Publications
Double-pentagon silicon chains in a quasi-1D Si/Ag(001) surface alloy - New Article
The structure of the submonolayer Si/Ag(001) surface has been solved, almost two decades since the first studies appeared, thanks to an international collaboration involving researchers from CNR-ISM Rome.
Using a combination of density functional theory, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction simulations, the researchers demonstrated a double pentagon chain structure formed within a Si/Ag surface alloy. The results, which confirm the importance of pentagonal geometries in 2D materials and surface alloys, are published in Nature Communications.
Energy and charge transfer observed in real time - A new paper
An international collaboration that involved researchers from eight different institutions (Department of Physics Polytechnic of Milan, CNR-IFN, CNR-ISM, IMDEA Nanociencia, Departamento de Quimica UAM, Departamento de Quimica Organica Universidad Complutense de Madrid, imec Louvain and Sincrotrone Trieste ) reported for the first time the measurement of the time necessary to transfer the charge from an electron donor system to the adjacent carbon atom in a benzene ring and therefore the time in which the structural change of the molecule occurs.
The results are published in Nature Chemistry.
Ultrafast Dynamics of Nonthermal Carriers Following Photoexcitation of palsmonic nanostructure - A new paper
An article on the different dynamics of nonthermal carrier generation in two-dimensional arrays of gold nanoparticles, following their photoexcitation at the plasmon resonance or the interband transition, has been published in ACS Photonics: "Ultrafast Dynamics of Nonthermal Carriers Following Plasmonic and Interband Photoexcitation of 2D Arrays of Gold Nanoparticles."
The publication is the result of a collaboration between the EFSL research group at CNR-ISM and researchers from CNR-SPIN, CNR-IFN, the Università di Genova, and the Politecnico di Milano.
Spin-Dependent ππ* Gap in Graphene on a Magnetic Substrate - A new paper
A study on the electronic properties of the Graphene/Ni(111) system intercalated with a monolayer of Eu has been conducted by a group of CNR-ISM researchers and published in Physical Review Letters, selected as an Editor’s Suggestion.
This system allows for the induction of spin polarization in graphene while simultaneously maintaining its electronic characteristics nearly unchanged. Angle-resolved and spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements, combined with DFT calculations, show that the system retains the linear dispersion of the graphene Dirac cones, despite the presence of the strongly interacting Ni substrate.
On-Surface Molecular Recognition Driven by Chalcogen Bonding - A new paper
Chalcogen bonding interactions (ChBIs) have been widely employed to create ordered noncovalent assemblies in solids and liquids. Yet, their ability to engineer molecular self-assembly on surfaces has not been demonstrated. Here, we report the first demonstration of on-surface molecular recognition solely governed by ChBIs. Scanning tunneling microscopy and ab initio calculations reveal that a pyrenyl derivative can undergo noncovalent chiral dimerization on the Au(111) surface through double Ch...N interactions involving Te- or Se-containing chalcogenazolo pyridine motifs.
New phase transition in a 2D titanium carbide MXene: possible sliding ferroelectricity - A new paper
MXene consists of metallic layers, that can easily slide with respect to each other like sheets in reams. A phase transition has been revealed measuring the elastic modulus of films. It should be a new type of ferroelectricity found in bilayers of other 2D materials, where a polarization is generated between the layers sliding with respect to each other. The sliding ferroelectricity is studied with sophisticated techniques at the nanoscale and promises exceptional improvements in ferroelectric memories and Nanoelectronics, but we simply measured the Young’s modulus of a thick film.
A fresh perspective for organic monolayers on silicon: new paper
The controlled formation of stable ordered monolayers of N-heterocyclic olefins on a surface has been demonstrated for the first time. This exciting new multidisciplinary work, performed by CNR-ISM theoreticians in collaboration with Italian (University of Rome "Tor Vergata") and German (University of Münster and Technical University of Berlin) surface physicists and organic chemists, has been published in Angewandte Chemie.
