3D assembly of silica encapsulated semiconductor nanocrystals

Synthesis of Inorganic-Organic 2D CdSe Slab-Diamine Quantum Nets

Porous semiconductors attract great interest due to their unique structural characteristics of high surface area as well as their intrinsic optical and electronic properties. In this study, synthesis of inorganic-organic 2D CdSe slabs-diaminooctane (DAO) porous quantum net structures is demonstrated. It is found that the hybrid 2D CdSe-DAO lamellar structures are disintegrated into porous net structures, maintaining an ultrathin thickness of ≈1 nm in CdSe slabs. Furthermore, the CdSe slabs in quantum nets show the highly shifted excitonic transition in the absorption spectrum, demonstrating their strongly confined electronic structures. The possible formation mechanism of this porous structure is investigated with the control experiments of the synthesis using n-alkyldiamines with various hydrocarbon chain lengths and ligand exchange of DAO with oleylamine. It is suggested that a strong van der Waals interaction among long chain DAO may exert strong tensile stress on the CdSe slabs, eventually disintegrating slabs. The thermal decomposition of CdSe-DAO quantum nets is further studied to form well-defined CdSe nanorods. It is believed that the current CdSe-DAO quantum nets will offer a new type of porous semiconductors nanostructures under a strong quantum-confinement regime, which can be applied to various technological areas of catalysts, electronics, and optoelectronics.

Emerging Hierarchical Aerogels: Self-Assembly of Metal and Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Aerogels assembled from colloidal metal or semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) feature large surface area, ultralow density, and high porosity, thus rendering them attractive in various applications, such as catalysis, sensors, energy storage, and electronic devices. Morphological and structural modification of the aerogel backbones while maintaining the aerogel properties enables a second stage of the aerogel research, which is defined as hierarchical aerogels. Different from the conventional aerogels with nanowire-like backbones, those hierarchical aerogels are generally comprised of at least two levels of architectures, i.e., an interconnected porous structure on the macroscale and a specially designed configuration at local backbones at the nanoscale. This combination "locks in" the inherent properties of the NCs, so that the beneficial genes obtained by nanoengineering are retained in the resulting monolithic hierarchical aerogels. Herein, groundbreaking advances in the design, synthesis, and physicochemical properties of the hierarchical aerogels are reviewed and organized in three sections: i) pure metallic hierarchical aerogels, ii) semiconductor hierarchical aerogels, and iii) metal/semiconductor hybrid hierarchical aerogels. This report aims to define and demonstrate the concept, potential, and challenges of the hierarchical aerogels, thereby providing a perspective on the further development of these materials.

Tetrazoles: Unique Capping Ligands and Precursors for Nanostructured Materials

Capping agents play an important role in the colloidal synthesis of nanomaterials because they control the nucleation and growth of particles, as well as their chemical and colloidal stability. During recent years tetrazole derivatives have proven to be advanced capping ligands for the stabilization of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles. Tetrazole-capped nanoparticles can be prepared by solution-phase or solventless single precursor approaches using metal derivatives of tetrazoles. The solventless thermolysis of metal tetrazolates can produce both individual semiconductor nanocrystals and nanostructured metal monolithic foams displaying low densities and high surface areas. Alternatively, highly porous nanoparticle 3D assemblies are achieved through the controllable aggregation of tetrazole-capped particles in solutions. This approach allows for the preparation of non-ordered hybrid structures consisting of different building blocks, such as mixed semiconductor and metal nanoparticle-based (aero)gels with tunable compositions. Another unique property of tetrazoles is their complete thermal decomposition, forming only gaseous products, which is employed in the fabrication of organic-free semiconductor films from tetrazole-capped nanoparticles. After deposition and subsequent thermal treatment these films exhibit significantly improved electrical transport. The synthetic availability and advances in the functionalization of tetrazoles necessitate further design and study of tetrazole-capped nanoparticles for various applications.