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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - COMPASS (Colloidal Nanomaterials for Smart Applications)

Teaser

Summary

Colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) are an emerging and rapidly developing class of materials with continuously increasing potential for applications in a wide range of fields from optoelectronics to medicine. The progress is driven by narrow size distributions of just few percent, rational shape-engineering, compositional modulation, and tailored surface chemistries that are feasible for a broad range of inorganic compounds. In photovoltaics and light emitting devices the performance of inorganic NC-based devices is competitive to other state-of-the-art technologies as manifested also by colloidal quantum dot displays and biomarkers that are commercially available on the market. Also, the development of nanoscale catalysts based on nanoparticles, with control over the composition and the spatial arrangement of domains of different materials in a single nanoscale object is giving new boosts to catalysis. Finally, the exploitation of nanocrystals in medicine is and extremely active area of research, both in diagnosis and therapy. Exciting directions here are represented by deep tissue imaging, NMR imaging, drug delivery and hyperthermia, both magnetically and laser induced.

The main scientific goals of COMPASS are:
1. The development of colloidal nanomaterials with tailored properties by precise engineering of their form and composition, combined with deep understanding of the underlying kinetics.
2. The demonstration of fabrication processes capable of upscaling the nanomaterial production (i.e. robot-controlled reactor syntheses with in situ characterization).
3. Understanding and mastering the mechanisms of assembly of nanocrystals into ordered
superstructures with the aim to create novel 2D-3D materials with unprecedented physical
properties.
4. Expanding the knowledge on nanoscale transformations in nanocrystals, both via experimental and computational approached, and exploiting this knowledge to enlarge the toolkit of fabrication routes to nanomaterials.
5. The development and testing new nanoscale hybrid materials for light harvesting and for
heterogeneous catalysis.
6. To fabricate complex multifunctional materials for bio imaging.
7. The demonstration of the versatility of the nanomaterials in prototype devices.

Work performed

To 1) We have made significant progress towards this objective by developing novel perovskite nanomaterials, understanding the transition from 0D to 3D perovskites (and vice versa), and by developing libraries of precursors for the synthesis of chalcogenide nanocrystals.
To 2) Robotized fabrication of nanomaterials, and the respective transfer of knowledge from the US partner (LBNL) to the EU beneficiaries, makes good progress, as mainly documented in the report on the activities in WP5.
To 3) Optimization of size distribution, surface functionalization and simulations on self-assembly based on these improved conditions have been achieved in the first 24 months of COMPASS. This knowledge should be translated to the development of 2D and 3D superstructures with novel properties in the second half of the project.
To 4) The development and understanding of transformations in perovskite nanocrystal materials is advancing at a fast pace, and the groups in COMPASS are actively contributing to this field. Transformation from wide band gap 2D and 0D perovskites to their 3D counterparts that emit in the visible spectral range have been demonstrated and published. Furthermore, the dynamics of cation exchange reactions in single nanostructures such as nanowires have been elucidated, and their exploitation for optoelectronic device structures has been demonstrated.
To 5) This goal builds on the knowledge that is acquired in the preceeding objectives, and therefore the results are expected to be achieved in the second half of the project.
To 6) Water-soluble and bio-compatible polymer beads have been developed that can be used as carriers for light emitting, plasmonic, and magnetic nanoparticles. Therefore significant progress towards grouping particles with different functionalities, such as tracking, guiding, and treatment (via hyperthermia) into single object has been achieved.
To 7) Some prototype devices such as photodetectors could already be demonstrated. Concerning light emission and photovoltaics we expect to obtain results in the second half of the project.

Milestones MS1 (project web page) and MS2 (Nanocrystal Materials Platform) have been achieved. Concerning MS2, the criteria for the milestone was â€œColloidal NCs with desired properties will be developed by controlling their size, shape and composition, and routes allowing for large production volumes with nearly identical size and shape is demonstratedâ€. In this respect, the detailed reports on WP2,WP3, and WP5 show that a library of precursor materials has been established that allows control on composition, furthermore excellent size control has been demonstrated , and upscaling via robotized synthesis has been achieved.

Final results

\"The COMPASS project unites key players in Europe and the US with the aim to advance the field of colloidal nanocrystal (NC) synthesis and assembly and their exploitation in photonics, sensing, energy conversion and medicine. Young scientists are be formed by \"\"training by research\"\" in long term stays at host labs and by lecture series held in the network that cover specific research topics, technology transfer and management/communication skills, leading to an interdisciplinary and international formation. The exchange consolidates existing initial links between some of the lead scientists in COMPASS and establish a long lasting network that has strong impact on science and education with significant repercussions in industry.

Our project has high ambitions for what concerns education and training of a new generation of scientists. COMPASS provides an interdisciplinary education to young scientists in an international environment at the highest possible level, and to promotes exchange of knowledge and skills across different scientific disciplines, in order to boost the advancement of nanocrystal research and their related applications. This is guaranteed by excellent graduate programs in nanoscience that are running in the various nodes of the network, to which the young scientists can participate. As for the communication/dissemination abilities, the four important aspects on which the young scientists are trained are: i) improving oral presentation skills, ii) improving top-down and bottom-up communication skills, iii) improving writing abilities, for scientific articles, conference posters, grant proposals and general articles for non-specialists; iv) communication through social media, with the additional aim of understanding and mastering the new types of needs, communication abilities and stimuli that target the emerging generations of young scientists.
Seconded researcher by COMPASS have acquired crucial knowledge and experiences and contacts that strongly increase their possibilities in their future careers, for example as postdoctoral fellows or in leading research institutes or as consolidated principal investigators.
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