Preparation of polythiophene/WO_3 organic-inorganic hybrids and their gas sensing properties for NO_2 detection at low temperature

Polythiophene/WO3（PTP/WO3）organic-inorganic hybrids were synthesized by an in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method,and char- acterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）and thermo-gravimetric analysis（TGA）.The Polythiophene/ WO3 hybrids have higher thermal stability than pure polythiophene,which is beneficial to potential application as chemical sensors.Gas sensing measurements demonstrate that the gas sensor based on the Polythiophene/WO3 hybrids has high response and good selectivity for de- tecting NO2 of ppm level at low temperature.Both the operating temperature and PTP contents have an influence on the response of PTP/WO3 hybrids to NO2.The 10 wt%PTP/WO3 hybrid showed the highest response at low operating temperature of 70-C.It is expected that the PTP/WO3 hybrids can be potentially used as gas sensor material for detecting the low concentration of NO2 at low temperature.

A Porous Organic-inorganic Hybrid Compound Constructed from Polyoxovanadium Borate Anions,Dinuclear Na Sites and Metal-organic Units

A polyoxovanadium borate [Na（H2O）]2[Na（H2O）2]2[Cu（en）2][V12B18O54（OH）6]·（H3O）2·（H2O）18 1（en = ethylenediamine） has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by IR,two-dimensional infrared（2D IR） correlation spectroscopy with magnetic and thermal perturba-tion,thermal IR spectroscopy,thermal gravimetric analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.It crystallizes in triclinic,space group P with a = 12.981（3）,b = 13.044（3）,c = 14.208（3） ,α = 63.98（3）,β = 77.17（3）,γ = 14.208（3）°,V = 2001.0（8） 3,Z = 1,Mr = 2518.05,Dc = 2.090 g/cm-1,F（000） = 1255.0,Mu（mm-1） = 1.756,λ（MoKα） = 0.71073 ,R = 0.0625 and wR = 0.1952.In 1,the [V12B18O54（OH）6]8- units are connected by [Cu（en）2]2＋,binuclear Na（1） and Na（2） to form a three-dimensional porous framework.

The first 2D organic-inorganic hybrid relaxor-ferroelectric single crystal

Inorganic relaxor ferroelectric solid solution single crystals are spurring new generations of high performance electromechanical devices,including transducers,sensors,and actuators,due to their ultrahigh electric field induced strain,large piezoelectric constant,high electromechanical coupling factor and low dielectric loss.However,relaxor ferroelectric single crystals found in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are very limited,but achieving these superior properties in them will be of great significance in the design of modern functional materials.Fortunately,here the first two-dimensional(2D)organic-inorganic hybrid relaxor ferroelectric single crystal,[Br(CH_(2))_(3)NH_(3)]_(2)PbBr_(4)(BPA_(2)-PbBr_(4),BPA=3-bromopropylamine),achieves some of superior properties.Interestingly,BPA_(2)-PbBr_(4)reveals a successive relaxor ferroelectric-ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transitions accompanying by a large degree of relaxationΔT_(relax)=61 K and ultralow energy loss(tanδ<0.001).Meanwhile,it exhibits a superior second harmonic generation(SHG)effect with maximum value accounts for 95%of the standard KDP due to great deformation of structure(3.2302×10^(-4)).In addition,temperature dependent luminescence spectra(80-415 K)exhibit fluorescence and phosphorescence overlapping emission originated from inorganic and organic components with the nanosecond-scale short lifetime and the millisecond-scale long lifetime,respectively,and the color of the emitted light is continuously adjustable,which is the first to achieve luminescence and relaxor ferroelectricity compatibility.

Powder x-ray diffraction and Rietveld analysis of (C_(2)H_(5)NH_(3))_(2)CuCl_(4)

Structural properties of the organic-inorganic hybrid(C_(2)H_(5)NH_(3))_(2)CuCl_(4) have been investigated by means of x-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld analysis. A structural phase transition from Pbca to Aba2 occurs at T_(4)= 240 K, which results in a paraelectric–ferroelectric phase transition. The release of the Jahn–Teller distortion with increasing temperature toward T_(4) is revealed by the structural analysis.

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light of an organic-inorganic hybrid material based on enzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene polymer and TiO_(2)

Titanium dioxide(TiO_(2))has been limited in photocatalysis due to its wide band gap(3.2 eV)and limited absorption in the ultraviolet range.Therefore,organic components have been introduced to hybrid with TiO_(2) for enhanced photocatalytic efficiency under visible light.Here,we report that benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene polymer was an ideal organic material for the preparation of a hybrid material with TiO_(2).The energy band gap of the resulting hybrid material decreased to 2.9 eV and the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance reached 745.0μmol g^(-1) h^(-1) under visible light irradiation.Meanwhile,the material still maintained the stability of hydrogen production performance after 40 h of photocatalytic cycles.The analysis of the transient current response and electrochemical impedance revealed that the main reasons for the enhanced water splitting of the hybrid materials were the faster separation of electron hole pairs and the lower recombination of photocarrier ions.Our findings suggest that polythiophene is a promising organic material for exploring hybrid materials with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Direct Electrochemistry of Cytochrome c on EDTA-ZrO_2 Organic-inorganic Hybrid Film Modified Electrodes

A composite film of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-ZrO2 organic-inorganic hybrid was prepared based on the chelation between Zr(IV) and EDTA. The direct electrochemical behavior of cytochrome c (cyt. c) at the hybrid film modified glassy carbon electrodes was investigated. The immobilized EDTA can promote the redox of heme in horse heart cyt. c which gives rise to a pair of reversible redox peaks with a formal potential of 40 mV (vs. SCE). The peak current increased linearly with the increase of cyt. c concentration in the range of 1.6×10-6—8.0×10-5 mol昄-1 with the correlation coefficient of 0.996. Further investigation shows that metal ions can impede the electron transfer of cyt. c. The impediment capability of metal ions depends on their coordination capability with EDTA and their valence number.

