Functionalization of Silicon Nanoparticles via Silanization: Alkyl, Halide and Ester

Si-H Surface Groups Inhibit Methacrylic Polymerization: Thermal Hydrosilylation of Allyl Methacrylate with Silicon Nanoparticles

Hydrogen-terminated silicon nanoparticles (H-SiNPs) inhibit anerobic thermal autopolymerization of methacrylates. When heated to 100 °C under an inert atmosphere, allyl methacrylate (AMA) was stable for at least 95 h in the presence of 1.2 wt % H-SiNPs, exhibiting less than 0.15% conversion, whereas the neat monomer solidified within 24 h (over 10% conversion after 34 h). A mechanism is proposed that is based on H-transfer from SiNPs to the thermally activated methacrylic dimer biradical, quenching autopolymerization. An analysis of SiNPs isolated after heating in AMA reveals the grafting of ester groups. Thermal hydrosilylation offers a facile way to attach an allyl group to the surface of SiNPs.

Functionalization and Characterization of Silicon Nanowires for Sensing Applications: A Review

Silicon nanowires are attractive materials from the point of view of their electrical properties or high surface-to-volume ratio, which makes them interesting for sensing applications. However, they can achieve a better performance by adjusting their surface properties with organic/inorganic compounds. This review gives an overview of the main techniques used to modify silicon nanowire surfaces as well as characterization techniques. A comparison was performed with the functionalization method developed, and some applications of modified silicon nanowires and their advantages on those non-modified are subsequently presented. In the final words, the future opportunities of functionalized silicon nanowires for chipless tag radio frequency identification (RFID) have been depicted.

Stabilizing decontamination foam using surface-modified silica nanoparticles containing chemical reagent: foam stability, structures, and dispersion properties

The stabilization of decontamination foams containing a chemical reagent is a crucial requirement for their use in the decontamination of nuclear power plants. We have investigated the effects on decontamination foam stability of adding silica nanoparticles (NPs) modified with various functional groups, namely propyl (–CH₃), amine (–NH₂), and thiol (–SH) groups. The surface properties of these silica NPs were characterized with ATR-FTIR, solid NMR, and TGA analyses. We also established that the agglomeration in such foams of the amine-modified silica NPs is weaker than that of the other modified silica NPs due to their thorough dispersion in the liquid film. Further, the foam containing amine-modified silica NPs was found to be stable for 60 min at a pH of 2, i.e. under decontamination conditions. The bubble structure analysis showed that this decontamination foam has a bubble count that is approximately 5–8 times higher than the foams containing NPs modified with the other functional groups, which indicates that the decontamination foam with amine-modified silica NPs has the best foam structure of the three investigated foams. The well-dispersed and smaller amine-modified silica NPs enhance the foam stability by providing a barrier between the gas bubbles and delaying their coalescence. In contrast, the thiol- and propyl-modified silica NPs form aggregates with large diameters that reduce the maximum capillary pressure of coalescence and hence decrease the foam stability.

The stabilization of decontamination foams containing a chemical reagent is a crucial requirement for their use in the decontamination of nuclear power plants.

Group IV nanodots: synthesis, surface engineering and application in bioimaging and biotherapy

Group IV nanodots (NDs) mainly including carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge) have aroused much attention as one type of important nanomaterials that are widely studied in optoelectronics, semiconductors, sensors and biomedicine-related fields owing to the low cost of synthesis, good stability, excellent biocompatibility, and some attractive newly emerged properties. In this review, the synthesis, surface engineering and application in bioimaging and biotherapy of group IV NDs are summarized and discussed. The recent progress in the rational synthesis and functionalization, specific therapy-related properties, together with in vivo and in vitro bioimaging are highlighted. Their new applications in biotherapy such as photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) are illustrated with respect to C, Si and Ge NDs. The current challenges and future applications of these emerging materials in bioimaging and biotherapy are presented. This review provides readers with a distinct perspective of the group IV NDs nanomaterials for synthesis and surface engineering, and newly emerging properties related to applications in biomedicine.

