I-III-VI 2 semiconductor nanocrystals, of a fundamental understanding of the hot injection material for synthesis of a new family of colloidal quantum dots

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (QDs) offer an exceptional combination of size-tunable opto-electronic

properties and suitability for solution-based processing. Mainly based on the Cd and Pb chalcogenides, they

have been used to explore in depth the effect of size on materials properties, and a wide range of potential

applications has been demonstrated. However, transferring this lab-scale research to real life applications

requires Cd and Pb free alternatives. Therefore, this proposal aims at developing chalcopyrite I-III-VI2 QDs

since these materials offer a range of bulk bandgaps running from the IR (CuFeS2) to the UV (CuAlS2) and

have the potential for heterostructure formation. To direct this development, the project sets great store on a

deeper understanding of the hot injection synthesis. The experimental work on I-III-VI2 QDs will be directed by

a combined experimental and multiscale modeling effort on more established hot injection synthesis recipes.

This will provide the body of knowledge needed to rationally introduce novel precursors and to steer the I-IIIVI2

QD synthesis in the direction of desired sizes and low size dispersions. The project is based on a novel

collaboration between the Ghent University research groups Physics and Chemistry of Nanostructures and the

Center for Molecular Modeling.