Matter
Volume 2, Issue 3, 4 March 2020, Pages 554-586
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Review
Cation/Anion Exchange Reactions toward the Syntheses of Upgraded Nanostructures: Principles and Applications

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Progress and Potential

Besides focusing on control over the size and morphology of single compounds, the synthesis of nanostructures has evolved into a new era that emphasizes the precise composition and engineered hybrid interface toward functional improvement. Cation/anion exchange reactions (CERs/AERs) are emerging as an effective strategy to synthesize inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) with precisely tailored structures. In recent years, CERs/AERs have been explored extensively for upgraded syntheses of doped and alloyed NCs, two-dimensional NCs, hollow NCs, and hybrid NCs with desired optoelectronic performances. Hence, we present this review on recently developed, fascinating nanostructures enabled by CERs/AERs and their related enhanced properties. We hope this review will provide researchers specializing in nanosynthesis with valuable insights regarding the advanced synthesis strategy and further potential applications.

Summary

The last 5 years have witnessed rapid progress in the field of hybrid nanostructures toward enhanced optical and electronic properties. On this topic, we focus on the relevant progress that has been achieved on the basis of cation/anion exchange reactions (CERs/AERs). Different from those direct synthesis strategies, CERs/AERs can offer more freedom in tuning the chemical composition, crystal phases, doping, interfaces, and morphologies, which are key parameters to determine the optical and electronic properties of the target products. We present several examples, e.g., doped quantum dots (QDs), engineered core-shell QDs, metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures, hollow structures, and inorganic perovskite nanocrystals. These upgraded structures afforded by CERs/AERs generally exhibit improved properties, such as increased quantum yields, prolonged lifetimes, and well-engineered band gaps for charge transportation and recombination, thus providing more opportunities for further advanced applications.

Keywords

cation/anion exchange
inorganic colloidal nanocrystals
quantum dots
perovskite nanocrystals
hybrid structure
crystal engineering
photoluminescence
photocatalysis
electrochemistry

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These authors contributed equally