Photocatalytic one-step synthesis of Ag nanoparticles without reducing agent and their catalytic redox performance supported on carbon

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles(Ag NPs) with state-of-the-art chemical or photo-reduction methods generally takes several steps and requires both reducing agents and stabilizers to obtain NPs with narrow size distribution.Herein, we report a novel method to synthesize Ag NPs rapidly in one step, achieving typical particle sizes in the range from 5 to 15 nm.The synthesis steps only involve three chemicals without any reducing agent: AgNO3 as precursor, polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP) as stabilizer, and AgCl as photocatalyst.The Ag NPs were supported on carbon and showed excellent performance in thermal catalytic pnitrophenol reduction and nitrobenzene hydrogenation, and as electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

Cylindrical vector beam multiplexer/demultiplexer using off-axis polarization control

The emergence of cylindrical vector beam(CVB)multiplexing has opened new avenues for high-capacity optical communication.Although several configurations have been developed to couple/separate CVBs,the CVB multiplexer/demultiplexer remains elusive due to lack of effective off-axis polarization control technologies.Here we report a straightforward approach to realize off-axis polarization control for CVB multiplexing/demultiplexing based on a metal–dielectric–metal metasurface.We show that the left-and right-handed circularly polarized(LHCP/RHCP)components of CVBs are independently modulated via spin-to-orbit interactions by the properly designed metasurface,and then simultaneously multiplexed and demultiplexed due to the reversibility of light path and the conservation of vector mode.We also show that the proposed multiplexers/demultiplexers are broadband(from 1310 to 1625 nm)and compatible with wavelength-division-multiplexing.As a proof of concept,we successfully demonstrate a four-channel CVB multiplexing communication,combining wavelength-division-multiplexing and polarization-division-multiplexing with a transmission rate of 1.56 Tbit/s and a bit-error-rate of 10^(−6) at the receive power of−21.6 dBm.This study paves the way for CVB multiplexing/demultiplexing and may benefit high-capacity CVB communication.

Mold-free self-assembled scalable microlens arrays with ultrasmooth surface and record-high resolution

Microlens arrays(MLAs)based on the selective wetting have opened new avenues for developing compact and miniaturized imaging and display techniques with ultrahigh resolution beyond the traditional bulky and volumetric optics.However,the selective wetting lenses explored so far have been constrained by the lack of precisely defined pattern for highly controllable wettability contrast,thus limiting the available droplet curvature and numerical aperture,which is a major challenge towards the practical high-performance MLAs.Here we report a mold-free and self-assembly approach of mass-production of scalable MLAs,which can also have ultrasmooth surface,ultrahigh resolution,and the large tuning range of the curvatures.The selective surface modification based on tunable oxygen plasma can facilitate the precise pattern with adjusted chemical contrast,thus creating large-scale microdroplets array with controlled curvature.The numerical aperture of the MLAs can be up to 0.26 and precisely tuned by adjusting the modification intensity or the droplet dose.The fabricated MLAs have high-quality surface with subnanometer roughness and allow for record-high resolution imaging up to equivalently 10,328 ppi,as we demonstrated.This study shows a cost-effective roadmap for mass-production of high-performance MLAs,which may find applications in the rapid proliferating integral imaging industry and high-resolution display.

Highly efficient nonuniform finite difference method for three-dimensional electrically stimulated liquid crystal photonic devices

Liquid crystal(LC)photonic devices have attracted intensive attention in recent decades,due to the merits of tunability,cost-effectiveness,and high efficiency.However,the precise and efficient simulation of large-scale three-dimensional electrically stimulated LC photonic devices remains challenging and resource consuming.Here we report a straightforward nonuniform finite difference method(NFDM)for efficiently simulating largescale LC photonic devices by employing a spatially nonuniform mesh grid.

Tuning electroluminescence performance in Pr-doped piezoelectric bulk ceramics and composites

Alternating current electroluminescence(ACEL)shows great potential in lighting,display and intelligent skin.Herein,the ACEL properties of Pr3þ-doped Ba0$85Ca0$15Ti0$90Zr0$10O3 ceramic and its PDMS-based composite have been investigated.Intense red EL emission was obtained in the ceramic sample whereas blue EL emission of Pr3þwas observed for the first time in the composite counterpart.The red EL emission should be attributed to the impact of hot electrons driven by the large piezoelectric electric field.Owing to the cross-relaxations through the 4f5d levels and Pr-to-metal charge transfer state,the 3 PJ emissions were completely quenched,and thus leading to an enhancement in red emission.However,external E field induced a large local piezoelectric deformation of the ceramic particles embedded in the PDMS matrix,which in turn caused a bending of CB and then a downwards shift of the 4f5d levels from the CB.Hence the cross-relaxations were hindered,and the blue EL emission was observed in the composites.The results would attract attention of functional materials studies and expand our understanding of such facile structure and oxide EL devices to facilitate their use in integral part of flexible device systems.