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We present an enhancement of the fluorescence of shallow ( $ 10 nm) nitrogen-vacancy (NV $^-$ ) centers by using atomic layer deposition to deposit titanium oxide layers on the diamond surface. In this way, the shallow NV $^-$ center charge states were stabilized, leading to the increasing fluorescence intensity of about 2 times. This surface coating technique could produce a protective layer of controllable thickness without any damages to the solid-state quantum system surface, which might be an approach to the further passivation or packaging techniques for the solid-state quantum devices.

We present a general approach to fabricate metal/TiO2 core/shell nanorod structures by two-step electrodeposition. Firstly, TiO2 nanotubes with uniform wall thickness are prepared in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes by electrodeposition. The wall thickness of the nanotubes could be easily controlled by modulating the deposition time, and their outer diameter and length are only limited by the channel diameter and the thickness of the AAO membranes, respectively. The nanotubes' tops prepared by this method are open, while the bottoms are connected directly with the Au film at the back of the AAO membranes. Secondly, Pd, Cu, and Fe elements are filled into the TiO2 nanotubes to form core/shell structures. The core/shell nanorods prepared by this two-step process are high density and free-standing, and their length is dependent on the deposition time.

Ag dendritic nanostructures were synthesized on fluorine-doped tin oxide covered glass substrates by the electrodeposition method. Results demonstrate that the size, diameter, crystallinity, and branch density of the Ag dendrites can be controlled by the applied potential, the surfactants and the concentration of AgNO3. Three kinds of typical silver dendrites were applied as substrates of the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and one of them was able to clearly detect rhodamine 6G concentrations up to 0.1 nmol/L. The differences of the SERS spectra at these Ag dendrites confirmed that the shapes and interparticle spacings have great effect on Raman enhancement, especially the interparticle spacings.

Morphological evolution of Pd nanoparticles was studied in a solution-phase synthesis using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and CTAB/sodium citrate mixture as capping agents, respectively. The morphological diversity of Pd nanoparticles is the combined effect of different Pd twinned seeds formed in the nucleation stage and selectively enlarging one set of crystallographic facets in the growth stage, both of which can be affected by the concentrations of CTAB. Through changing the concentrations of CTAB and sodium ascorbate, Pd nanoparticles with different shapes were obtained. When citrate ions were introduced to manipulate the nucleation and growth process, star-shaped icosahedra and nanorods with pentagram cross-sections were obtained. Pd nanoparticles with different shapes have quite different surface plasmon resonance and surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties.

TiO2 nanostructures were fabricated by a reaction of Ti foils in H2O2 solution at mild temperature. Porous TiO2 nanostructures, well-adhered to Ti foil surfaces, were formed at 80C in 10 min, and then flower- like and rod nanostructures formed in succession after a longer reaction time. Samples prepared at 80C for 4 h are amorphous, and anatase-dominated crystal phase emerged in the sample prepared for as long as 10 h. Almost pure anatase phase were obtained in TiO2 nanostructures by annealing the samples at a temperature of 300C. Photocatalysis of the TiO2 nanostructures was characterized by the degradation of RhB dye molecules in an aqueous solution exposed to ultraviolet light. Results show a 7 cm2 annealed TiO2 flower-like nanostructure having the degradation rate of RhB as fast as 29.8 times that of the dye solution exposed to ultraviolet light alone.