State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology. 2019 Jan 4;30(1):015701. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/aae682. Epub 2018 Oct 25.
Surface property that strongly affects physical and chemical performances of inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) is a key enabler for NCs applications. Here, we report a facile, versatile and general strategy for reactive removal of NCs surface ligands based on electrophilic substitution reaction, in which an electrophile directly reacts with the electron-rich coordinating headgroup of surface-tethered ligands to form a non-coordinating product. This process leads to the break of NC-ligand bond, thereby achieving reactive removal of surface ligands. Based on this strategy, various hydrophobic NCs with different compositions and morphologies can be transferred into polar and hydrophilic media while preserving their size and shape. More importantly, the treated NCs present a great improvement in catalytic and biological performances in comparison with the untreated counterparts. This work not only provides a versatile ligand removal strategy for NCs surface modification but also opens up more opportunities for applications in the fields of electronics, catalysis and biotechnology.
表面特性强烈影响无机纳米晶体（NCs）的物理和化学性能，是 NCs 应用的关键促成因素。在这里，我们报告了一种基于亲电取代反应的简便、通用且灵活的方法，用于 NCs 表面配体的反应性去除，其中亲电试剂直接与表面连接配体的富电子配位头基反应，形成非配位产物。这一过程导致 NC-配体键的断裂，从而实现表面配体的反应性去除。基于这一策略，可以将具有不同组成和形貌的各种疏水性 NC 转化为极性和亲水性介质，同时保持其尺寸和形状。更重要的是，与未经处理的 NC 相比，处理后的 NC 在催化和生物性能方面有了很大的提高。这项工作不仅为 NCs 表面修饰提供了一种通用的配体去除策略，而且为电子学、催化和生物技术等领域的应用开辟了更多的机会。
