P band intermediate state (PBIS) tailors photoluminescence emission at confined nanoscale interface

The nature of crystal facet effect of TiO2-supported Pd/Pt catalysts on selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde: electron transfer process promoted by interfacial oxygen species

Supported noble metal nanocatalysts typically exhibit strong crystal plane dependent catalytic behavior, but their working mechanism is still unclear. Herein, using anatase TiO2 with well-exposed crystal facets of {101}, {100} and {001} as a prototype support, Pd- and Pt-based supported TiO2 nanocatalysts (TiO2-Pd and TiO2-Pt) were prepared by chemical reduction with NaBH4 as reducer, and they showed a distinct metal-dependent crystal facet effect in the selective hydrogenation of cinamaldehyde (CAL). For Pd-based nanocatalysts, most Pd species on the {100} plane of TiO2 are present in the oxidized form with positive charges and unexpectedly show higher reactivity than the Pd species in the zero-valence state on the {101} and {001} planes. On the contrary, Pt species on all three crystal planes of TiO2 show zero-valence state, with relatively low conversion, but much better selectivity for hydrogenation of a CO bond than Pd-based catalysts. Well-designed experiments manipulating the stability and type of surface oxygen species confirmed that the essence of the crystal facet effect of the catalyst support actually creates a unique nanoconfined interface at the molecular level to construct a surface p-band intermediate state (PBIS), which provides a new alternative channel for surface electron transfer and consequently accelerates the reaction kinetics.

P-Band Intermediate States Mediate Electron Transfer at Confined Nanoscale

In this Perspective, mainly based on the model of structural water molecules (SWs) as bright color emitters, we briefly summarize the development and theoretical elaboration of P-band intermediate state (PBIS) theory as well as its application in several typical catalytic redox reactions. In addition, with a simple equation (2∫ψ2σ1' + ∫ψ2σ2 + ∫ψ2π = 1), we clearly define how the interface states correlate with the three basic parameters of heterogeneous catalysis (conversion, selectivity, and stability), and what is the dynamic nature of catalytic active sites. Overall, the proposal of SW-dominated PBIS theory establishes an internal physical connection between the decay kinetics of excited electrons and the catalytic reaction kinetics and provides new insights into the physical origin of photoluminescence emission of low-dimensional quantum nanodots and the physical nature of nanoconfinement and nanoconfined catalysis.

Green carbon science: fundamental aspects

Carbon energy has contributed to the creation of human civilization, and it can be considered that the configuration of the carbon energy system is one of the important laws that govern the operation of everything in the universe. The core of the carbon energy system is the opposition and unity of two aspects: oxidation and reduction. The operation of oxidation and reduction is based on the ternary elemental system composed of the three elements of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Its operation produces numerous reactions and reaction products. Ancient Chinese philosophy helps us to understand in depth the essence of green carbon science, to explore its scientific basis, and to identify the related platforms for technology development.

Structural water molecules dominated p band intermediate states as a unified model for the origin on the photoluminescence emission of noble metal nanoclusters: from monolayer protected clusters to cage confined nanoclusters

In the past several decades, noble metal nanoclusters (NMNCs) have been developed as an emerging class of luminescent materials due to their superior photo-stability and biocompatibility, but their luminous quantum yield is relatively low and the physical origin of the bright photoluminescence (PL) of NMNCs remain elusive, which limited their practical application. As the well-defined structure and composition of NMNCs have been determined, in this mini-review, the effect of each component (metal core, ligand shell and interfacial water) on their PL properties and corresponded working mechanism were comprehensively introduced, and a model that structural water molecules dominated p band intermediate state was proposed to give a unified understanding on the PL mechanism of NMNCs and a further perspective to the future developments of NMNCs by revisiting the development of our studies on the PL mechanism of NMNCs in the past decade.

