Istituto Nanoscienze

Deciphering Aggregation-Induced Tunable Circular Dichroism of AuBP@Ag and AuBP@Au Chiral Core–Shell Plasmonic Nanoparticles

Abstract Plasmonic nanoparticles exhibiting strong and tunable chiroptical signals have been drawing much interest recently due to their potential vast applications. A few years ago, it was shown that seed-mediated metal growth can be harnessed to make single nanoparticles intrin...

Warming up ground-state orbitals: A route to excitation energies?

Linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is the workhorse of spectral prediction, yet it can struggle to predict or even describe important low-lying excitation energies. An alternative is to use static formalisms to target excited-state energies directly...

Excitonic Physics in Emerging 2D Semiconductors: A First-Principles Many-Body Perspective from Photodetection to Solar Energy Conversion

Abstract Chemically and structurally diverse two-dimensional semiconductors exhibit a broad range of excitonic and optical phenomena that have direct implications for optoelectronic functionality. We examine these materials from a first-principles many-body perspective, emphasizi...

Coherent Absorption Reveals Colors Hidden in a Grey Fabry–Pérot Cavity

ABSTRACT Thin dielectric films are known to show distinct colors, depending primarily on the film thickness. In the present article we show that a specialized thin film Fabry–Pérot resonator, that we name conductor–dielectric–conductor (CDC) matched cavity, appears grey when obse...

Operando and Postmortem Study of Iridium-Decorated Titanium-Based Catalysts in PEM Water Electrolysis

Abstract Understanding the dynamic degradation of oxygen-evolution electrocatalysts under realistic operating conditions is essential for advancing the performance and efficiency of proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers. By combining operando Small-Angle and Wide-Ang...

Surface Termination Unlocks Photocatalytic Potential: Reshaping Structure and Electronics in Ultrathin MoS 2 /TiO 2 Heterojunctions

Anatase TiO 2 stands out for its exceptional chemical stability, nontoxicity, and robust photocatalytic capabilities; however, its intrinsically wide bandgap severely restricts its activity to the ultraviolet spectrum, limiting practical efficiency under solar illumination. To ci...

Photo-guided azopolymer hydrogel actuators

Amorphous azopolymers are fascinating materials that can be deformed in arbitrary directions by light. However, they are so far used mostly for microfabrication, to anisotropically reshape dry polymer structures - essentially as a post-processing fabrication step. This is because...

Gas-phase synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles with robust high bandgap shell materials: A study of Cu@CaF2 with AI supported transmission electron microscopy analysis

Cu@CaF2 plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) films are physically synthesized, and their morphology, and electronic and optical properties are thoroughly investigated. Cu NPs are generated using a gas aggregation source assisted by magnetron sputtering, while CaF2 coatings are deposited b...