76 research outputs found
Triggering Cation Exchange Reactions by Doping
Cation exchange (CE) reactions have emerged as a technologically important route, complementary to the colloidal synthesis, to produce nanostructures of different geometries and compositions for a variety of applications. Here it is demonstrated with first-principles simulations that an interstitial impurity cation in CdSe nanocrystals weakens nearby bonds and reduces the CE barrier in the prototypical exchange of Cd2+ ions by Ag+ ions. A Wannier function-based tight binding model is employed to quantify microscopic mechanisms that influence this behavior. To support our model, we also tested our findings in a CE experiment: both CdSe and interstitially Ag-doped CdSe nanocrystals (containing 4% of Ag+ ions per nanocrystal on average) were exposed to Pb2+ ions at room temperature and it was observed that the exchange reaction proceeds further in doped nanocrystals. The findings suggest doping as a possible route to promote CE reactions that hardly undergo exchange otherwise, for example, those in III–V sem..
Influence of the Ion Coordination Number on Cation Exchange Reactions with Copper Telluride Nanocrystals
Cu2-xTe nanocubes were used as starting seeds to access metal telluride
nanocrystals by cation exchanges at room temperature. The coordination number
of the entering cations was found to play an important role in dictating the
reaction pathways. The exchanges with tetrahedrally coordinated cations (i.e.
with coordination number 4), such as Cd2+ or Hg2+, yielded monocrystalline CdTe
or HgTe nanocrystals with Cu2-xTe/CdTe or Cu2-xTe/HgTe Janus-like
heterostructures as intermediates. The formation of Janus-like architectures
was attributed to the high diffusion rate of the relatively small tetrahedrally
coordinated cations, which could rapidly diffuse in the Cu2-xTe NCs and
nucleate the CdTe (or HgTe) phase in a preferred region of the host structure.
Also, with both Cd2+ and Hg2+ ions the exchange led to wurtzite CdTe and HgTe
phases rather than the more stable zinc-blende ones, indicating that the anion
framework of the starting Cu2- xTe particles could be more easily deformed to
match the anion framework of the metastable wurtzite structures. As hexagonal
HgTe had never been reported to date, this represents another case of
metastable new phases that can only be accessed by cation exchange. On the
other hand, the exchanges involving octahedrally coordinated ions (i.e. with
coordination number 6), such as Pb2+ or Sn2+, yielded rock-salt polycrystalline
PbTe or SnTe nanocrystals with Cu2-xTe@PbTe or Cu2-xTe@SnTe core@shell
architectures at the early stages of the exchange process. In this case, the
octahedrally coordinated ions are probably too large to diffuse easily through
the Cu2-xTe structure: their limited diffusion rate restricts their initial
reaction to the surface of the nanocrystals, where cation exchange is initiated
unselectively, leading to core@shell architectures.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures in J. Am. Chem. Soc, 13 May 201
CsPbX3/SiOx (X = Cl, Br, I) monoliths prepared via a novel sol-gel route starting from Cs4PbX6 nanocrystals
We developed a facile synthesis of nanocomposite powders of CsPbX3 nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in silica. The synthesis starts from colloidal Cs4PbX6 NCs that are mixed with tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of nitric acid, which triggers the sol-gel reaction yielding the formation of SiOx and the conversion of starting NCs into CsPbX3 ones. The overall reaction delivers CsPbX3 NCs encased in a silica matrix. The resulting CsPbX3/SiOx nano-composite powders exhibited enhanced moisture and thermal stability in air. Also, when mixing different CsPbX3/SiOx samples having diverse anion compositions, no interparticle anion exchange processes were observed, which is a further indication that the silica matrix acts as a robust barrier surrounding the NCs. Finallly, we used these composites as down-converter phosphors on top of a blue light-emitting diode (LED), delivering nearly ideal white light emission with the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) color coordinates (0.32, 0.33)
Lead-Free Halide Perovskite Materials and Optoelectronic Devices: Progress and Prospective
