Congratulations to Philippe for his JACS paper!
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Atomic layer deposition (ALD) enables the controlled growth of metal oxides as thin coatings for applications such as catalysis and optoelectronics. Adapting the ALD methodology to colloidal nanocrystals synergizes the advantages of these oxide coatings with solution processability, opening up new frontiers in functional materials design.
Currently, the chemistry to translate ALD from gas-phase to colloidal nanocrystals is underdeveloped and presents challenges related to finding precursors that promote the growth of the metal oxide while preserving the solution dispersability throughout the process. In this mauscript, we propose a colloidal ALD (c-ALD) method wherein the metal and oxygen precursors act as colloidal stabilizing ligands, which is a unique feature compared to the conventionally used gas-phase ALD precursors for thin films. We demonstrate that various oxides can be grown on a diverse range of nanocrystal compositions at mild temperature, without compromising the integrity of the nanocrystal core. We anticipate that this protocol will find practical applications in catalysis and optoelectronics, offering a means to mitigate the impact of harsh conditions and high photon fluxes.
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This publication was created as part of NCCR Catalysis (grant number 180544), a National Centre of Competence in Research funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.