@article{13235, abstract = {AgSbSe2 is a promising thermoelectric (TE) p-type material for applications in the middle-temperature range. AgSbSe2 is characterized by relatively low thermal conductivities and high Seebeck coefficients, but its main limitation is moderate electrical conductivity. Herein, we detail an efficient and scalable hot-injection synthesis route to produce AgSbSe2 nanocrystals (NCs). To increase the carrier concentration and improve the electrical conductivity, these NCs are doped with Sn2+ on Sb3+ sites. Upon processing, the Sn2+ chemical state is conserved using a reducing NaBH4 solution to displace the organic ligand and anneal the material under a forming gas flow. The TE properties of the dense materials obtained from the consolidation of the NCs using a hot pressing are then characterized. The presence of Sn2+ ions replacing Sb3+ significantly increases the charge carrier concentration and, consequently, the electrical conductivity. Opportunely, the measured Seebeck coefficient varied within a small range upon Sn doping. The excellent performance obtained when Sn2+ ions are prevented from oxidation is rationalized by modeling the system. Calculated band structures disclosed that Sn doping induces convergence of the AgSbSe2 valence bands, accounting for an enhanced electronic effective mass. The dramatically enhanced carrier transport leads to a maximized power factor for AgSb0.98Sn0.02Se2 of 0.63 mW m–1 K–2 at 640 K. Thermally, phonon scattering is significantly enhanced in the NC-based materials, yielding an ultralow thermal conductivity of 0.3 W mK–1 at 666 K. Overall, a record-high figure of merit (zT) is obtained at 666 K for AgSb0.98Sn0.02Se2 at zT = 1.37, well above the values obtained for undoped AgSbSe2, at zT = 0.58 and state-of-art Pb- and Te-free materials, which makes AgSb0.98Sn0.02Se2 an excellent p-type candidate for medium-temperature TE applications.}, author = {Liu, Yu and Li, Mingquan and Wan, Shanhong and Lim, Khak Ho and Zhang, Yu and Li, Mengyao and Li, Junshan and Ibáñez, Maria and Hong, Min and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {12}, pages = {11923–11934}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Surface chemistry and band engineering in AgSbSe₂: Toward high thermoelectric performance}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.3c03541}, volume = {17}, year = {2023}, } @article{13346, abstract = {The self-assembly of nanoparticles driven by small molecules or ions may produce colloidal superlattices with features and properties reminiscent of those of metals or semiconductors. However, to what extent the properties of such supramolecular crystals actually resemble those of atomic materials often remains unclear. Here, we present coarse-grained molecular simulations explicitly demonstrating how a behavior evocative of that of semiconductors may emerge in a colloidal superlattice. As a case study, we focus on gold nanoparticles bearing positively charged groups that self-assemble into FCC crystals via mediation by citrate counterions. In silico ohmic experiments show how the dynamically diverse behavior of the ions in different superlattice domains allows the opening of conductive ionic gates above certain levels of applied electric fields. The observed binary conductive/nonconductive behavior is reminiscent of that of conventional semiconductors, while, at a supramolecular level, crossing the “band gap” requires a sufficient electrostatic stimulus to break the intermolecular interactions and make ions diffuse throughout the superlattice’s cavities.}, author = {Lionello, Chiara and Perego, Claudio and Gardin, Andrea and Klajn, Rafal and Pavan, Giovanni M.}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {General Physics and Astronomy, General Engineering, General Materials Science}, number = {1}, pages = {275--287}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Supramolecular semiconductivity through emerging ionic gates in ion–nanoparticle superlattices}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.2c07558}, volume = {17}, year = {2023}, } @article{12915, abstract = {Cu2–xS and Cu2–xSe have recently been reported as promising thermoelectric (TE) materials for medium-temperature applications. In contrast, Cu2–xTe, another member of the copper chalcogenide family, typically exhibits low Seebeck coefficients that limit its potential to achieve a superior thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, particularly in the low-temperature range where this material could be effective. To address this, we investigated the TE performance of Cu1.5–xTe–Cu2Se nanocomposites by consolidating surface-engineered Cu1.5Te nanocrystals. This surface engineering strategy allows for precise adjustment of Cu/Te ratios and results in a reversible phase transition at around 600 K in Cu1.5–xTe–Cu2Se nanocomposites, as systematically confirmed by in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction combined with differential scanning calorimetry analysis. The phase transition leads to a conversion from metallic-like to semiconducting-like TE properties. Additionally, a layer of Cu2Se generated around Cu1.5–xTe nanoparticles effectively inhibits Cu1.5–xTe grain growth, minimizing thermal conductivity and decreasing hole concentration. These properties indicate that copper telluride based compounds have a promising thermoelectric potential, translated into a high dimensionless zT of 1.3 at 560 K.