Fabrication of 2×2 Thermo-Optic Switches with Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials Prepared by Sol-Gel Technique

2×2 Mach-Zehnder interferometric thermo-optic switch was fabricated with organic/inorganic hybrid materials by sol-gel technique and direct UV patterning. The switching time of device was measured to be 4.2 ms and switching power 9.3 mW.

Enhancement of superconductivity in organic-inorganic hybrid topological materials

Inducing or enhancing superconductivity in topological materials is an important route toward topological superconductivity.Reducing the thickness of transition metal dichalcogenides(e.g.WTe2 and MoTe2)has provided an important pathway to engineer superconductivity in topological matters.However,such monolayer sample is difficult to obtain,unstable in air,and with extremely low Tc.Here we report an experimentally convenient approach to control the interlayer coupling to achieve tailored topological properties,enhanced superconductivity and good sample stability through organic-cation intercalation of the Weyl semimetals MoTe2 and WTe2.The as-formed organic-inorganic hybrid crystals are weak topological insulators with enhanced Tc of 7.0 K for intercalated MoTe2(0.25 K for pristine crystal)and2.3 K for intercalated WTe2(2.8 times compared to monolayer WTe2).Such organic-cation intercalation method can be readily applied to many other layered crystals,providing a new pathway for manipulating their electronic,topological and superconducting properties.

The chemistry and physics of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite quantum wells

Organic-inorganic hybrid two dimensional(2D)lead halide perovskites(LHPs)are tunable quantum wells that exhibit a set of intriguing structural and physical properties including soft and dynamic lattices,organic-inorganic epitaxial heterointerfaces,quantum and dielectric confinements,strong light-matter interactions,and large spin-orbit coupling,which enable promising perspectives for optoelectronics,ferroelectrics,and spintronics.While the properties of 2D LHPs bear some resemblance of the3D LHPs,they are often drastically altered due to the reduced dimensionality and the complex interactions between organic and inorganic components.In this review,we discuss the influences of the reduced dimensionality and the organic-inorganic interplays on the structural stability and distortion of the inorganic lattices,inversion symmetry of the crystal structure,electronic band structures,excitonic physics,and carrier-phonon interactions in 2D LHPs.An emphasis is placed on the relationships between the crystal structures and photophysical properties.Future perspectives on the opportunities of hybrid quantum wells are provided.

Highly efficient perovskite solar cells by building 2D/3D perovskite heterojuction in situ for interfacial passivation and energy level adjustment

Passivating the interfacial defects and reducing the interfacial non-radiative recombination losses are the keys to improving the photovoltaic performance of three-dimensional(3D)perovskite solar cells(PVSCs).Stacking two dimensional(2D)perovskites on 3D perovskite is a promising method for interfacial treatment that improves the stability and efficiency of PVSCs.Herein,we developed conjugated fluorinated benzimidazolium cation(FBIm+)which can be inserted between 3D perovskite and holetransporting layer(HTL)to form 2D perovskite in situ.The 2D single crystal structures of(FBIm)_(2)Pb I4and(FBIm)_(2)Pb Br_(4)were achieved and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction(XRD),while few single crystals of 2D perovskite based on imidazolium or benzimidazolium anchors have been reported.The 2D perovskite can passivate the interfacial defects,induce better crystallinity and orientation,conduct lower trap density and extend carrier lifetime.Furthermore,the energy level arrangement can be regulated by changing the counterion from iodide to bromide,which can efficiently improve the hole extraction and device performances.As a consequence,the best efficiency of 23.00%for FBIm Br-incorporated devices was achieved,while only 20.72%for the control device.Meanwhile,the PVSCs modified by FBIm Br displayed excellent environmental stability due to the constructed hydrophobic 2D perovskite layer which can effectively block moisture permeation.This work develops a new path to design novel conjugated organic passivants to form 2D/3D perovskite structures.

Active-layer evolution and （CH3NH3）3Bi2l9-based solar substrate efficiency improvement of cell on TiO2-deposited ITO

We systematically investigated the development of film morphology and crystallinity of methyl-ammonium bismuth （Ⅲ） iodide （MA3Bi2I9） through one- step spin-coating on TiO2-deposited indium tin oxide （ITO）/glass. The precursor solution concentration and substrate structure have been demonstrated to be critically important in the active-layer evolution of the MA3Bi2I9-based solar cell. This work successfully improved the cell efficiency to 0.42% （average： 0.38%） with the mesoscopic architecture of ITO/compact-TiOdmesoscopic-TiO2 （meso-TiO2）/ MA3Bi2I9/2,2＇,7,7＇-tetrakis（N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamino）-9,9＇spiro-bifluorene （spiro-MeOTAD）/MoO3/Ag under a precursor concentration of 0.45 M, which provided the probability of further improving the efficiency of the BiB＋-based lead-free organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells.