Ion-exchange transformations allow access to nanocrystalline materials with compositions that are inaccessible via direct synthetic routes. However, additional mechanistic insight into the processes that govern these reactions is needed. We present evidence for the presence of two distinct mechanisms of exchange during anion exchange in CsPbX3 nanocrystals (NCs), ranging in size from 6.5 to 11.5 nm, for transformations from CsPbBr3 to CsPbCl3 or CsPbI3. These NCs exhibit bright luminescence throughout the exchange, allowing their optical properties to be observed in real time, in situ. The iodine exchange presents surface-reaction-limited exchanges allowing all anionic sites within the NC to appear chemically identical, whereas the chlorine exchange presents diffusion-limited exchanges proceeding through a more complicated exchange mechanism. Our results represent the first steps toward developing a microkinetic description of the anion exchange, with implications not only for understanding the lead halide perovskites but also for nanoscale ion exchange in general.

Highly uniform single crystal ultrathin CsPbBr₃ nanowires (NWs) with diameter of 2.2 ± 0.2 nm and length up to several microns were successfully synthesized and purified using a catalyst-free colloidal synthesis method followed by a stepwise purification strategy. The NWs have bright photoluminescence (PL) with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of about 30% after surface treatment. Large blue-shifted UV-vis absorption and PL spectra have been observed due to strong two-dimensional quantum confinement effects. A small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) pattern shows the periodic packing of the ultrathin NWs along the radial direction, demonstrates the narrow radial distribution of the wires, and emphasizes the deep intercalation of the surfactants. Despite the extreme aspect ratios of the ultrathin NWs, their composition and the resulting optical properties can be readily tuned by an anion-exchange reaction with good morphology preservation. These bright ultrathin NWs may be used as a model system to study strong quantum confinement effects in a one-dimensional halide perovskite system.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are used as bright chromatic fluorophores for energy-efficient displays. We focus here on the size-dependent Stokes shift for CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals. The Stokes shift, i.e., the difference between the wavelengths of absorption and emission maxima, is crucial for display application, as it controls the degree to which light is reabsorbed by the emitting material reducing the energetic efficiency. One major impediment to the industrial adoption of NCs is that slight deviations in manufacturing conditions may result in a wide dispersion of the product's properties. A data-driven analysis of over 2000 reactions comparing two data sets, one produced via standard colloidal synthesis and the other via high-throughput automated synthesis is discussed. We show that differences in the reaction conditions of colloidal CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals yield nanocrystals with opposite Stokes shift size-dependent trends. These match the morphologies of two-dimensional nanoplatelets (NPLs) and nanocrystal cubes. The Stokes shift size dependence trend of NPLs and nanocubes is non-monotonic indicating different physics is at play for the two nanocrystal morphologies. For nanocrystals with cubic shape, with the increase of edge length, there is a significant decrease in Stokes shift values. However, for NPLs with the increase of thickness (1-4 ML), Stokes shift values will increase. The study emphasizes the transition from a spectroscopic point of view and relates the two Stokes shift trends to 2D and 0D exciton dimensionalities for the two morphologies. Our findings highlight the importance of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystal morphology for Stokes shift prediction.

The radiation-sensitive nature of halide perovskites has hindered structural studies at the atomic scale. We overcome this obstacle by applying low dose-rate in-line holography, which combines aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with exit-wave reconstruction. This technique successfully yields the genuine atomic structure of ultrathin two-dimensional CsPbBr₃ halide perovskites, and a quantitative structure determination was achieved atom column by atom column using the phase information of the reconstructed exit-wave function without causing electron beam-induced sample alterations. An extraordinarily high image quality enables an unambiguous structural analysis of coexisting high-temperature and low-temperature phases of CsPbBr₃ in single particles. On a broader level, our approach offers unprecedented opportunities to better understand halide perovskites at the atomic level as well as other radiation-sensitive materials.

