Aerosol Synthesis and Gas-Phase Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Ag-Bi-I Nanosystems

Abstract

We report on the aerosol generation of ligand-free silver iodobismuthate (Ag-Bi-I) nanoparticles (NPs) and on in situ investigation of their electronic structure using synchrotron radiation soft X-ray aerosol photoelectron spectroscopy (XAPS). The structural and morphological characterizations revealed the aerosol to be composed of spherical rudorffite Ag3BiI6 particles, approximately 100 nm in size. The XAPS showed well-resolved signals from all expected elements (Ag, Bi, and I) and allowed estimation of the NP work function to be about 4.5 eV. The ionization energy of Ag3BiI6 NPs was determined to be 6.1 eV that is in good agreement with our calculations based on a hybrid functional approach. The presented method of production of Ag3BiI6 aerosol can prove beneficial for the future development of Ag-Bi-I-based photovoltaic materials, since it allows the deposition of Ag-Bi-I particles on large surface areas of arbitrary shape and roughness.

The Role of Structural Flexibility in Plasmon‐Driven Coupling Reactions: Kinetic Limitations in the Dimerization of Nitro‐Benzenes

“…[50] The linearity of the kinetic energy scale had been validated by using 2s, 2p, 3p, and 3s ionization edges [49] and KLL Auger electrons [51] of the carrier Argon gas, as discussed before. [52] It should be noted that in the PLEIADES setup, the photoelectron lines from the focused AuNPs could be resolved from those produced by residual H 2 O solvent molecules and Ar carrier gas, which were not focused by the aerodynamic lens. [52] Due to the referencing of the binding energies E B to the ionization edges of the Ar gas, the calibration was not influenced by the exact energetic peak position of the photoelectrons.…”

“…[52] It should be noted that in the PLEIADES setup, the photoelectron lines from the focused AuNPs could be resolved from those produced by residual H 2 O solvent molecules and Ar carrier gas, which were not focused by the aerodynamic lens. [52] Due to the referencing of the binding energies E B to the ionization edges of the Ar gas, the calibration was not influenced by the exact energetic peak position of the photoelectrons. [52] The total error of the kinetic energy calibration (E kin ) was ≈0.1 eV, thus, with an estimated error of the Au4f peak fit of 0.1 eV, an error of 0.2 eV for the ref NTP/NBM ∆ shift was obtained.…”

Water–biomolecule clusters studied by photoemission spectroscopy and multilevel atomistic simulations: hydration or solvation?

“…30 Note that the twodimensional XPS imaging allows to distinguish XPS lines produced by a focused cluster beam, from those produced by the calibration gas that fill the entire interaction region. 31…”

The Role of Structural Flexibility in Plasmon-Driven Coupling Reactions: Kinetic Limitations in the Dimerization of Nitro-Benzenes

“…45 The linearity of the kinetic energy scale has been validated by using 2s, 2p, 3p and 3s ionization edges 44 and KLL Auger electrons 46 of the carrier Argon gas, as discussed before. 47 It should be noted that in the PLEIADES setup, the photoelectron lines from the focused AuNPs can be resolved from those produced by residual H 2 O solvent molecules and Ar carrier gas, which are not focused by the aerodynamic lens. 47 Raman Micro-Spectroscopy Raman spectra were recorded using a confocal Raman microscope (alpha 300; WITec, Ulm, Germany) coupled with a laser excitation of a wavelength at 785 nm.…”

“…47 It should be noted that in the PLEIADES setup, the photoelectron lines from the focused AuNPs can be resolved from those produced by residual H 2 O solvent molecules and Ar carrier gas, which are not focused by the aerodynamic lens. 47 Raman Micro-Spectroscopy Raman spectra were recorded using a confocal Raman microscope (alpha 300; WITec, Ulm, Germany) coupled with a laser excitation of a wavelength at 785 nm. The laser beam was focused through 10X (Nikon, NA=0.25) microscope objective, in order to average out sample inhomogeneities in the particle distribution.…”