scholarly journals Synthesis of Silica Microspheres—Inspired by the Formation of Ice Crystals—With High Homogeneous Particle Sizes and Their Applications in Photonic Crystals

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyi Chen ◽  
Hongbo Xu ◽  
Chunxia Hua ◽  
Jiupeng Zhao ◽  
Yao Li ◽  
...  

Silica microspheres (SMs) must possess the performances of desirable monodispersity, narrow particle size distribution, and high sphericity for preparing photonic crystals (PCs) and other materials such as microspheres reference material, etc. We have adopted the techniques of increasing reactant concentration and raising the temperature to improve the synthesis rate of SMs, gaining inspiration from the formation mechanism of ice crystals. SMs with uniform particle sizes (polydispersity index less than 0.05) and good spherical features were fabricated through homogeneous nucleation. The mathematical relationship between particle sizes of SMs and reactant concentrations is further fitted. High accuracy of the regression equation is verified by an F-test and verification experiment. Highly ordered PCs (the stacking fault is about 1.5%, and the point defect is about 10−3) with dense stacked opal structures have been obtained by self-assembly of SMs. In addition, highly ordered PCs (the stacking fault is about 3%, and the point defect is about 10−3) with non-dense packed opal structure and inverse opal structure were successfully prepared. PCs of inverse opal structure were used to examine their response characteristics to identify ethanol, exhibiting good performance. Our research may provide significant inspiration for the development of other sorts of microspheres.

2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 1609-1613
Author(s):  
Jing Jing Gao ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Zhen Dong Liu ◽  
Xing Jian Jiao ◽  
Ji Zhou ◽  
...  

Because of the features of photonic localization in photonic bandgap(PBG), the photonic crystals can be coupled to DSSC to increase the conversion efficiency. In this paper, through exploring the preparation of large inverse opal structure of ZnO, we attempt to apply the photonic crystals to the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) to improve its efficiency. The colloidal crystal template is prepared by self-assembled on FTO substrates, and three-dimensional ZnO inverse opal is synthesized via an electrochemical deposition method in zinc nitrate solution. Then we study the inflations of its surface morphology and photonic bandgap on the solar cell’s photoelectric conversion efficiency.


2012 ◽  
Vol 441 ◽  
pp. 183-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Ying Diao ◽  
Xiang Yang Liu

By mimicking the fine structures of butterflies wings and peacocks feathers, we have successfully brought structural color to silk fabrics. The three-dimensional (3D) face centre cubic (FCC) opal or inverse opal structure was constructed on the surface of the silk fabrics by materials assembly. The diversified colors were achieved by precisely controlling the lattice constants of the photonic crystals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 685 ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Sai Ling Wei ◽  
Kui Ying Li ◽  
Wei Yong Yang ◽  
Chun Mei Wang ◽  
Jian Zhang

The Macroporous Nanocrystalline TiO2 Thin Film Was Prepared by Dipping-Coating Method. Polystyrene (PS) Microspheres Template Was Used as Pore-Forming Assistant and TiO2 Sol Was Used as Precursor. the Photoelectric Characteristics of the Samples Were Studied Using Surface Photovoltage (SPV) and Photoacoustic (PA) Techniques. the Presence of a Small Amount of Residual Template Damages the Integrity of the Porous TiO2 Film with Inverse Opal Structure, and TiO2 May Be Restricted in Certain Application Fields as Photonic Crystals. a Small Amount of Residual Template Changes the Surface Photovoltaic Properties of the Porous TiO2 Film, Resulting Mainly in the Broadened Scope and the Increased Intensity of SPV Response.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 464
Author(s):  
Jie Yu ◽  
Angel Caravaca ◽  
Chantal Guillard ◽  
Philippe Vernoux ◽  
Liang Zhou ◽  
...  

Indoor toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution is a serious threat to people’s health and toluene is a typical representative. In this study, we developed a composite photocatalyst of carbon nitride quantum dots (CNQDs) in situ-doped TiO2 inverse opal TiO2 IO for efficient degradation of toluene. The catalyst was fabricated using a sol-gel method with colloidal photonic crystals as the template. The as-prepared catalyst exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance for degradation of toluene. After 6 h of simulated sunlight irradiation, 93% of toluene can be converted into non-toxic products CO2 and H2O, while only 37% of toluene is degraded over commercial P25 in the same condition. This greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity results from two aspects: (i) the inverse opal structure enhances the light harvesting while providing adequate surface area for effective oxidation reactions; (ii) the incorporation of CNQDs in the framework of TiO2 increases visible light absorption and promotes the separation of photo-generated charges. Collectively, highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of toluene has been achieved. In addition, it can be expanded to efficient degradation of organic pollutants in liquid phase such as phenol and Rhodamine B. This study provides a green, energy saving solution for indoor toxic VOCs removal as well as for the treatment of organic wastewater.


Nanoscale ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1363-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunfeng Wang ◽  
Wen Xu ◽  
Shaobo Cui ◽  
Sai Xu ◽  
Ze Yin ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. 127-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengwen Yang ◽  
Hangjun Wu ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Bo Shao ◽  
Jianbei Qiu ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (48) ◽  
pp. 16446-16449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Hou ◽  
Wajid Ali ◽  
Jiawei Lv ◽  
Jun Guo ◽  
Lin Shi ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 471 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 241-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengwen Yang ◽  
Ji Zhou ◽  
Xueguang Huang ◽  
Qin Xie ◽  
Ming Fu ◽  
...  

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