Nanocrystal assemblies are being explored for a number of optoelectronic applications such as transparent conductors, photovoltaic solar cells, and electrochromic windows. Majority carrier transport is important for these applications, yet it remains relatively poorly understood in films comprised of touching nanocrystals. Specifically, the underlying structural parameters expected to determine...

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals in the range 1-10 nm are promising building blocks for future nanodevices since they show strong quantum confinement effects even at room temperature [1,2]. Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals consist of an inorganic core, having the same crystal structure as the corresponding bulk semiconductor, surrounded by a shell of capping molecules. These cappping mo...

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanocrystals derived from cockle shells emerge to present a good concert in bone tissue engineering because of their potential to mimic the composition, structure, and properties of native bone. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological response of CaCO3 nanocrystals on hFOB 1.19 and MC3T3 E-1 osteoblast cells in vitro. Cell viability and proliferation were ...

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are widely used as lumiphores in biological imaging because their luminescence is both strong and stable, and because they can be biofunctionalized. During synthesis, nanocrystals are typically passivated with hydrophobic organic ligands, so it is then necessary either to replace these ligands or encapsulate the nanocrystals with hydrophilic moieties to make...

[111]- and {010}-faceted anatase nanocrystals with controllable crystal size and morphology were synthesized from tri-titanate H2Ti3O7 nanosheets by hydrothermal reaction. The nanostructures and the formation reaction mechanism of the obtained TiO2 nanocrystals were investigated using XRD, FE-SEM, and TEM. Furthermore, the photocatalytic and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performances of the ...

Doping—the intentional introduction of impurities into a material—is fundamental to controlling the properties of bulk semiconductors. The prospect of new technologies has motivated similar efforts to dope semiconductor nanocrystals since their discovery two decades ago. Despite some successes [1–5], many of these efforts have failed, for reasons that remain mysterious. For example, individual ...

The electrostatic properties of individual CdSe nanocrystals are directly measured using electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) in dry air at room temperature. We determine that the static dielectric constant of CdSe nanocrystals with diameters 5 nm is uniform. However, the charge per nanocrystal is nonuniform, with some nanocrystals possessing a positive charge. Furthermore, a small fraction of ...

Magnetic magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals have been synthesized by combining nonhydrolytic reaction with seed-mediated growth. The shape of these magnetite nanocrystals can be controlled either as pure spheres or a mixture of mainly faceted nanocrystals. Faceted magnetite nanocrystals consist of truncated tetrahedral platelets (TTPs), truncated octahedrons (TOs), and octahedrons (OTs). Transmissi...

Rare earth (RE) Tb(3+)-doped high quality ZnSe nanocrystals (NCs) were synthesized by a facile chemical hot-injection method. ZnSe:Tb(3+) nanocrystals exhibited broadband absorption below the first excitonic absorption peak. Photoluminescence spectra showed Tb(3+) emission lines in the visible spectral window at room temperature when excited by UV radiation below the band-edge of the host ZnSe ...

Binary nanocrystal superlattices present unique opportunities to create novel interconnected nanostructures by partial fusion of specific components of the superlattice. Here, we demonstrate the binary AB6 superlattice of PbSe and Fe2O3 nanocrystals as a model system to transform the central hexamer of PbSe nanocrystals into a single fused particle. We present detailed structural analysis of th...