Activation of H2O Tailored by Interfacial Electronic States at a Nanoscale Interface for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Despite the fundamental and practical significance of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the reaction kinetics at the molecular level are not well-understood, especially in basic media. Here, with ZIF-67-derived Co-based carbon frameworks (Co/NCs) as model catalysts, we systematically investigated the effects of different reaction parameters on the HER kinetics and discovered that the HER activity was directly dependent not on the type of nitrogen in the carbon framework but on the relative content of surface hydroxyl and water (OH^-/H₂O) adsorbed on Co active sites embedded in carbon frameworks. When the ratio of the OH^-/H₂O was close to 1:1, the Co/NC nanocatalyst showed the best reaction performance under the condition of high-pH electrolytes, e.g., an overpotential of only 232 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 in the 1 M KOH electrolyte. We unambiguously identified that the structural water molecules (SWs) in the form of hydrous hydroxyl complexes absorbed on metal centers {OH_ad·H₂O@M⁺} were catalytic active sites for the enhanced HER, where M⁺ could be transition or alkaline metal cations. Different from the traditional hydrogen bonding of water, the hydroxyl (hydroxide) groups and water molecules in the SWs were mainly bonded together via the spatial interaction between the p orbitals of O atoms, exhibiting features of a delocalized π-bond with a metastable state. These newly formed surface bonds or transitory states could be new weak interactions that synergistically promote both interfacial electron transfer and the activation of water (dissociation of O-H bonds) at the electrode surface, i.e., the formation of activated H adducts (H*). The capture of new surface states not only explains pH-, cation-, and transition-metal-dependent hydrogen evolution kinetics but also provides completely new insights into the understanding of other electrocatalytic reductions involving other small molecules, including CO₂, CO, and N₂.

Dynamic Pt-OH-·H2O-Ag species mediate coupled electron and proton transfer for catalytic hydride reduction of 4-nitrophenol at the confined nanoscale interface

Generally, the catalytic transformation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) at heterogeneous metal surfaces follows a Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism when sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) is used as the sacrificial reductant. Herein, with Pt-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles confined in dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres (DMSNs) as a model catalyst, we demonstrated that the conversion of 4-NP did not pass through the direct hydrogen transfer route with the hydride equivalents being supplied by borohydride via the bimolecular L-H mechanism, since Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with the use of isotopically labeled reactants (NaBD₄ and D₂O) showed that the final product of 4-AP was composed of protons (or deuterons) that originated from the solvent water (or heavy water). Combined characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the optical excitation and photoluminescence spectrum evidenced that the surface hydrous hydroxide complex bound to the metal surface (also called structural water molecules, SWs), due to the space overlap of p orbitals of two O atoms in SWs, could form an ensemble of dynamic interface transient states, which provided the alternative electron and proton transfer channels for selective transformation of 4-NP. The cationic Pt species in the Ag-Pt bimetallic catalyst mainly acts as a dynamic adsorption center to temporally anchor SWs and related reactants, and not as the active site for hydrogen activation.

Hydrated hydroxide complex dominates the AIE property of nonconjugated polymeric luminophores

Nontraditional intrinsic luminescence (NTIL) which always accompanied with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features has received considerable attention due to their importance in the understanding of basic luminescence principle and potential practical applications. However, the rational modulation of the NTIL of nonconventional luminophores remains difficult, on account of the limited understanding of emission mechanisms. Herein, the emission colour of nonconjugated poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) (PMVEMA) could be readily regulated from blue to red by controlling the alkalinity during the hydrolysis process. The nontraditional photoluminescence with AIE property was from the new formed p-band state, resulting from the strong overlapping of p orbitals of the clustered O atoms through space interactions. Hydrated hydroxide complexes embedded in the entangled polymer chain make big difference on the clustering of O atoms which dominates the AIE property of nonconjugated PMVEMA. These new insights into the photoluminescence mechanism of NTIL should stimulate additional experimental and theoretical studies and could benefit the molecular-level design of nontraditional chromophores for optoelectronics and other applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Ligand-protected nanoclusters and their role in agriculture, sensing and allied applications

