and computational studies are highly welcome. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Synthesis of colloidal nanostructures and functionalization with cocatalysts;
  • Generation of nanoparticle/polymer hybrid materials;
  • Self-assembly and deposition of layered structures;
  • Theoretical studies and modeling;
  • Spectroscopic characterization;
  • Electrochemical characterization;
  • Charge-carrier dynamics;
  • Multiple exciton generation;
  • Plasmonic effects;
  • Device integration.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit communications, full papers or reviews to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Maria​ Wächtler
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photocatalysis
  • water splitting
  • hydrogen evolution
  • photovoltaics
  • multiple exciton generation
  • device integration
  • hybrid materials
  • plasmonic effects
  • energy transfer
  • charge transfer

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2488 KiB  
Article
The Other Dimension—Tuning Hole Extraction via Nanorod Width
by Tal Rosner, Nicholas G. Pavlopoulos, Hagit Shoyhet, Mathias Micheel, Maria Wächtler, Noam Adir and Lilac Amirav
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3343; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193343 - 25 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2716
Abstract
Solar-to-hydrogen generation is a promising approach to generate clean and renewable fuel. Nanohybrid structures such as CdSe@CdS-Pt nanorods were found favorable for this task (attaining 100% photon-to-hydrogen production efficiency); yet the rods cannot support overall water splitting. The key limitation seems to be [...] Read more.
Solar-to-hydrogen generation is a promising approach to generate clean and renewable fuel. Nanohybrid structures such as CdSe@CdS-Pt nanorods were found favorable for this task (attaining 100% photon-to-hydrogen production efficiency); yet the rods cannot support overall water splitting. The key limitation seems to be the rate of hole extraction from the semiconductor, jeopardizing both activity and stability. It is suggested that hole extraction might be improved via tuning the rod’s dimensions, specifically the width of the CdS shell around the CdSe seed in which the holes reside. In this contribution, we successfully attain atomic-scale control over the width of CdSe@CdS nanorods, which enables us to verify this hypothesis and explore the intricate influence of shell diameter over hole quenching and photocatalytic activity towards H2 production. A non-monotonic effect of the rod’s diameter is revealed, and the underlying mechanism for this observation is discussed, alongside implications towards the future design of nanoscale photocatalysts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond)
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14 pages, 3879 KiB  
Communication
Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Activity by Constructing a Robust Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Material Based Fulvalene and TiO2
by Mengyuan Wang, Shizhuo Su, Xin Zhong, Derui Kong, Bo Li, Yujie Song, Chunman Jia and Yifan Chen
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(11), 1918; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12111918 - 3 Jun 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2630
Abstract
A novel redox-active organic-inorganic hybrid material (denoted as H4TTFTB-TiO2) based on tetrathiafulvalene derivatives and titanium dioxide with a micro/mesoporous nanomaterial structure has been synthesized via a facile sol-gel method. In this study, tetrathiafulvalene-3,4,5,6-tetrakis(4-benzoic acid) (H4TTFTB) is an [...] Read more.
A novel redox-active organic-inorganic hybrid material (denoted as H4TTFTB-TiO2) based on tetrathiafulvalene derivatives and titanium dioxide with a micro/mesoporous nanomaterial structure has been synthesized via a facile sol-gel method. In this study, tetrathiafulvalene-3,4,5,6-tetrakis(4-benzoic acid) (H4TTFTB) is an ideal electron-rich organic material and has been introduced into TiO2 for promoting photocatalytic H2 production under visible light irradiation. Notably, the optimized composites demonstrate remarkably enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution performance with a maximum H2 evolution rate of 1452 μmol g−1 h−1, which is much higher than the prototypical counterparts, the common dye-sensitized sample (denoted as H4TTFTB-5.0/TiO2) (390.8 μmol g−1 h−1) and pure TiO2 (18.87 μmol g−1 h−1). Moreover, the composites perform with excellent stability even after being used for seven time cycles. A series of characterizations of the morphological structure, the photoelectric physics performance and the photocatalytic activity of the hybrid reveal that the donor-acceptor structural H4TTFTB and TiO2 have been combined robustly by covalent titanium ester during the synthesis process, which improves the stability of the hybrid nanomaterials, extends visible-light adsorption range and stimulates the separation of photogenerated charges. This work provides new insight for regulating precisely the structure of the fulvalene-based composite at the molecule level and enhances our in-depth fundamental understanding of the photocatalytic mechanism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond)
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10 pages, 2888 KiB  
Article
Optically Controlled TiO2-Embedded Supercapacitors: The Effects of Colloidal Size, Light Wavelength, and Intensity on the Cells’ Performance
by Haim Grebel and Tazima Chowdhury
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(11), 1835; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12111835 - 27 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1824
Abstract
Optically controlled supercapacitors (S-C) could be of interest to the sensor community, as well as set the stage for novel optoelectronic charging devices. Here, structures constructed of two parallel transparent current collectors (indium-tin-oxide, ITO films on glass substrates) were considered. Active-carbon (A-C) films [...] Read more.
Optically controlled supercapacitors (S-C) could be of interest to the sensor community, as well as set the stage for novel optoelectronic charging devices. Here, structures constructed of two parallel transparent current collectors (indium-tin-oxide, ITO films on glass substrates) were considered. Active-carbon (A-C) films were used as electrodes. Two sets of electrodes were used: as-is electrodes that were used as the reference and electrodes that were embedded with submicron- or micron-sized titanium oxide (TiO2) colloids. While immersed in a 1 M Na2SO4, the electrodes exhibited minimal thermal effects (<3 °C) throughout the course of experiments). The optically induced capacitance increase for TiO2-embedded S-C was large of the order of 30%, whereas S-C without the TiO2 colloids exhibited minimal optically related effects (<3%). Spectrally, the blue spectral band had a relatively larger impact on the light-induced effects. A lingering polarization effect that increased the cell capacitance in the dark after prolonged light exposure is noted; that effect occurred without an indication of a chemical reaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond)
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Review

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19 pages, 2031 KiB  
Review
Unravelling Dynamics Involving Multiple Charge Carriers in Semiconductor Nanocrystals
by Krishan Kumar and Maria Wächtler
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(9), 1579; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13091579 - 8 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3098
Abstract
The use of colloidal nanocrystals as part of artificial photosynthetic systems has recently gained significant attention, owing to their strong light absorption and highly reproducible, tunable electronic and optical properties. The complete photocatalytic conversion of water to its components is yet to be [...] Read more.
The use of colloidal nanocrystals as part of artificial photosynthetic systems has recently gained significant attention, owing to their strong light absorption and highly reproducible, tunable electronic and optical properties. The complete photocatalytic conversion of water to its components is yet to be achieved in a practically suitable and commercially viable manner. To complete this challenging task, we are required to fully understand the mechanistic aspects of the underlying light-driven processes involving not just single charge carriers but also multiple charge carriers in detail. This review focuses on recent progress in understanding charge carrier dynamics in semiconductor nanocrystals and the influence of various parameters such as dimension, composition, and cocatalysts. Transient absorption spectroscopic studies involving single and multiple charge carriers, and the challenges associated with the need for accumulation of multiple charge carriers to drive the targeted chemical reactions, are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colloidal Semiconductor Nanostructures for Light-Harvesting and Beyond)
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