Size‐Tunable Photothermal Germanium Nanocrystals

Germanium nanocrystals (ncGe) have not received as much attention as silicon nanocrystals (ncSi). However, Ge has demonstrated superiority over Si nanomaterials in some applications. Examples include, high charge–discharge rate lithium‐ion batteries, small band‐gap opto‐electronic devices, and photo...

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Published inAngewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 56; no. 22; pp. 6329 - 6334
Main Authors Sun, Wei, Zhong, Grace, Kübel, Christian, Jelle, Abdinoor A., Qian, Chenxi, Wang, Lu, Ebrahimi, Manuchehr, Reyes, Laura M., Helmy, Amr S., Ozin, Geoffrey A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 22.05.2017
EditionInternational ed. in English
Subjects
Batteries
Catalysis
Crystals
Dehydration
Desalination
Disproportionation
Electronic equipment
Energy gap
Germanium
germanium monoxide
Lithium
Lithium ions
nanochemistry
Nanocrystals
Nanomaterials
Nanotechnology
photothermal effect
Raman spectroscopy
Silicon
solid-state synthesis
Spectroscopy
germanium monoxide
solid-state synthesis
photothermal effect
nanochemistry
nanocrystals
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Summary:Germanium nanocrystals (ncGe) have not received as much attention as silicon nanocrystals (ncSi). However, Ge has demonstrated superiority over Si nanomaterials in some applications. Examples include, high charge–discharge rate lithium‐ion batteries, small band‐gap opto‐electronic devices, and photo‐therapeutics. When stabilized in an oxide matrix (ncGe/GeOx), its high charge‐retention has enabled non‐volatile memories. It has also found utility as a high‐capacity anode material for Li‐ion batteries with impressive stability. Herein, we report an organic‐free synthesis of size‐controlled ncGe in a GeOx matrix as well as freestanding ncGe, via the thermal disproportionation of GeO prepared from thermally induced dehydration of Ge(OH)2. The photothermal effect of ncGe, quantified by Raman spectroscopy, is found to be size dependent and superior to ncSi. This advance suggests applications of ncGe in photothermal therapy, desalination, and catalysis. White light, white heat: A soft‐chemistry synthesis of GeO, based on the thermally induced dehydration of Ge(OH)2, enables its thermal disproportionation to give size‐controlled germanium nanocrystals (ncGe), which exhibit a pronounced size‐dependent photothermal effect, superior to that of silicon nanocrystals (ncSi).
Bibliography:These authors contributed equally to this work.
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ISSN:1433-7851
1521-3773
DOI:10.1002/anie.201701321