Reductive thermolysis of a heterocyclic precursor: a convenient method for preparing luminescent, surfactant-stabilized silicon nanoparticles

A convenient one-step synthesis of silicon nanoparticles from thermal reduction of N, N'-dl-tert-butyl-1, 3-diaza-2, 2-dichloro-2-silacyclopentane in the presence of trioctylphosphine oxide and Li metal is discussed. Transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, UV/visible and IR spectroscopy, fluorescence spectrophotometry and nuclear magnetic resonance were employed to characterize the nanoparticles with an average size of 5.2 +/- 1.2 nm.