Structural evolution and effective improvement of emission quantum yields for silicon nanocrystals synthesized by femtosecond laser ablation in HF-contained solution

Stable luminescent colloidal silicon (Si) nanocrystals (NCs) with sufficient surface protection are prepared through femtosecond laser ablation in organic solvent containing diverse concentrations of HF solution. The average size of Si NCs shows the decreasing tendency from 6.5 to 2.7 nm when the concentration of HF varies from 0 to 11.1 vol% (volume ratio). In line with the structural evolution, UV-visible absorption, photoluminescence (PL) excitation spectra, and time-resolved PL, we propose that room temperature blue emission peaks at 412 and 440 nm originate from alkyl-related radiative recombination centers. The enhanced PL quantum yield of colloidal Si NCs from 16.3% to 76.5% has been attributed to the effective passivation and suppression of non-radiative defect centers with increasing HF concentration from 0 to 11.1 vol%.

Photoluminescent and biodegradable porous silicon nanoparticles for biomedical imaging

A set of unique properties including biodegradability, intrinsic photoluminescence, and mesoporous structure allows porous silicon nanoparticles to address current challenges of translational nanomedicine, especially in biomedical imaging.

Si nanocrystal solution with stability for one year

Colloidal silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) are a promising material for next-generation nanostructured devices. High-stability SiNC solutions are required for practical use as well as studies on the properties of SiNC. Here, we show a solution of SiNCs that was stable for one year without aggregation. The stable solution was synthesized by a facile process, i.e., pulsed laser ablation of a Si wafer in isopropyl alcohol (IPA). The long-term stability was due to a large ζ-potential of −50 mV from a SiNC passivation layer composed of oxygen, hydrogen, and alkane groups, according to the results of eight experiments and theoretical calculations. This passivation layer also resulted in good performance as an additive for a conductive polymer film. Namely, a 5-fold enhancement in carrier density was established by the addition of SiNCs into an organic conductive polymer, poly(3-dodecylthiophene), which is useful for solar cells. Furthermore, it was found that fresh (<1 day) and aged (4 months) SiNCs give the same enhancement. The long-term stability was attributed to a great repulsive energy in IPA, whose value was quantified as a function the distance between SiNCs.

A stable nanocrystal for one year without aggregation in a liquid is synthesized by one-step, one-pot, and one-hour process.

Gated Luminescence Imaging of Silicon Nanoparticles

The luminescence lifetime of nanocrystalline silicon is typically on the order of microseconds, significantly longer than the nanosecond lifetimes exhibited by fluorescent molecules naturally present in cells and tissues. Time-gated imaging, where the image is acquired at a time after termination of an excitation pulse, allows discrimination of a silicon nanoparticle probe from these endogenous signals. Because of the microsecond time scale for silicon emission, time-gated imaging is relatively simple to implement for this biocompatible and nontoxic probe. Here a time-gated system with ∼10 ns resolution is described, using an intensified CCD camera and pulsed LED or laser excitation sources. The method is demonstrated by tracking the fate of mesoporous silicon nanoparticles containing the tumor-targeting peptide iRGD, administered by retro-orbital injection into live mice. Imaging of such systemically administered nanoparticles in vivo is particularly challenging because of the low concentration of probe in the targeted tissues and relatively high background signals from tissue autofluorescence. Contrast improvements of >100-fold (relative to steady-state imaging) is demonstrated in the targeted tissues.

