2021 New's Items

In the search for photoanode materials with band gaps suitable for utilization in solar fuel generation, approximately 1.2–2.8 eV, theory-guided experiments have identified a variety of materials that meet the band gap requirements and exhibit operational stability in harsh photoelectrochemical environments. In particular, M-V-O compounds (M is a transition metal or main group element) with VO4 structural motifs were predicted to show a remarkably wide range of band energetics (>3 eV variation in the energy of valence band maximum) and characteristics,...

Nutrients are essential for the healthy development and proper maintenance of body functions in humans. For adequate nourishment, it is important to keep track of nutrients level in the body, apart from consuming sufficient nutrition that is in line with dietary guidelines. Sweat, which contains rich chemical information, is an attractive biofluid for routine non-invasive assessment of nutrient levels. Herein, a wearable sensor that can selectively measure vitamin C concentration in biofluids, including sweat, urine, and blood is developed. Detection through an electrochemical sensor...

Be it for essential everyday applications such as bright light-emitting devices or to achieve Bose–Einstein condensation, materials in which high densities of excitons recombine radiatively are crucially important. However, in all excitonic materials, exciton–exciton annihilation (EEA) becomes the dominant loss mechanism at high densities. Typically, a macroscopic parameter named EEA coefficient (CEEA) is used to compare EEA rates between materials at the same density; higher CEEA implies higher EEA rate. Here, we find that the...

Thermally evaporated tellurium possesses an intriguing crystallization behavior, where an amorphous to crystalline phase transition happens at near-ambient temperature. However, a comprehensive understanding and delicate control of the crystallization process for the evaporated Te films is lacking. Here, the kinetics and dynamics of the crystallization of thermally evaporated Te films is visualized and modeled. Low-temperature processing of highly crystalline tellurium films with large grain size and preferred out-of-plane orientation ((100) plane parallel to the surface) is...