Theoretical design and experimental synthesis of counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells: Amino-functionalized graphene

For some specific catalytic reaction, how to construct active sites on two dimensional materials is of great scientific significance. Dye-sensitized solar cells（DSCs） can be viewed as one representative photovoltaics because in which liquid electrolyte with triiodide/iodide（I;/I;） as redox couples are involved. In this study, amino-functionalized graphene（AFG） has been designed according to theoretically analyzing iodine reduction reaction（IRR） processes and rationally screening the volcanic plot. Then, such AFG has been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and shows high electrocatalytic activity towards IRR when serving as counter electrode in DSCs. Finally, a high conversion efficiency of 7.39% by AFG-based DSCs was obtained, which is close to that using Pt as counter electrode.

Recent progress in engineering near-infrared persistent luminescence nanoprobes for time-resolved biosensing/bioimaging

Persistent luminescence nanoprobes (PLNPs) can remain luminescent after ceasing excitation.Due to the ultra-long decay time of persistent luminescence (PersL),autofluorescence interference can be efficiently eliminated by collecting PersL signal after autofluorescence decays completely,thus the imaging contrast and sensing sensitivity can be significantly improved.Since near-infrared (NIR) light shows reduced scattering and absorption coefficient in penetrating biological organs or tissues,near-infrared persistent luminescence nanoprobes (NIR PLNPs) possess deep tissue penetration and offer a bright prospect in the areas of in vivo biosensing/bioimaging.In this review,we firstly summarize the design of different types of NIR PLNPs for biosensing/bioimaging,such as transition metal ions-doped NIR PLNPs,lanthanide ions-doped NIR PLNPs,organic molecules-based NIR PLNPs,and semiconducting polymer self-assembled NIR PLNPs.Notably,organic molecules-based NIR PLNPs and semiconductor self-assembled NIR PLNPs,for the first time,were introduced to the review of PLNPs.Secondly,the effects of different types of charge carriers on NIR PersL and luminescence decay of NIR PLNPs are significantly emphasized so as to build up an in-depth understanding of their luminescence mechanism.It includes the regulation of valence band and conduction band of different host materials,alteration of defect types,depth and concentration changes caused by ion doping,effective radiation transitions and energy transfer generated by different luminescence centers.Given the design and potential of NIR PLNPs as long-lived luminescent materials,the current challenges and future perspective in this rapidly growing field are also discussed.