Evaluating the Band Gaps of Semiconductors by Cataluminescence

Abstract

A rapid and efficient methodology for the evaluation of band gaps of semiconductors is highly desirable to analyze and assess the intrinsic properties and extending application scopes of semiconductor materials. Here, the negative correlation of the cataluminescence (CTL) signal in the presence of H2S and the band gap of Aurivillius-type perovskite oxide Bi4+n Fe n Ti3O12+3n (n = 1–4) was confirmed, where the H2S-induced CTL signal acts as a probe to evaluate the band gaps of semiconductor materials. The related mechanism shows that the thermal energy obtained by heating makes the electrons in the valence band more easily excite into the conduction band of a narrower band gap material and further promotes electron transfer between the gaseous compounds and semiconductor materials, causing acceleration of the catalytic oxide process. In addition, the extensibility was further verified by exploring the layered perovskite containing other insertion structures, including Bi4+n Co n Ti3O12+3n (n = 1–4), Bi5NiTi3O15, and Bi5MnTi3O15, which was also consistent with the results characterized by UV diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The established CTL probe for band gap evaluation shows rapid response, is simple to operate, and is of low cost, which is expected to become an innovative alternative to the conventional band gap assessment approach.

Near-Infrared Catalytic Chemiluminescence System based on Zinc Gallate Nanoprobe for Hydrazine Sensing

“…This phenomenon can be explained that the radius of the Cr 3+ ion (0.615 Å) was smaller than that of the Ga 3+ ion (0.62 Å) by the Bragg equation, indicating the successful doping of Cr 3+ . 32 As shown in the Figure 1b and Figure S3, the XPS results of the representative samples revealed three kinds of peaks at both 1044.2 and 1021.2 eV (Zn 2p), at both 1144.3 and 1117.4 eV (Ga 2p), and at both 585.6 and 576.0 eV (Cr 2p peaks). Importantly, the TEM images showed excellent dispersibility and uniform morphology with 9 nm of ZGC-3 NPs (Figure 1c), indicating great potentials for further reliably sensing nanoplatforms.…”

Efficient Photoinduced Thermocatalytic Chemiluminescence System Based on the Z-Scheme Heterojunction Ag3PO4/Ag/Bi4Ti3O12 for H2S Sensing

“…Besides, our previous work 15 has demonstrated that there is significant negative correlation between CTL reaction and BTO after excluding the effect of the properties of the material surface.…”

“…Besides, our previous work has demonstrated that there is significant negative correlation between CTL reaction and energy band gap of the semiconductor catalyst, which is due to the more active electron transfer ability of narrow band gap materials under the same thermal excitation conditions, accelerating the catalytic oxidation process. Thus, it is necessary to further investigate the electronic structure of the materials that may influence catalytic efficiency.…”

“…The CL process can occur in liquid, gas, or solid phases, among which cataluminescence (CTL) , is one of the transduction principles of CL generated from the luminescence phenomenon during the catalytic oxidation reaction of compounds at the gas–solid interface . Because of the advantages of miniaturization and portability, rapid and reversible response, high selectivity, and low cost, CTL sensor systems in the booming development have received enormous attention − and have been widely applied in the detection and identification of toxic and harmful gases, which have made important contributions to environmental problems, , quality monitoring, catalyst evaluation, − and clinical diagnosis . Nevertheless, in the abovementioned application fields, there is an increasing demand for even higher sensitivity, accuracy, stability, and more species to test.…”

“…Besides playing the most critical role in the CTL system, the catalyst as a sensing material influences the catalytic reaction mechanism and determines the reaction efficiency by virtue of its composition, , structure, and morphology . Notably, utilizing the special properties of luminescent rare earth ions, including Eu 3+ and Tb 3+ , the energy transfer CTL system with a unique effect mechanism has been developed for achieving highly sensitive monitoring of gas molecules and rapidly identifying similar compounds. , Moreover, our previous work found that the band gap of semiconductor materials has an effect on the catalytic performance of the sensing material and demonstrated that narrow band gap materials exhibit better catalytic efficiency due to the more active electron transfer ability under the same thermal excitation conditions. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that the effective combination of the innovative CTL sensing system and advanced sensing material will undoubtedly be a powerful analytical strategy for improving the analytical sensing performance of gas compounds.…”