Nano biotechnology, when coupled with green chemistry, can revolutionize human life because of the vast opportunities and benefits it can offer to the quality of human life. Luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs) have recently developed as a potential research area with applications in different areas like medical, imaging, sensing etc. Recently these new candidates have proved to be beneficial in the food supply chain enabling controlled release of nutrients, pesticides and as nanosensors for the detection of contaminants and play roles in healthy food storage and maintaining food quality. An assortment of nanomaterials has been employed for these applications and reviews have been published on the use of nanotechnology in agriculture. Ligand-protected metal nanoclusters are a distinctive class of small organic-inorganic nanostructures that garnered immense research interest in recent years owing to their stability at specific "magic size" compositions along with tunable properties that make them promising candidates for a wide range of nanotechnology-based applications. This review tries to consolidate the recent developments in the area of ligand-protected nanoclusters in connection with the detection of pesticides, food contaminants, heavy metal ions and plant growth monitoring for healthy agricultural practices. Its antimicrobial activity to manage the microbial contamination is highlighted. The review also throws light on the various perspectives by which food production and allied areas will be transformed in future.

Structural Water Molecules Confined in Soft and Hard Nanocavities as Bright Color Emitters

Molecules confined in the nanocavity and nanointerface exhibit rich, unique physicochemical properties, e.g., the chromophore in the β-barrel can of green fluorescent protein (GFP) exhibits tunable bright colors. However, the physical origin of their photoluminescence (PL) emission remains elusive. To mimic the microenvironment of the GFP protein scaffold at the molecule level, two groups of nanocavities were created by molecule self-assembly using organic chromophores and by organic functionalization of mesoporous silica, respectively. We provide strong evidence that structural water molecules confined in these nanocavities are color emitters with a universal formula of {X⁺·(OH^-·H₂O)·(H₂O) _n-1}, in which X is hydrated protons (H₃O⁺) or protonated amino (NH₃ ⁺) groups as an anchoring point, and that the efficiency of PL is strongly dependent on the stability of the main emitter centers of the structural hydrated hydroxide complex (OH^-·H₂O), which is a key intermediate to mediate electron transfer dominated by proton transfer at confined nanospace. Further controlled experiments and combined characterizations by time-resolved steady-state and ultrafast transient optical spectroscopy unveil an unusual multichannel radiative and/or nonradiative mechanism dominated by quantum transient states with a distinctive character of topological excitation. The finding of this work underscores the pivotal role of structurally bound H₂O in regulating the PL efficiency of aggregation-induced emission luminogens and GFP.

Physical Origin of Dual-Emission of Au-Ag Bimetallic Nanoclusters

On the origin of photoluminescence of noble metal NCs, there are always hot debates: metal-centered quantum-size confinement effect VS ligand-centered surface state mechanism. Herein, we provided solid evidence that structural water molecules (SWs) confined in the nanocavity formed by surface-protective-ligand packing on the metal NCs are the real luminescent emitters of Au-Ag bimetal NCs. The Ag cation mediated Au-Ag bimetal NCs exhibit the unique pH-dependent dual-emission characteristic with larger Stokes shift up to 200 nm, which could be used as potential ratiometric nanosensors for pH detection. Our results provide a completely new insight on the understanding of the origin of photoluminescence of metal NCs, which elucidates the abnormal PL emission phenomena, including solvent effect, pH-dependent behavior, surface ligand effect, multiple emitter centers, and large-Stoke's shift.

Caged structural water molecules emit tunable brighter colors by topological excitation

Intrinsically, free water molecules are a colourless liquid. If it is colourful, why and how does it emit the bright colours? We provided direct evidence that when water was trapped into the sub-nanospace of zeolites, the structural water molecules (SWs) exhibited strong tunable photoluminescence (PL) emissions from blue to red colours with unprecedented ultra-long lifetimes up to the second scale at liquid nitrogen temperature. Further controlled experiments and combined characterizations by time-resolved steady-state and ultra-fast femtosecond (fs) transient optical spectroscopy showed that the singly adsorbed hydrated hydroxide complex {OH^-·H₂O} as SWs in the confined nanocavity is the true emitter centre, whose PL efficiency strongly depends on the type and stability of the SWs, which is dominated by H-bond interactions, such as the solvent effect, pH value and operating temperature. The emission of SWs exhibits the characteristic of topological excitations (TAs) due to the many-body quantum electron correlations in confined nanocavities, which differs from the local excitation of organic chromophores. Our model not only elucidates the origin of the PL of metal nanoclusters (NCs), but also provides a completely new insight to understand the nature of heterogeneous catalysis and interface bonding (or state) at the molecule level, beyond the metal-centred d band theory.

