Band alignment and charge transfer in CsPbBr3–CdSe nanoplatelet hybrids coupled by molecular linkers

Enhancing Photocatalytic Attributes of Perovskite Nanocrystals in Aqueous Media via Ligand Engineering

The remarkable catalytic potential of perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) remains underutilized due to their limited stability in polar media, resulting from the vulnerability of their structure to disruption by polar solvents. In this study, we address this challenge by employing the bolaamphiphilic NKE-12 ligand, which features multiple denticities to effectively shield the surface of CsPbBr3 NCs from polar solvent interactions without compromising their light-harvesting properties. Our research, utilizing electrochemical impedance and photocurrent response measurements, highlights efficient charge separation and charge transfer enabled by NKE-12 ligands, which feature multiple ionic groups and peptide bonds, compared to conventional oleylamine/oleic acid ligands on CsPbBr3 NCs. Through the utilization of purely ligand-derived water-dispersed CsPbBr3/NKE-12 NCs, we successfully showcased their photocatalytic activity for acrylamide polymerization. A series of control experiments unveil a radical-based reaction pathway and suggest the synergistic involvement of photogenerated electrons and holes in producing the O2·- and OH· free radicals, respectively. Our findings emphasize the crucial role of ligand engineering in stabilizing perovskites in water and harnessing their exceptional photocatalytic attributes. This study opens new avenues for applying perovskite NCs in various catalytic processes in polar media.

2D II-VI Semiconductor Nanoplatelets: From Material Synthesis to Optoelectronic Integration

The field of colloidal synthesis of semiconductors emerged 40 years ago and has reached a certain level of maturity thanks to the use of nanocrystals as phosphors in commercial displays. In particular, II-VI semiconductors based on cadmium, zinc, or mercury chalcogenides can now be synthesized with tailored shapes, composition by alloying, and even as nanocrystal heterostructures. Fifteen years ago, II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets injected new ideas into this field. Indeed, despite the emergence of other promising semiconductors such as halide perovskites or 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, colloidal II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets remain among the narrowest room-temperature emitters that can be synthesized over a wide spectral range, and they exhibit good material stability over time. Such nanoplatelets are scientifically and technologically interesting because they exhibit optical features and production advantages at the intersection of those expected from colloidal quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. In organic solvents, gram-scale syntheses can produce nanoparticles with the same thicknesses and optical properties without inhomogeneous broadening. In such nanoplatelets, quantum confinement is limited to one dimension, defined at the atomic scale, which allows them to be treated as quantum wells. In this review, we discuss the synthetic developments, spectroscopic properties, and applications of such nanoplatelets. Covering growth mechanisms, we explain how a thorough understanding of nanoplatelet growth has enabled the development of nanoplatelets and heterostructured nanoplatelets with multiple emission colors, spatially localized excitations, narrow emission, and high quantum yields over a wide spectral range. Moreover, nanoplatelets, with their large lateral extension and their thin short axis and low dielectric surroundings, can support one or several electron-hole pairs with large exciton binding energies. Thus, we also discuss how the relaxation processes and lifetime of the carriers and excitons are modified in nanoplatelets compared to both spherical quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. Finally, we explore how nanoplatelets, with their strong and narrow emission, can be considered as ideal candidates for pure-color light emitting diodes (LEDs), strong gain media for lasers, or for use in luminescent light concentrators.

Impact of Bifunctional Ligands on Charge Transfer Kinetics in CsPbBr3-CdSe/CdS/ZnS Nanohybrids

Mixed dimensional nanohybrids (MDNHs) between zero-dimensional (0D) perovskites and two-dimensional (2D) II-VI semiconductors hold great potential for photonic device applications. An in-depth study to understand the shuttling of charge carriers is carried out utilizing bifunctional ligands such as 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP), p-aminobenzoic acid, and 6-amino-2-naphthoic acid in the synthesis of MDNHs of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell (CSS) nanoplatelets (NPLs). These MDNHs form donor-bridge-acceptor systems, where the electronic interaction is greatly influenced by the nature of ligands. The smaller size and stronger binding affinity of 4-ATP to CSS NPLs lead to a faster rate of charge transfer as compared to other linkers. Electronic structure calculations under the framework of density functional theory (DFT) confirms that in 4-ATP capped CSS NPLs, stronger electronic overlap occurs between CSS NPLs and 4-ATP at the valence band maxima (VBM). Furthermore, Poisson distribution modeling proposes that in 4-ATP linked MDNHs, the number of CSS NPLs around CsPbBr₃ NCs is highest.

