Article abstract
Nature Materials 8, 683 - 689 (2009)
Published online: 13 July 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2490
Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Design synthesis and processing
A general phase-transfer protocol for metal ions and its application in nanocrystal synthesis
Abstract
Nanocrystals prepared in organic media can be easily self-assembled into close-packed hexagonal monolayers on solvent evaporation for various applications. However, they usually rely on the use of organometallic precursors that are soluble in organic solvents. Herein we report a general protocol to transfer metal ions from an aqueous solution to an organic medium, which involves mixing the aqueous solution of metal ions with an ethanolic solution of dodecylamine (DDA), and extracting the coordinating compounds formed between the metal ions and DDA into toluene. This approach could be applied towards transferring a wide variety of transition-metal ions with an efficiency of >95%, and enables the synthesis of a variety of metallic and semiconductor nanocrystals to be carried out in an organic medium using relatively inexpensive water-soluble metal salts as starting materials. This protocol could be easily extended to synthesize a variety of heterogeneous semiconductor/noble-metal hybrids and to nanocomposites with multiple functionalities.
- Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669, Singapore
Correspondence to: Jackie Y. Ying1 e-mail: jyying@ibn.a-star.edu.sg
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Bio-Nanotechnology Two-way trafficNature Materials News and Views (01 Feb 2003)
Asymmetric nanoparticles Tips on growing nanocrystalsNature Materials News and Views (01 Nov 2005)
RESEARCH
Formation of asymmetric one-sided metal-tipped semiconductor nanocrystal dots and rodsNature Materials Article (01 Nov 2005)
A general strategy for nanocrystal synthesisNature Letters to Editor (01 Sep 2005)
See all 30 matches for Research
