Anisotropic photochemical energy transfer in clay/porphyrin system prepared by size-matching effect and Langmuir–Blodgett technique

Monolayer Modification of Spherical Amorphous Silica by Clay Nanosheets

Clay-silica nanocomposite materials (CSiN) were prepared by an electrostatic interaction between negatively charged clay nanosheets and positively charged spherical silica, which was modified with an alkyl ammonium group by silane coupling. By optimization of the preparation conditions, 84% coverage of the silica surface by the clay nanosheets was achieved. Adsorption experiments using cationic porphyrin dyes on the CSiN revealed that the clay nanosheet covers the spherical silica as a single layer and does not detach from the silica surface under aqueous conditions. In addition, it turned out that the cationic porphyrin dye did not penetrate the space between the silica surface and the clay nanosheet. Porphyrin molecules were adsorbed only at the outer surface of the clay nanosheet without molecular aggregation even under the high-density adsorption conditions. By combining spherical silica and clay nanosheets, it is possible to prepare novel hybrid materials where the surface can act as a unique adsorption field for dyes.

Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets Boosting Red Long Afterglow via Highly Efficient Energy Transfer

Room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) based long-afterglow materials have shown broad application prospects in smart sensors, biological imaging, photodynamic therapy, and many others. However, the fabrication of red long-afterglow materials still faces a great challenge due to the competitive relationship between RTP efficiency and lifetime. In this work, we reported a series of layered double hydroxide (LDHs) nanosheets with red long-afterglow (quantum yield up to 42.35% and lifetime up to 256.77 ms) by taking advantage of the highly efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer from green phosphorescent LDHs to the red fluorescent dye rhodamine B (RhB, as a guest molecule). Specifically, the Zn-based LDHs@RhB composite (Zn-Al-LDH-4-CBBA@RhB) presents energy transfer efficiency as high as 95.18%, and the red long-afterglow could even be excited upon white-light irradiation. Benefiting from the time-resolved afterglow, the LDHs@RhB composites exhibit great potential in the fields of anticounterfeiting and information encryption.

Tailoring a hybrid three-component photoinitiating system for 3D printing

In the field of additive manufacturing DLP vat technologies are promising 3D printing techniques. The need of highly efficient photoiniating systems drives us to the development of photocyclic 3-component initiators. In order to improve the 3D printing sensitivity, we present in this paper the use of synthesized clay to tune up the photochemistry underlying the initiating radical production. Therefore, a three-component initiating system, based on a cationic dye, two coinitiators and with a clay filler suitable for DLP 3D printing of acrylate resins leading to high quality of parts and low printing time, is developed.

Anisotropic energy transfer in a clay-porphyrin layered system with environment-responsiveness

The adsorption orientation behavior of tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-3-yl)porphyrin (m-TMPyP) and tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (p-TMPyP) on the clay monolayer prepared by the Langmuir Blodgett (LB) technique was investigated using the absorption and dichroic spectra obtained on a waveguide. It was revealed that the orientation of m-TMPyP and p-TMPyP on the clay monolayer, that is parallel and tilted with respect to the clay surface, depends on the surrounding environments such as water and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The anisotropic photochemical energy transfer between m-TMPyP as a donor and p-TMPyP as an acceptor in the layered system was investigated in water and in DMF-water (9/1 (v/v)) by a fluorescence observation. As a result, while energy transfer efficiency (ηET) was 60% for the parallel-parallel orientation in water, that was 10% for the tilted-tilted orientation in DMF-water (9/1 (v/v)). The major factor for the change of ηET could be a change of the distance between m-TMPyP and p-TMPyP, and the J value that is a parameter for spectral overlap between energy donor's fluorescence and acceptor's absorption.