}, author = {Xing, Congcong and Zhang, Yu and Xiao, Ke and Han, Xu and Liu, Yu and Nan, Bingfei and Ramon, Maria Garcia and Lim, Khak Ho and Li, Junshan and Arbiol, Jordi and Poudel, Bed and Nozariasbmarz, Amin and Li, Wenjie and Ibáñez, Maria and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {9}, pages = {8442--8452}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Thermoelectric performance of surface-engineered Cu1.5–xTe–Cu2Se nanocomposites}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.3c00495}, volume = {17}, year = {2023}, } @article{10042, abstract = {SnSe has emerged as one of the most promising materials for thermoelectric energy conversion due to its extraordinary performance in its single-crystal form and its low-cost constituent elements. However, to achieve an economic impact, the polycrystalline counterpart needs to replicate the performance of the single crystal. Herein, we optimize the thermoelectric performance of polycrystalline SnSe produced by consolidating solution-processed and surface-engineered SnSe particles. In particular, the SnSe particles are coated with CdSe molecular complexes that crystallize during the sintering process, forming CdSe nanoparticles. The presence of CdSe nanoparticles inhibits SnSe grain growth during the consolidation step due to Zener pinning, yielding a material with a high density of grain boundaries. Moreover, the resulting SnSe–CdSe nanocomposites present a large number of defects at different length scales, which significantly reduce the thermal conductivity. The produced SnSe–CdSe nanocomposites exhibit thermoelectric figures of merit up to 2.2 at 786 K, which is among the highest reported for solution-processed SnSe.}, author = {Liu, Yu and Calcabrini, Mariano and Yu, Yuan and Lee, Seungho and Chang, Cheng and David, Jérémy and Ghosh, Tanmoy and Spadaro, Maria Chiara and Xie, Chenyang and Cojocaru-Mirédin, Oana and Arbiol, Jordi and Ibáñez, Maria}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {tin selenide, nanocomposite, grain growth, Zener pinning, thermoelectricity, annealing, solution processing}, number = {1}, pages = {78--88}, publisher = {American Chemical Society }, title = {{Defect engineering in solution-processed polycrystalline SnSe leads to high thermoelectric performance}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.1c06720}, volume = {16}, year = {2022}, } @article{9235, abstract = {Cu2–xS has become one of the most promising thermoelectric materials for application in the middle-high temperature range. Its advantages include the abundance, low cost, and safety of its elements and a high performance at relatively elevated temperatures. However, stability issues limit its operation current and temperature, thus calling for the optimization of the material performance in the middle temperature range. Here, we present a synthetic protocol for large scale production of covellite CuS nanoparticles at ambient temperature and atmosphere, and using water as a solvent. The crystal phase and stoichiometry of the particles are afterward tuned through an annealing process at a moderate temperature under inert or reducing atmosphere. While annealing under argon results in Cu1.8S nanopowder with a rhombohedral crystal phase, annealing in an atmosphere containing hydrogen leads to tetragonal Cu1.96S. High temperature X-ray diffraction analysis shows the material annealed in argon to transform to the cubic phase at ca. 400 K, while the material annealed in the presence of hydrogen undergoes two phase transitions, first to hexagonal and then to the cubic structure. The annealing atmosphere, temperature, and time allow adjustment of the density of copper vacancies and thus tuning of the charge carrier concentration and material transport properties. In this direction, the material annealed under Ar is characterized by higher electrical conductivities but lower Seebeck coefficients than the material annealed in the presence of hydrogen. By optimizing the charge carrier concentration through the annealing time, Cu2–xS with record figures of merit in the middle temperature range, up to 1.41 at 710 K, is obtained. We finally demonstrate that this strategy, based on a low-cost and scalable solution synthesis process, is also suitable for the production of high performance Cu2–xS layers using high throughput and cost-effective printing technologies.}, author = {Li, Mengyao and Liu, Yu and Zhang, Yu and Han, Xu and Zhang, Ting and Zuo, Yong and Xie, Chenyang and Xiao, Ke and Arbiol, Jordi and Llorca, Jordi and Ibáñez, Maria and Liu, Junfeng and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {General Engineering, General Physics and Astronomy, General Materials Science}, number = {3}, pages = {4967–4978}, publisher = {American Chemical Society }, title = {{Effect of the annealing atmosphere on crystal phase and thermoelectric properties of copper sulfide}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.0c09866}, volume = {15}, year = {2021}, } @article{6566, abstract = {Methodologies that involve the use of nanoparticles as “artificial atoms” to rationally build materials in a bottom-up fashion are particularly well-suited to control the matter at the nanoscale. Colloidal synthetic routes allow for an