Colloidal Nanocrystals with Molecular Metal Chalcogenide Surface Ligands
Maksym V. Kovalenko,1
Marcus Scheele,2
Dmitri V. Talapin1,3,*
Similar to the way that atoms bond to form molecules and crystalline
structures, colloidal nanocrystals can be combined together
to form larger assemblies. The properties of these structures
are determined by the properties of individual nanocrystals
and by their interactions. The insulating nature of organic
ligands typically used in nanocrystal synthesis results in very
poor interparticle coupling. We found that various molecular
metal chalcogenide complexes can serve as convenient ligands
for colloidal nanocrystals and nanowires. These ligands can
be converted into semiconducting phases upon gentle heat treatment,
generating inorganic nanocrystal solids. The utility of the
inorganic ligands is demonstrated for model systems, including
highly conductive arrays of gold nanocrystals capped with Sn
2S
64– ions and field-effect transistors on cadmium selenide nanocrystals.
2 Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
3 Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dvtalapin{at}uchicago.edu
