There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

As a fascinating conjugated polymer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has become a new research hotspot and drawn broad interdisciplinary attention as a metal-free and visible-light-responsive photocatalyst in the arena of solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. This is due to its appealing electronic band structure, high physicochemical stability, and “earth-abundant” nature. This critical review summarizes a panorama of the latest progress related to the design and construction of pristine g-C3N4 and g-C3N4-based nanocomposites, including (1) nanoarchitecture design of bare g-C3N4, such as hard and soft templating approaches, supramolecular preorganization assembly, exfoliation, and template-free synthesis routes, (2) functionalization of g-C3N4 at an atomic level (elemental doping) and molecular level (copolymerization), and (3) modification of g-C3N4 with well-matched energy levels of another semiconductor or a metal as a cocatalyst to form heterojunction nanostructures. The constructi...

Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4)-Based Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis and Environmental Remediation: Are We a Step Closer To Achieving Sustainability?

Metamaterials are artificially fabricated materials that allow for the control of light and acoustic waves in a manner that is not possible in nature. This Review covers the recent developments in the study of so-called metasurfaces, which offer the possibility of controlling light with ultrathin, planar optical components. Conventional optical components such as lenses, waveplates and holograms rely on light propagation over distances much larger than the wavelength to shape wavefronts. In this way substantial changes of the amplitude, phase or polarization of light waves are gradually accumulated along the optical path. This Review focuses on recent developments on flat, ultrathin optical components dubbed 'metasurfaces' that produce abrupt changes over the scale of the free-space wavelength in the phase, amplitude and/or polarization of a light beam. Metasurfaces are generally created by assembling arrays of miniature, anisotropic light scatterers (that is, resonators such as optical antennas). The spacing between antennas and their dimensions are much smaller than the wavelength. As a result the metasurfaces, on account of Huygens principle, are able to mould optical wavefronts into arbitrary shapes with subwavelength resolution by introducing spatial variations in the optical response of the light scatterers. Such gradient metasurfaces go beyond the well-established technology of frequency selective surfaces made of periodic structures and are extending to new spectral regions the functionalities of conventional microwave and millimetre-wave transmit-arrays and reflect-arrays. Metasurfaces can also be created by using ultrathin films of materials with large optical losses. By using the controllable abrupt phase shifts associated with reflection or transmission of light waves at the interface between lossy materials, such metasurfaces operate like optically thin cavities that strongly modify the light spectrum. Technology opportunities in various spectral regions and their potential advantages in replacing existing optical components are discussed.

Flat Optics With Designer Metasurfaces

Since the discovery of mechanically exfoliated graphene in 2004, research on ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials has grown exponentially in the fields of condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, and nanotechnology. Highlighting their compelling physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties, as well as their various potential applications, in this Review, we summarize the state-of-art progress on the ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with a particular emphasis on their recent advances. First, we introduce the unique advances on ultrathin 2D nanomaterials, followed by the description of their composition and crystal structures. The assortments of their synthetic methods are then summarized, including insights on their advantages and limitations, alongside some recommendations on suitable characterization techniques. We also discuss in detail the utilization of these ultrathin 2D nanomaterials for wide ranges of potential applications among the electronics/optoelectronics, electrocat...

Recent Advances in Ultrathin Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials

The use of solar energy to produce molecular hydrogen and oxygen (H2 and O2) from overall water splitting is a promising means of renewable energy storage. In the past 40 years, various inorganic and organic systems have been developed as photocatalysts for water splitting driven by visible light. These photocatalysts, however, still suffer from low quantum efficiency and/or poor stability. We report the design and fabrication of a metal-free carbon nanodot-carbon nitride (C3N4) nanocomposite and demonstrate its impressive performance for photocatalytic solar water splitting. We measured quantum efficiencies of 16% for wavelength λ = 420 ± 20 nanometers, 6.29% for λ = 580 ± 15 nanometers, and 4.42% for λ = 600 ± 10 nanometers, and determined an overall solar energy conversion efficiency of 2.0%. The catalyst comprises low-cost, Earth-abundant, environmentally friendly materials and shows excellent stability.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/347/6225/970.full.pdf

Metal-free efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting via a two-electron pathway

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) has a direct band gap and can produce strong photoluminescence(PL), thereby possessing a wide application prospect in photoelectric devices and photoelectric detection fields. However, its PL efficiency needs further improving because its monolayer is of atomic thickness only, besides, it has non-radiative recombination of excitons. In this study, a combination structure of a gold film, titanium dioxide subwavelength gratings and monolayer TMDCs is designed, which can greatly improve PL efficiency of monolayer TMDC. The spontaneous emission rate can be controlled by the Purcell effect, and the maximum enhancement of photoluminescence is as high as 3.4 times. In this paper, the PL signal of monolayer WS2 and monolayer WSe2 on the designed structure are studied. The feasibility of the enhancement of PL of monolayer TMDC in the coupling structure of monolayer TMDC and the subwavelength grating is verified experimentally, which provides a new idea for the application of two-dimensional materials to optoelectronic devices.