exquisite control over such “artificial atoms” in terms of size, shape, and crystal phase as well as core and surface compositions. We present here a bottom-up approach to produce Pb–Ag–K–S–Te nanocomposites, which is a highly promising system for thermoelectric energy conversion. First, we developed a high-yield and scalable colloidal synthesis route to uniform lead sulfide (PbS) nanorods, whose tips are made of silver sulfide (Ag2S). We then took advantage of the large surface-to-volume ratio to introduce a p-type dopant (K) by replacing native organic ligands with K2Te. Upon thermal consolidation, K2Te-surface modified PbS–Ag2S nanorods yield p-type doped nanocomposites with PbTe and PbS as major phases and Ag2S and Ag2Te as embedded nanoinclusions. Thermoelectric characterization of such consolidated nanosolids showed a high thermoelectric figure-of-merit of 1 at 620 K.}, author = {Ibáñez, Maria and Genç, Aziz and Hasler, Roger and Liu, Yu and Dobrozhan, Oleksandr and Nazarenko, Olga and Mata, María de la and Arbiol, Jordi and Cabot, Andreu and Kovalenko, Maksym V.}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {colloidal nanoparticles, asymmetric nanoparticles, inorganic ligands, heterostructures, catalyst assisted growth, nanocomposites, thermoelectrics}, number = {6}, pages = {6572--6580}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Tuning transport properties in thermoelectric nanocomposites through inorganic ligands and heterostructured building blocks}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.9b00346}, volume = {13}, year = {2019}, } @article{14299, abstract = {DNA origami nano-objects are usually designed around generic single-stranded “scaffolds”. Many properties of the target object are determined by details of those generic scaffold sequences. Here, we enable designers to fully specify the target structure not only in terms of desired 3D shape but also in terms of the sequences used. To this end, we built design tools to construct scaffold sequences de novo based on strand diagrams, and we developed scalable production methods for creating design-specific scaffold strands with fully user-defined sequences. We used 17 custom scaffolds having different lengths and sequence properties to study the influence of sequence redundancy and sequence composition on multilayer DNA origami assembly and to realize efficient one-pot assembly of multiscaffold DNA origami objects. Furthermore, as examples for functionalized scaffolds, we created a scaffold that enables direct, covalent cross-linking of DNA origami via UV irradiation, and we built DNAzyme-containing scaffolds that allow postfolding DNA origami domain separation.}, author = {FAS, Engelhardt and Praetorius, Florian M and Wachauf, CH and Brüggenthies, G and Kohler, F and Kick, B and Kadletz, KL and Pham, PN and Behler, KL and Gerling, T and Dietz, H}, issn = {1936-086x}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {5}, pages = {5015--5027}, publisher = {ACS Publications}, title = {{Custom-size, functional, and durable DNA origami with design-specific scaffolds}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.9b01025}, volume = {13}, year = {2019}, } @article{7285, abstract = {Hydrogelation, the self-assembly of molecules into soft, water-loaded networks, is one way to bridge the structural gap between single molecules and functional materials. The potential of hydrogels, such as those based on perylene bisimides, lies in their chemical, physical, optical, and electronic properties, which are governed by the supramolecular structure of the gel. However, the structural motifs and their precise role for long-range conductivity are yet to be explored. Here, we present a comprehensive structural picture of a perylene bisimide hydrogel, suggesting that its long-range conductivity is limited by charge transfer between electronic backbones. We reveal nanocrystalline ribbon-like structures as the electronic and structural backbone units between which charge transfer is mediated by polar solvent bridges. We exemplify this effect with sensing, where exposure to polar vapor enhances conductivity by 5 orders of magnitude, emphasizing the crucial role of the interplay between structural motif and surrounding medium for the rational design of devices based on nanocrystalline hydrogels.}, author = {Burian, Max and Rigodanza, Francesco and Demitri, Nicola and D̵ord̵ević, Luka and Marchesan, Silvia and Steinhartova, Tereza and Letofsky-Papst, Ilse and Khalakhan, Ivan and Mourad, Eléonore and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Amenitsch, Heinz and Prato, Maurizio and Syrgiannis, Zois}, issn = {1936-0851}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {6}, pages = {5800--5806}, publisher = {ACS}, title = {{Inter-backbone charge transfer as prerequisite for long-range conductivity in perylene bisimide hydrogels}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.8b01689}, volume = {12}, year = {2018}, } @article{10362, abstract = {Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) form gateways that control molecular exchange between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. They impose a diffusion barrier to macromolecules and enable the selective transport of nuclear transport receptors with bound cargo. The underlying mechanisms that establish these permeability properties remain