Modulating optical properties and interfacial electron transfer of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals via indium ion and chlorine ion co-doping

In this work, we demonstrated an in situ approach for doping CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) with In³⁺ and Cl^- with a ligand-assisted precipitation method at room temperature. The In³⁺ and Cl^- co-doped NCs are characterized by the powder x-ray diffraction patterns, ultraviolet-visible, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, time-resolved PL (TRPL), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Based on PL and TRPL results, the non-radiative nature of In³⁺-doping induced localized impurity states is revealed. Furthermore, the impact of In³⁺ and Cl^- doping on charge transfer (CT) from the NCs to molecular acceptors was investigated and the results indicate that the CT at the interface of NCs can be tuned and promoted by In³⁺ and Cl^- co-doping. This enhanced CT is attributed to the enlarged energy difference between relevant states of the molecular acceptor and the NCs by In³⁺ and Cl^- upon co-doping. This work provides insight into how to control interfacial CT in perovskite NCs, which is important for optoelectronic applications.

Photoelectrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with a Copper Graphitic Carbon Nitride Photocathode

Research on the photoreduction of CO₂ often has been dominated by the use of sacrificial reducing agents. A pathway that avoids this problem would be the development of photocathodes for CO₂ reduction that could then be coupled to a photoanodic oxygen evolution reaction. Here, we present the use of copper-substituted graphitic carbon nitride (Cu-CN) on a fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) electrode for the photoelectrochemical two-electron reduction of CO₂ to CO as a major product (>95 %) and formic acid (<5 %). The results show that at a potential of -2.5 V versus Fc\Fc⁺ the CO₂ reduction activity of Cu-CN on FTO electrode improves by 25 % upon illumination by visible light with a faradaic efficiency of nearly 100 %. Independently, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy conclusively shows a pronounced increase in the electrical conductivity of the Cu-CN upon white light illumination under vacuum and a contactless measuring configuration. This photo-assisted charge mobility is shown to play a key role in the increased reactivity and faradaic efficiency for the reduction of CO₂ .

Hemispherical Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskite Single-Mode Microlasers with High-Quality Factors and Strong Purcell Enhancement

We realized a single-mode laser with an ultra-high quality factor in individual cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr₃) perovskite micro-hemispheres fabricated by chemical vapor deposition. A series of lasing property analysis based on cavity size was reported under this material system. Due to good optical confinement capability of the whispering gallery resonant cavity and high optical gain of CsPbBr₃ perovskite micro-hemispheres, single-mode lasing behavior was achieved with an ultra-high quality factor as large as 11,460 at room temperature. To study in detail the physical effects between lasing threshold and cavity, a set of cavity size dependence photoluminescence analyses were performed. We found that the lasing threshold increases while the cavity size decreases. Time-resolved PL analysis was conducted to confirm the relation between cavity size and lasing threshold. The larger cavity stands for longer PL lifetime and indicates easier-to-achieve carrier population inversion. Strong Purcell enhancement could be further investigated by the spontaneous emission coupling factor β and internal quantum efficiency as a function of cavity size. A high β-factor of 0.37 could be obtained from a 2.2 μm diameter hemisphere microcavity and a high Purcell factor of 14 in a 1.9 μm diameter hemisphere microcavity showing strong Purcell enhancement effect in our system.

Effect of Surface Ligands in Perovskite Nanocrystals: Extending in and Reaching out

The rediscovery of the halide perovskite class of compounds and, in particular, the organic and inorganic lead halide perovskite (LHP) materials and lead-free derivatives has reached remarkable landmarks in numerous applications. First among these is the field of photovoltaics, which is at the core of today’s environmental sustainability efforts. Indeed, these efforts have born fruit, reaching to date a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 25.2% for a double-cation Cs, FA lead halide thin film device. Other applications include light and particle detectors as well as lighting. However, chemical and thermal degradation issues prevent perovskite-based devices and particularly photovoltaic modules from reaching the market. The soft ionic nature of LHPs makes these materials susceptible to delicate changes in the chemical environment. Therefore, control over their interface properties plays a critical role in maintaining their stability. Here we focus on LHP nanocrystals, where surface termination by ligands determines not only the stability of the material but also the crystallographic phase and crystal habit. A surface analysis of nanocrystal interfaces revealed the involvement of Brønsted type acid–base equilibrium in the modification of the ligand moieties present, which in turn can invoke dissolution and recrystallization into the more favorable phase in terms of minimization of the surface energy. A large library of surface ligands has already been developed showing both good chemical stability and good electronic surface passivation, resulting in near-unity emission quantum yields for some materials, particularly CsPbBr₃. However, most of those ligands have a large organic tail hampering charge carrier transport and extraction in nanocrystal-based solid films.

