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Amorphous photonic structures (APSs) with non-iridescent, non-fading, vivid structural colors have attracted great attention in several fields. Tremendous efforts have been dedicated to developing the effective and low-cost approaches for APSs with full-color displays. Resulting from the isotropic photonic pseudogap, APSs have non-iridescent structural colors. We demonstrate that incorporating F e 3 O 4 @ Si O 2 black nanoparticles into the interspace of the periodically arranged Si O 2 white nanospheres can synthesize APSs with different colors. The addition of F e 3 O 4 @ Si O 2 black nanoparticles can enhance the saturation of the non-iridescent structural colors of the APSs by reducing the incoherent scattering in the visible spectrum. In this case, different non-iridescent colors originate from the different diameters of the Si O 2 white nanospheres, and we obtained red, orange, yellow, green, and purple APSs with high reflective index successfully. The APSs with different colors may have potential applications in coatings, cosmetics, textiles, and displays. Moreover, as we use F e 3 O 4 @ Si O 2 as the additive, APSs can be recycled through its magnetic property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At high current densities, gas bubble escape is the critical factor affecting the mass transport and performance of the electrolyzer. For tight assembly water electrolysis technologies, the gas diffusion layer (GDL) between the catalyst layer (CL) and the flow field plate plays a critical role in gas bubble removal. Herein, we demonstrate that the electrolyzer's mass transport and performance can be significantly improved by simply manipulating the structure of the GDL. Combined with 3D printing technology, ordered nickel GDLs with straight‐through pores and adjustable grid sizes are systematically studied. Using an in situ high‐speed camera, the gas bubble releasing size and resident time have been observed and analyzed upon the change of the GDL architecture. The results show that a suitable grid size of the GDL can significantly accelerate mass transport by reducing the gas bubble size and the bubble resident time. An adhesive force measurement has further revealed the underlying mechanism. We then proposed and fabricated a novel hierarchical GDL, reaching a current density of 2 A/cm2 at a cell voltage of 1.95 V and 80 °C, one of the highest single‐cell performances in pure‐water‐fed anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering technology plays a prominent role in spectroscopy. By introducing plasmonic metals and photonic crystals as a substrate, SERS signals can achieve further enhancement. However, the conventional doping preparation methods of these SERS substrates are insufficient in terms of metal-loading capacity and the coupling strength between plasmonic metals and photonic crystals, both of which reduce the SERS activity and reproducibility of SERS substrates. In this work, we report an approach combining spin-coating, surface modification, and in situ reduction methods. Using this approach, a photonic crystal array of SiO2@Au core–shell structure nanoparticles was prepared as a SERS substrate (SiO2@Au NP array). To study the SERS properties of these substrates, Rhodamine 6G was employed as the probe molecule. Compared with a Au-SiO2 NP array prepared using doping methods, the SiO2@Au NP array presented better SERS properties, and it reproduced the SERS spectra after one month. The detection limit of the Rhodamine 6G on SiO2@Au NP array reached 1 × 10−8 mol/L; furthermore, the relative standard deviation (9.82%) of reproducibility and the enhancement factor (1.51 × 106) were evaluated. Our approach provides a new potential option for the preparation of SERS substrates and offers a potential advantage in trace contaminant detection, and nondestructive testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]