Types Of Nanocages Research Articles

Sensing of H2S, NO2, SO2, and O3 through pristine and Ni-doped Zn12O12 nanocage

Harmful gases pose a serious threat to life on Earth therefore, their detection is quite vital for sustainable life. For this purpose the adsorption properties of harmful gases (H2S, NO2, SO2, and O3) were investigated to gain insights into the influence of adsorbed gas molecules on the electronic properties of pristine and Ni-doped Zn12O12 nanocages, and how these effects could be applied to design more sensitive gas sensing materials. Adsorption energies for these gases on pristine Zn12O12 nanocages ranged from −9.89 to −43.23 kcal/mol. The adsorption energies were further enhanced in Ni-doped Zn12O12 nanocages. The highest interaction energy was observed for the NO2@Ni-Zn12O12 complex (−85.23 kcal/mol), followed by O3@Ni-Zn12O12 (−57.42 kcal/mol). Non-covalent interaction (NCI), quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), and electron density difference (EDD) analyses were performed for both pristine and doped complexes. The electronic properties of the complexes were studied using natural bond orbital (NBO), frontier molecular orbital (FMO), and density of states (DOS) analyses. When H2S adsorbed on pristine and doped nanocages, charge transfer occurred towards the nanocages. On the other hand, NO2, SO2, and O3 extracted charges from both types of nanocages. The highest charge transfer was observed in O3@Ni-Zn12O12 (−0.699 e−) and the lowest in H2S@Ni-Zn12O12 (0.045 e−). The largest decrease in the EH-L gap was observed for O3@Zn12O12 (2.06 eV) compared to pristine Zn12O12 nanocages (4.13 eV). In Ni-doped Zn12O12, the HOMO-LUMO gap decreased to 2.49 eV (O3@Ni-Zn12O12) and 2.32 eV (H2S@Ni-Zn12O12) from 2.79 eV (Ni-Zn12O12), indicating the sensitivity of Ni-doped Zn12O12 nanocages to O3 and H2S. Therefore, Ni-doped Zn12O12 nanocages exhibit high sensitivity to harmful gases and can be employed as highly sensitive electrochemical sensors. This study may provide valuable guidance for the design and development of new sensors for the detection of harmful gases.

Stabilization of the Pentazolate Anion in a Zeolitic Architecture with Na20N60 and Na24N60 Nanocages

AbstractThe experimental detection and synthesis of pentazole (HN5) and its anion (cyclo‐N5−) have been actively pursued for the past hundred years. The synthesis of an aesthetic three‐dimensional metal–pentazolate framework (denoted as MPF‐1) is presented. It consists of sodium ions and cyclo‐N5− anions in which the isolated cyclo‐N5− anions are preternaturally stabilized in this inorganic open framework featuring two types of nanocages (Na20N60 and Na24N60) through strong metal coordination bonds. The compound MPF‐1 is indefinitely stable at room temperature and exhibits high thermal stability relative to the reported cyclo‐N5− salts. This finding offers a new approach to create metal–pentazolate frameworks (MPFs) and enables the future exploration of interesting pentazole chemistry and also related functional materials.

Stabilization of the Pentazolate Anion in a Zeolitic Architecture with Na20 N60 and Na24 N60 Nanocages.

The experimental detection and synthesis of pentazole (HN5 ) and its anion (cyclo-N5- ) have been actively pursued for the past hundred years. The synthesis of an aesthetic three-dimensional metal-pentazolate framework (denoted as MPF-1) is presented. It consists of sodium ions and cyclo-N5- anions in which the isolated cyclo-N5- anions are preternaturally stabilized in this inorganic open framework featuring two types of nanocages (Na20 N60 and Na24 N60 ) through strong metal coordination bonds. The compound MPF-1 is indefinitely stable at room temperature and exhibits high thermal stability relative to the reported cyclo-N5- salts. This finding offers a new approach to create metal-pentazolate frameworks (MPFs) and enables the future exploration of interesting pentazole chemistry and also related functional materials.

Time Dependence and Signs of the Shift of the Surface Plasmon Resonance Frequency in Nanocages Elucidate the Nanocatalysis Mechanism in Hollow Nanoparticles

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) wavelength of plasmonic nanoparticles is sensitive to changes in the dielectric function of its exposed surface to the medium. Gold nanocages (AuNCs) have two surfaces (inner and outer) and thus two plasmon fields., When the dielectric of the medium changes around the outer surface only, the SPR shifts to different extent from that observed when the dielectric constant of the medium changes around both surfaces. This property of plasmonic AuNCs was used to elucidate the mechanism of the catalytic reduction of 4-nitro to 4-amino phenol, whether it is occurring within the cavity or on the exterior surface of the nanocages. For this purpose two types of nanocages were prepared, one with two plasmonic surfaces and the other with Au/Pt shell-shell nanocages, where only the external surface is plasmonic as gold is outside and Pt is inside. By following the time dependence of the plasmonic band shift resulting from the addition of the reactants and comparing the reaction kinetic parameters for two types of nanocages with those of the pure single metallic nanocages, it was concluded that the catalysis is taking place within the cavity in both types of hollow nanoparticles.