Organo‐Functionalization of Silicon Nanocrystals Synthesized by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

Octadecyl‐terminated silicon nanocrystals (ODE‐Si NCs) are obtained via a surface‐initiated thermal hydrosilylation reaction on hydride‐terminated Si NCs (HSi NCs). Pristine Si NCs were synthesized at the gram scale by using inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP‐CVD). The HSi NCs were produced through a chemical etching process with hydrofluoric acid (HF), ethanol (EtOH), and distilled water (d‐H2O). The results obtained from X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) indicate that the synthesized Si NCs obtained via ICP‐CVD have diamond cubic‐structured silicon with a grain size of 10 nm and a densely packed Si NC array consisting of individual NCs. Organo‐functionalized Si NCs, i.e., ODE‐Si NCs, are well soluble in organic solvent whereas pristine Si NCs synthesized through ICP‐CVD are not. The surface chemistry of the ODE‐Si NCs was confirmed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1H‐NMR), and field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE‐TEM). Thereby, these newly synthesized and scalable organo‐functionalized Si NCs are applicable as raw materials for practical use in devices by tuning the surface chemistry with various capping molecules.