Surfactant Ligand Removal and Rational Fabrication of Inorganically Connected Quantum Dots

A novel method is reported to create inorganically connected nanocrystal (NC) assemblies for both II-VI and IV-VI semiconductors by removing surfactant ligands using (NTH4)(2)S. This surface modification process differs from ligand exchange methods in that no new surfactant ligands are introduced and the post-treated NC surfaces are nearly bare. The detailed mechanism study shows that the high reactivity between (NH4)(2)S and metal-surfactant ligand complexes enables the complete removal of surfactant ligands in seconds and converts the NC metal-rich shells into metal sulfides. The post-treated NCs are connected through metal-sulfide bonding and form a larger NCs film assembly, while still maintaining quantum confinement. Such "connected but confined" NC assemblies are promising new materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices,