Surfactant Ligand Removal and Rational Fabrication of Inorganically Connected Quantum Dots

Haitao Zhang, Bo Hu, Liangfeng Sun, Robert Hovden, Frank W. Wise, David A. Muller, Richard D. Robinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

198 Scopus citations

Abstract

A novel method is reported to create inorganically connected nanocrystal (NC) assemblies for both II-VI and IV-VI semiconductors by removing surfactant ligands using (NH 4) 2S. This surface modification process differs from ligand exchange methods in that no new surfactant ligands are introduced and the post-treated NC surfaces are nearly bare. The detailed mechanism study shows that the high reactivity between (NH 4) 2S and metal-surfactant ligand complexes enables the complete removal of surfactant ligands in seconds and converts the NC metal-rich shells into metal sulfides. The post-treated NCs are connected through metal-sulfide bonding and form a larger NCs film assembly, while still maintaining quantum confinement. Such "connected but confined" NC assemblies are promising new materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices. © 2011 American Chemical Society.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5356-5361
Number of pages6
JournalNano Letters
Volume11
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 14 2011
Externally publishedYes

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