@article{KogikoskiJuniorTapioEdlervonZanderetal.2021, author = {Kogikoski Junior, Sergio and Tapio, Kosti and Edler von Zander, Robert and Saalfrank, Peter and Bald, Ilko}, title = {Raman enhancement of nanoparticle dimers self-assembled using DNA origami nanotriangles}, series = {Molecules : a journal of synthetic chemistry and natural product chemistry / Molecular Diversity Preservation International}, volume = {26}, journal = {Molecules : a journal of synthetic chemistry and natural product chemistry / Molecular Diversity Preservation International}, number = {6}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1420-3049}, doi = {10.3390/molecules26061684}, pages = {18}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Surface-enhanced Raman scattering is a powerful approach to detect molecules at very low concentrations, even up to the single-molecule level. One important aspect of the materials used in such a technique is how much the signal is intensified, quantified by the enhancement factor (EF). Herein we obtained the EFs for gold nanoparticle dimers of 60 and 80 nm diameter, respectively, self-assembled using DNA origami nanotriangles. Cy5 and TAMRA were used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probes, which enable the observation of individual nanoparticles and dimers. EF distributions are determined at four distinct wavelengths based on the measurements of around 1000 individual dimer structures. The obtained results show that the EFs for the dimeric assemblies follow a log-normal distribution and are in the range of 10(6) at 633 nm and that the contribution of the molecular resonance effect to the EF is around 2, also showing that the plasmonic resonance is the main source of the observed signal. To support our studies, FDTD simulations of the nanoparticle's electromagnetic field enhancement has been carried out, as well as calculations of the resonance Raman spectra of the dyes using DFT. We observe a very close agreement between the experimental EF distribution and the simulated values.}, language = {en} } @article{PenschkeEdlervonZanderBeqirajetal.2022, author = {Penschke, Christopher and Edler von Zander, Robert and Beqiraj, Alkit and Zehle, Anna and Jahn, Nicolas and Neumann, Rainer and Saalfrank, Peter}, title = {Water on porous, nitrogen-containing layered carbon materials}, series = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies / RSC, Royal Society of Chemistry}, volume = {24}, journal = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies / RSC, Royal Society of Chemistry}, number = {24}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1463-9076}, doi = {10.1039/d2cp00657j}, pages = {14709 -- 14726}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Porous, layered materials containing sp(2)-hybridized carbon and nitrogen atoms, offer through their tunable properties, a versatile route towards tailormade catalysts for electrochemistry and photochemistry. A key molecule interacting with these quasi two-dimensional materials (2DM) is water, and a photo(electro)chemical key reaction catalyzed by them, is water splitting into H-2 and O-2, with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as half reactions. The complexity of some C/N-based 2DM in contact with water raises special needs for their theoretical modelling, which in turn is needed for rational design of C/N-based catalysts. In this work, three classes of C/N-containing porous 2DM with varying pore sizes and C/N ratios, namely graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), C2N, and poly(heptazine imides) (PHI), are studied with various computational methods. We elucidate the performance of different models and model chemistries (the combination of electronic structure method and basis set) for water and water fragment adsorption in the low-coverage regime. Further, properties related to the photo(electro)chemical activity like electrochemical overpotentials, band gaps, and optical excitation energies are in our focus. Specifically, periodic models will be tested vs. cluster models, and density functional theory (DFT) vs. wavefunction theory (WFT). This work serves as a basis for a systematic study of trends for the photo(electro)chemical activity of C/N-containing layered materials as a function of water content, pore size and density.}, language = {en} }