Linking Semiconductor Nanocrystals into Gel Networks through All‐Inorganic Bridges |
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| Authors: | Dr Amita Singh Dr Beth A Lindquist Gary K Ong Dr Ryan B Jadrich Dr Ajay Singh Heonjoo Ha Prof Christopher J Ellison Prof Thomas M Truskett Prof Delia J Milliron |
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| Affiliation: | 1. McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712 (USA);2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720 (USA) |
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| Abstract: | For colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs), replacement of insulating organic capping ligands with chemically diverse inorganic clusters enables the development of functional solids in which adjacent NCs are strongly coupled. Yet controlled assembly methods are lacking to direct the arrangement of charged, inorganic cluster‐capped NCs into open networks. Herein, we introduce coordination bonds between the clusters capping the NCs thus linking the NCs into highly open gel networks. As linking cations (Pt2+) are added to dilute (under 1 vol %) chalcogenidometallate‐capped CdSe NC dispersions, the NCs first form clusters, then gels with viscoelastic properties. The phase behavior of the gels for variable Pt2+] suggests they may represent nanoscale analogues of bridged particle gels, which have been observed to form in certain polymer colloidal suspensions. |
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| Keywords: | bridging ligands colloids gels phase behavior semiconductor nanocrystals |
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