Halide perovskites, in the form of thin films and colloidal nanocrystals, have recently taken semiconductor optoelectronics research by storm, and have emerged as promising candidates for high-performance solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, photodetectors, and radiation detectors. The impressive optical and optoelectronic properties, along with the rapid increase in efficiencies of solar cells and LEDs, have greatly attracted researchers across many disciplines. However, most advances made so far in terms of preparation (colloidal nanocrystals and thin films), and the devices with highest efficiencies are based on Pb-based halide perovskites, which have raised concerns over their commercialization due to the toxicity of Pb. This has triggered the search for lower-toxicity Pb-free halide perovskites and has led to significant progress in the last few years. In this roadmap review, researchers of different expertise have joined together to summarize the latest progress, outstanding challenges, and future directions of Pb-free halide perovskite thin films and nanocrystals, regarding their synthesis, optical spectroscopy, and optoelectronic devices, to guide the researchers currently working in this area as well as those that will join the field in the future.I.L.-F., D.V., C.-Y.W., S.S., T.O., Y.-T.H., K.S., Y.L., V.S.C., J.Z., L.D.T., and D.G. contributed equally to this work. L.P. acknowledges the support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2018-026103-I) and the Spanish State Research Agency (Grant No. PID2020-117371RA-I00; TED2021-131628A-100), as well as the grant from the Xunta de Galicia (ED431F2021/05). C.-Y.W. acknowledges the financial support from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. K.S. acknowledges the financial support from China Scholarship Council (CSC), and P.M.-B. acknowledges support from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2089/1–390776260 (e-conversion). V.B. and T.O. acknowledge the MEXT JSPS Grants 20J00974, 21K14580, and 23H01781. H.Z acknowledges the financial supported by NSFC (62222405, 52131304), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220142), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (30922010713), and NSFC-RGC (62261160392). H.-T.S. acknowledges the financial support from JSPS KAKENHI (21H01743). Y.-T.H and R.L.Z.H. would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding (no. EP/V014498/2). R.L.Z.H. also thanks the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Research Fellowships scheme (no. RF∖201718∖17101). D.V. and E.D. acknowledge financial support from the Research Foundation – Flanders through an FWO doctoral fellowship to D.V. (FWO Grant Number 1S45223N) and the KU Leuven Internal Funds (Grant Numbers STG/21/010, C14/23/090, and CELSA/23/018). T.D. acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for the Ramanujan Fellowship Award (RJF/2021/000125). I.M.-S. acknowledges Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain under Step-Up (TED2021-131600B-C31) project and by Generalitat Valenciana under Print-P (MFA/2022/020) project. V.S.C., I.M.-S. and J.P.M.-P acknowledges the support of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the DROP-IT project (grant agreement no. 862656)
Alkyl phosphonic acids deliver CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals with high photoluminescence quantum yield and truncated octahedron shape
We devised a colloidal approach for the synthesis of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs) in which the only ligands employed are alkyl phosphonic acids. Compared to more traditional syntheses of CsPbBr3 NCs, the present scheme delivers NCs with the following distinctive features: (i) The NCs do not have cubic but truncated octahedron shape enclosed by Pb-terminated facets. This is a consequence of the strong binding affinity of the phosphonate groups toward Pb2+ ions. (II) The NCs have near unity photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs), with no need of postsynthesis treatments, indicating that alkyl phosphonic acids are effectively preventing the formation of surface traps. (III) Unlike NCs coated with alkylammonium or carboxylate ligands, the PLQY of phosphonate coated NCs remains constant upon dilution, suggesting that the ligands are tightly bound to the surface
Exploiting the Transformative Features of Metal Halides for the Synthesis of CsPbBr3@SiO2 Core\u2013Shell Nanocrystals
The encapsulation of colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals within silica (SiO2) is one of the strategies to protect them from polar solvents and other external factors. Here, we demonstrate the overcoating of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals with silica by exploiting the anhydride-induced transformation of Cs4PbBr6 nanocrystals. CsPbBr3@SiO2 core\u2013shell nanocrystals are obtained after (i) a reaction between colloidal Cs4PbBr6 nanocrystals and maleic anhydride in toluene that yields CsPbBr3 nanocrystals and maleamic acid and (ii) a silica-shell growth around CsPbBr3 nanocrystals via hydrolysis of added alkoxysilanes. The reaction between Cs4PbBr6 nanocrystals and maleic anhydride is necessary to promote shell formation from alkoxysilanes, as demonstrated in control experiments. The best samples of as-prepared CsPbBr3@SiO2 nanocrystals consist of 3c10 nm single-crystal CsPbBr3 cores surrounded by 3c5\u20137 nm amorphous silica shell. Despite their core\u2013shell structure, such nanostructures are poor emitters and degrade within minutes of exposure to ethanol. The photoluminescence intensity of the core\u2013shell nanocrystals is improved by the treatment with a solution of PbBr2 and ligands, and their stability in ethanol is extended to several days after applying an additional silica growth step. Overall, the investigated approach outlines a strategy for making colloidal core\u2013shell nanocrystals utilizing the transformative chemistry of metal halides and reveals interesting insights regarding the conditions required for CsPbBr3@SiO2 nanocrystal formation
