Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Compositional tunability and high temperature stability of ceria–zirconia hollow spheres: Doping zirconium into CeO₂ hollow spheres can increase the thermal stability of the spheres by around 200 ^OC say researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Cerium oxide is an important support for metal–nanoparticle based catalysis and it has found widespread use as a support in three-way catalytic converters; however, pure ceria is prone to sintering at modest temperatures (~700 °C).  The method described by the US based team creates hollow spheres with appropriate size and porosity for encapsulating noble metal nanoparticles. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C1JM10897B, Advance Article) 

Phase behaviour of liquid-crystalline polymer/fullerene organic photovoltaic blends: thermal stability and miscibility: The phase transitions and thermal behaviour of an organic photovoltaic systems comprised of a liquid-crystalline fluorene-based polymer and a fullerene derivative are investigated in this hot article. The thermal stability and phase behaviour are crucial for maintaining the performance of polymer/fullerene solar cells. The team behind the research say that increasing the molecular weight of the polymer decreases the solubility of the fullerene derivative in the polymer phase which offers routes towards improving the photovoltaic performance of non-crystalline organic photovoltaic systems. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C1JM11239B, Advance Article)

Synthesis and electrochemistry of monoclinic Li(Mn_xFe_1−x)BO₃: a combined experimental and computational study: Japanese scientists have synthesised Li(Mn_xFe_1−x)BO₃ and studied its stability in Li-ion batteries. Replacing the (PO₄)³⁻ anion in Li-ion batteries with the smaller and lighter (BO₃)³⁻ could increase the theoretical capacity of the battery. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C1JM11131K)

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D–π–M–π–A structured platinum acetylide sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells: A platinum acetylide sensitizer for use in dye-sensitized solar cells has been developed by scientists at East China Normal University. The team used the sensitizer to create a device with a solar to electricity conversion efficiency of 3.28%, which they claim is higher than most solar cells using platinum complexes as dye sensitizers. Future work will focus on expanding the UV-Vis absorption spectrum of the Pt-complexes, extend electron lifetime and further improve the optical properties of devices by molecular structure design. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10942A, Advance Article)

Low-temperature rapid synthesis of high-quality pristine or boron-doped graphene via Wurtz-type reductive coupling reaction: A rapid and low-temperature method to prepared high-quality graphene has been developed by Chinese scientists. The method doesn’t require any transition metal catalysts and it can be adapted to prepare boron-doped graphene by adding BBr₃. The team claim the method provides a cost-effective route to prepare high-quality pristine or doped graphene for mass production. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11184A, Advance Article)

Fabrication of carbon microtubes from thin films of supramolecular assemblies via self-rolling approach: A novel self-rolling approach to create carbon and carbon/metal hybrid microtubes could lead to programmable fabrication of spirals, springs and rings say German scientists. The team that developed this approach claim that it could be extended to fabricate a range of carbon/metal hybrid microtubes with control of the inner and outer diameters. These microtubes are expected to have potential applications in areas such as microfluidic devices, catalysis, sensing devices, and waveguiding. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11258A, Advance Article)

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Color tuning of Novel 2,1,3-Naphthothiadiazole and 2,1,3-Benzoselenadiazole based D-A-D′ Type dopants to realize highly efficient saturated red emission in non-polar solvents: In an effort to developed brighter and more efficient flat panel displays Lixiang Wang and co-workers at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, China, created a series of red dopants for polymer light emitting diodes. The red dopants have enhanced electron affinity, saturated red emission wavelength and high fluorescence efficiency which the team hope should make them suitable for use in devices. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11204J, Advance Article)

Controlling the wettability properties of polyester fibers using grafted functional nanomaterials: A simple and effective method to control the wettability of textile fibres has been developed by scientists at Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Israel. The approach relies on the surface modification of PET fibers with functional nanomaterials. The team led by Jean-Paul Lellouche claims that the silica layer’s optical transparency, chemical stability, and nontoxicity, means that fabric modified with this method will not reduce the color and morphology of PET fabrics. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011,  DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10823A, Advance Article)

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A strategy for encoding & decoding DNA based on DNA–Au nanoparticle conjugates has been developed by South Korean scientists. The system uses amphiphilic polymer-protected DNA–Au nanoparticles. The DNA-encoded probes can be readily decoded using DNA–AuNP hybridization and dark-fieldbased AuNP scattering on microarrayed surface. Jwa-Min Nam and co-workers at Seoul National University say that the particles are stable in a wide range of salt concentrations, pH and temperatures and sustain their stability even after the addition of D,L-dithiothreitol. These particles could eventually find be used in artificial coding systems such forgery protection, forensics and multiplexing bioprobes.

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Highly stable, amphiphilic DNA-encoded nanoparticle conjugates for DNA encoding/decoding applications: Dong-Kwon Lim, Min-Hao Cui and Jwa-Min Nam, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/c1jm11150g (Advance Article)

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