Skip to main content

Molecular Foundry

HIGHLIGHTSPorous Semiconducting Films Tailored for Future Energy Storage and Conversion Devices
May 1, 2013

Scientific Achievement

Mesoporous films switch composition from CdSe to PbSe, Cu2Se, and Ag2Se through cation exchange: The architecture of these porous films remained intact and the chemical transformations were demonstrated to be reversible. This robustness is promising for various applications as it suggests that electronic and mechanical properties can be maintained through multiple processing and transformation stages.

Molecular Foundry researchers have developed a method to create and control mesoporous architecture in metal chalcogenides (a class of semiconductors used in light- and energy-harvesting devices) that was maintained during reversible chemical transformations.

Significance and Impact

Mesoporous architecture enables new functionalities in metal chalcogenides by creating large internal surface area and an interconnected network of pores, which is promising for applications in chemical sensing, nanoionics and photocatalysis.

Research Details

  • Metal chalcogenides are important materials for a myriad of devices, but the ability to control their porosity is lacking.
  • The researchers induced hierarchically ordered porosity using surface-treated nanocrystals and complementary architecture
  • The resulting mesoporous materials are robust to thermal annealing and chemical transformations.
Jessy B. Rivest, Raffaella Buonsanti, Teresa E. Pick, Lina Zhu, Eunhee Lim, Cesar Clavero, Eric Schaible, Brett A. Helms, and Delia J. Milliron, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135 (20), pp 7446–7449.

Was this page useful?

Send
like not like