Colloidal, ligand-capped semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are actively pursued as next-generation building blocks for constructing novel optoelectronic materials and devices. New strategies for the bottom-up assembly of NCs of various dimensionalities into functional inorganic materials are being developed. Particularly powerful and versatile is spontaneous, entropy-driven self-assembly of nanocrystals into dense nanostructured solids. Periodic assemblies of this kind are known as NC superlattices. We exploit the union of classical and modern concepts from molecular and supramolecular chemistries to develop nanosolids with predictable geometries and functionalities. We also combine colloidal NCs with other well-established classes of materials aiming at previously unknown crystalline structures composed of strongly interacting species. Surface chemistry of these NCs is being engineered in order to tune the inter-NC electronic coupling. We will also discuss the most recent addition to the family of semiconductor NCs – colloidal NCs of lead halide perovskites. These NCs exhibit unprecedented luminescent properties – narrowband emission with high quantum efficiency, covering the whole visible spectral range and extending into near-infrared, all obtained without electronic passivation of NC surfaces. Superlattices of perovskite NCs exhibit novel collective optical phenomena at cryogenic temperatures.

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Bio

Dr. Maryna Bodnarchuk received her PhD degree in natural sciences from the Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria) in 2009, worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Chicago and in 2011 she joined the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry of ETH Zurich as a Marie Heim-Vögtlin fellow and then as Ambizione Energy fellow supported by SNSF. In 2016 she was appointed as group leader in the laboratory of Thin Films and Photovoltaic at Empa. Her research interests and areas of expertise include synthesis, self-assembly and characterization of novel inorganic nanostructures. These materials find applications in optoelectronic devices and energy storage.