Chapters authored
Linde Type L Zeolite: A Privileged Porous Support to Develop Photoactive and Catalytic Nanomaterials By Leire Gartzia Rivero, Jorge Bañuelos, Kepa Bizkarra, Urko Izquierdo,
Victoria Laura Barrio, Jose Francisco Cambra and Iñigo López
Arbeloa
Among the wide assortment of zeolites based on aluminosilicates, Linde Type L (LTL) zeolite outstands as a support host owing to its porous framework and high adsorption surfaces. Thus, the incorporation of suitable guest molecules (fluorophores or metals) allows the development of photoactive and catalytic nanomaterials. In this chapter, we describe the design of materials based on LTL zeolite to achieve artificial antennae, inspired in the natural photosynthesis, and ecofriendly materials for the catalytic reforming of biogas. First, we describe the microwave-assisted synthesis of LTL zeolite with tunable size and morphology. Afterward, we test the energy transfer probability between the guest fluorophores into the LTL zeolite pores as the key process enabling the antenna behavior of this hybrid material with broadband absorption and tunable emission or predominant red fluorescence. Finally, we also test the behavior of LTL zeolite as a support material for the catalytic reforming of biogas. To this aim, suitable metals were impregnated onto LTL zeolite featuring different shapes and alkaline metal exchange. Activity tests indicated that disk- and cylinder-shaped hosts were the most active ones, especially when bimetallic (Rh-Ni) catalysts were prepared. However, the alkaline metal exchange was ineffective to increase the hydrogen yield.
Part of the book: Zeolites and Their Applications
Tailoring the Photophysical Signatures of BODIPY Dyes: Toward Fluorescence Standards across the Visible Spectral Region By Rebeca Sola Llano, Edurne Avellanal Zaballa, Jorge Bañuelos,
César Fernando Azael Gómez Durán, José Luis Belmonte Vázquez,
Eduardo Peña Cabrera and Iñigo López Arbeloa
The modern synthetic routes in organic chemistry, as well as the recent advances in high-resolution spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, have awakened a renewable interest in the development of organic fluorophores. In this regard, boron-dipyrrin (BODIPY) dyes are ranked at the top position as luminophores to be applied in photonics or biophotonics. This chromophore outstands not only by its excellent and tunable photophysical signatures, but also by the chemical versatility of its core, which is readily available to a myriad of functionalization routes. In this chapter, we show that, after a rational design, bright and photostable BODIPYs can be achieved along the whole visible spectral region, being suitable as molecular probes or active media of lasers. Alternatively, the selective functionalization of the dipyrrin core, mainly at meso position, can induce new photophysical phenomena (such as charge transfer) paving the way to the development of fluorescent sensors, where the fluorescent response is sensitive to a specific environmental property.
Part of the book: Photochemistry and Photophysics
A Revisit of the Underlying Fundamentals in the Laser Emission from BODIPYs By Alaitz Peñafiel, Ainhoa Oliden-Sánchez, Edurne Avellanal-Zaballa, Leire Gartzia-Rivero, Rebeca Sola-Llano and Jorge Bañuelos-Prieto
This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the laser performance of commercially available laser dyes based on the boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) chromophore in a liquid state, as well as to remark the main underlying photophysical signatures triggering such photonic behavior. First, we describe their light absorption and fluorescence properties in solution. This spectroscopic study is supplemented with quantum mechanics calculations and electrochemical measurements. Afterward, the dyes are tested as active media of tunable lasers under transversal pumping. The recorded laser efficiencies and photostabilities are correlated with the registered photophysical properties identifying the main structural guidelines and photonic parameters, which rule the laser bands’ position, intensity, and stability. As a result, we provide a comparative dataset of the laser performance, not available hitherto. Besides, the unraveling of the complex molecular structure-photophysics-laser relationship should help in the rational design of new tunable dye lasers with an improved photonic response along the entire visible region and reaching eventually the near infrared.
Part of the book: Dyes and Pigments
