COLLOIDAL SYNTHESIS OF GERMANIUM NANOCRYSTALS

Demand for energy is rising with population growth. With this new challenge, semiconductor nanoparticles offer a cost efficient alternative for the fabrication of photovoltaic devices. Germanium (Ge), with its unique characteristics (narrow band gap, non-toxic), is considered as a potential material for solar energy conversion. Our group is focusing on producing high quality Ge nanocrystals while controlling size and morphology. We would also like the developed method to be amenable to industrial scale up. Our method for the preparation of Ge nanocrystals involved the reduction of Ge halides under an inert atmosphere in a Schlenk line. Oleylamine was used as a solvent, binding ligand and also as a reducing agent. To achieve size control, we evaluated variables such as temperature, time, rate of heating, precursor quantities, and precursor ratios (GeI⁴⁺/GeI²⁺). The Ge nanoparticles were characterized by Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD) and Transition Electron Microscopy (TEM), and the results will be presented in the poster.