Spontaneous organization of inorganic nanoparticles into nanovesicles triggered by UV light.

Bian, Tong; Shang, Lu; Yu, Huijun; Perez, Maria Teresa; Wu, Li-Zhu; Tung, Chen-Ho; Nie, Zhihong; Tang, Zhiyong et al. · Adv Mater · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A novel versatile light-triggered strategy is developed to organize inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) into nanovesicles with single or multiple layers in mixed solvents. This strategy constitutes a new assembly mechanism based on the photo-oxidation of thiol ligands. Compared with currently-used individual semiconductor NPs, the prepared CdSe QD vesicles exhibit an improved catalytic activity and unprecedented catalytic stability towards solar-driven hydrogen production. This light-triggered approach to functional nanoarchitectures would lead to new opportunities in various applications.