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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Organometallic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 5246

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mengxia Liu

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Interests: photoactive materials; photophysical process

Dr. Bin Sun

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Guest Editor

Department of Automation, Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
Interests: photodetectors; photovoltaics; thin film transistors and circuits; flexible electronics; solution-processed semiconductor materials

Dr. Sanyang Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Interests: lanthanide nanoparticles, photon up-conversion, optoelectronics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photoactive materials that absorb, produce, and respond to light are the basis of many cutting-edge technologies, including solar cells, lasers, optical sensors, and photocatalysis. Over the past years, emerging materials have been pursued with an emphasis on reduced toxicity, long-term stability, low-cost production, and scalability. These include polymers, organic molecules, nanoparticles, organic-inorganic hybrids, and low-dimensional materials.

This Special Issue aims to provide new insights in the engineering of photoactive materials with tailored properties and to deliver new device applications. We encourage authors to publish outstanding research in photovoltaic and photoactive materials, from the fundamental studies to proof-of-principle design and advanced characterization. Specifically, this Special Issue welcomes high-quality contributions in the following areas:

Synthesis and characterization of novel photoactive materials and heterostructures that demonstrate enhanced properties and increased performance;
Synthesis of non-toxic photovoltaic and light-emitting materials;
Novel methods to control the structural organization and assembly of photoactive materials;
High-throughput computation for materials design;
In-depth understanding of the photophysical processes.

Dr. Mengxia Liu
Dr. Bin Sun
Dr. Sanyang Han
Guest Editors

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. Molecules 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 2700 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

Photoactive materials
Photovoltaic materials
Stable
High-throughput
Non-toxic
Energy conversion

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 10081 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physical Characteristics, Blue-Green Band Emission and Photocatalytic Activity of Au-Decorated ZnO Quantum Dots-Based Thick Films Prepared Using the Doctor Blade Technique

by Amanullah Fatehmulla, Belqes A. Shamsan, Ahmed M. El-Naggar, Abdullah M. Aldhafiri, Nilam Qureshi, Taesung Kim, Muhammad Atif, Asif Mahmood and Mohammad Asif

Molecules 2023, 28(12), 4644; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28124644 - 8 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1286

Abstract

Nanoscale ZnO is a vital semiconductor material whose versatility can be enhanced by sensitizing it with metals, especially noble metals, such as gold (Au). ZnO quantum dots were prepared via a simple co-precipitation technique using 2-methoxy ethanol as the solvent and KOH as the pH regulator for hydrolysis. The synthesized ZnO quantum dots were deposited onto glass slides using a simple doctor blade technique. Subsequently, the films were decorated with gold nanoparticles of different sizes using a drop-casting method. The resultant films were characterized via various strategies to obtain structural, optical, morphological, and particle size information. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the formation of the hexagonal crystal structure of ZnO. Upon Au nanoparticles loading, peaks due to gold are also observed. The optical properties study shows a slight change in the band gap due to Au loading. Nanoscale sizes of particles have been confirmed through electron microscope studies. P.L. studies display blue and blue-green band emissions. The significant degradation efficiency of 90.2% methylene blue (M.B.) was attained in natural pH in 120 min using pure ZnO catalyst while one drop gold-loaded catalysts, ZnO: Au 5 nm, ZnO: Au 7 nm, ZnO: Au 10 nm and ZnO: Au 15 nm, delivered M.B. degradation efficiency of 74.5% (in 245 min), 63.8% (240 min), 49.6% (240 min) and 34.0% (170 min) in natural pH, respectively. Such films can be helpful in conventional catalysis, photocatalysis, gas sensing, biosensing, and photoactive applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Photoactive Materials)

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15 pages, 3507 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Control of Explosive Chemical Reactions by Optical Excitations: Defect-Induced Decomposition of Trinitrotoluene at Metal Oxide Surfaces

by Roman V. Tsyshevsky, Sergey N. Rashkeev and Maija M. Kuklja

Molecules 2023, 28(3), 953; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28030953 - 18 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1720

Abstract

Interfaces formed by high energy density materials and metal oxides present intriguing new opportunities for a large set of novel applications that depend on the control of the energy release and initiation of explosive chemical reactions. We studied the role of structural defects at a MgO surface in the modification of electronic and optical properties of the energetic material TNT (2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, also known as trinitrotoluene, C₇H₅N₃O₆) deposited at the surface. Using density functional theory (DFT)-based solid-state periodic calculations with hybrid density functionals, we show how the control of chemical explosive reactions can be achieved by tuning the electronic structure of energetic compound at an interface with oxides. The presence of defects at the oxide surface, such as steps, kinks, corners, and oxygen vacancies, significantly affects interfacial properties and modifies electronic spectra and charge transfer dynamics between the oxide surface and adsorbed energetic material. As a result, the electronic and optical properties of trinitrotoluene, mixed with an inorganic material (thus forming a composite), can be manipulated with high precision by interactions between TNT and the inorganic material at composite interfaces, namely, by charge transfer and band alignment. Also, the electron charge transfer between TNT and MgO surface reduces the decomposition barriers of the energetic material. In particular, it is shown that surface structural defects are critically important in the photodecomposition processes. These results open new possibilities for the rather precise control over the decomposition initiation mechanisms in energetic materials by optical excitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Photoactive Materials)

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12 pages, 4923 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Carbon Dots Concentration on Electrical and Optical Properties of Their Composites with a Conducting Polymer

by Grigorii V. Nenashev, Maria S. Istomina, Roman S. Kryukov, Valeriy M. Kondratev, Igor P. Shcherbakov, Vasily N. Petrov, Vyacheslav A. Moshnikov and Andrey N. Aleshin

Molecules 2022, 27(22), 8000; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27228000 - 18 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1453

Abstract

CQD/PEDOT:PSS composites were prepared via the hydrothermal method from glucose carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and an aqueous solution of PEDOT:PSS conducting polymer and their electrical and optical properties were investigated. The morphology and structure of these samples were investigated by AFM, SEM, EDX, and EBSD. It was found that the CQDs and CQD/PEDOT:PSS composites had a globular structure with globule sizes of ~50–300 nm depending on the concentration of PEDOT:PSS in these composites. The temperature dependence of the resistivity was obtained for the CQD/PEDOT:PSS (3%, 5%, 50%) composites, which had a weak activation character. The charge transport mechanism was discussed. The dependence of the resistivity on the storage time of the CQD/PEDOT:PSS (3%, 5%, 50%) composites and pure PEDOT:PSS was obtained. It was noted that mixing CQDs with PEDOT:PSS allowed us to obtain better electrical and optical properties than pure CQDs. CQD/PEDOT:PSS (3%, 5%, 50%) composites are more conductive composites than pure CQDs, and the absorbance spectra of CQD/PEDOT:PSS composites are a synergistic effect of interaction between CQDs and PEDOT:PSS. We also note the better stability of the CQD/PEDOT:PSS (50%) composite than the pure PEDOT:PSS film. CQD/PEDOT:PSS (50%) composite is promising for use as stable hole transport layers in devices of flexible organic electronics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Photoactive Materials)

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