Stable Blue Luminescent CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals Confined in Mesoporous Thin Films

Creating CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals with bright blue emission is challenging because their optical properties depend sensitively on structure. Growing perovskites in mesoporous templates bypasses some of these purification issues because the size of the nanocrystal is governed by the dimensions of the pores. Mesoporous silica consisting of aligned channels with tunable diameter can be easily synthesized and used as a template. When the perovskite solution evaporates and retreats, some of the liquid remains trapped in the interconnecting pores by discontinuous dewetting. The precursor crystallizes, generating stable ca. 3.1nm blue-emitting perovskite nanocrystals. The mesoporous template also serves as a protective barrier to preserve the optical properties of the CsPbBr3 from atmospheric conditions. Compared to the bulk crystals and the powder composite, the strong blue-shift of the emission peak in the film is accompanied by a decrease in the longer lifetime component and an 8-fold increase in the external quantum efficiency.