The unique perovskite structure that allows ligand substitution in the surface A (cation) sites and the soft ionic nature is expected to allow the accommodation of large dipoles across the perovskite crystal. This was shown to facilitate electron transfer across a molecular linked single-particle junction, creating a large built-in field across the junction nanodomains. This strategy could be useful for implementing LHP NCs in a p–n junction photovoltaic configuration as well as for a variety of electronic devices. A better understanding of the surface propeties of LHP nanocrystals will also enable better control of their growth on surfaces and in confined volumes, such as those afforded by metal–organic frameworks, zeolites, or chemically patterened surfaces such as anodic alumina, which have already been shown to significantly alter the properties of in-situ-grown LHP materials.

Guest Transition Metals in Host Inorganic Nanocapsules: Single Sites, Discrete Electron Transfer, and Atomic Scale Structure

Host-guest solution chemistry with a wide range of organic hosts is an important and established research area, while the use of inorganic hosts is a more nascent area of research. In the recent past in a few cases, Keplerate-type molybdenum oxide-based porous, spherical clusters, shorthand notation {Mo132}, have been used as hosts for organic guests. Here, we demonstrate the synthetically controlled encapsulation of first-row transition metals (M = Mn, Fe, and Co) within a Keplerate cluster that was lined on the inner core with phosphate anions, {Mo132PO4}. The resulting M2+x⊂{Mo132PO4} host-guest complexes were characterized by 31P NMR and ENDOR spectroscopy that substantiated the encapsulation of the first-row transition metal guest. Magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that the encapsulation of up to 10 equiv showed little magnetic interaction between the encapsulated metals, which indicated that each guest atom occupied a single site. Visualization of the capsules and differentiation of the Mo atoms of the capsule framework and the encapsulated transition metal were possible using spherical and chromatic double aberration-corrected electron microscopy combined with energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM) elemental maps. In addition, use of visible light-induced XPS for chemically resolved electrical measurements (CREM) confirmed the successful encapsulation of M within {Mo132PO4} and furthermore showed photoinduced electron transfer from M to Mo. In the future, such targeted electron transfer between host {Mo132} and a transition metal guest could be used as photoinitiated switches using inorganic compounds and for single site photocatalytic reactions in confined space.

Broad-Band Photodetectors Based on Copper Indium Diselenide Quantum Dots in a Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Matrix

Low-temperature solution-processed methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) crystalline films have shown outstanding performance in optoelectronic devices. However, their high dark current and high noise equivalent power prevent their application in broad-band photodetectors. Here, we applied a facile solution-based antisolvent strategy to fabricate a hybrid structure of CuInSe₂ quantum dots (CISe QDs) embedded into a MAPbI₃ matrix, which not only enhances the photodetector responsivity, showing a large on/off ratio of 10⁴ at 2 V bias compared with the bare perovskite films, but also significantly (for over 7 days) improves the device stability, with hydrophobic ligands on the CuInSe₂ QDs acting as a barrier against the uptake of environmental moisture. MAPbI₃/CISe QD-based lateral photodetectors exhibit high responsivities of >0.5 A/W and 10.4 mA/W in the visible and near-infrared regions, respectively, partly because of the formation of a type II interface between the respective semiconductors but most significantly because of the efficient trap-state passivation of the perovskite grain surfaces, and the reduction in the twinning-induced trap density, which stems from both CISe QDs and their organic ligands. A large specific detectivity of 2.2 × 10¹² Jones at 525 nm illumination (1 μW/cm²), a fast fall time of 236 μs, and an extremely low noise equivalent power of 45 fW/Hz^1/2 have been achieved.

Tunable Metal Oxide Shell as a Spacer to Study Energy Transfer in Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are promising components in various optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices; however, the mechanism of energy transport in these materials remains to be further understood. Here, we investigate the distance dependence of the electronic interactions between CsPbBr₃ nanocubes and CdSe nanoplateles using an alumina (AlO_x) shell as a spacer. CsPbBr₃@AlO_x core@shell NCs are synthesized via colloidal atomic layer deposition (c-ALD), which allows us to fine-tune the oxide thickness and thus the distance d between the two NCs. This versatile material platform shows that the electronic interactions between the CsPbBr₃ NCs and the CdSe nanoplatelets can be tuned from electron to energy transfer by increasing the shell thickness, whereas previous studies on the same system had been limited to the former. Considering the applicability of the c-ALD to different NCs, we suggest that metal oxide shell spacers synthesized by this approach can generally be used to study energy-transfer mechanisms at the nanoscale.