Laser assisted synthesis of anisotropic metal nanocrystals and strong light-matter coupling in decahedral bimetallic nanocrystals.

The advances in colloid chemistry and nanofabrication allowed us to synthesize noble monometallic and bimetallic nanocrystals with tunable optical properties in the visible and near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In the strong coupling regime, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of metal nanoparticles interact with excitons of quantum dots or organic dyes and plasmon-exciton hybrid states called plexcitons are formed. Until now, various shaped metal nanoparticles such as nanorods, core-shell nanoparticles, hollow nanoparticles, nanoprisms, nanodisks, nanorings, and nanobipyramids have been synthesized to generate plasmon-exciton mixed states. However, in order to boost plasmon-exciton interaction at nanoscale dimensions and expand the application of plexcitonic nanocrystals in a variety of fields such as solar cells, light emitting diodes, and nanolasers, new plexcitonic nanocrystals with outstanding optical and chemical properties remain a key goal and challenge. Here we report laser-assisted synthesis of decahedral shaped noble metal nanocrystals, tuning optical properties of the decahedral shaped nanocrystals by galvanic replacement reactions, colloidal synthesis of bimetallic decahedral shaped plexcitonic nanocrystals, and strong plasmon-plasmon interaction in bimetallic decahedral shaped noble metal nanocrystals near a metal film. We photochemically synthesize decahedral Ag nanoparticles from spherical silver nanoparticles by using a 488 nm laser. The laser assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles yields decahedral (bicolored) and prism (monocolored) shaped silver nanocrystals. The decahedral shaped nanoparticles were selectively separated from prism shaped nanoparticles by centrifugation. The optical properties of decahedral nanocrystals were tuned by the galvanic replacement reaction between gold ions and silver atoms. Excitons of J-aggregate dyes and SPPs of decahedral bimetallic nanoparticles strongly couple and hence decahedral shaped plexcitonic nanoparticles are prepared. In addition, localized SPPs of decahedral shaped bimetallic nanocrystals interact strongly with the propagating SPPs of a flat silver film and hence new hybrid plasmonic modes (plasmonic nanocavities) are generated. The experimental results are further fully corroborated by theoretical calculations including decahedral shaped plexcitonic nanoparticles and decahedral nanoparticles coupled to flat metal films.

Molten Salt Assisted Self-Assembly: Synthesis of Mesoporous LiCoO2 and LiMn2 O4 Thin Films and Investigation of Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation Performance of Lithium Cobaltate.

Mesoporous thin films of transition metal lithiates (TML) belong to an important group of materials for the advancement of electrochemical systems. This study demonstrates a simple one pot method to synthesize the first examples of mesoporous LiCoO2 and LiMn2 O4 thin films. Molten salt assisted self-assembly can be used to establish an easy route to produce mesoporous TML thin films. The salts (LiNO3 and [Co(H2 O)6 ](NO3 )2 or [Mn(H2 O)4 ](NO3 )2 ) and two surfactants (10-lauryl ether and cethyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or cethyltrimethylammonium nitrate (CTAN)) form stable liquid crystalline mesophases. The charged surfactant is needed for the assembly of the necessary amount of salt in the hydrophilic domains of the mesophase, which produces stable metal lithiate pore-walls upon calcination. The films have a large pore size with a high surface area that can be increased up to 82 m2 g-1 . The method described can be adopted to synthesize other metal oxides and metal lithiates. The mesoporous thin films of LiCoO2 show promising performance as water oxidation catalysts under pH 7 and 14 conditions. The electrodes, prepared using CTAN as the cosurfactant, display the lowest overpotentials in the literature among other LiCoO2 systems, as low as 376 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and 282 mV at 1 mA cm-2 .

Synthesis of Mesoporous Lithium Titanate Thin Films and Monoliths as an Anode Material for High-Rate Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Mesoporous Li4 Ti5 O12 (LTO) thin film is an important anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Mesoporous films could be prepared by self-assembly processes. A molten-salt-assisted self-assembly (MASA) process is used to prepare mesoporous thin films of LTOs. Clear solutions of CTAB, P123, LiNO3 , HNO3 , and Ti(OC4 H9 )4 in ethanol form gel-like meso-ordered films upon either spin or spray coating. In the assembly process, the CTAB/P123 molar ratio of 14 is required to accommodate enough salt species in the mesophase, in which the LiI /P123 ratio can be varied between molar ratios of 28 and 72. Calcination of the meso-ordered films produces transparent mesoporous spinel LTO films that are abbreviated as Cxx-yyy-zzz or CAxx-yyy-zzz (C=calcined, CA=calcined-annealed, xx=LiI /P123 molar ratio, and yyy=calcination and zzz=annealing temperatures in Celsius) herein. All samples were characterized by using XRD, TEM, N2 -sorption, and Raman techniques and it was found that, at all compositions, the LTO spinel phase formed with or without an anatase phase as an impurity. Electrochemical characterization of the films shows excellent performance at different current rates. The CA40-350-450 sample performs best among all samples tested, yielding an average discharge capacity of (176±1) mA h g-1 at C/2 and (139±4) mA h g-1 at 50 C and keeping 92 % of its initial discharge capacity upon 50 cycles at C/2.