Sustainable scalable synthesis of sulfide nanocrystals at low cost with an ionic liquid sulfur precursor.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30287813.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06549-8 and PMC identifier 6172249.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Increasing the sustainability of nanocrystals is crucial to their application and the protection of the environment. Sulfur precursors for their synthesis are commonly obtained through multiple steps from H<sub>2</sub>S, only to be converted back to H<sub>2</sub>S during the synthesis of the nanocrystals. This convoluted process requires energy, reduces yields, increases waste and auxiliaries, and complicates recycling. Using H<sub>2</sub>S directly could drastically improve sustainability, but is prevented by toxicity and handling. We here show that H<sub>2</sub>S is stabilized by reaction with oleylamine (the most common and versatile ligand in nanoparticle synthesis) to form an ionic liquid precursor that addresses all major principles of green chemistry: it is made in one exothermic step, it leaves the reaction yielding a safer product and allowing the separate recycling of the precursors, and it produces high quality nanocrystals with high yields (sulfur yield > 70%) and concentrations (90 g L<sup>-1</sup>) in ambient conditions.