Phys.org June 13, 2024 Checkerboard lattices—where the resulting structure is open, porous, and highly symmetric—are difficult to create by self-assembly. Synthetic systems that adopt such structures typically rely on shape complementarity and site-specific chemical interactions that are only available to biomolecular systems (e.g., protein, DNA). A team of researchers in the US (University of California at San Diego, Duke University) demonstrated the assembly of checkerboard lattices from colloidal nanocrystals that harnessed the effects of multiple, coupled physical forces at disparate length scales and that did not rely on chemical binding. Colloidal Ag nanocubes were bi-functionalized with mixtures of hydrophilic and […]
Tag Archives: Nanocrystals
Novel nanocrystal harnesses full solar spectrum for hydrogen production
Nanowerk February 27, 2024 Near infrared energy remains untapped toward the maneuvering of entire solar spectrum harvesting for fulfilling the nuts and bolts of solar hydrogen production. An international team of researchers (Taiwan, Japan)used Au@Cu7S4 yolk@shell nanocrystals as dual-plasmonic photocatalysts to achieve remarkable hydrogen production under visible and near infrared illumination. Data revealed the prevalence of long-lived charge separation states for Au@Cu7S4 under both visible and near infrared excitation. Combined with the advantageous features of yolk@shell nanostructures, Au@Cu7S4 achieved a peak quantum yield of 9.4%. The design of a sustainable visible- and near infrared-responsive photocatalytic system is expected to inspire […]
Researchers develop a new source of quantum light
MIT News June 22, 2023 While colloidal perovskite nanocrystals offer a great source of synthetically scalable, tunable photon sources, observation of two-photon quantum interference from the emission of any colloidal nanoparticle has not been previously reported. Researchers at MIT prepared large CsPbBr3 nanocrystals and observed direct evidence of interference between indistinguishable single photons sequentially emitted from a single nanocrystal. They measured Hong–Ou–Mandel interference from photons in CsPbBr3 nanocrystals, showing corrected visibilities of up to 0.56 ± 0.12 in the absence of any radiative enhancement or photonic architecture. According to the researchers their results demonstrate the unique potential of perovskite nanocrystals to serve […]
Scientists squeeze nanocrystals in a liquid droplet into a solid-like state and back again
Science Daily August 8, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley, UMass Amherst, Japan) put a droplet of a liquid containing iron oxide nanocrystals into an oily liquid containing tiny polymer strands and cause the nanoparticles assembled here to jam, making it act like a solid, and then to unjam and return to a liquid-like state by the competitive push-pull action of the polymer and the additive. They can control the rate at which this happens through the use of a ligand at a defined concentration and manipulate the properties of the liquid […]