Surface electronic states mediate concerted electron and proton transfer at metal nanoscale interfaces for catalytic hydride reduction of -NO2 to -NH2

Concerted electron and proton transfer is a key step for the reversible conversion of molecular hydrogen in both heterogeneous nanocatalysis and metalloenzyme catalysis. However, its activation mechanism involving electron and proton transfer kinetics remains elusive. With the most widely used catalytic hydride reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) as a model reaction, we evaluate the catalytic activity of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) trapped in porous silica in aqueous NaBH4 solution. By virtue of a novel combination of catalyst design, reaction kinetics, isotope labeling, and multiple spectroscopic techniques, the real catalytic site for the conversion of -NO2 to -NH2 is identified to be the water-hydroxyl transition metal complex, which could further react with NaBH4 to form a new triangular configuration metal complex of H3B-water-hydroxyl with dynamic features. It yields an ensemble of surface electronic states (SESs) though space overlapping of p orbitals of one B and several O atoms (including the O atoms of 4-NP), which could act as an alternative channel for concerted electron and proton transfer. This work highlights the critical role of the conceptual SESs model in heterogeneous catalysis to tune the chemical reactivity and also sheds light on the intricate working of the [FeFe]-hydrogenases.

Comprehensive understanding of the synthesis and formation mechanism of dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres

The interest in the design and controlled fabrication of dendritic mesoporous silica nanospheres (DMSNs) emanates from their widespread application in drug-delivery carriers, catalysis and nanodevices owing to their unique open three-dimensional dendritic superstructures with large pore channels and highly accessible internal surface areas. A variety of synthesis strategies have been reported, but there is no basic consensus on the elucidation of the pore structure and the underlying formation mechanism of DMSNs. Although all the DMSNs show a certain degree of similarity in structure, do they follow the same synthesis mechanism? What are the exact pore structures of DMSNs? How did the bimodal pore size distributions kinetically evolve in the self-assembly? Can the relative fractions of small mesopores and dendritic large pores be precisely adjusted? In this review, by carefully analysing the structures and deeply understanding the formation mechanism of each reported DMSN and coupling this with our research results on this topic, we conclude that all the DMSNs indeed have the same mesostructures and follow the same dynamic self-assembly mechanism using microemulsion droplets as super templates in the early reaction stage, even without the oil phase.

A non-surfactant self-templating strategy for mesoporous silica nanospheres: beyond the Stöber method

The well-known Stöber method has been widely used to synthesize nonporous silica nanospheres (NPs), however, in the absence of surfactant templates, the synthesis of mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNs) has not been achieved. Herein, in the absence of organic surfactant templates, by a simple premixing of three components tetraethoxysilane-water-ethanol (TEOS-H₂O-EtOH) with a precise molar ratio, the parent silica nanoparticles with a low condensation degree and controlled particle size can be readily obtained. Subsequently, via a simple two-step post-treatment, the obtained MSNs exhibited a high surface area (ca. 500 m² g^-1), accessible mesopores (3.0 nm), and a large pore volume (0.87 mL g^-1), similar to those of MCM-41 and SBA-15 silicas. The unique self-templating role of the 'pre-Ouzo' effect of ternary surfactant-free TEOS-H₂O-EtOH systems was proposed to understand the formation of mesoporosity.

Origin of the Photoluminescence of Metal Nanoclusters: From Metal-Centered Emission to Ligand-Centered Emission

Recently, metal nanoclusters (MNCs) emerged as a new class of luminescent materials and have attracted tremendous interest in the area of luminescence-related applications due to their excellent luminous properties (good photostability, large Stokes shift) and inherent good biocompatibility. However, the origin of photoluminescence (PL) of MNCs is still not fully understood, which has limited their practical application. In this mini-review, focusing on the origin of the photoemission emission of MNCs, we simply review the evolution of luminescent mechanism models of MNCs, from the pure metal-centered quantum confinement mechanics to ligand-centered p band intermediate state (PBIS) model via a transitional ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT or LMMCT) mechanism as a compromise model.