Instantaneous Functionalization of Chemically Etched Silicon Nanocrystal Surfaces

Abstract

Remarkable advances in surface hydrosilylation reactions of C=C and C=O bonds on hydride-terminated silicon have revolutionized silicon surface functionalization. However, existing methods for functionalizing hydride-terminated Si nanocrystals (H-SiNCs) require long reaction times and elevated temperatures. Herein, we report a room-temperature method for functionalizing H-SiNC surfaces within seconds by stripping outermost atoms on H-SiNC surfaces with xenon difluoride (XeF 2 ). Detailed analysis of the reaction byproducts by in situ NMR spectroscopy and GC-MS provided unprecedented insight into NC surface composition and reactivity as well as the complex reaction mechanism of XeF 2 activated hydrosilylation.

A Tale of Seemingly “Identical” Silicon Quantum Dot Families: Structural Insight into Silicon Quantum Dot Photoluminescence

“…Many of these uses rely on the unique tailorable optical properties of SiQDs; for example, LSCs take advantage of the large Stokes shift (i.e., the energy difference between excitation and photoluminescence maxima) that arises in part because of the indirect nature of the Si band gap. 13,14 Despite impressive advances including spectral tuning throughout the full visible region and photoluminescence (PL) quantum yields rivaling that of compound semiconductor QDs, challenges remain; [21][22][23][24][25] paramount among these is the limited predictability of the PL maximum size dependence that appears throughout the literature. 26 The origin of SiQD PL is clearly complex; [27][28][29][30][31][32] for convenience, SiQDs can be categorized into two broad groupings based upon PL properties and associated excited-state lifetimes.…”

Chemical Institute of Canada and Canadian Society for Chemistry Awards

“…Veinot's research interests are focused on the preparation and application of Group 14 nanomaterials, as well as polymer/nanomaterial hybrids. His report on chemically etched silicon nanocrystal surfaces is published in this issue …”

Preise des Chemical Institute of Canada und der Canadian Society for Chemistry

“…Im Zentrum seiner Forschung stehen die Herstellung und Anwendung von Gruppe‐14‐Nanomaterialien sowie von Polymer/Nanomaterial‐Hybridverbindungen. Er beschreibt in dieser Ausgabe chemisch geätzte Siliciumnanokristalloberflächen …”