Kinetics-Controlled Interfacial Synthesis of Janus and Patchy Heterostructures Based on Perovskite Nanocrystals

Heterostructures integrated by diverse material featuring nanocrystals (NCs) tunable properties and functions are of great interest. However, to rationally design and precisely control the heterostructures in multiple shapes still remains a tremendous challenge. In this work, the nucleation of SiO2 nanoparticles is manipulated via a kinetics-controlled water-hexane interfacial reaction system to construct Cs3Cu2I5/SiO2 heterostructures, which can be well controlled in Janus and patchy morphology. In this interfacial reaction, the evolution of Cs3Cu2I5 NCs and the intrinsic formation mechanism of the heterostructures are investigated. It is observed that the Cs3Cu2I5 NCs on the interface undergo a morphology transformation driven by ligand loss and exposed facets evolution. Increased wettability between Cs3Cu2I5 and SiO2 favors the formation of Cs3Cu2I5/SiO2 heterostructures. The key to this strategy is to break the rule of thermodynamic domination in reaction by kinetics manipulation when constructing the patchy heterostructure. To be noted, an increased stability is conferred on the resultant heterostructure product compared to naked perovskite NCs. This work enables to better control the complicated heterostructure configurations and understand their formation mechanism.

Automated summary

In this study, the construction of controllable Cs3Cu2I5/SiO2 heterostructures was achieved by manipulating the kinetics-controlled water-hexane interfacial reaction system. It was found that the Cs3Cu2I5 nanocrystals on the interface underwent a morphology transformation, and there was increased wettability between Cs3Cu2I5 and SiO2 favoring the formation of heterostructures.