Emerging nanostructures of colloidal quantum dots (QD) provide the potential to tune the optoelectronic properties by varying shape, size, and morphology, which in turn makes them viable material for applications ranging from cellular imaging to display technology. Despite significant progress in synthetic route, the reproducible synthesis of high quality heavy-metal free QDs still remain a challenge. Most of the reported work in the field has focused on QD synthesis using small-scale conventional batch reactors, that are limited by poor control over reaction conditions in terms of heating/cooling/mixing of the precursors. Recent advancements in continuous flow synthesis using microfluidic platforms has shown promise to subdue the challenges of batch synthesis. However, synthesis of heavy-metal free QDs exhibiting high photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) at high production rates, are yet to be achieved using continuous flow platforms.<br/><br/>This presentation will focus on design and application of a simple yet robust millifluidic continuous flow reactor setup for synthesis of heavy-metal free semiconductor nanoparticles. The modular continuous flow platform allowed the synthesis of InP/ZnSeS core-shell quantum dots exhibiting QY as high as 67% with good reproducibility (&lt; 5% std. dev.), while maintaining high productions rates (100-200 mg/hour using a single-channeled reactor). By varying the process parameters (flow rates, temperature and concentration) at different stages, the emission wavelength of InP/ZnSeS nanoparticles can be tuned to span nearly the entire visible spectra (blue-red). The continuous flow setup also allows real-time product analysis using inline absorbance/photoluminescence flow cells, enabling rapid screening of different reaction parameters. Due to precise control of reaction conditions, the modular platform can also be applied for synthesis of a wide range of nanostructures ranging from quantum dots to nanorods to even more complex nanostructures, with enhanced control over shape, size, and morphology.

Continuous flow synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles using a modular millifluidic platform

256th National Meeting (2018)

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