Phosphine-initiated cation exchange for precisely tailoring composition and properties of semiconductor nanostructures: Old concept, new applications

Phosphine-initiated cation exchange is a well-known inorganic chemistry reaction. In this work, different phosphines have been used to modulate the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the cation exchange reaction to synthesize complex semiconductor nanostructures. Besides preserving the original shape and size, phosphine-initiated cation exchange reactions show potential to precisely tune the crystallinity and composition of metal/semiconductor core-shell and doped nanocrystals. Furthermore, systematic studies on different phosphines and on the elementary reaction mechanisms have been performed. Different phosphines were used to modulate the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of cation exchange in the synthesis of complex semiconductor nanostructures. Besides the preservation of the original shape and size of the semiconductor nanocrystals, this method also shows potential for precisely modulating the crystallinity and composition of the resulting nanocrystals. M=Cd, Zn, Pb, etc.; N=Ag, Cu, etc.; E=S, Se, Te.