Local Enhancement of Exciton Emission of Monolayer MoS₂ by Copper Phthalocyanine Nanoparticles

Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (1L-TMDs) provide ideal platforms to study light emission using two-dimensionally confined excitons. Recent studies have shown that the exciton emissions of 1L-TMDs can be conveniently modulated by developing heterostructures with zero-dimensional nanoparticles (NPs) or quantum dots. In this study, we synthesized organic semiconducting copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) NPs with sizes in the range of 30–70 nm by a re-precipitation method and decorated the chemical vapor deposition-grown 1L-MoS₂ with these NPs. This hybrid system exhibited a 6 times larger local photoluminescence (PL) at the positions of the CuPc NPs compared with the pristine 1L-MoS₂ sample. The PL enhancement and spectral modification of the 1L-MoS₂ decorated with CuPc NPs were attributed to the p-doping effect of the CuPc NPs, confirmed by spectral analysis and field-effect transistor measurements

Charge Transport in MoS₂/WSe₂ van der Waals Heterostructure with Tunable Inversion Layer

Despite numerous studies on two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures, a full understanding of the charge transport and photoinduced current mechanisms in these structures, in particular, associated with charge depletion/inversion layers at the interface remains elusive. Here, we investigate transport properties of a prototype multilayer MoS₂/WSe₂ heterojunction <i>via</i> a tunable charge inversion/depletion layer. A charge inversion layer was constructed at the surface of WSe₂ due to its relatively low doping concentration compared to that of MoS₂, which can be tuned by the back-gate bias. The depletion region was limited within a few nanometers in the MoS₂ side, while charges are fully depleted on the whole WSe₂ side, which are determined by Raman spectroscopy and transport measurements. Charge transport through the heterojunction was influenced by the presence of the inversion layer and involves two regimes of tunneling and recombination. Furthermore, photocurrent measurements clearly revealed recombination and space-charge-limited behaviors, similar to those of the heterostructures built from organic semiconductors. This contributes to research of various other types of heterostructures and can be further applied for electronic and optoelectronic devices

Simple and Integrated Spintip-Based Technology Applied for Deep Proteome Profiling

Great efforts have been taken for developing high-sensitive mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic technologies, among which sample preparation is one of the major focus. Here, a simple and integrated spintip-based proteomics technology (SISPROT) consisting of strong cation exchange beads and C₁₈ disk in one pipet tip was developed. Both proteomics sample preparation steps, including protein preconcentration, reduction, alkylation, and digestion, and reversed phase (RP)-based desalting and high-pH RP-based peptide fractionation can be achieved in a fully integrated manner for the first time. This easy-to-use technology achieved high sensitivity with negligible sample loss. Proteomic analysis of 2000 HEK 293 cells readily identified 1270 proteins within 1.4 h of MS time, while 7826 proteins were identified when 100000 cells were processed and analyzed within only 22 h of MS time. More importantly, the SISPROT can be easily multiplexed on a standard centrifuge with good reproducibility (Pearson correlation coefficient > 0.98) for both single-shot analysis and deep proteome profiling with five-step high-pH RP fractionation. The SISPROT was exemplified by the triplicate analysis of 100000 stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). This led to the identification of 9078 proteins containing 3771 annotated membrane proteins, which was the largest proteome data set for dental stem cells reported to date. We expect that the SISPROT will be well suited for deep proteome profiling for fewer than 100000 cells and applied for translational studies where multiplexed technology with good label-free quantification precision is required

Simple and Integrated Spintip-Based Technology Applied for Deep Proteome Profiling

Great efforts have been taken for developing high-sensitive mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic technologies, among which sample preparation is one of the major focus. Here, a simple and integrated spintip-based proteomics technology (SISPROT) consisting of strong cation exchange beads and C₁₈ disk in one pipet tip was developed. Both proteomics sample preparation steps, including protein preconcentration, reduction, alkylation, and digestion, and reversed phase (RP)-based desalting and high-pH RP-based peptide fractionation can be achieved in a fully integrated manner for the first time. This easy-to-use technology achieved high sensitivity with negligible sample loss. Proteomic analysis of 2000 HEK 293 cells readily identified 1270 proteins within 1.4 h of MS time, while 7826 proteins were identified when 100000 cells were processed and analyzed within only 22 h of MS time. More importantly, the SISPROT can be easily multiplexed on a standard centrifuge with good reproducibility (Pearson correlation coefficient > 0.98) for both single-shot analysis and deep proteome profiling with five-step high-pH RP fractionation. The SISPROT was exemplified by the triplicate analysis of 100000 stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). This led to the identification of 9078 proteins containing 3771 annotated membrane proteins, which was the largest proteome data set for dental stem cells reported to date. We expect that the SISPROT will be well suited for deep proteome profiling for fewer than 100000 cells and applied for translational studies where multiplexed technology with good label-free quantification precision is required

Photocurrent Switching of Monolayer MoS₂ Using a Metal–Insulator Transition

We achieve switching on/off the photocurrent of monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) by controlling the metal–insulator transition (MIT). N-type semiconducting MoS₂ under a large negative gate bias generates a photocurrent attributed to the increase of excess carriers in the conduction band by optical excitation. However, under a large positive gate bias, a phase shift from semiconducting to metallic MoS₂ is caused, and the photocurrent by excess carriers in the conduction band induced by the laser disappears due to enhanced electron–electron scattering. Thus, no photocurrent is detected in metallic MoS₂. Our results indicate that the photocurrent of MoS₂ can be switched on/off by appropriately controlling the MIT transition by means of gate bias

ZnO Nanowire Arrays on 3D Hierachical Graphene Foam: Biomarker Detection of Parkinson’s Disease

We report that vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays (ZnO NWAs) were fabricated on 3D graphene foam (GF) and used to selectively detect uric acid (UA), dopamine (DA), and ascorbic acid (AA) by a differential pulse voltammetry method. The optimized ZnO NWA/GF electrode provided a high surface area and high selectivity with a detection limit of 1 nM for UA and DA. The high selectivity in the oxidation potential was explained by the gap difference between the lowest unoccupied and highest occupied molecular orbitals of a biomolecule for a set of given electrodes. This method was further used to detect UA levels in the serum of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The UA level was 25% lower in PD patients than in healthy individuals. This finding strongly implies that UA can be used as a biomarker for PD