Planar refractive index patterning through microcontact photo-thermal annealing of a printable organic/inorganic hybrid material

Simple and Versatile Platforms for Manipulating Light with Matter: Strong Light-Matter Coupling in Fully Solution-Processed Optical Microcavities

Planar microcavities with strong light-matter coupling, monolithically processed fully from solution, consisting of two polymer-based distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) comprising alternating layers of a high-refractive-index titanium oxide hydrate/poly(vinyl alcohol) hybrid material and a low-refractive-index fluorinated polymer are presented. The DBRs enclose a perylene diimide derivative (b-PDI-1) film positioned at the antinode of the optical mode. Strong light-matter coupling is achieved in these structures at the target excitation of the b-PDI-1. Indeed, the energy-dispersion relation (energy vs in-plane wavevector or output angle) in reflectance and the group delay of transmitted light in the microcavities show a clear anti-crossing-an energy gap between two distinct exciton-polariton dispersion branches. The agreement between classical electrodynamic simulations of the microcavity response and the experimental data demonstrates that the entire microcavity stack can be controllably produced as designed. Promisingly, the refractive index of the inorganic/organic hybrid layers used in the microcavity DBRs can be precisely manipulated between values of 1.50 to 2.10. Hence, microcavities with a wide spectral range of optical modes might be designed and produced with straightforward coating methodologies, enabling fine-tuning of the energy and lifetime of the microcavities' optical modes to harness strong light-matter coupling in a wide variety of solution processable active materials.

Adsorption Performance of Heavy Metal Ions under Multifactorial Conditions by Synthesized Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Membranes

A series of hybridized charged membrane materials containing carboxyl and silyl groups were prepared via the epoxy ring-opening reaction and sol-gel methods using 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (WD-60) and polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000) as raw materials and DMF as a solvent. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermal gravimetric analyzer/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC) analysis showed that the heat resistance of the polymerized materials could reach over 300 °C after hybridization. A comparison of the results of heavy metal lead and copper ions' adsorption tests on the materials at different times, temperatures, pHs, and concentrations showed that the hybridized membrane materials have good adsorption effects on heavy metals and better adsorption effects on lead ions. The maximum capacity obtained from optimized conditions for Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions were 0.331 and 5.012 mmol/g. The experiments proved that this material is indeed a new environmentally friendly, energy-saving, high-efficiency material. Moreover, their adsorptions for Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions will be evaluated as a model for the separation and recovery of heavy metal ions from wastewater.

High-Performance Organic Electrochemical Transistor Based on Photo-annealed Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticle-Doped PEDOT:PSS

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), particularly the ones based on PEDOT:PSS, are excellent candidates for chemical and biological sensing because of their unique advantages. Improving the sensitivity and stability of OECTs is crucially important for practical applications. Herein, the transconductance of OECT is improved by 8-fold to 14.9 mS by doping the PEDOT:PSS channel with plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using a solution-based process followed by photo annealing. In addition, the OECT also possesses high flexibility and cyclic stability. It is revealed that the doping of AuNPs increases the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS and the photo annealing improves the crystallinity of the PEDOT:PSS channel and the interaction between AuNPs and PEDOT:PSS. These changes lead to the increase in transconductance and cyclic stability. The prepared OECTs are also demonstrated to be effective in sensitive detection of glucose within a wide concentration range of 10 nM-1 mM. Our OECTs based on photo-annealed plasmonic AuNP-doped PEDOT:PSS may find great applications in chemical and biological sensing, and this strategy may be extended to prepare many other high-performance OECT-based devices.