General Synthesis of Large Inorganic Nanosheets via 2D Confined Assembly of Nanoparticles
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Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) with 2D silicate nanoplatelet reinforcement readily form multifunctional composites by vacuum-assisted self-assembly from hydrocolloidal mixtures. The final nanostructure is formed during drying. The crystalline nature of CNF and montmorillonite (MTM) made it possible to use synchrotron X-ray scattering (WAXS, SAXS) to monitor structural development during drying from water and from ethanol. Nanostructural changes in the CNF and MTM crystals were investigated. Changes in the out-of-plane orientation of CNF and MTM were determined. Residual drying strains previously predicted from theory were confirmed in both cellulose and MTM platelets due to capillary forces. The formation of tactoid platelet stacks could be followed. We propose that after filtration, the constituent nanoparticles in the swollen, solid gel already have a “fixed” location, although self-assembly and ordering processes take place during drying.
The design of catalysts with high activity and robust stability for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge. Here, we report an efficient catalyst of two-dimensional bimetallene hydrides, in which H atoms stabilize the rhodium palladium bimetallene. The system exists because of the introduction of H that is in-situ chemically released from the formaldehyde solution during the synthesis. This provides a highly stable catalyst based on an unstable combination of metal elements. Density functional theory calculations show the H is confined by electronic interactions and the Miedema rule of reverse stability of the RhPd alloy.
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The design of next-generation materials for emerging energy and environmental applications heavily relies on empirical approaches to direct nonclassical nucleation and crystal growth pathways, polymorphism, intercrystalline transformations, and seed-assisted growth processes. A long-standing obstacle to nanoporous materials design is the complexity of their crystallization, which hinders the development of predictive models and/or physical descriptors that can guide their synthesis. In this study, we use a combination of state-of-the-art synthesis, characterization, and computational design to prepare hierarchical MFI-type zeolites, which we couple with benchmark catalytic testing to assess structure-property-performance relationships. These hierarchical materials are intergrowths of two commercially relevant zeolite frameworks, MFI and MEL, prepared as self-pillared pentasil (SPP) zeolites through seed-assisted, organic-free syntheses for which little theoretical guidance existed. Here, by comparing a large library of zeolite seeds with different pore sizes, dimensions, and structural composite building units, we determined the relative impact of seed and silica source selection, among other synthesis variables. Combined experimental and computational studies are used to test several hypotheses in literature to rationalize the choice of seed structure and establish a more robust selection criteria for seed-assisted synthesis of zeolites. Specifically, we show that a data-driven approach to develop structural descriptors correlates to new, facile routes to rationally design SPP zeolites, addressing knowledge gaps in the fundamental understanding of (non)classical crystal growth mechanisms that are characteristic of nanoporous aluminosilicates.
Trigonal tellurium (Te) is a chiral semiconductor that lacks both mirror and inversion symmetries, resulting in complex band structures with Weyl crossings and unique spin textures. Detailed time-resolved polarized reflectance spectroscopy is used to investigate its band structure and carrier dynamics. The polarized transient spectra reveal optical transitions between the uppermost spin-split H4 and H5 and the degenerate H6 valence bands (VB) and the lowest degenerate H6 conduction band (CB) as well as a higher energy transition at the Lpoint. Surprisingly, the degeneracy of the H6 CB (a proposed Weyl node) is lifted and the spin-split VB gap is reduced upon photoexcitation before relaxing to equilibrium as the carriers decay. Using ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we conclude that the dynamic band structure is caused by a photoinduced shear strain in the Te film that breaks the screw symmetry of the crystal. The band-edge anisotropy is also reflected in the hot carrier decay rate, which is a factor of two slower along the c-axis than perpendicular to it. The majority of photoexcited carriers near the band-edge are seen to recombine within 30 ps while higher lying transitions observed near 1.2 eV appear to have substantially longer lifetimes, potentially due to contributions of intervalley processes in the recombination rate. These new findings shed light on the strong correlation between photoinduced carriers and electronic structure in anisotropic crystals, which opens a potential pathway for designing novel Te-based devices that take advantage of the topological structures as well as strong spin-related properties.
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Transition metal carbides (MXenes) are an emerging family of highly conductive two-dimensional materials with additional functional properties introduced by surface terminations. Further modification of the surface terminations makes MXenes even more appealing for practical applications. Herein, we report a facile and environmentally benign synthesis of reduced Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene (r-Ti 3 C 2 T x ) via a simple treatment with L-ascorbic acid at room temperature. r-Ti 3 C 2 T x shows a six-fold increase in electrical conductivity, from 471 ± 49 for regular Ti 3 C 2 T x to 2819 ± 306 S m -1 for the reduced version. Additionally, we show an enhanced oxidation stability of r-Ti 3 C 2 T x as compared to regular Ti 3 C 2 T x . An examination of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity reveals that the SERS enhancement factor of r-Ti 3 C 2 T x is an order of magnitude higher than that of regular Ti 3 C 2 T x . The improved SERS activity of r-Ti 3 C 2 T x is attributed to the charge transfer interaction between the MXene surface and probe molecules, re-enforced by an increased electronic density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level of r-Ti 3 C 2 T x . The findings of this study suggest that reduced MXene could be a superior choice over regular MXene, especially for the applications that employ high electronic conductivity, such as electrode materials for batteries and supercapacitors, photodetectors, and SERS-based sensors.
Collapse of peptoid–gold nanoparticle composite layers at the liquid–liquid interface produces a new class of 2D plasmonic arrays that freely float in water.
2H SnSe 2 and 1T VSe 2 van der Waals materials were synthesized and then subjected to redox exfoliation. Decoration of these 2D sheets with iron oxide nanoparticles produced a synergistic magnetization response that exceeded that of iron oxide alone.
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