The photophysics of silicon quantum dots (QDs) is not well understood despite their potential for many optoelectronic applications. One of the barriers to the study and widespread adoption of Si QDs is the difficulty in functionalizing their surface, to make, for example, a solution-processable electronically-active colloid. While thermal hydrosilylation of Si QDs is widely used, the high temperature typically needed may trigger undesirable side-effects, like uncontrolled polymerization of the terminal alkene. In this contribution, we show that this high-temperature method for installing aromatic and aliphatic ligands on non-thermal plasma-synthesized Si QDs can be replaced with a low-temperature, radical-initiated hydrosilylation method. Materials prepared via this low-temperature route perform similarly to those created via high-temperature thermal hydrosilylation when used in triplet fusion photon upconversion systems, suggesting the utility of low-temperature, radical-initiated methods for creating Si QDs with a range of functional behavior.

中文翻译：

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低温自由基引发硅量子点的氢化硅烷化。

尽管硅量子点（QDs）在许多光电应用中具有潜力，但人们对其光物理的了解还很少。Si QD的研究和广泛采用的障碍之一是难以对其表面进行功能化，以制造例如可溶液处理的电子活性胶体。尽管Si QD的热氢化硅烷化被广泛使用，但通常所需的高温可能会引发不良的副作用，例如末端烯烃的不受控制的聚合。在这一贡献中，我们表明，这种在非热等离子体合成的Si QD上安装芳香族和脂肪族配体的高温方法可以用低温自由基引发的氢化硅烷化方法代替。通过准备的材料当用于三重态熔融光子上转换系统时，这种低温路线的性能与通过高温热氢化硅烷化产生的路线相似，这表明低温自由基引发方法可用于制造具有一定功能行为的Si QD。