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Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Enhancing interfacial charge transport in Gold Nanoparticle@Polyaniline hybrids via N-heterocyclic carbene linkersN-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have emerged as a unique class of ligands for gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), combining strong metal binding with intrinsic electronic conductivity. Yet over the past decade, studies on Au NP@NHC systems have primarily focused on their stability, while the conductivity of NHCs has remained largely unexplored due to synthesis challenges. Here, we present a synthetic strategy that addresses this gap by employing amino-functionalized NHC-Au complexes with in situ oxidative polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) to yield electronically coupled Au NP@NHC-PANI hybrids in aqueous media. This strategy enables both a controlled PANI shell growth and introduction of an electronically active NHC interlayer. Single-particle scattering spectroscopy reveals that NHCs improve the interfacial electronic coupling as evidenced by pronounced plasmonic linewidth broadening. Conductivity measurements further confirm that NHCs enhance charge transport: conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) shows an increase in contact current from 14.6 to 99.4 pA under a 300-mV bias, while lateral four-probe conductance increases from 0.17 to 3.5 nS. These results provide the first direct experimental evidence of the conductive role of NHCs in hybrid NP-polymer systems, establishing a new interface-engineering strategy for the rational design of electronically delocalized nanostructures and their applications in nanoelectronics.Publicationtype: Journal Article59 14 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Efficient and reversible chirality induction between protein and achiral plasmonic assemblies(Nature Publishing Group, 2026-04-15); ; ; ; Chiral molecules in nature usually show optical activity only in the deep ultraviolet, whereas artificial chiral plasmonic nanostructures can generate much stronger responses at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. An important challenge is whether the abundant biomolecular chirality in nature can be directly transferred to achiral plasmonic systems without elaborate three-dimensional nanofabrication. Here we show that the mechanical stretching of protein molecules anchored within achiral gold nanoparticle assemblies strongly enhances and reversibly modulates plasmon-coupled circular dichroism. Stretching amplifies the chiroptical response to an ellipticity of 1.18° and a dissymmetry factor of 0.2, far exceeding conventional hotspot-based strategies. Repeated stretching and relaxation further enable reversible switching over more than 100 cycles. Simulations and in situ spectroscopy indicate that the deformation of protein changes its conformation and dipole alignment, thereby strengthening the plasmonic chiral response. These findings establish a route to achieve dynamically controllable chiroptical activity in achiral plasmonic assemblies, revealing how small biomolecular deformations can strongly influence plasmonic responses of much larger nanostructures.Publicationtype: Journal Article21 24 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Gold Nanoparticles with N-Heterocyclic Carbene/Triphenylamine Surface Ligands: Stable and Electrochromically Active Hybrid Materials for OptoelectronicsOrganic-hybrid particle-based materials are increasingly important in (opto)electronics, sensing, and catalysis due to their printability and stretchability as well as their potential for unique synergistic functional effects. However, these functional properties are often limited due to poor electronic coupling between the organic shell and the nanoparticle. N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) belong to the most promising anchors to achieve electronic delocalization across the interface, as they form robust and highly conductive bonds with metals and offer a plethora of functionalization possibilities. Despite the outstanding potential of the conductive NHC-metal bond, synthetic challenges have so far limited its application to the improvement of colloidal stabilities, disregarding the potential of the conductive anchor. Here, NHC anchors are used to modify redox-active gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with conjugated triphenylamines (TPA). The resulting AuNPs exhibit excellent thermal and redox stability benefiting from the robust NHC-gold bond. As electrochromic materials, the hybrid materials show pronounced color changes from red to dark green, a highly stable cycling stability (1000 cycles), and a fast response speed (5.6 s/2.1 s). Furthermore, TPA-NHC@AuNP exhibits an ionization potential of 5.3 eV and a distinct out-of-plane conductivity, making