Adsorption of mercaptoacetic acid on a colloidal silver surface as investigated by Raman spectroscopy

Coordination engineering of Cu-Zn-Sn-S aqueous precursor for efficient kesterite solar cells

Aqueous precursors provide an alluring approach for low-cost and environmentally friendly production of earth-abundant Cu₂ZnSn(S, Se)₄ (CZTSSe) solar cells. The key is to find an appropriate molecular agent to prepare a stable solution and optimize the coordination structure to facilitate the subsequent crystallization process. Herein, we introduce thioglycolic acid (TGA), which possesses strong coordination (SH) and hydrophilic (COOH) groups, as the agent and use deprotonation to regulate the coordination competition within the aqueous solution. Ultimately, metal cations are adequately coordinated with thiolate anions, and carboxylate anions are released to become hydrated to form an ultrastable aqueous solution. These factors have contributed to achieving CZTSSe solar cells with an efficiency as high as 12.3% (a certified efficiency of 12.0%) and providing an extremely wide time window for precursor storage and usage. This work represents significant progress in the non-toxic solution fabrication of CZTSSe solar cells and holds great potential for the development of CZTSSe and other metal sulfide solar cells.

Surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy based on gold nanostars and spherical nanoparticles

Plasmonic anisotropic nanoparticles possess a number of hot spots on their surface due to the presence of sharp edges, tips or vertices, leading to a high electric field strength surrounding the nanostructures. In this paper, we explore different plasmonic nanostructures, including anisotropic gold nanostars (AuNSts) and spherical gold nanoparticles, in surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) in an attenuated total reflection (ATR) configuration. In our experiments, we observed up to 10-times enhancement of the infrared (IR) absorption of thioglycolic acid (TGA) and up to 2-times enhancement of signals for bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein on plasmonic nanostructure-based films deposited on a silicon (Si) internal reflection element (IRE) compared to bare Si IRE. The dependence of the observed enhancement on the amount of AuNSts present at the surface of the IRE has been demonstrated. Quantitative studies with both, TGA and BSA were performed, observing that the SEIRA signal can be correlated to the concentration of analyte molecules present within the evanescent field. The calibration curves in the presence of the AuNSts showed enhanced sensitivity as compared with the bare Si IRE. We finally compare efficiencies of anisotropic AuNSts and spherical citrate-capped and "bare" laser-synthesized gold nanoparticles as SEIRAS substrates for the detection of TGA and BSA. The signal obtained from AuNSts was at least 2 times higher for TGA molecules in comparison with spherical gold nanoparticles, which was explained by a more efficient generation of hot spots on anisotropic surface due to the presence of sharp edges, tips or vertices, leading to a high electric field strength surrounding the AuNSts.

Photonic crystal fiber for efficient Raman scattering of CdTe quantum dots in aqueous solution

A novel hollow-core photonic crystal fiber platform was used for the first time to observe clear vibrational modes of the CdTe core, CdS(0.7)Te(0.3) interface, and carboxylate-metal complexes in dilute aqueous CdTe quantum dot (QD) solutions. These modes demonstrate the presence of crystalline cores, defects, and surface passivation responsible for photoluminescent efficiency and stability. In addition, 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped QDs show higher crystallinity and stability than those capped with thioglycolic acid (TGA) and 1-thioglycerol (TG). This detailed, nondestructive characterization was carried out using Raman spectroscopy for solutions with QD concentration of 2 mg/mL, which is similar to their concentration during synthesis process. This platform can be extended to the in situ studies of any colloidal nanoparticles and aqueous solutions of relevant biological samples using Raman spectroscopy.

In situ IR spectroscopic studies of the avidin-biotin bioconjugation reaction on CdS particle films

Avidin-biotin bioconjugation reactions have been carried out on CdS nanoparticle films in H2O and D2O and investigated using in situ ATR-IR spectroscopic techniques. The experimental procedure involved the sequential adsorption of mercaptoacetic acid, the protein avidin, and the subsequent binding of the ligand biotin. The IR spectra of the solution-phase species mercaptoacetic acid, avidin, and biotin, at pH=7.2 were generally found to be similar in both H2O and D2O, with some minor peak shifts due to solvation changes. The IR spectra of the adsorbed species suggested that avidin may have undergone a conformational change upon adsorption to the CdS surface. In general, adsorption-induced conformational changes for avidin are likely, but to our knowledge have not been previously reported. The conformation of adsorbed avidin appeared to change again upon the binding of biotin, with the spectral data suggesting partial reversion to its native solution conformation.

Infrared spectroscopic studies of monothiol ligand adsorption on CdS nanocrystal films in aqueous solutions

Probing the surface chemistry of thiol ligand binding to cadmium chalcogenide nanocrystals is important to clarify factors involved in quantum dot stability and surface functionalization. Deposited CdS nanocrystal films have been used in this work as model quantum dot surfaces for ligand adsorption studies. The adsorption of mercaptoacetic acid, mercaptopropionic acid, and mercaptoethanol, from aqueous solution to CdS thin films, has been studied by in situ infrared spectroscopy. The absence of a S-H stretch absorption for the adsorbed species shows that adsorption occurs via the deprotonated thiol group, and the spectrum of the adsorbed carboxylic acid species closely resembles those of the solution ligands. Adsorption of mercaptoacetic acid and of mercaptopropionic acid resulted in pKa(COOH) decreases of 1.5 and 0.5, respectively. Significant changes in the spectrum of mercaptoethanol upon adsorption have been observed, but the present uncertainty in mercaptoethanol spectral interpretation does not provide structural inferences. Adsorption isotherms determined from the spectral data indicate strong thiol adsorption to CdS. The adsorption isotherms have been fitted to both Langmuir and Freundlich equations, with the latter providing a better fit. This may be attributed to a change in the probability of adsorption to vacant surface sites due to the increased CdS surface negative charge as the surface coverage increases.