Improved reuse and storage performances at room temperature of a new environmentally friendly lactate oxidase biosensor prepared by ambient electrospray immobilization
A new, environmentally friendly lactate oxidase (LOX) based biosensor for lactate detection, with unprecedented reuse and storage capabilities at room temperature, has been manufactured using the ambient electrospray deposition (ESD) technique. This technology allows for an efficient, green and easy ambient soft-landing immobilization of the LOX enzyme on a cheap commercial screen-printed Prussian blue/carbon electrode (PB/C-SPE), employing sustainable chemistry.
Unravelling the spin-texture of topological antimonene, a new paper
The CNR-ISM researchers led a joint work of Italian (CNR-IOM, University of Tor Vergata, Sincrotrone Trieste and ICTP), Slovenian (University of Nova Gorica) and German (Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA) institutions, which highlights and explains the origin of the nearly full out-of-plane spin polarization of the two-dimensional antimonene interfaced with a topological insulator, thus opening new perspectives for spintronic applications. The article was published in NanoLetters.
The struggle of dipeptides for Life - A new paper
The understanding of the response of organic molecules to ionising radiation and their evolution towards proteins and enzymes is a key question in astrochemistry and astrobiology. Cyclic dipeptides, obtained by forming two peptide bonds between two amino acids, may have played an important role in the evolution of life, by developing both survival strategies and smart reactive mechanisms for peptide synthesis.
These are the results expressed in the new article published as 'Hot Article' on Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP).
More...
Elastic precursor effects during the Ba1-xSrxTiO3 ferroelastic phase transitions
“Elastic precursor effects during the Ba1-xSrxTiO3 ferroelastic phase transitions”, published in Physical Review Research, is the result of a collaboration between ISM-CNR, Cambridge Earth Sciences (Cambridge University - England), Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar - Brazil) and Xi’an Jiaotong University (China).
The elastic softening in the paraelastic/paraelectric phases of Ba1-xSrxTiO3 extends to the highest measured temperature (850 K) for Ba-rich compounds and can be fitted with a power law (T-Tc)^k where k ranges between 1.5 in SrTiO3 and 0.2 in BaTiO3. An alternative Vogel-Fulcher type analysis is also considered. The amplitude of the precursor softening increases continuously from SrTiO3 to BaTiO3 and is still 33% of the unsoftened Young’s modulus at 750 K in BaTiO3. This proves that the high temperature elastic properties of these materials are drastically affected by precursor softening.
Thin-film heterostructures based on Co/Ni synthetic antiferromagnets on polymer tapes: toward sustainable flexible spintronics
In a new paper published on ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces journal, an international team of researchers demonstrated for the first time that complex and bendable Co/Ni-based heterostructures with a reduced content of critical Pt group metals can be obtained on flexible tapes, allowing for the development of novel flexible and sustainable spintronic devices for applications in many fields including wearable electronics, robotics, and biomedicine.
Photoluminescence and efficiency in perovskite solar cells
The paper "Re‐evaluation of Photoluminescence Intensity as an Indicator of Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells" has been published in the Solar RRL journal. It is the outcome of a collaboration between EFSL (EuroFEL Support Laboratory - ISM), CNR-IMM (Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi) and CHOSE (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy – Regione Lazio) researchers: Valerio Campanari, Faustino Martelli, Antonio Agresti, Sara Pescetelli, Narges Yaghoobi Nia, Francesco Di Giacomo, Daniele Catone, Patrick O'Keeffe, Stefano Turchini, Bowen Yang, Jiajia Suo, Anders Hagfeldt and Aldo Di Carlo.
#perovskite #solar #photoluminescence #efficiency
The first third-generation solar park based on bidimensional materials shines in terms of performance
The solar park built on the island of Crete uses technologies developed by italian researchers in the context of European Graphene Flagship initiative.
The third-generation panels in which silicon is replaced by perovskite, graphene and other bidimensional materials, demonstrate a high commercial and sustainability potential.
The results have been published in Nature Energy.
#graphene #solar_cell #perovskite #materialbidimensional
English (UK) 
Italiano (Italia)