them a promising candidate for application as hole transport layers in optoelectronic devices.Publicationtype: Journal Article27 32 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , “Colorless-to-black” electrochromic and AIE-active polyamides: An effective strategy for the highest-contrast electrofluorochromism(2020-11-24); ; ; ; Electrofluorochromic (EFC) materials have gained extensive attention owing to their interesting modulations of fluorescence by an electric stimulus. However, the limited performances, especially the low fluorescence on/off contrast, significantly hampered their further applications. Herein, we design a new strategy to achieve high-contrast electrofluorochromism by combinations of “colorless-to-black” electrochromism and highly fluorescent AIE activity. Given the effective fluorescence quenching effect and high solid-state fluorescence, a fluorescence contrast of 838 is realized, to the best of our knowledge, the highest reported so far. Furthermore, to explore the structure-property relationships, we also separated the E/Z isomers of tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and studied the properties of the three electroactive/fluorescent polymers (11TPE-PA, E-12TPE-PA, and Z-12TPE-PA) derived from different TPE derivatives and isomers. The three branches of polymers all exhibited AIE-active and “colorless-to-black” electrochromic (EC) properties. In addition to the ultrahigh fluorescence contrast, Z-12TPE-PA also integrated high electrochromic contrast (Δ% T = 92%), short response time (0.6 s/0.3 s), and excellent switching stability (300 cycles), paving the way for the applications in various electronic applications. The study will provide novel insights into the future design and development of high-performance EC/EFC materials.Publicationtype: Journal Article16 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Synergistic effect between electroactive tetraphenyl-: P -phenylenediamine and AIE-active tetraphenylethylene for highly integrated electrochromic/electrofluorochromic performances(Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2019-07-08); ; ; ; Switchable fluorescent materials have gained great attention due to their promising applications in sensors, memory devices and displays. However, further progress is hindered by the low fluorescence contrast, modest response speed and inferior long-term cycling stability. Based on a rational design strategy by combining a highly conjugated tetraphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (TPPA) unit and an aggregation induced emission (AIE)-active tetraphenylethylene (TPE) unit, we synthesized a novel diamine "N,N′-bis(4-aminophenyl)-N,N′-di(4-(1,2,2-triphenylethenyl)phenyl)-1,4-phenylenediamine" to construct an electro- and AIE-active polymer. In addition to the high efficiency solid-state fluorescence and the extremely stable redox properties, the resulting polymer TPE-TPPA-PA realized highly integrated emission/color dual-switchable properties, including multistage color-changing, high fluorescence on/off contrast up to 252, impressively rapid response rate (1.3/0.5 s for EC and 0.7/2.1 s for EFC processes) and excellent cycling stability over 10000 s. The demonstrated synergistic effect between stable electroactive TPPA and AIE-active TPE may provide a new pathway for further molecular design to realize high-performance emission/color dual-switchable materials.Publicationtype: Journal Article22 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , High-performance emission/color dual-switchable polymer-bearing pendant tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and triphenylamine (TPA) moietiesElectrofluorochromic (EFC) materials have aroused great interest owing to their interesting ability of tuning fluorescence in response to the applied potential. However, some crucial characteristics, such as response speed, fluorescence contrast, and switching stability, are still not well realized to meet the requirements of practical applications. Herein, we designed and synthesized a novel polyamide-bearing aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and a highly conjugated triphenylamine (TPA) pendant group. The rational combination of the highly conjugated TPA and TPE caused the resultant polymer to exhibit highly integrated electrochromic (EC) and EFC performances including multiple color-changing (colorless to green to blue), fast response speed (1.8/1.1 s for EC and 0.4/2.9 s for EFC process), high fluorescence contrast (82 at the duration time of 20 s), and excellent long-term stability over 300 cycles. The strategy of AIE functionality by combing a highly conjugated redox unit demonstrates a synergistic effect to prepare high-performance emission/color dual-switchable materials, greatly promoting their applications in sensors, smart windows, and displays.Publicationtype: Journal Article20