Photochemical Reactions in Self-Assembled Organic Monolayers Characterized by using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Research on the supramolecular self-assembly behavior at interfaces is of great importance to improving the performance of nanodevices that are based on optical functional materials. In this Minireview, several photoinduced isomerization and polymerization reactions in self-assembled organic monolayers on surfaces are discussed. Typical organic molecules contain azobenzene, alkynyl, or olefins groups. The feature surface base is a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface or a gold surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used as a strong tool to characterize new species' structures before and after illumination.

An efficient photocatalyst used in a continuous flow system for hydrogen evolution from water: TiO2 nanotube arrays fabricated on Ti meshes

TiO₂ nanotube arrays were fabricated on metallic Ti meshes and decorated with Pt. The as-prepared TiO₂ nanotube arrays with Pt are an efficient and promising photocatalyst for the photocatalytic H₂ evolution in a continuous flow system.

Self-directedly assembled porphyrin thin films with high photoactivity

A highly photoactive porphyrin thin films were self-directedly assembled by using 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin cobalt and γ-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane as the reactants.

Synergistic effect between eosin Y and rhodamine B on a photoelectrode coated with Pt nanoparticle-decorated graphene

A photoelectrochemical system containing eosin Y, rhodamine B and graphene loaded with Pt nanoparticles was fabricated. The synergistic effect between eosin Y and rhodamine B was explored using photoelectrochemical techniques.

Synergetic effect of Cu–Pt bimetallic cocatalyst on SrTiO3 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from water

The introduction of the Cu–Pt bimetal results in a significant improvement in the photocatalytic activity of STO. The hydrogen generation rate over STO/Cu95–Pt5 was about 46.6 and 2.79 times of STO and STO/Cu100–Pt0, respectively.

Nickel(ii)-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid sensitized silicon nanowire array: an efficient cocatalyst-free photocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen generation under simulated sunlight irradiation

The nickel(ii)-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid sensitized silicon nanowire array was prepared. The as-prepared photocatalytic system possesses high activity for photocatalytic H₂ evolution under sunlight irradiation.

Redox heme-proteins mediated fluorescence of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

The redox properties of cytochrome c (Cyt c), hemoglobin (Hb) and myoglobin (Mb) were studied based on electrostatic interactions between Thioglycolic acid (TGA) capped CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and proteins. Results indicated that only Cyt c quenched the fluorescence of the QDs at pH>8.0. Under the optimized conditions, a significant fluorescence recovery of the QDs' system was observed when the reduced form of Cyt c incubated with TGA capped QDs, however, the reduced state of Hb and Mb resulted in a more fluorescence quenching on the same size of QDs. Interestingly, the fluorescence changes of QDs-proteins could be switched by modulating the redox potentials of proteins-attached QDs. Moreover, only the oxidized Cyt c form was reduced by the generated O2(-) that significantly enhanced the fluorescence of the QDs' system, which was also demonstrated by fluorescence imaging in HeLa cells.