Publication date: 15th May 2025
Quaternary nanocrystals (NCs) incorporating Ag, Zn, Sn, and S (AZTS NCs) are emergent, lead-free, and emissive materials in the coinage chalcogenide family. Like many multinary nanomaterials, the synthesis of phase-pure pirquitasite (Ag2ZnSnS4) is complicated by the generation of e.g. binary/ternary chalcogenide, structural, and metallic impurities. We will discuss our development of a stepwise synthetic procedure that controls the size, morphology, and transformations of acanthite-like (Ag2S) and canfieldite-like (Ag8SnS6) intermediates en route to a quaternary product. This reaction scheme grants the production of small AZTS NCs (diameter: 2.1–4.0 nm) that we cannot achieve through established single-injection procedures—expanding the accessible range of quantum-confined AZTS emission to shorter wavelengths (λ: 650–740 nm). We show that the initial sulfur stoichiometry is the key handle for template-size tunability and highlight an advantage of temporally separating transformation steps in a one-pot reaction. We then use NMR and optical spectroscopies to demonstrate that the installation of thiol ligands improves colloidal stability, while exposure to carboxylic acids does not. Combined, these advances yield a workable optical nanomaterial that exhibits a remarkably long average excited-state lifetime (~170ns), and we show that ultra-small AZTS NCs can act as effective, less-toxic sensitizers for red-to-blue triplet-fusion upconversion.1 Yet, advanced structural probes may tell a still-more-nuanced tale. Our results highlight transferrable insights for the synthesis and post-synthetic treatment of complex, less-toxic quaternary nanocrystalline systems.
Yarur Villanueva, F.; Hasham, M.; Green, P. B.; Imperiale, C. J.; Rahman, S.; Burns, D. C.; Wilson, M. W. B., A Stepwise Reaction Achieves Ultrasmall Ag2ZnSnS4 Nanocrystals. ACS Nano 2024, 18(52), 35182-35201.
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