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ABSTRACT:
A. Paul Alivisatos
and colleagues at Berkeley Lab have developed a procedure for the reliable
and reproducible formation of nanocrystal/polymer composite
films where the dispersion and aggregation of the nanocrystals
can be easily controlled and characterized. Traditional techniques
of depositing a nanocrystal/polymer blend onto a substrate
via drop casting, spin casting, or other common methods, yields
films with morphologies that are irreproducible and difficult
to characterize. Surfactants often have to be stripped for
electronic accessibility which produces large scale aggregation.
In the Berkeley Lab approach, the nanocrystals may be fully
stripped of surfactant and the films still display optimal
dispersion.
This invention allows for a high degree of control over the
nanocrystal loading and ultimate film structure. A variety
of nanocrystals, organic matrices, and substrates can be used
and the nanocrystals can be of any shape.
Combining various organic and nanocrystal materials to make
nanocrystal/polymer films via the Berkeley Lab method results
in interesting and unique optical, electronic, and mechanical
properties. These properties will be useful for developing
improved photovoltaics, LEDs, structural composite or piezoelectric
thin films, and sensing materials. The procedure might also apply to biological imaging.
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