Chenjie Zeng
University of Florida, FL·Chemistry
Semiconductor nanomaterials such as quantum dots — crystals only a few nanometers across — glow and conduct in ways that depend sharply on their exact size, shape and surface. That sensitivity makes them useful in displays, solar cells and sensors, but it also means that batches with slightly varying particles blur the link between structure and property.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
- Topics
semiconductor nanoclusters
atomically precise nanoclusters
II-VI semiconductors
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2028
What they work on
- Control the surface structures of atomically precise II-VI semiconductor nanoclusters by tailoring the metal-ligand complexes used in cation exchange, the reaction that swaps metal ions inside an intact cluster framework.
- Tune the core sizes and shapes of II-VI clusters by adjusting the metal-chalcogenide template clusters that serve as starting frameworks for cation exchange.
- Explore homovalent cation exchange pathways, swapping metals of equal charge, to build atomically defined heterostructures that join two compositions within one nanocluster.
- Expand the library of atomically precise II-VI nanoclusters to serve as a model system for ligand passivation, cation exchange mechanisms, and benchmarking theoretical calculations of electronic structure.
More about the research
Making nanoclusters whose every atom is accounted for would let chemists connect a precise structure to a measured behavior.
Why it matters
Understanding exactly how structure controls behavior in semiconductor nanoclusters could allow their optical, electronic and spin properties to be designed deliberately rather than found by trial and error. That understanding may inform the development of materials for photonics, electronics and spin-based technologies, and gives theorists precisely defined structures against which to test their models.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Francis Zamborini
University of Louisville, KY·Chemistry
Electrodeposit atomically precise metal nanoclusters of controlled size on electrodes, using phosphine and phosphonium stabilizing ligands and tuning nucleation density and the stabilizer-to-metal-ion ratio.
Kenneth Knappenberger
Pennsylvania State University, PA·Chemistry
Test whether the lifetimes of excited electronic states in atomically precise metal nanoclusters can control how their acoustic modes (whole-particle vibrations) are excited, using coherent multidimensional laser spectroscopy and theory.
Alexandra Velian
University of Washington, WA·Chemistry
Synthesize atomically precise transition metal chalcogenide clusters with well-defined edge catalytic sites that mimic defect sites in solid heterogeneous catalysts.
The school
University of Florida: 65 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 795 research doctorates a year.
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