Chemical engineering of self-assembled Alzheimer's peptide on a silanized silicon surface

The aim of this work is to develop a sensitive and specific immune-sensing platform dedicated to the detection of potential biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in biological fluids. Accordingly, a controlled and adaptive surface functionalization of a silicon wafer with 7-octenyltrichlorosilane has been performed. The surface has extensively been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM; morphology) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS; chemical composition) and contact angle measurements. The wettability of the grafted chemical groups demonstrated the gradual trend from hydrophilic to hydrophobic surface during functionalization. XPS evidenced the presence of silanes on the surface after silanization, and even carboxylic groups as products from the oxidation step of the functionalization process. The characterization results permitted us to define an optimal protocol to reach a high-quality grafting yield. The issue of the quality of controlled chemical preparation on bioreceiving surfaces was also investigated by the recognition of one AD biomarker, the amyloid peptide Aβ 1-42. We have therefore evaluated the biological activity of the grafted anti Aβ antibodies onto this silanized surface by fluorescent microscopy. In conclusion, we have shown, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the uniformity of the optimized functionalization on slightly oxidized silicon surfaces, providing a reliable and chemically stable procedure to determine specific biomarkers of Alzheimer disease. This work opens the route to the integration of controlled immune-sensing applications on lab-on-chip systems.

Silicon quantum dots: surface matters

Silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) hold great promise for many future technologies. Silicon is already at the core of photovoltaics and microelectronics, and SiQDs are capable of efficient light emission and amplification. This is crucial for the development of the next technological frontiers-silicon photonics and optoelectronics. Unlike any other quantum dots (QDs), SiQDs are made of non-toxic and abundant material, offering one of the spectrally broadest emission tunabilities accessible with semiconductor QDs and allowing for tailored radiative rates over many orders of magnitude. This extraordinary flexibility of optical properties is achieved via a combination of the spatial confinement of carriers and the strong influence of surface chemistry. The complex physics of this material, which is still being unraveled, leads to new effects, opening up new opportunities for applications. In this review we summarize the latest progress in this fascinating research field, with special attention given to surface-induced effects, such as the emergence of direct bandgap transitions, and collective effects in densely packed QDs, such as space separated quantum cutting.

Luminescence nanothermometry with alkyl-capped silicon nanoparticles dispersed in nonpolar liquids

Silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) with a diameter size ranging from 4 to 8 nm were successfully fabricated. They exhibit a visible photoluminescence (PL) due to the quantum confinement effect. Chemical functionalization of these Si NPs with alkyl groups allowed to homogeneously disperse them in nonpolar liquids (NPLs). In comparison to most of literature results for Si NPs, an important PL peak position variation with temperature (almost 1 meV/K) was obtained from 303 to 390 K. The influence of the liquid viscosity on the peak positions is also presented. These variations are discussed considering energy transfer between nanoparticles. The high PL thermal sensitivity of the alkyl-capped Si NPs paves the way for their future application as nanothermometers.

Colloidal silicon quantum dots: synthesis and luminescence tuning from the near-UV to the near-IR range

This review describes a series of representative synthesis processes, which have been developed in the last two decades to prepare silicon quantum dots (QDs). The methods include both top-down and bottom-up approaches, and their methodological advantages and disadvantages are presented. Considerable efforts in surface functionalization of QDs have categorized it into (i) a two-step process and (ii) in situ surface derivatization. Photophysical properties of QDs are summarized to highlight the continuous tuning of photoluminescence color from the near-UV through visible to the near-IR range. The emission features strongly depend on the silicon nanostructures including QD surface configurations. Possible mechanisms of photoluminescence have been summarized to ascertain the future challenges toward industrial use of silicon-based light emitters.

Optimal size regime for oxidation-resistant silicon quantum dots

First-principles computations have been carried out to predict that appropriately terminated silicon quantum dots with diameters in the range of 1.2-2 nm will offer a superb resistance to oxidation. This is because surface treatments can produce dangling bond defect densities sufficiently low that dots of this size are unlikely to have any defect at all. On the other hand, these dots are large enough that the severe angles between facets do not expose bonds that are vulnerable to subsequent oxygen attack. The absence of both surface defects and geometry-related vulnerabilities allows even very short passivating ligands to generate an effective barrier, an important consideration for charge and exciton transport within quantum dot assemblies. Our computations, which employ many-body perturbation theory using Green functions, also indicate that dots within this size regime have optical and electronic properties that are robust to small amounts of inadvertent oxidation, and that any such oxygen incorporation is essentially frozen in place.

