Nanostructure engineering of size-quantized Semiconductor particles for photoelectrochemical applications

Abstract

Semiconductor nanoparticles of several nanometers in size that exhibit the quantum size effect have recently been called "quantum dots". Their unique physicochemical properties, which are different from those of bulk material or molecules, have attracted much attention for various applications, because of the controllability and designability of electronic, optical, and photochemical properties by changing the size, shape, and chemical composition of particles. Many efforts have contributed to the development of high-quality nanoparticles via solution phase syntheses. In this review, the key parameters for controlling the physicochemical properties of semiconductor nanoparticles are discussed. Furthermore recent progress in the preparation of multinary nanoparticles with no highly toxic elements, such as I-III-VI2 semiconductors and their solid solutions, is outlined on the basis of our research results. The performance of devices fabricated with these semiconductor nanoparticles, that is, the photoluminescence property, photocatalytic activity and conversion efficiency of solar cell, is tunable depending on both the particle morphology and chemical composition.