Synthesis,Growth Mechanism,and Applications of Zinc Oxide Nanomaterials

This article reviews recent progresses in growth mechanism, synthesis, and applications of zinc oxide nano-materials （mainly focusing on one-dimensional （1D） nanomaterials）. In the first part of this article, we briefly introduce the importance, the synthesis methods and growth mechanisms, the properties and applications of ZnO 1D nanomaterials. In the second part of this article, the growth mechanisms of ZnO 1D nanomaterials will be discussed in detail in the framework of vapor-liquid-solid （VLS）, vapor-solid （VS）, and aqueous solution growth （ASG） approaches. Both qualitative and quantitative information will be provided to show how a controlled synthesis of ZnO 1D nanomaterials can be achieved. In the third part of this article, we present recent progresses in our group for the synthesis of ZnO 1D nanomaterials, and the results from other groups will only be mentioned briefly. Especially, experiment designing according to theories will be elaborated to demonstrate the concept of controlled synthesis. In the fourth part of this article, the properties and potential applications of ZnO 1D nanomaterials will be treated. Finally, a summary part will be presented in the fifth section. The future trend of research for ZnO 1D nanomaterials will be pointed out and key issues to be solved will be proposed.

Carbon-Based Flexible and All-Solid-State Micro-supercapacitors Fabricated by Inkjet Printing with Enhanced Performance

By means of inkjet printing technique, flexible and all-solid-state micro-supercapacitors(MSCs) were fabricated with carbon-based hybrid ink composed of graphene oxide(GO,98.0vol.%) ink and commercial pen ink(2.0vol.%). A small amount of commercial pen ink was added to effectively reduce the agglomeration of theGO sheets during solvent evaporation and the following reduction processes in which the presence of graphite carbon nanoparticles served as nano-spacer to separate GO sheets. The printed device fabricated using the hybrid ink,combined with the binder-free microelectrodes and interdigital microelectrode configuration, exhibits nearly 780%enhancement in areal capacitance compared with that of pure GO ink. It also shows excellent flexibility and cycling stability with nearly 100% retention of the areal capacitance after 10,000 cycles. The all-solid-state device can be optionally connected in series or in parallel to meet the voltage and capacity requirements for a given application.This work demonstrates a promising future of the carbonbased hybrid ink for directly large-scale inkjet printing MSCs for disposable energy storage devices.

Enhanced performance of a solar cell based on a layer-by-layer self-assembled luminescence down-shifting layer of core–shell quantum dots

In this paper, core–shell quantum dots(QDs) with two polar surface functional groups(ZnSe/ZnS–COOH QDs and ZnSe/ZnS–NH_2 QDs) are synthesized in an aqueous phase. Photoluminescence(PL) and absorption spectra clearly indicate luminescence down-shifting(LDS) properties. On the basis of QDs, surface functional group multilayer LDS films(MLDSs) are fabricated through an electrostatic layer-by-layer(LBL) self-assembly method. The PL intensity increases linearly with the number of bilayers, showing a regular and uniform film growth. When the M-LDS is placed on the surface of a Si-based solar cell as an optical conversion layer for the first time, the external quantum efficiency(EQE) and shortcircuit current density(Jsc) notably increases for the LDS process. The EQE response improves in a wavelength region extending from the UV region to the blue region, and its maximum increase reaches more than 15% between 350 nm and 460 nm.

Plasmon-tunable Au@Ag core-shell spiky nanoparticles for surfaceenhanced Raman scattering

A facile synthetic approach has been developed to prepare uniform and size-tunable spiky Au@Ag core-shell nan oparticles (NPs) to tailor the localized surface plasm on res onance (LSPR) properties. The gradual assembly of small Au nano crystals allows the size of spiky Au NPs to be modulated from tens to several hundreds of nano meters by tuning the concentration of initial Au seeds and Au source;and the thick ness of the Ag shell can be adjusted with stepwise reduction of Ag(l)ions. The LSPR bands of such spiky Au@Ag core-shell NPs resemble those of pure spiky Au NP cores of similar sizes in near-infrared region, and increasing the Ag shell thickness results in a blue shift and broadening of the LSPR band in the n ear-i nfrared regi on. Additi on ally, the spiky Au@Ag core-shell NPs exhibit improved surface-e nhan ced Rama n scattering (SERS) activity as compared to the bare spiky Au NPs and spherical Ag@Au NPs. This work has offered a facile route to synthesize plasmonic metal NPs with LSPR band in 650 to 800 nm that show strong enhancement of localized electromagnetic field, which provides an effective SERS substrate for SERS imaging and detection in biological fluids and tissues.