Modular synthesis of a dual metal-dual semiconductor nano-heterostructure

Lilac Amirav; Fadekemi Oba; Shaul Aloni; A Paul Alivisatos

doi:10.1002/anie.201411461

Modular synthesis of a dual metal-dual semiconductor nano-heterostructure

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015 Jun 8;54(24):7007-11. doi: 10.1002/anie.201411461. Epub 2015 Apr 29.

Authors

Lilac Amirav^{1

2

3}, Fadekemi Oba^{1

2}, Shaul Aloni², A Paul Alivisatos^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA).
² Material Sciences Division; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA).
³ Present address: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000 (Israel).
⁴ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA). alivis@berkeley.edu.
⁵ Material Sciences Division; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA). alivis@berkeley.edu.
⁶ Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute, Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA). alivis@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 25924726
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201411461

Abstract

Reported is the design and modular synthesis of a dual metal-dual semiconductor heterostructure with control over the dimensions and placement of its individual components. Analogous to molecular synthesis, colloidal synthesis is now evolving into a series of sequential synthetic procedures with separately optimized steps. We detail the challenges and parameters that must be considered when assembling such a multicomponent nanoparticle, and their solutions. This multicomponent nanosystem, Ru-CdSe@CdS-Pt, was designed to achieve charge carrier separation and directional transfer across different interfaces toward two separate redox catalysts. This heterostructure may potentially serve as a nanometric closed circuit photoelectrochemical cell.

Keywords: nanoparticles; quantum dots; semiconductors; synthetic methods; water splitting.