Sharif Digital Repository

Structural and dynamic properties of ions confined in nanoslits are crucial to understand the fundamental mechanism underlying a wide range of chemical and biological phenomena. K + and Cl - show similar ion mobilities in a bulk aqueous solution, whereas they exhibit a remarkable difference when transporting through an angstrom-scale channel. Our molecular dynamics simulations uncover that such discrepancy originates from the subtle differences in their hydration structures and preferable locations across the channel. Opposite charge causes different water dipolar orientations around ions, mediating the distance and tribological interactions between hydrated ions and channel's walls.... 

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) fabricated using electron beam lithography are investigated using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) with a spatial resolution of 5 nm under ambient conditions. High-resolution TERS imaging reveals a structurally modified 5-10 nm strip of disordered graphene at the edge of the GNRs. Furthermore, hyperspectral TERS imaging discovers the presence of nanoscale organic contaminants on the GNRs. These results pave the way for nanoscale chemical and structural characterisation of graphene-based devices using TERS. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021  

Efficient utilization of solar energy as the cleanest and most plentiful natural resource for drinking water is a water is as sustianble and environmental friendly approach to obviate long-standing water scarcity. Carbon-based photothermal absorbers due to broadband light absorption are very interesting in interfacial solar steam generation systems. Herein, we investigate the convenient application of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets with carbon black (CB) nanoparticles on the cotton fabric as a flexible texture-based photothermal absorber. Polyurethane (PU) as a self-floating insulator foam was selected to manage the energy loss and preserve light converted to heat on the fabric... 

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides are promising candidates of photodetectors where they are commonly grown parallel to the substrate due to their 2D characteristics in micrometer scales from exfoliation of bulk crystals or through high temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. In this study, semi-hexagonal vertical nanosheets of SnS2 layered have been fabricated on FTO substrate without using Sn source through CVD method at relatively low temperature (500 °C). Due to exceptional band alignment of triple cation lead perovskite (TCLP) with semi-hexagonal SnS2 nanosheets, an improved photodetector has been fabricated. This type of photodetectors fabricated through... 

Nickel-zinc batteries as safe and economic energy storage devices suffer from lack of high electrochemical performance of cathode materials. Herein, a new cathode material for rechargeable Ni/Zn batteries is introduced based on various compositions of mixed metal oxide (MMO) through a calcination process of nickel-vanadium layered double hydroxide at different temperatures. The results demonstrated that the prepared sample at 500 °C presents the best electrochemical properties such as a good electrochemical discharge capacity (278.4 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1), good cycle life (capacity retention of 74% after 1000 cycles at 5 A g-1), and excellent rate capability (177 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1). These... 

Demand for high-capacity, long cycle life, and aqueous batteries based on abundant metals such as nickel, zinc, aluminum, and so on is rising in the energy storage field. In this study, we design a hierarchical morphology as a nanosheet-built microsphere of nickel vanadium layered double hydroxide (NiV LDH) with conductive agents graphene oxide (GO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through a low-cost hydrothermal synthesis method. The experimental results demonstrate that the graphitic structures and functional groups of the GO and CNT play an important role in controlling nucleation, growth speed, size, and finally morphology of hierarchical nanosheets. The electrochemical results... 

Two-dimensional MXenes are the newly emerging family of nanomaterials with competitive performance for nano-device development. Surface functional groups and abundant binding sites make these materials ideal candidates for sensor applications. Herein, we report the successful fabrication of a MXene-based nano-bio device for capturing, sensing, and filtering the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Mannose carbohydrate, which binds strongly to E.coli's fimH protein via glucan multivalent interactions, is used as the bio-receptor element. MXene's structure was engineered to guarantee efficient E. coli capturing without mannose detachment. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic... 

The room temperature polar vapor sensing behavior of a graphene-TiS3 heterojunction material and TiS3 nanoribbons is described. The nanoribbons were synthesized via chemical vapor transport (CVT) and their structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. The gas sensing performance was assessed by following the changes in their resistivities. Sensing devices were fabricated with gold contacts and with lithographically patterned graphene (Gr) electrodes in a heterojunction Gr-TiS3-Gr. The gold contacted TiS3 device has a... 

The controlled growth of metal oxide nanostructures within hierarchically porous conductive carbon-based frameworks is critically important to achieving high volumetric performance and appropriate channel size for energy storage applications. Herein, we grow cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoflakes, using a sequential-electrodeposition process, into spherically porous sponge-like few-layer partially reduced graphene oxide (SrGO) synthesized by template-directed ordered assembly. Maximum specific/volumetric capacitances of 1112 F gCo3O4-1 (at 3.3 A gCo3O4-1), 178 F cm-3 (at 2.6 A cm-2), and 406 F gtotal-1 (at 1 A gtotal-1) and sensible rate capability (80% retention by increasing the charge/discharge... 

In the field of energy storage by high-rate supercapacitors, there has been an upper limit for the total interfacial capacitance of carbon-based materials. This upper limit originates from both quantum and electric double-layer capacitances. Surpassing this limit has been the focus of intense research in this field. Here, we precisely investigate the effect of chemical functional groups and physical confinement on the electrochemical performance of graphene nanoribbons. We present the results of a quasi-one-dimensional single-layer graphene nanoribbon (120 nm in width and -100 μm in length) microelectrode fabricated by mechanical exfoliation of graphite, followed by electron beam lithography... 

