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Within decades of development, carbon nanomaterials such as carbon black, fullerene, carbon nanotube, carbon nanofiber, graphene and their combined nanofillers have been tremendously applied in polymer material industries, generating a series of fascinating multifunctional composites in the fields from portable electronic devices, sports, entertainments to automobile, aerospace and military. Among the various material properties of the composites, electrical conductivity and mechanical performance are the two most important parameters for evaluating the effectiveness of nanofillers in the polymer matrices. In this review, we focus on the electrical and mechanical properties of diverse dimensional carbon nanofillers (e.g., zero-, one-, two-, three-dimensional nanofillers or their combinations)-reinforced polymer composites to seek the most efficient and effective approach to obtain high-performance polymeric nanocomposites.

All-inorganic CsPbX 3 (X = Cl, Br, and I) perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) have shown great promise in optoelectronics and photovoltaics owing to their outstanding linear optical properties; however, nonlinear upconversion is limited by the small cross-section of multiphoton absorption, necessitating high power density excitation. Herein, we report a convenient and versatile strategy to fine tuning the upconversion luminescence in CsPbX 3 PeQDs through sensitization by lanthanide-doped nanoparticles. Full-color emission with wavelengths beyond the availability of lanthanides is achieved through tailoring of the PeQDs bandgap, in parallel with the inherent high conversion efficiency of energy transfer upconversion under low power density excitation. Importantly, the luminescent lifetimes of the excitons can be enormously lengthened from the intrinsic nanosecond scale to milliseconds depending on the lifetimes of lanthanide ions. These findings provide a general approach to stimulate photon upconversion in PeQDs, thereby opening up a new avenue for exploring novel and versatile applications of PeQDs. Optimizing luminescence from quantum dots benefits various optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. Here the authors drive high-efficiency, tunable upconversion luminescence in perovskite quantum dots by energy transfer from lanthanide-doped nanoparticles excited by near-infrared light, to produce full-color emission with low driving power.

Fundamental understanding of the effect of doping on the optical properties of 3D double perovskites (DPs) especially the dynamics of self‐trapped excitons (STEs) is of vital importance for their optoelectronic applications. Herein, a unique strategy via Cu+ doping to achieve efficient STE emission in the alloyed lead‐free Cs2(Ag/Na)InCl6 DPs is reported. A small amount (1.0 mol%) of Cu+ doping results in boosted STE emission in the crystals, with photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield increasing from 19.0% to 62.6% and excitation band shifting from 310 to 365 nm. Temperature‐dependent PL and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopies reveal that the remarkable PL enhancement originates from the increased radiative recombination rate and density of STEs, as a result of symmetry breakdown of the STE wavefunction at the octahedral Ag+ site. These findings provide deep insights into the STE dynamics in Cu+‐doped Cs2(Ag/Na)InCl6, thereby laying a foundation for the future design of new lead‐free DPs with efficient STE emission. A strategy of Cu+ doping is proposed to boost the self‐trapped exciton (STE) emission in alloyed Cs2(Ag/Na)InCl6 double perovskites, with photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield increasing from 19.0% to 62.6% and excitation band shifting from 310 to 365 nm. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the remarkable PL enhancement stems from the increased radiative recombination rate and density of STEs.

In this work, we discovered an unexpected mechanoluminescence (ML) phenomena occurring when transforming amorphous into crystalline, due to the stress-induced precipitation of CsPbBr 3 perovskite nanocrystals on glass surface. It is revealed that, unlike the conventional thermal-induced phase transformation mechanism, the breakage of bonding of glass network provides the energy for nucleation and growth, and the shear stress avoids the long-range migration of structural units for crystallization. Such unique ML phenomenon enables the visualization of dynamical force that is inaccessible by common strategy, and so, opens up some novel applications, such as the pressuresensitive “glassy pencil” to learn people’s writing habits, and the Pb 2+ -detection with good sensitivity and selectivity. These findings not only demonstrate an effective route for the preparation of perovskite materials in a green, time-saving, low cost, and scalable way, enrich the knowledge of glass crystallization mechanism, but also exploit a useful avenue to quantitatively visualize the dynamical force.

Nd3+‐doped near‐infrared (NIR) luminescent nanocrystals (NCs) have shown great promise in various bioapplications. A fundamental understanding of the electronic structures of Nd3+ in NCs is of vital importance for discovering novel Nd3+‐activated luminescent nanoprobes and exploring their new applications. Herein, the electronic structures of Nd3+ in LiLuF4 NCs are unraveled by means of low‐temperature and high‐resolution optical spectroscopy. The photoactive site symmetry of Nd3+ in LiLuF4 NCs and its crystal‐field (CF) transition lines in the NIR region of interest are identified. By taking advantage of the well‐resolved and sharp CF transition lines of Nd3+, the application of LiLuF4:Nd3+ NCs as sensitive NIR‐to‐NIR luminescent nanoprobes for ratiometric detection of cryogenic temperature with a linear range of 77–275 K is demonstrated. These findings reveal the great potential of LiLuF4:Nd3+ NCs in temperature sensing and also lay a foundation for future design of efficient Nd3+‐based luminescent nanoprobes. The electronic structures of Nd3+ in LiLuF4 nanocrystals are unraveled by means of low‐temperature and high‐resolution optical spectroscopy. The well‐resolved and sharp crystal‐field transition lines of Nd3+ enable LiLuF4:Nd3+ nanocrystals as efficient near‐infrared (NIR)‐to‐NIR luminescent nanoprobes for ratiometric detection of cryogenic temperature with high reliability and sensitivity.

