CdTe nanoclusters were prepared in aqueous solution by the reaction between Cd 2+ and NaHTe in the presence of thioglycolic acid. Under reflux, the clusters start to crystallize and show a narrow band emission. The photoluminescence efficiency of CdTe nanocrystals strongly depends on the pH value of the colloidal solution.The maximum quantum yield at room temperature is approximately 18% when the pH value of the CdTe solution is brought to 4.5 by using thioglycolic acid. The optical spectroscopy studies imply that the pHdependent behavior of the CdTe nanocrystals' fluorescence is caused by structural changes on the surface rather than the size of the nanocrystals. Systematic absorption and fluorescence studies on dialyzed samples suggest that in the acidic range a shell of cadmium thiol complexes is formed around the CdTe core. Thus, the fluorescence quantum yield is enhanced dramatically when the solution is made acidic. In contrast, such a shell can also be produced in the alkaline range, but only after the CdTe nanocrystal crude solution is purified by dialysis.

Light- and small-angle neutron scattering as well as cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) studies were performed to probe the structure of J-aggregates formed by a series of achiral dye molecules of the 5,5‘,6,6‘-tetrachlorobenzimidacarbocyanine chromophore having 1,1‘-dialkyl substituents combined with 3,3‘-bis(4-sulfobutyl)-3,3‘-bis(4-carboxybutyl) or 3,3‘-bis(3-carboxypropyl) substituents. Assemblies that display a dependence on the substituents different complex supramolecular structures of nanometer-to-micrometer size have been directly visualized by cryo-TEM. The superstructures span from monomolecular layers formed by the 1,1‘-diethyl-3,3‘-bis(4-sulfobutyl) derivative and stacks of bilayer ribbons in the case of the 1,1‘-dioctyl-3,3‘-bis(4-carboxybutyl) derivative to twisted ropelike structures for the chiral aggregate of the 1,1‘-dioctyl-3,3‘-bis(3-carboxypropyl)-substituted chromophore.

Uniform exciton fluorescence from individual molecular nanotubes immobilized on solid substrates Eisele, Doerthe M.; Knoester, Jasper; Kirstein, Stefan; Rabe, Juergen P.; Vanden Bout, David A.; Rabe, Jürgen P. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Since the optical properties of the tubular J-aggregates strongly depend on their specific supramolecular structure, the absorption and emission spectra from the sample can be used to determine if the molecular structure of the aggregates has changed upon deposition onto the substrate. Because the tubules on the substrate are highly dilute, emission spectra rather than the very weak absorption spectra were used. Emission spectra were collected rather than excitation spectra because of the extremely small Stokes shift for the emission. Emission spectra of tubular J-aggregates in solution (red) and after preparation on a quartz surface (black)via spin-coating and slowly drying in air (c) Idem, but now the black line is the spectrum of aggregates prepared on quartz via the drop flow technique and drying by blowing with nitrogen.As shown in the manuscript, the sample prepared by the drop-flow technique and carefully dried in air in a black box had spectra that were nearly identical in both position and width to the solution, indicating no significant morphological and structural changes upon deposition.3