Precursor and oxygen dependence of the unidirectional, seeded growth of CdSe nanorods

Scalable Synthesis of Selenide Solid-State Electrolytes for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Solid-state sodium-ion batteries employing superionic solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) offer low manufacturing costs and improved safety and are considered to be a promising alternative to current Li-ion batteries. Solid-state electrolytes must have high chemical/electrochemical stability and superior ionic conductivity. In this work, we employed precursor and solvent engineering to design scalable and cost-efficient solution routes to produce air-stable sodium selenoantimonate (Na3SbSe4). First, a simple metathesis route is demonstrated for the production of the Sb2Se3 precursor that is subsequently used to form ternary Na3SbSe4 through two different routes: alcohol-mediated redox and alkahest amine-thiol approaches. In the former, the electrolyte was successfully synthesized in EtOH by using a similar redox solution coupled with Sb2Se3, Se, and NaOH as a basic reagent. In the alkahest approach, an amine-thiol solvent mixture is utilized for the dissolution of elemental Se and Na and further reaction with the binary precursor to obtain Na3SbSe4. Both routes produced electrolytes with room temperature ionic conductivity (∼0.2 mS cm-1) on par with reported performance from other conventional thermo-mechanical routes. These novel solution-phase approaches showcase the diversity and application of wet chemistry in producing selenide-based electrolytes for all-solid-state sodium batteries.

Síntesis y caracterización de las propiedades ópticas de puntos cuánticos de CdSe y CdSe/ZnS

Se prepararon puntos cuánticos de CdSe y CdSe/ZnS (núcleo/capa) con ácido oleico como agente estabilizante en medio orgánico y se examinan las propiedades ópticas de los nanocristales obtenidos. En la obtención de CdSe, se estudió la influencia del O2 en la cinética de crecimiento de los puntos cuánticos. Durante los primeros 90 s, el crecimiento de los nanocristales en presencia de O2 fue 1,6 veces mayor que en atmósfera inerte. A pesar de este rápido crecimiento, el O2 afectó las propiedades ópticas de los nanocristales, formando bandas de absorción anchas y espectros de fluorescencia de baja intensidad. En2contraste, los puntos cuánticos de CdSe sintetizados en atmósfera inerte presentaron picos de absorción bien definidos y fluorescencia aguda e intensa. Estas propiedades se intensificaron con la formación de un 10% de la monocapa de ZnS: para un núcleo de 2.50 nm, el rendimiento cuántico de fluorescencia (ΦFl) en la región del verde se incrementó de 5,5 % a 42,3%. El procedimiento de síntesis de nanocristales de CdSe/ZnS desarrollado con baja concentración de Zn2+ y con un exceso de S2- puede emplearse en la obtención de materiales con excelentes propiedades fotoluminiscentes para aplicaciones como biomarcadores, sensores, catálisis y celdas solares.

Shape-programmed nanofabrication: understanding the reactivity of dichalcogenide precursors

Dialkyl and diaryl dichalcogenides are highly versatile and modular precursors for the synthesis of colloidal chalcogenide nanocrystals. We have used a series of commercially available dichalcogenide precursors to unveil the molecular basis for the outcome of nanocrystal preparations, more specifically, how precursor molecular structure and reactivity affect the final shape and size of II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals. Dichalcogenide precursors used were diallyl, dibenzyl, di-tert-butyl, diisopropyl, diethyl, dimethyl, and diphenyl disulfides and diethyl, dimethyl, and diphenyl diselenides. We find that the presence of two distinctively reactive C-E and E-E bonds makes the chemistry of these precursors much richer and interesting than that of other conventional precursors such as the more common phosphine chalcogenides. Computational studies (DFT) reveal that the dissociation energy of carbon-chalcogen (C-E) bonds in dichalcogenide precursors (R-E-E-R, E=S or Se) increases in the order (R): diallyl<dibenzyl<di-tert-butyl<diisopropyl<diethyl<dimethyl<diphenyl. The dissociation energy of chalcogen-chalcogen (E-E) bonds remains relatively constant across the series. The only exceptions are diphenyl dichalcogenides, which have a much lower E-E bond dissociation energy. An increase in C-E bond dissociation energy results in a decrease in R-E-E-R precursor reactivity, leading to progressively slower nucleation and higher selectivity for anisotropic growth, all the way from dots to pods to tetrapods. Under identical experimental conditions, we obtain CdS and CdSe nanocrystals with spherical, elongated, or tetrapodal morphology by simply varying the identity and reactivity of the dichalcogenide precursor. Interestingly, we find that precursors with strong C-E and weak E-E bond dissociation energies such as Ph-S-S-Ph serve as a ready source of thiol radicals that appear to stabilize small CdE nuclei, facilitating anisotropic growth. These CdS and CdSe nanocrystals have been characterized using structural and spectroscopic methods. An intimate understanding of how molecular structure affects the chemical reactivity of molecular precursors enables highly predictable and reproducible synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals with specific sizes, shapes, and optoelectronic properties for customized applications.