Microfluidic device generates quantum dots in every color of rainbow

Abstract

A new microfluidic synthesis system can quickly and efficiently generate a wide range of perovskite quantum dots in a rainbow of colors. And it provides a way to probe the products spectroscopically in real time, as they are being formed, to study the chemistry and ensure quality control. Quantum dots’ absorption and emission properties depend strongly on their chemical composition and size. Thanks to the tunability of these materials, researchers and manufacturers use them in electronic displays, solar cells, biosensors, and other applications. One recently discovered class of these materials, metal halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), has quickly grabbed attention. Compared with other types of quantum dots, metal halide PQDs offer reduced energy consumption in optoelectronic devices. Typically, researchers make and study PQDs via manual flask-based methods. But that approach consumes a lot of chemicals and is slow, costly, and subject to batch variations. At the American Chemical Society national