Deuterium (D-2), one of the stable isotopes of hydrogen, has immense applications in deuterium labeling, fusion reactors, neutron generation, optical fiber, and the biomedical industry. However, D-2 production employing conventional methods is highly energy intensive and makes it inevitable to explore simple and energy-efficient methods for the production of D-2. Therefore, the splitting of heavy water or deuterium oxide (D2O) to produce deuterium gas (D-2) is a good option yet a very challenging process, unlike the splitting of water (H2O) into hydrogen gas (H-2). In this context, this article demonstrates the 100% photoelectrocatalytic conversion of D2O to D-2 instigated by newly synthesized Ag-TiO2 Janus particles (JPs). In this approach, Ag-TiO2 JPs were produced via a single-step emulsion-based technique and utilized as a photocatalyst for electrolytic D-2 production. Furthermore, the electronic band structure at the interface of Ag and TiO2, in addition to the mechanism for the splitting of D2O to D-2, has also been demonstrated.

Achieving a one-pot synthesis of porous HgSe-ordered structures endures a challenging and unexplored goal, necessitating a straightforward protocol. Contextually, the present study describes a single-source molecular precursor approach for the synthesis of self-assembled porous HgSe rod superstructures (SSs) built by HgSe nanorods via hot injection of [HgCl(SeC4H3N2)tmeda] in oleylamine (OAm). Both the molecular precursor and the pristine HgSe rod SSs were characterized by multiple experimental tools. Furthermore, the mechanism for superstructure formation has been elucidated through crystal packing analysis using single crystal X-ray diffraction, supported by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements. The photoresponsive application of superstructures was assessed by using a liquid junction photoelectrochemical cell.

Self-assembling of nanoparticles into complex superstructures is very challenging, which usually depends on postorganizing techniques or pre-existing templates such as polypeptide chains or DNA or external stimulus. Such self-assembled processes typically lead to close-packed structures. Here, it has been demonstrated that under carefully template-free reaction conditions CdS quantum dots (QDs) could be synthesized and simultaneously self-assembled into complex superstructures without compromising individual QD properties. The superstructures of CdS QDs attained by the chemical-based method demonstrate Stokes-shifted photoluminescence (PL) from trap states. Remarkably, the PL decay of superstructures exhibits a single-exponential feature. This behavior is unusual for the synthesized superstructures, indicating that the trap states are restricted to a narrow range. The growth mechanism of these superstructures is explained through the formation of liquid crystal phases (LCPs) with the help of a small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis.

Here, we report the details of the synthesis and characterization of tubular molecular self-assembly of designed telluropeptide 1 at physiological pH conditions. The telluropeptide nano-/microtubes transformed into solid/hollow spheres or vesicles and ring-like structures upon controlled oxidation of telluro-amino acid residues present in the sequence of telluropeptide 1 by hydrogen peroxide.

CdS quantum dots (QDs), synthesized by a sol-gel method, exhibit significantly Stokes shifted bright photoluminescence (PL), predominantly from the trap states. Surprisingly, the PL decay at the emission maximum is single-exponential. This is an unusual observation for as-prepared QDs and indicates a narrow distribution in the nature of trap states. A closer look reveals an additional fast component for the decays at shorter emission wavelengths, presumably due to the band edge emission, which remains elusive in the steady-state spectra. Indeed, a significantly narrower and blue-shifted emission band is observed in the decay-associated spectra. The contribution of this component to the steady-state PL intensity is shown to be overwhelmed by that of the significantly stronger trap emission. Exciton dynamics in the quantum dots is elucidated using transient absorption spectra, in which the stimulated emission is observed even at low pump power.

The cover image shows the formation mechanism of misfit calcium cobalt oxide nanotubes, part of Prof. Leela S. Panchakarla's work from when he was a post-doc at the Weizmann Institute under Prof. Reshef Tenne. Prof. Panchakarla, a gifted materials chemist, contributed significantly to the field of layered materials. This special issue is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Leela S. Panchakarla, who passed away shortly after submitting his article to the Israel Journal of Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1002/ijch.202100080).

The liquid-liquid interface (LLI) technique has been used to form thin films of various materials parallel to the interface. In this report, by taking CuS as an example, we show that CuS not only adopts thin film structures at the liquid-liquid interface parallel to the interface but can also utilize beyond the interface to form self-supported vertically aligned CuS thin films by controlling the precursor concentration. We also report the formation of a self-assembled monolayer of CuS nanoparticles in the dichlorobenzene-water interface at a lower concentration of copper. Thin films generated at LLI show p-type conductivity with a sheet resistance of similar to 350 omega/ and transparency up to 72 % at 550 nm. CuS also show electrocatalytic activity towards glucose sensing with a sensitivity of 3958 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2), which is among the best in copper-based materials.

The present article demonstrates the development of two-dimensional (2D) assembly of spherical nanocrystals (NCs) in the square arrangement through the delicate balance between repulsive ligand interactions and attractive van der Waals interactions of NCs, respectively, instead of the otherwise stable hexagonal arrangement. The experimental packing efficiency values matched quite well with the theoretically calculated square arrangement patterns. The above fact indicates that the formation of the 2D square arrangement of silver NCs can be explained by introducing the concept of softness to NCs in the hard sphere model.

