Silicon nanoparticles: Preparation, properties, and applications

Abstract

Silicon nanoparticles have attracted great attention in the past decades because of their intriguing physical properties, active surface state, distinctive photoluminescence and biocompatibility. In this review, we present some of the recent progress in preparation methodologies and surface functionalization approaches of silicon nanoparticles. Further, their promising applications in the fields of energy and electronic engineering are introduced.

Controlling luminescent silicon nanoparticle emission produced by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation: role of interface defect states and crystallinity phase

“…However, its inherent indirect band gap properties have limited its use in photovoltaic and light emitting diode applications. When the dimensions of Si nanoparticles (NPs) become comparable or smaller than Bohr radius of a bulk exciton ($4 nm for Si), [1][2][3][4] they undergo a remarkable transition from indirect to direct band gap semiconductor. 5 Under such conditions, band-to-band radiative recombination (rather than phonon-assisted indirect transitions) begins to dominate Si-NPs' luminescence properties.…”

“…Thus each method requires optimization of chemical products, reducing agents or many steps for well controlled NP size. In recent years, pulsed laser ablation in liquid gathered immense interest as an efficient and alternative technique since it offers several advantages which can be listed as follows: (1) no material restriction compared to other techniques (2) no requirement for chemical precursors or reactions (3) no toxic by-products. However, the main drawback of this method is the limited control on the resulting size of the nanoparticles and their size distribution (homogeneity).…”

Review of In Vitro Toxicity of Nanoparticles and Nanorods—Part 2

“…was found that an intracellular increase of Zn 2+ precedes cell death, indicating the intracellular dissolution of the ZnO NWs after uptake [112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120].…”

Facile production of ultra-fine silicon nanoparticles

“…Currently, one of the more desirable Si NPs in the technology industry is ultra-fine silicon nanoparticles (with diameters of less than 10 nm). They are attractive in microelectronic devices, for the conversion of solar energy, in lightemitting diodes (LEDs), photopumped tunable lasers and in sensors [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Ultra-fine silicon nanoparticles are also promising candidates as anode active material for lithium-ion batteries [10,11].…”