Enhancement of photoluminescence of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide by subwavelength TiO2 grating

Abstract Phonon-assisted photon upconversion (UPC) is an anti-Stokes process in which incident photons achieve higher energy emission by absorbing phonons. This letter studies phonon-assisted UPC in twisted 2D semiconductors, in which an inverted contrast between UPC and conventional photoluminescence (PL) of WSe 2 twisted bilayer is emergent. A 4-fold UPC enhancement is achieved in 5.5° twisted bilayer while PL weakens by half. Reduced interlayer exciton conversion efficiency driven by lattice relaxation, along with enhanced pump efficiency resulting from spectral redshift, lead to the rotation-angle-dependent UPC enhancement. The counterintuitive phenomenon provides a novel insight into a unique way that twisted angle affects UPC and light-matter interactions in 2D semiconductors. Furthermore, the UPC enhancement platform with various superimposable means offers an effective method for lighting bilayers and expanding the application prospect of 2D stacked van der Waals devices. 

/pdf/phonon-assisted-upconversion-in-twisted-two-dimensional-gsmczguo.pdf

Phonon-assisted upconversion in twisted two-dimensional semiconductors

An acoustic diaphragm is a crucial component that regulates sound quality in earphones and loudspeakers. Natural wood with inherent good acoustic resonance and vibration spectrum is widely used in sound devices. However, using natural wood to produce an acoustic diaphragm is still a big challenge because making ultra-thin wood is hard and it warps easily. Therefore, this study introduces a new method for preparing ultra-thin wood acoustic diaphragms less than 10 μm in thickness, relying on delignification, sulfonation, and densifying techniques. The innovative sulfonation process increased the intermolecular hydrogen bond force, which significantly improved the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the wood diaphragm, up to 195 MPa and 27.1 GPa, respectively. Compared with the commonly used diaphragms in the market, this wood diaphragm exhibits an excellent specific dynamic elastic modulus up to 95.1 GPa/g cm3, indicating better acoustic properties. Also, the resonance frequency was up to 1240 Hz, 4.5 times higher than the titanium diaphragm among high-end products. Besides, the drying shrinkage rate of the ultra-thin wood diaphragm is only 1.2%, indicating excellent dimensional stability. This high-quality wood acoustic diaphragm has a very high application prospect and outstanding attributes for promoting the development of acoustic devices. Moreover, the reaction reagent can be recycled after preparation, and the selected reagents are green and environmentally friendly.

Ultra-Thin Wood-Based Acoustic Diaphragms Fabricated via an Environmentally Friendly Strategy.

We proposed a symmetric V-type slit array to tune the propagation direction of surface plasmon polaritons by external control of the polarization and/or the inclination angle of the incident light. Using theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, we studied the position-related phase and spin-related phase of the SPPs excited by an inclined and circularly polarized light through a column of slits to determine the parameter of the structure. The results showed that we can tune the propagation of the SPPs with significant flexibility, by changing the polarization of the incident light and the inclination angle of the incident light. Furthermore, a nanostructures were designed to control directional launching of surface plasmons based on the principle of optical spin’s effect for the geometric phase of light. The propagation direction of the generated SPPs can be controlled by the spin of photons. The total size of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) launcher is 320 nm by 180 nm, which is far smaller than the wavelength of the incident light. This result may provide a new way of spin-controlled directional launching of SPP.

Unidirectional propagation of surface plasmons under active control

The optical waveguide behaviors of CdS and CdSxSe1−x nanostructures are studied using near-field optical microscopy. Optical measurements demonstrate that light may be guided on sub-wavelength scales along CdS nanoribbons in straight or bent structures. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra from nanoribbon emission using scanning near-field optical microscopy are analyzed under different incident laser intensities. The PL spectra along Se-doped and undoped CdS nanoribbons at different propagation distances are investigated. Both the guided PL spectra of Se-doped and undoped CdS nanoribbons show red-shifts because of the band-edge absorption. Our results are useful for the development of new kinds of functional nano devices.

Zheyu Fang

Papers

Enhancement of photoluminescence of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide by subwavelength TiO2 grating

Phonon-assisted upconversion in twisted two-dimensional semiconductors

Ultra-Thin Wood-Based Acoustic Diaphragms Fabricated via an Environmentally Friendly Strategy.

Unidirectional propagation of surface plasmons under active control

Optical waveguide behavior of Se-doped and undoped CdS one-dimensional nanostructures using near-field optical microscopy