Rattle structure is a topic of great interest in design and application of nano- materials due to the unique core@void@shell architecture and the integration of functions. Herein, we developed a novel ＂ship-in-a-bottle＂ method to fabricate upconverting （UC） luminescent nanorattles by incorporating lanthanide-doped fluorides into hollow mesoporous silica. The size of nanorattles and the filling amount of fluorides can be well controlled. In addition, the modification of silica shell （with phenylene and amine groups） and the variation of efficient UC fluorides （NaYF4：Yb, Er, NaLuF4：Yb, Er, NaGdF4：Yb, Er and LiYF4：Yb, Er） were readily achieved. The resulting nanorattles exhibited a high capacity and pH-dependent release of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin （DOX）. Furthermore, we employed these nanorattles in proof-of-concept UC-monitoring drug release by utilizing the energy transfer process from UC fluorides to DOX, thus revealing the great potential of the nanorattles as efficient cancer theranostic agent.

Background Ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles are of potential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents for tumor diagnosis. However, ultrasmall particle size or negative surface charge lead to relative short half-life which limit the utilization of USPIO for in vivo MRI contrast agents. Methods Superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles coated with polyacrylic acid (PAA)were synthetized, and modified by 3-amino propanol and 3-diethyl amino propyl amine. The characteristics of superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles were investigated through transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, Zata potential analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and relaxation properties analysis. Magnetic resonance imaging animal experiment was performed. Results The synthetized nanoparticles were irregular spherical, with small particle size, few agglomeration, and good dispersion in water. After modification, the potential fluctuation of nanoparticles was small, and the isoelectric point of nanoparticles changed to high pH. After 3-amino propanol modification, the weight loss of the curve from 820 to 940 °C was attributed to the decomposition of 3-amino propanol molecules on the surface. The T1 relaxation rate of nanoparticles changed little before and after modification, which proved that the modification didn’t change the relaxation time. Brighter vascular images were observed after 3-amino propanol modification through measurement of magnetic resonance tumor imaging. Conclusion These data indicated the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles modified by 3-amino propanol should be a better contrast agent in the field of magnetic resonance tumor imaging.

Organic–inorganic hybrid manganese halides (OIMnHs) have attracted significant attention in the field of optoelectronics due to their outstanding optical properties and low toxicity. However, the development of crystalline compounds with scintillating properties and high light yield remains a significant challenge. In this study, a simple solution method was employed to successfully synthesize a new zero-dimensional (0-D) scintillation crystal, (C13H25N)2[MnBr4] (C13H25N = trimethyladamantan-1-aminium). The introduction of bulky and rigid organic cations not only spatially isolates the [MnBr4]2− tetrahedrons but also effectively expands the Mn···Mn distance, thereby suppressing the concentration quenching and self-absorption effects. This structural design achieves a high photoluminescence quantum yield of about 63.8% at room temperature and a remarkable light yield of 44,300 photons MeV−1. After multiple irradiation cycles, the material retains its stable radiative characteristics. This work highlights the key role of rigid cation engineering in improving luminescence efficiency and scintillation performance and provides new ideas for designing efficient and nontoxic OIMnH-based scintillators.

Understanding the origin of temperature‐dependent bandgap in inorganic lead‐halide perovskites is essential and important for their applications in photovoltaics and optoelectronics. Herein, it is found that the temperature dependence of bandgap in CsPbBr3 perovskites is variable with material dimensionality. In contrast to the monotonous redshift ordinarily observed in bulk‐like CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs), the bandgap of 2D CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets (NPLs) exhibits an initial blueshift then redshift trend with decreasing temperature (290–10 K). The Bose–Einstein two‐oscillator modeling manifests that the blueshift‐redshift crossover of bandgap in the NPLs is attributed to the significantly larger weight of contribution from electron‐optical phonon interaction to the bandgap renormalization in the NPLs than in the NCs. These new findings may gain deep insights into the origin of bandgap shift with temperature for both fundamentals and applications of perovskite semiconductor materials. The temperature dependence of bandgap in inorganic lead‐halide perovskites is found to be variable with material dimensionality. In sharp contrast to the monotonous redshift usually observed in quasi‐3D bulk‐like CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs), the bandgap of 2D 2‐monolayer‐thick (2‐ML‐thick) CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets (NPLs) exhibits an initial blueshift then redshift trend with decreasing temperature (290–10 K).

Large-size scintillators with high efficiency and ultrafast radiation fluorescence have shown more potential in the applications to ionizing radiation detection of medical diagnosis, nuclear control and high-energy physics. Currently, although traditional scintillators have made tremendous progress in scintillation efficiency, there are still challenges left in fluorescence lifetime. Faced with that problem, we adopted 2-inch ZnO as the substrate and doped gallium as activator to realize an ultrafast fluorescence excited by α-ray, of which the decay time is only 600 ps that is the shortest scintillation decay time reported so far. The results show that the shallow donor related with gallium not only effectively suppresses band-edge self-absorption, but makes ultrafast radiation possible, which gets gallium-doped ZnO as a potential scintillator for high-quality ultrafast dynamic imaging proved.