Hierarchical Carbon Nanocone-Silica Metamaterials: Implications for White Light Photoluminescence

Abstract

Photoluminescence of composites containing carbon nanostructures is critical for many modern applications. Of particular significance are metamaterials capable of generating white light photoluminescence within a single structure, as the white luminescence usually needs separate red–green–blue emitters. This work provides an insight into the photoluminescent properties of a promising family of hierarchical metamaterials made of carbon nanocones in a silicon oxide matrix in view of their use as efficient single-layer white light emitters. The composites were prepared using a facile plasma-enhanced technology, followed by a thermal treatment. ATR-FTIR, Raman, SEM, and AFM microscopy and profilometry characterization confirmed the presence of silica and carbon nanocones. The advanced comprehensive photoluminescence studies conducted using solid-state Yb:KGW laser revealed a significant difference in photoluminescent properties for the composites containing sharp nanocones of similar parameters. A comprehensive morphological analysis performed using several analytical techniques including the 2D fast Fourier transform spectra, Hough distributions, spectral density function, and Minkowski functionals revealed the Minkowski boundary functional, ordering, and connectivity to be the most important morphological descriptors for the photoluminescent response. This study suggests that these morphological parameters play a critical role in defining the key properties of advanced metamaterials via the overlap of Ψ functions and may therefore be targeted for informed material design and intelligent fabrication.

Nanoengineered Carbon‐Based Interfaces for Advanced Energy and Photonics Applications: A Recent Progress and Innovations

“…[136,137] Hierarchical carbon-based metamaterials have been recently demonstrated to generate white light via photoluminescence from a single structure, without the use of red-green-blue emitters. [142] The former were created by applying an advanced technology resulting from a simple yet effective combination of oxygen plasma with a high-temperature treatment; when used individually or in combination, these technologies have previously been demonstrated to be promising technology for the synthesis and modification of nanomaterials and their systems. [143 , 144] The depositions have been carried out using a radio-frequency (RF) inductively-coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ICP-PECVD) reactor [145,146] shown in Figure 10a.…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [142] Copyright 2022, ACS. structural changes remained not fully understood due to the challenges of studying the process of material fusing under these conditions.…”

“…d) Photoluminescence spectra measured on the annealed sample for different fluences I 0 , demonstrating the linear dependence from I 0 . Reproduced with permission [142]. Copyright 2022, ACS.…”

Hierarchical Nanomaterials by Selective Deposition of Noble Metal Nanoparticles: Insight into Control and Growth Processes

“…Complex hierarchical nanomaterials and metamaterials are currently in the focus of research efforts worldwide. [1][2][3] Figure 1. General scheme of the proposed process and simplified scheme of the processes during the decoration-controlled nanowire growth.…”

Spinel CoFe2O4 Nanoflakes: A Path to Enhance Energy Generation and Environmental Remediation Potential of Waste-Derived rGO

“…For material synthesis, biomass waste is a valuable source of carbon and trace minerals [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], where the micro- and nanostructure of the material may give rise to unusual material architectures without the need for complex templates or multi-step processes [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. With an attractive combination of properties such as good conductivity, high surface area and chemical reactivity, these multipurpose materials can underpin sustainable circular economy by enabling new efficient nanomaterial-based devices [ 13 , 14 ] and functional coatings [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. In particular, the visible light driven catalytic platforms for environmental remediation [ 18 , 19 ], and the efficient energy storage and conversion devices [ 20 , 21 ] such as supercapacitors and fuel cells (e.g., direct methanol fuel cells, DMFCs) which attract tremendous interest because of the higher efficiency, low pollution emission and flexible fuel choice [ 22 , 23 ].…”