Silicon Nanocrystals Functionalized with Pyrene Units: Efficient Light-Harvesting Antennae with Bright Near-Infrared Emission.
Pyrene chromophores were attached to silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) with diameters of 2.6 and 5.0 nm to provide light-harvesting antennae for enhanced optical absorption. Efficient energy transfer from the pyrene moieties to the SiNCs was observed to induce bright visible (2.6 nm) or near-infrared (NIR) (5.0 nm) photoluminescence (PL). The 5.0 nm diameter pyrene-derivatized SiNCs exhibited NIR PL emission that was insensitive to dioxygen, with a 40% quantum yield and long lifetime (hundreds of μs).
†Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Mirko
M
Locritani
‡Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Yixuan
Y
Yu
†Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Giacomo
G
Bergamini
†Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Massimo
M
Baroncini
†Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Jennifer K
JK
Molloy
‡Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Brian A
BA
Korgel
†Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Paola
P
Ceroni
energy transfer; nanocrystals; near-infrared photoluminescence; silicon