PbS nanoparticles were in situ deposited on graphene sheets by a successive ionic liquid adsorption and reaction method to prepare a graphene/PbS composite counter electrode for CdS/CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). Under 1 sun illumination, the cells with graphene/PbS counter electrodes (CEs) show a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 2.63%, which is remarkably higher than that of those employing PbS (1.28%) or graphene (0.23%) CEs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis shows that graphene/PbS composite counter electrodes have lower charge-transfer resistance at the interface of the CE and the polysulfide redox electrolyte, compared to those cells with PbS and... 

Energy and environment crises motivated scientists to develop sustainable, renewable, and clean energy resources mainly based on solar hydrogen. For this purpose, one main challenge is the low cost flexible substrates for designing earth abundant efficient cocatalysts to reduce required water oxidation overpotential. Here, a systematic morphological and electrochemical study has been reported for cobalt oxide/hydroxide nanoflakes simply electrodeposited on four different commercially available substrates, titanium, copper sheet, steel mesh, and nickel foam. Remarkable dependence between the used substrate, morphology, and electrocatalytic properties of nanoflakes introduced flexible porous... 

Gas permeation through nanoscale pores is ubiquitous in nature and has an important role in many technologies 1,2 . Because the pore size is typically smaller than the mean free path of gas molecules, the flow of the gas molecules is conventionally described by Knudsen theory, which assumes diffuse reflection (random-angle scattering) at confining walls 3-7 . This assumption holds surprisingly well in experiments, with only a few cases of partially specular (mirror-like) reflection known 5,8-11 . Here we report gas transport through ångström-scale channels with atomically flat walls 12,13 and show that surface scattering can be either diffuse or specular, depending on the fine details of the... 

A chemiresistive sensor is described for the lung cancer biomarker hexanal. A composite consisting of molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles and multiwalled carbon nanotubes was used in the sensor that is typically operated at a voltage of 4 V and is capable of selectively sensing gaseous hexanal at room temperature. It works in the 10 to 200 ppm concentration range and has a 10 ppm detection limit (at S/N = 3). The sensor signal recovers to a value close to its starting value without the need for heating even after exposure to relatively high levels of hexanal  

Two-dimensional semiconductor materials can be combined with conventional silicon-based technology and sort out part of the future challenges in semiconductor technologies due to their novel electrical and optical properties. Here, we exploit the optoelectronics property of the silicon/SnS2 heterojunction and present a new class of backward diodes using a straightforward fabrication method. The results indicate an efficient device with fast photoresponse time (5-10 μs), high photoresponsivity (3740 AW-1), and high quantum efficiency (490%). We discuss device behavior by considering the band-to-band tunneling model and band bending characteristics of the heterostructure. This device structure... 

Due to the favorable properties of two-dimensional materials such as SnS2, with an energy gap in the visible light spectrum, and InSe, with high electron mobility, the combination of them can create a novel platform for electronic and optical devices. Herein, we study a tunable gain SnS2/InSe Van der Waals heterostructure photodetector. SnS2 crystals were synthesized by chemical vapor transport method and characterized using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The exfoliated SnS2 and InSe layers were transferred on the substrate. This photodetector presents photoresponsivity from 14 mA/W up to 740 mA/W and detectivity from 2.2 × 108 Jones up to 3.35 × 109 Jones by gate modulation from... 

Decoding behavioral aspects associated with the water molecules in confined spaces such as an interlayer space of two-dimensional nanosheets is key for the fundamental understanding of water-matter interactions and identifying unexpected phenomena of water molecules in chemistry and physics. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the behavior of water molecules in confined spaces, their reach stops at the properties of the planar ice-like formation, where van der Waals interactions are the predominant interactions and many questions on the confined space such as the possibility of electron exchange and excitation state remain unsettled. We used density functional theory and... 

MXenes have recently witnessed significant evolution and advances in terms of their applications in different areas such as flexible electronics, energy storage devices, and coatings. Here, the mechanical properties of both pristine and functionalized Tin+1CnO2 and Tin+1NnO2 (n = 1, 2) are investigated utilizing classical molecular dynamics simulations. For eight different MXene structures, the stress-strain curves are calculated including Young's modulus, strength, and fracture strain. It is found that Ti2N holds the highest Young's modulus with the value of 517 GPa while Ti3C2 has the lowest one with the amount of 133 GPa. In addition, the strongest MXene structure is Ti2N while the... 

Ion-exchange membrane-based reverse electrodialysis (RED) shows great potential for harvesting osmotic energy from seawater and converting it to electricity. However, their low energy conversion efficiency and huge ionic resistance hinder their application on large scales. The implementation of nanofluidic channels in RED devices can significantly improve the performance of osmotic power generators due to their selective and fast ion transport. However, technical challenges in scalable processing at the nanoscale and ion-selective membranes restrict their development in economically viable generators. Here, we report fibrous-based channels as positively and negatively charged MXene fibers... 

Concentration-dependent cyto and genotoxicities of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO (rGO) sheets on spermatozoa were studied. rGO sheets with various surface chemical states were achieved using hydrazine (N2H 4) hydrothermal (HT) reactions and green tea polyphenols (GTPs). Although 0.1 μg mL-1 graphene could not change sperm viability and kinetic parameters, <40% and 20% of spermatozoa were viable and progressively motile, after 2 h incubation with 400 μg mL-1 GO or rGO, respectively. All the graphene nanomaterials induced concentration- dependent reductions of adenosine triphosphate and NAD+/NADH produced by spermatozoa for motility and metabolic activity. While GO, N 2H4-rGO, and HT-rGO...