Dmitri V. Talapin
Department of Chemistry and James Franck Institute
University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637, USA
Inorganic nanomaterials enabled impressive developments, both in the fundamental understanding of nucleation, growth and surface chemistry of inorganic solids, and in our ability to make functional materials for real-world applications. Nanocrystals and nanocrystal assemblies offer a versatile platform for designing two- and three-dimensional solids with tailored electronic, optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties. Unlike atomic and molecular crystals where atoms, lattice geometry, and interatomic distances are fixed entities, the arrays of nanocrystals represent solids made of “designer atoms” with continuously tunable properties.
I will discuss our recent developments in synthesis of inorganic nanostructures, from new semiconductor quantum dots to two-dimensional transition metal carbides, also known as MXenes. We are developing chemical approaches to electronically couple individual nanostructures into extended materials. These “modular” materials are explored as active components for electronic, light-emitting, thermoelectric and photovoltaic devices.