Treatment of InP colloidal quantum dots (QDs) with hydrofluoric acid (HF) has been an effective method to improve their photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) without growing a shell. Previous work has shown that this can occur through the dissolution of the fluorinated phosphorus and subsequent passivation of indium on the reconstructed surface by excess ligands. In this article, we demonstrate that very significant luminescence enhancements occur at lower HF exposure though a different mechanism. At lower exposure to HF, the main role of the fluoride ions is to directly passivate the surface indium dangling bonds in the form of atomic ligands. The PLQY enhancement in this case is accompanied by red shifts of the emission and absorption peaks rather than blue shifts caused by etching as seen at higher exposures. Density functional theory shows that the surface fluorination is thermodynamically preferred and that the observed spectral characteristics might be due to greater exciton delocalization over the outermost surface layer of the InP QDs as well as alteration of the optical oscillator strength by the highly electronegative fluoride layer. Passivation of surface indium with fluorides can be applied to other indium-based QDs. PLQY of InAs QDs could also be increased by an order of magnitude via fluorination. We fabricated fluorinated InAs QD-based electrical devices exhibiting improved switching and higher mobility than those of 1,2-ethanedithiol cross-linked QD devices. The effective surface passivation eliminates persistent photoconductivity usually found in InAs QD-based solid films.

Lead halide perovskites hold promise for photonic devices, due to their superior optoelectronic properties. However, their use is limited by poor stability and toxicity. We demonstrate enhanced water and light stability of high-surface-area colloidal perovskite nanocrystals by encapsulation of colloidal CsPbBr₃ quantum dots into matched hydrophobic macroscale polymeric matrices. This is achieved by mixing the quantum dots with presynthesized high-molecular-weight polymers. We monitor the photoluminescence quantum yield of the perovskite-polymer nanocomposite films under water-soaking for the first time, finding no change even after >4 months of continuous immersion in water. Furthermore, photostability is greatly enhanced in the macroscale polymer-encapsulated nanocrystal perovskites, which sustain >10¹⁰ absorption events per quantum dot prior to photodegradation, a significant threshold for potential device use. Control of the quantum dot shape in these thin-film polymer composite enables color tunability via strong quantum-confinement in nanoplates and significant room temperature polarized emission from perovskite nanowires. Not only does the high-molecular-weight polymer protect the perovskites from the environment but also no escaped lead was detected in water that was in contact with the encapsulated perovskites for months. Our ligand-passivated perovskite-macroscale polymer composites provide a robust platform for diverse photonic applications.

The rapid development of solar cells based on lead halide perovskites (LHPs) has prompted very active research activities in other closely-related fields. Colloidal nanostructures of such materials display superior optoelectronic properties. Especially, one-dimensional (1D) LHPs nanowires show anisotropic optical properties when they are highly oriented. However, the ionic nature makes them very sensitive to external environment, limiting their large scale practical applications. Here, we introduce an amphiphilic block copolymer, polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-P4VP), to chemically modify the surface of colloidal CsPbBr3 nanowires. The resulting core-shell nanowires show enhanced photoluminescent emission and good colloidal stability against water. Taking advantage of the stability enhancement, we further applied a modified Langmuir-Blodgett technique to assemble monolayers of highly aligned nanowires, and studied their anisotropic optical properties. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Lead toxicity has sparked interest into alternative halide nanomaterials with properties similar to CsPbX 3 perovskites. A promising alternative suggested from bulk studies is the family of double perovskites of the form Cs 2 AgMX 6 . Here, we report the synthesis of colloidal Cs 2 AgInCl 6 and Cs 2 AgSbCl 6 nanocrystals via injection of acyl halides into a metal acetate solution under atmospheric conditions and relatively mild temperatures. We demonstrate the synthesis of single-crystalline cubic nanocrystals of ca. 10 nm side length and their morphological similarities to other double perovskite nanostructures in terms of their [200] facet termination and decoration with Ag (0) smaller nanocrystallites. To compare the stabilities of the synthesized materials, we develop a titration assay based on the degradation of nanocrystals with amines as a proxy for degradation by humidity, which provides a quantifiable stability metric. This measurement shows that Cs 2 AgSbCl 6 releases more than twice the decomposition energy compared to Cs 2 AgInCl 6 or CsPbCl 3 and degrades in the presence of approximately one molar equivalent of amine, whereas the other two materials require more than a 100-fold excess. Using facile chemical titration to quantitatively determine chemical stability provides an additional tool to aid in the basic understanding of what makes some of these materials more environmentally stable than others.