Review of the Synthetic Chemistry Involved in the Production of Core/Shell Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Joel van Embden; Jacek Jasieniak; Daniel E. Gómez; Paul Mulvaney; Michael Giersig

doi:10.1071/CH07046

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Review of the Synthetic Chemistry Involved in the Production of Core/Shell Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Joel van Embden ^A , Jacek Jasieniak ^A , Daniel E. Gómez ^A , Paul Mulvaney ^A ^C and Michael Giersig ^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.

^B Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR), Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany.

^C Corresponding author. Email: mulvaney@unimelb.edu.au

Joel van Embden studied at the University of Melbourne, and received his B.Sc. (Hons) in chemistry in 2002. He is currently undertaking a Ph.D. on the synthesis and optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystal heterostructures under the supervision of Professor Paul Mulvaney at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Jacek Jasieniak was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1982. He received a B.Sc. degree in Nanotechnology (2003) from Flinders University, Adelaide, and is currently doing a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Melbourne under the supervision of Professor Paul Mulvaney. His current research interests include nanoparticle synthesis and the development of functional composite materials.

Daniel Gómez was born in Venezuela in 1979. He received his B.Sc. degree in chemistry (magna cum laude) at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in 2001. He is currently doing a Ph.D. on the optical properties of single semiconductor nanocrystals under the supervision of Professor Paul Mulvaney at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Paul Mulvaney is currently an ARC Federation Fellow and Professor of Chemistry in the School of Chemistry and Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in 1989 for studies on the radiation-induced dissolution of colloidal metal oxides. He carried out postdoctoral research work at the Hahnâ€“Meitner Institute in Berlin from 1989 to 1992. He was a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Maxâ€“Planck Institute for Colloids and Surfaces in Potsdam in 2000, and again at the CAESAR Institute in Bonn in 2005. His current interests involve the optical properties of single quantum dots, surface plasmon spectroscopy of single metal nanocrystals, nanocrystal-based biochemical markers, nanocrystal-based electronics, photonic crystals, nanomechanics, and the use of atomic force microscopy to measure surface forces.

Michael Giersig received his Ph.D. in chemistry at the Freie University of Berlin in 1988. After postdoctoral work at the Institute for Molecular Genetics at the Maxâ€“Planck-Institute, Berlin, he took up a post in 1989 at the Meitner-Institut in Berlin, where he was twice awarded a research prize. In 1995 he received an international accolade with a two-year stay at the University of Melbourne. In 2000 he was appointed Professor at the Technological University, Department of Physics, Poznan, Poland. He is author of over 185 scientific publications. He joined the Research Center Caesar in April 2003 to establish the Nanoparticle Technology Group, which focusses on the creation of two- and three-dimensional nanostructures, and the optical, structural, and magnetic characterization of nanostructures and their applications in biomedicine. He was awarded an honorary Professorship by the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-UniversitÃ¤t, Bonn, in 2005.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 60(7) 457-471 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH07046
Submitted: 14 February 2007 Accepted: 14 March 2007 Published: 9 July 2007

Abstract

Passivation of CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals can be achieved by overcoating the particles with a homogeneous shell of a second semiconductor. Shell layers are grown in monolayer steps to ensure homogeneous growth of the shell. The relative band edges of the two materials determine the photoreactiveity of the resultant core-shell nanocrystals. The critical role of ligands in minimizing nucleation of the shell material during the growth of the passivating layer is emphasized. The delocalization of charge carriers into the shell layers can be followed spectroscopically during the growth processes. The relative spectral shifts are directly correlated to the relative energies of the band edges.

References

Review of the Synthetic Chemistry Involved in the Production of Core/Shell Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Abstract

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