Journal
MATERIALS
Volume 12, Issue 24, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ma12244089
Keywords
electrophoretic deposition; quantum dots; photoanode; sensitization; dichloromethane
Categories
Funding
- Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), BEACON, Bioeconomy Research Centre [SFI 16/RC/3889]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is an emerging technique in nanomaterial-based device fabrication. Here, we report an in-depth study of this approach as a means to deposit colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), in a range of solvents. For the first time, we report the significant improvement of EPD performance via the use of dichloromethane (DCM) for deposition of CQDs, producing a corresponding CQD-TiO2 composite with a near 10-fold increase in quantum dot loading relative to more commonly used solvents such as chloroform or toluene. We propose this effect is due to the higher dielectric constant of the solvent relative to more commonly used and therefore the stronger effect of EPD in this medium, though there remains the possibility that changes in zeta potential may also play an important role. In addition, this solvent choice enables the true universality of QD EPD to be demonstrated, via the sensitization of porous TiO2 electrodes with a range of ligand capped CdSe QDs and a range of group II-VI CQDs including CdS, CdSe/CdS, CdS/CdSe and CdTe/CdSe, and group IV-VI PbS QDs.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available