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Genesis, challenges and opportunities for colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals

Nature Materials volume 17, pages 394–405 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lead halide perovskites (LHPs) in the form of nanometre-sized colloidal crystals, or nanocrystals (NCs), have attracted the attention of diverse materials scientists due to their unique optical versatility, high photoluminescence quantum yields and facile synthesis. LHP NCs have a ‘soft’ and predominantly ionic lattice, and their optical and electronic properties are highly tolerant to structural defects and surface states. Therefore, they cannot be approached with the same experimental mindset and theoretical framework as conventional semiconductor NCs. In this Review, we discuss LHP NCs historical and current research pursuits, challenges in applications, and the related present and future mitigation strategies explored.

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Fig. 1: Colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals.
Fig. 2: Factors contributing to the defect-tolerant behaviour of LHPs.
Fig. 3: Structural lability of lead halide based perovskite NCs, and stabilization methods.
Fig. 4: Structural and compositional post-synthetic engineering of lead halide perovskites.
Fig. 5: Optoelectronic applications of LHP NCs.
Fig. 6: LHP NCs as single-photon sources.

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Acknowledgements

Q.A.A and L.M. thank the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 614897, ERC Consolidator Grant ‘TRANS-NANO’) for funding. M.V.K. is grateful for financial support by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 306733, ERC Starting Grant ‘NANOSOLID’). We thank N. Stadie for reading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanochemistry Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

    Quinten A. Akkerman & Liberato Manna

  2. Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy

    Quinten A. Akkerman

  3. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Gabriele Rainò & Maksym V. Kovalenko

  4. Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Gabriele Rainò & Maksym V. Kovalenko

  5. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands

    Liberato Manna

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Akkerman, Q.A., Rainò, G., Kovalenko, M.V. et al. Genesis, challenges and opportunities for colloidal lead halide perovskite nanocrystals. Nature Mater 17, 394–405 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0018-4

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