Mo6 cluster-based compounds for energy conversion applications: comparative study of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence

Benjamin Dierre; Karine Costuas; Noée Dumait; Serge Paofai; Maria Amela-Cortes; Yann Molard; Fabien Grasset; Yujin Cho; Kohsei Takahashi; Naoki Ohashi; Tetsuo Uchikoshi; Stéphane Cordier

doi:10.1080/14686996.2017.1338496

Mo₆ cluster-based compounds for energy conversion applications: comparative study of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence

Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2017 Jul 3;18(1):458-466. doi: 10.1080/14686996.2017.1338496. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Benjamin Dierre^{1

2}, Karine Costuas³, Noée Dumait³, Serge Paofai³, Maria Amela-Cortes³, Yann Molard³, Fabien Grasset^{1

2

4}, Yujin Cho⁴, Kohsei Takahashi⁴, Naoki Ohashi^{1

2

4}, Tetsuo Uchikoshi^{1

4}, Stéphane Cordier³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Innovative Key Materials and Structures (LINK), UMI 3629 CNRS-Saint Gobain-NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan.
² NIMS-Saint-Gobain Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials, National Institute of Material Science, Ibaraki, Japan.
³ Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes (ISCR), UMR 6626 CNRS - University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
⁴ Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan.

Abstract

We report the photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of face-capped [Mo₆Xⁱ₈L^a₆]^2- (X = Cl, Br, I; L = organic or inorganic ligands) cluster units. We show that the emission of Mo₆ metal atom clusters depends not only on the nature of X and L ligands bound to the cluster and counter-cations, but also on the excitation source. Seven members of the A_xMo₆Xⁱ₈L^a₆ series (A = Cs⁺, (n-C₄H₉)₄N⁺, NH₄⁺) were selected to evaluate the influence of counter-cations and ligands on de-excitation mechanisms responsible for multicomponent emission of cluster units. This study evaluates the ageing of each member of the series, which is crucial for further energy conversion applications (photovoltaic, lighting, water splitting, etc.).

Keywords: 102 Porous / Nanoporous / Nanostructured materials; 204 Optics / Optical applications; 40 Optical, magnetic and electronic device materials; 502 Electron spectroscopy; Energy conversion; cathodoluminescence; counter-cations; ligands; metal clusters; molecular engineering; molybdenum; photoluminescence.