McCarthy Carrie L, Brutchey Richard L
Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2017 May 2;53(36):4888-4902. doi: 10.1039/c7cc02226c.
Macroelectronics is a major focus in electronics research and is driven by large area applications such as flat panel displays and thin film solar cells. Innovations for these technologies, such as flexible substrates and mass production, will require efficient and affordable semiconductor processing. Low-temperature solution processing offers mild deposition methods, inexpensive processing equipment, and the possibility of high-throughput processing. In recent years, the discovery that binary "alkahest" mixtures of ethylenediamine and short chain thiols possess the ability to dissolve bulk inorganic materials to yield molecular inks has lead to the wide study of such systems and the straightforward recovery of phase pure crystalline chalcogenide thin films upon solution processing and mild annealing of the inks. In this review, we recount the work that has been done toward elucidating the scope of this method for the solution processing of inorganic materials for use in applications such as photovoltaic devices, electrocatalysts, photodetectors, thermoelectrics, and nanocrystal ligand exchange. We also take stock of the wide range of bulk materials that can be used as soluble precursors, and discuss the work that has been done to reveal the nature of the dissolved species. This method has provided a vast toolbox of over 65 bulk precursors, which can be utilized to develop new routes to functional chalcogenide materials. Future studies in this area should work toward a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the dissolution and recovery of bulk materials, as well as broadening the scope of soluble precursors and recoverable functional materials for innovative applications.
宏观电子学是电子学研究的一个主要重点，由平板显示器和薄膜太阳能电池等大面积应用所推动。这些技术的创新，如柔性基板和大规模生产，将需要高效且经济实惠的半导体加工。低温溶液加工提供了温和的沉积方法、廉价的加工设备以及高通量加工的可能性。近年来，发现乙二胺和短链硫醇的二元“碱溶液”混合物具有溶解块状无机材料以产生分子墨水的能力，这导致了对这类体系的广泛研究，以及在对墨水进行溶液加工和温和退火后直接回收相纯的结晶硫族化物薄膜。在这篇综述中，我们讲述了为阐明这种用于无机材料溶液加工的方法的适用范围所做的工作，这些无机材料可用于光伏器件、电催化剂、光电探测器、热电材料和纳米晶体配体交换等应用。我们还盘点了可作为可溶性前体使用的各种块状材料，并讨论了为揭示溶解物种的性质所做的工作。这种方法提供了一个包含超过65种块状前体的庞大工具箱，可用于开发通往功能性硫族化物材料的新途径。该领域未来的研究应致力于更好地理解块状材料溶解和回收过程中涉及的机制，以及拓宽可溶性前体和可回收功能材料的范围以用于创新应用。
