Improving upconversion luminescence intensity of BiTa7O19:Er3+/Yb3+ by polyvalent Sb co-doping

Atomically isolated Sb(CN)3 on sp2-c-COFs with balanced hydrophilic and oleophilic sites for photocatalytic C-H activation

Activation of carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds is of utmost importance for the synthesis of vital molecules. Toward achieving efficient photocatalytic C-H activation, our investigation revealed that incorporating hydrophilic C≡N-Sb(CN)3 sites into hydrophobic sp2 carbon-conjugated covalent organic frameworks (sp2-c-COFs) had a dual effect: It simultaneously enhanced charge separation and improved generation of polar reactive oxygen species. Detailed spectroscopy measurements and simulations showed that C≡N-Sb(CN)3 primarily functioned as water capture sites, which were not directly involved in photocatalysis. However, the potent interaction between water molecules and the Sb(CN)3-modified framework notably enhanced charge dynamics in hydrophobic sp2-c-COFs. The reactive species ·O2- and ·OH (ad) subsequently combined with benzyl radical, leading to the formation of benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, and lastly benzyl benzoate. Notably, the Sb(CN)3-modified sp2-c-COFs exhibited a 54-fold improvement in reaction rate as compared to pristine sp2-c-COFs, which achieved a remarkable 68% conversion rate for toluene and an 80% selectivity for benzyl benzoate.

Molten Salt Synthesized CaTa4O11:Er3+/Yb3+ with Superior Upconversion Luminescence

Low phonon tantalate-based phosphors with a layer structure are considered to have excellent upconversion luminescence (UCL) intensity, which could be reduced due to the existence of impure phase defects and inappropriate doped rare earth ions. To improve their UCL performance, we have prepared single-phase CaTa4O11:Er3+/Yb3+ samples by a molten salt synthesis (MSS) using KCl as the reaction medium and compared its UCL properties with counterparts made by a conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) in this study. We have demonstrated that the MSS samples have a much higher UCL intensity under 980 nm laser excitation than the SSR ones due to accurate replacement of Ca2+ sites by Er3+/Yb3+ in high-purity single-phase MSS samples. We have further enhanced the green UCL intensity of the MSS samples by 1.57 times via acid picking (AP). Under 980 nm laser excitation at a high powder density of 61.3 W/cm2, the green UCL intensity of the MSS-AP samples can reach 3.72 times that of the SSR-AP samples. For potential luminescence thermometry applications, the maximum absolute sensitivity (SA) of the MSS-AP samples reaches 0.01316 K-1 at 501 K based on the luminescence intensity ratio. This study shows that CaTa4O11:Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors prepared by the MSS method are single-phase samples with excellent pure green UCL as a suitable temperature sensing material.