to be fully elucidated but require unstructured nuclear pore proteins rich in Phe-Gly (FG)-repeat domains of different types, such as FxFG and GLFG. While physical modeling and in vitro approaches have provided a framework for explaining how the FG network contributes to the barrier and transport properties of the NPC, it remains unknown whether the number and/or the spatial positioning of different FG-domains along a cylindrical, ∼40 nm diameter transport channel contributes to their collective properties and function. To begin to answer these questions, we have used DNA origami to build a cylinder that mimics the dimensions of the central transport channel and can house a specified number of FG-domains at specific positions with easily tunable design parameters, such as grafting density and topology. We find the overall morphology of the FG-domain assemblies to be dependent on their chemical composition, determined by the type and density of FG-repeat, and on their architectural confinement provided by the DNA cylinder, largely consistent with here presented molecular dynamics simulations based on a coarse-grained polymer model. In addition, high-speed atomic force microscopy reveals local and reversible FG-domain condensation that transiently occludes the lumen of the DNA central channel mimics, suggestive of how the NPC might establish its permeability properties.}, author = {Fisher, Patrick D. Ellis and Shen, Qi and Akpinar, Bernice and Davis, Luke K. and Chung, Kenny Kwok Hin and Baddeley, David and Šarić, Anđela and Melia, Thomas J. and Hoogenboom, Bart W. and Lin, Chenxiang and Lusk, C. Patrick}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {general physics and astronomy}, number = {2}, pages = {1508--1518}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{A Programmable DNA origami platform for organizing intrinsically disordered nucleoporins within nanopore confinement}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.7b08044}, volume = {12}, year = {2018}, } @article{14302, abstract = {One key goal of DNA nanotechnology is the bottom-up construction of macroscopic crystalline materials. Beyond applications in fields such as photonics or plasmonics, DNA-based crystal matrices could possibly facilitate the diffraction-based structural analysis of guest molecules. Seeman and co-workers reported in 2009 the first designed crystal matrices based on a 38 kDa DNA triangle that was composed of seven chains. The crystal lattice was stabilized, unprecedentedly, by Watson–Crick base pairing. However, 3D crystallization of larger designed DNA objects that include more chains such as DNA origami remains an unsolved problem. Larger objects would offer more degrees of freedom and design options with respect to tailoring lattice geometry and for positioning other objects within a crystal lattice. The greater rigidity of multilayer DNA origami could also positively influence the diffractive properties of crystals composed of such particles. Here, we rationally explore the role of heterogeneity and Watson–Crick interaction strengths in crystal growth using 40 variants of the original DNA triangle as model multichain objects. Crystal growth of the triangle was remarkably robust despite massive chemical, geometrical, and thermodynamical sample heterogeneity that we introduced, but the crystal growth sensitively depended on the sequences of base pairs next to the Watson–Crick sticky ends of the triangle. Our results point to weak lattice interactions and high concentrations as decisive factors for achieving productive crystallization, while sample heterogeneity and impurities played a minor role.}, author = {Stahl, Evi and Praetorius, Florian M and de Oliveira Mann, Carina C. and Hopfner, Karl-Peter and Dietz, Hendrik}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, number = {10}, pages = {9156--9164}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Impact of heterogeneity and lattice bond strength on DNA triangle crystal growth}}, doi = {10.1021/acsnano.6b04787}, volume = {10}, year = {2016}, } @article{13399, abstract = {Nature has long inspired scientists with its seemingly unlimited ability to harness solar energy and to utilize it to drive various physiological processes. With the help of man-made molecular photoswitches, we now have the potential to outperform natural systems in many ways, with the ultimate goal of fabricating multifunctional materials that operate at different light wavelengths. An important challenge in developing light-controlled artificial molecular machines lies in attaining a detailed understanding of the photoisomerization-coupled conformational changes that occur in macromolecules and molecular assemblies. In this issue of ACS Nano, Bléger, Rabe, and co-workers use force microscopy to provide interesting insights into the behavior of individual photoresponsive molecules and to identify contraction, extension, and crawling events accompanying light-induced isomerization.}, author = {Kundu, Pintu K. and Klajn, Rafal}, issn = {1936-086X}, journal = {ACS Nano}, keywords = {General Physics and Astronomy, General Engineering, General Materials Science}, number = {12}, pages = {11913--11916}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Watching single molecules move in response to light}}, doi = {10.1021/nn506656r}, volume = {8}, year = {2014}, }