Small Organic Molecular-Based Hybrid Halides with High Photoluminescence Quenching Temperature.

Organic-inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) exhibit excellent photoelectric properties; however, their high-temperature light-emission stability requires further improvement. Here, we report three isostructural OIMHs (CHN)InCl, (CHN)SbCl, and (CHN)SbBr (CHN = dimethylammonium). They are all crystallized in the 222 space group with a zero-dimensional (0D) structure, with orange-red photoluminescence (PL) under 365 nm UV excitation.

Excellent performance of a cryogenic Nd:YAlO laser with low wavefront distortion based on zero thermal expansion.

High-power solid-state lasers with good beam quality are attracting great attention on account of their important applications in industry and military. However, the thermal effects generated in the laser host materials seriously limit power scaling and degrade the beam quality. Thermal lensing and thermally induced wavefront deformation are the main causes of the beam quality deterioration.

Flower-like cobalt carbide for efficient carbon dioxide conversion.

Catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO) to value-added chemicals under mild conditions is highly desired, albeit with significant challenges. Here, in terms of exposure of abundant active sites and excellent photo-to-thermal conversion properties, flower-like CoC has been firstly used for effectively catalysing the cycloaddition of CO with epoxides to produce cyclic carbonates with yields of up to 95% under solar light. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that Lewis acid sites of the surface Co atoms can activate both CO and epoxide, thus opening up the possibility of a CO-epoxide cycloaddition reaction.

AHgSnQ (A = Sr, Ba; Q = S, Se): A Series of Hg-Based Infrared Nonlinear-Optical Materials with Strong Second-Harmonic-Generation Response and Good Phase Matchability.

Four Hg-based IR nonlinear-optical materials, AHgSnQ (A = Sr, Ba; Q = S, Se), were discovered and investigated systematically. Their structures are built of two-dimensional [HgSnQ] layers, which are assembled alternately by distorted (HgQ and SnQ) tetrahedra and separated by eight-coordinated A cations. The two sulfides AHgSnS (A = Ba, Sr) exhibit large second-harmonic-generation (SHG) responses (2.

Regulating Second-Harmonic Generation by van der Waals Interactions in Two-dimensional Lead Halide Perovskite Nanosheets.

The flexible organic amine cations on the interfaces of two-dimensional (2D) hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite nanosheets could form relaxed structures, which would lead to exotic optoelectronic properties but are hard to understand. Here, the unusual interfacial relaxation of nanosheets exfoliated from an orthorhombic 2D lead halide perovskite, [(CHCHNH)]PbCl, is interrogated via ultrafast second-harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy. The in-plane SHG intensity anisotropy of these nanosheets is found to decrease with reducing layer thickness.

Highly Efficient Photocatalytic System Constructed from CoP/Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene for Visible-Light-Driven CO Reduction.

Visible-light-driven conversion of CO to CO and high-value-added carbon products is a promising strategy for mitigating CO emissions and reserving solar energy in chemical form. We report an efficient system for CO transformation to CO catalyzed by bare CoP, hybrid CoP/carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and CoP/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in mixed aqueous solutions containing a Ru-based photosensitizer, under visible-light irradiation. The in situ prepared hybrid catalysts CoP/CNT and CoP/rGO show excellent catalytic activities in CO reduction to CO, with a catalytic rates of up to 39 510 and 47 330 μmol h  g in the first 2 h of reaction, respectively; a high CO selectivity of 73.

Highly efficient hydrolysis of ammonia borane by anion (OH, F, Cl)-tuned interactions between reactant molecules and CoP nanoparticles.

The CoP nanoparticle catalyst had excellent catalytic activity and a short catalytic induction period in the presence of anions, and high sustainability in ammonia borane hydrolysis, with an initial turnover frequency of 72.2 mol mol min at ambient temperature. This value is unprecedented for noble-metal-free catalytic systems.