Microscopic origin of the fast blue-green luminescence of chemically synthesized non-oxidized silicon quantum dots

The microscopic origin of the bright nanosecond blue-green photoluminescence (PL), frequently reported for synthesized organically terminated Si quantum dots (Si-QDs), has not been fully resolved, hampering potential applications of this interesting material. Here a comprehensive study of the PL from alkyl-terminated Si-QDs of 2-3 nm size, prepared by wet chemical synthesis is reported. Results obtained on the ensemble and those from the single nano-object level are compared, and they provide conclusive evidence that efficient and tunable emission arises due to radiative recombination of electron-hole pairs confined in the Si-QDs. This understanding paves the way towards applications of chemical synthesis for the development of Si-QDs with tunable sizes and bandgaps.

Femtosecond ligand/core dynamics of microwave-assisted synthesized silicon quantum dots in aqueous solution

A microwave-assisted reaction has been developed to produce hydrogen-terminated silicon quantum dots (QDs). The Si QDs were passivated for water solubility via two different methods: hydrosilylation produced 3-aminopropenyl-terminated Si QDs, and a modified Stöber process produced silica-encapsulated Si QDs. Both methods produce water-soluble QDs with maximum emission at 414 nm, and after purification, the QDs exhibit intrinsic fluorescence quantum yield efficiencies of 15 and 23%, respectively. Even though the QDs have different surfaces, they exhibit nearly identical absorption and fluorescence spectra. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was used for temporal resolution of the photoexcited carrier dynamics between the QDs and ligand. The transient dynamics of the 3-aminopropenyl-terminated Si QDs is interpreted as a formation and decay of a charge-transfer (CT) excited state between the delocalized π electrons of the carbon linker and the Si core excitons. This CT state is stable for ~4 ns before reverting back to a more stable, long-living species. The silica-encapsulated Si QDs show a simpler spectrum without CT dynamics.

Colloidal Si nanocrystals: a controlled organic-inorganic interface and its implications of color-tuning and chemical design toward sophisticated architectures

The optical use of colloidal silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) has gained increasing attention for its possible contributions to building a sustainable society that ideally uses resources and energy with high efficiency without causing damage to the environment or human health. Si wafers (E(g) ≈ 1.1 eV) dominate modern microelectronics as an impressive electronic material, but they exhibit relatively poor optical performance owing to an indirect bandgap structure. Interestingly, however, full control of the size distribution and surface chemistry of the NCs yields size-dependent light emission in a very wide range from near-ultraviolet through visible to near-infrared wavelengths. In addition to such unique luminescence properties, Si exhibits a high chemical affinity to covalent linkages with carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, thereby producing almost unlimited variations in organic-Si NCs architectures hybridized at the molecular level. To achieve this goal, I note some parameters, including interfacial chemistry, that are emerging as important elements for increasing our understanding of the effect of quantum confinement in nanostructured Si and for realizing efficient fluorescence emission. This article covers new aspects of derivatives of Si NCs in applications that utilize their optical absorption and emission features.

Chemical reactions on surface molecules attached to silicon quantum dots

This Article describes research on chemical reactions on molecules attached to the surface of silicon quantum dots that have been performed to produce quantum dots with reactive surface functionalities such as diols and epoxides. Characterization of the surface reactions includes NMR and FT-IR studies, and the quantum dots were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Cytotoxicity and cell viability assay conducted on silicon dots capped with polar molecules indicated low toxicity with quantum dots with more reactive functionalities found to be more toxic. The silicon quantum dots photoluminesce and have been used as a blue chromophore for the biological imaging of cells.