Ultrafast Photodoping and Plasmon Dynamics in Fluorine-Indium Codoped Cadmium Oxide Nanocrystals for All-Optical Signal Manipulation at Optical Communication Wavelengths
We show the ultrafast photodoping and plasmon dynamics of the near-infrared (NIR) localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of fluorine-indium codoped cadmium oxide (FICO) nanocrystals (NCs). The combination of high temporal resolution and broad spectral coverage allowed us to model the transient absorption (TA) spectra in terms of the Drude model, verifying the increase in carrier density upon ultrafast photodoping. Our analysis also suggests that a change in carrier effective mass takes place upon LSPR excitation as a result of the nonparabolic conduction band of the doped semiconductor with a consequently high signal response. Both findings are combined in this new type of plasmonic material. The combination of large transmission modulation with modest pump powers and ultrafast recombination times makes our results interesting for all-optical signal processing at optical communication wavelengths. At the same time, our results also give insights into the physical mechanisms of ultrafast photodoping and LSPR tuning of degenerately doped semiconductor NCs
Exploiting the Transformative Features of Metal Halides for the Synthesis of CsPbBr3@SiO2 Core-Shell Nanocrystals
Lead halide perovskite (LHP) nanocrystals (NCs) are an emerging semiconductive material with a great potential for applications in optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, etc.1 Such an interest in LHP NCs is motivated by their easy synthesis combined with tunable and bright photoluminescence (PL) and strong absorption.2 Despite their impressive optoelectronic properties, LHP NCs experience fast degradation when exposed to UV irradiation, high temperature, moisture, acidic or alkaline environments and polar solvents.
Silica has emerged as the most promising material for LHP NCs stabilization.3 However, such enhanced stability is achieved with bulk silica which cannot be employed in technologies that require colloidal stability (e.g. inkjet printing). As a consequence, the community is moving to colloidally stable LHP NCs@SiO2 core@shell systems.
The complexity of growing silica shells onto preformed LHP NCs arises from NCs degradation under the conditions needed to grow silica, i.e. the acidic or alkaline environments that catalyze growth. Interestingly, Baranov et al. stabilized CsPbBr3 NCs in an acidic environment through the reaction of the non-luminescent C4PbBr6 NCs with poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAO). In particular, the oleylamine capping ligands react with the polymer promoting the formation of the luminescent CsPbBr3 NCs and acidifying the reaction environment due to maleamic acid formation.4
In our study, we exploited the acidic environment produced by the reaction of maleic anhydride (MANH, the reactive monomer of PMAO) with the oleylamine ligand of Cs4PbBr6 to prepare CsPbBr3@SiO2 in presence of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). XRD showed the partial conversion of the Cs4PbBr6 into the CsPbBr3 NCs which was confirmed by their green emission. The CsPbBr3@SiO2 were further coated with SiO2 enhancing the stability towards polar solvents and removing the residual Cs4PbBr6 NCs. These results provide interesting insights onto the mechanism of silica shell formation. Namely, Both the acidic environment and the Cs4PbBr6 NCs as starting material are needed to prepare CsPbBr3@SiO2.
[1] S. Tiam Tan, X. Li, H. Volkan Demir. Small 2019, 15, 1902079.
[2] L. Protesescu, S. Yakunin, M. Bodnarchuk, F. Krieg, R. Caputo, C. Hendon, R. Xi Yang, A. Walsh, M. Kovalenko. Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 3692\u20133696.
[3] Q. Zhang, B. Wang, L. Kong, Q. Wan, C. Zhang, Z. Li, X. Cao, M. Liu, L. Li. Nat. Comm. 2020, 11, 31.
[4] D. Baranov, G. Caputo, L. Goldoni, Z. Dang, R. Scarfiello, L. De Trizio, A. Portone, F. Fabbri, A. Camposeo, D. Pisignano, L. Manna. Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 3986-3995
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