Ferrocene (Fc) conjugated selenopeptides were synthesized using a new modified solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPSS) protocol and their self-assembled nanostructure formation into spheres, nanofibers, and nanotubes studied. Four selenopeptide conjugates have been successfully prepared: two containing both selenocysteine (Sec) and Fc, the other two have either one of these units. These compounds were well-characterized with various spectroscopic techniques, including 1D and 2D NMR. The importance of the Fc unit, aromatic moieties, and weak intermolecular interactions on the self-assembled process was revealed by systematic morphological studies.

Thiolates of single metal ions are known to exist as lamellar structures in the neat state and some of these metal thiolates can be delaminated into individual molecular sheets simply by adding a nonpolar organic solvent. It is established here that even bimetallic thiolates such as copper-indium thiolate and silver-indium thiolate exist as lamellar sheets. Each of these sheets consists of both metal ions arranged in a random fashion. It is also demonstrated that these bimetallic thiolates can be employed as single source precursors to prepare phase pure bimetallic chalcogenide nanocrystals (NCs) through mechanochemical routes by grinding them with an appropriate chalcogenide source. Notably, these bimetallic chalcogenide NCs, though synthesized in the absence of any solvent, get easily dispersed in nonpolar solvents as their surface is protected by the thiolate molecules released during the grinding process. These ternary NCs display a strong and tunable photoluminescence in the visible to near-infrared region. Based on detailed systematic studies it is concluded that to obtain phase pure bimetallic sulfide/selenide NCs bimetallic thiolates, consisting of both metal ions in each sheet, must be used as single source precursors and physical mixtures of individual thiolates do not afford such phase pure materials.

The preparation of highly transparent, electrically conducting materials (TCMs) in the form of thin films possesses many applications, including touch screens, solar cells, smart glass, etc. Designing and making high-performance p-type materials that can match to n-type counter parts are found to be challenging even today. These thin films can be prepared directly on the substrates or more conveniently transferred to the desired substrates after the synthesis. Synthesis of ultrathin films of metal sulfide by simple liquid-liquid interface method has been known previously. However, transferring these films onto a substrate of considerable dimensions has always been a constant challenge as these films tend to break during the lift-off process. Furthermore, the transparency of these films is generally low due to the high roughness of these films. Here, we report CuS ultrathin film synthesis with varying thicknesses (similar to 15 nm - 40 nm) by a modified liquid-liquid interface method. We have developed two strategies to transfer these ultrathin films produced at a liquid-liquid interface onto any substrate with considerable dimensions (up to 8 cm x 4 cm) without losing electrical continuity. Optical and electrical measurements reveal that CuS thin films show a p-type conductivity with 10(2) -10(3) S/cm and having transparency between 90-93% at 550 nm, which are among the highest for p-type materials known today. Further, these films on plastic substrates show highly flexible properties, which ITO lacks. We could also extend this technique to transfer large area ZnS thin-films from the liquid-liquid interface to the desired substrates. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Herein, we report the light triggered porphyrin linked quinoxaline (TPP-DPQ) undergoes morphological transformation from self-assembled nanobowls to nanotubes via tadpole intermediates. UV-visible absorption spectra revealed that TPP-DPQ showed near IR absorption whilst illumination suggest the formation of [H2TPP DPQ](2+)2Cl(-) in CHCl3 exclusively. Microscopic analysis of TPP-DPQ and [H2TPP-DPQ](2+)2Cl(-) depict the nanobowls and tubular morphology together with tadpole shape intermediates with an average diameter of 0.8-1.2 mu m and 0.2-0.7 mu m. Powder x-ray diffraction spectra suggest the distinct nature of crystalline phases via H-/J-aggregates. Conducting-atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) revealed nanotubes exhibits 2-fold increment when compared to nanobowls. Thus, photoinduced growth of nanostructures from porphyrin based systems promote the design of novel smart/intelligent pi-conjugated macrocyclic systems for biomimetic signaling, data processing, storage, transmission and energy related devices.

Voltage-stimulated redox-active materials have received significant attention in the field of organic electronics and sensor technology. Such stimuli-responsive materials trigger the formation of crystalline nanostructures and facilitate the design of efficient smart devices hitherto unknown. Herein, we report that free-base and metallo-tetratolylporphyrin-linked ferrocene derivatives (H2 TTP-Fc and ZnTTP-Fc) undergo distinct proton/anion binding mechanism in CHCl3 during bulk electrolysis at applied voltage of 1.4 V to give [H4 TTP-Fc]+ Cl- and H+ [(Cl)ZnTTP-Fc]- followed by nanospheres and crystalline 2D nanoflakes formation, confirmed by SEM and TEM images, by methanol vapor diffusion (MVD) approach. Moreover, X-ray diffraction analysis suggest that protonated H2 TTP-Fc aggregates exhibit amorphous nature, whereas H+ [(Cl)ZnTTP-Fc]- depict crystalline nature from layer-by-layer arrangement of nanoflakes assisted by π-π stacking and ion-dipole interactions.