Capping nanoparticles with graphene quantum dots for enhanced thermoelectric performance

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are shown to serve as phase transfer agents to transfer various types of nanoparticles (NPs) from non-polar to polar solvents. Thorough characterization of the NPs proves complete native ligand exchange. Pellets of this GQD–NP composite show that the GQDs limit the crystal size during spark plasma sintering, yielding enhanced thermoelectric performance compared with NPs exchanged with inorganic ions. A photoluminescence study of the GQD–NP composite also suggests energy transfer from GQDs to NPs.Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are shown to serve as phase transfer agents to transfer various types of nanoparticles (NPs) from non-polar to polar solvents. Thorough characterization of the NPs proves complete native ligand exchange. Pellets of this GQD–NP composite show that the GQDs limit the crystal size during spark plasma sintering, yielding enhanced thermoelectric performance compared with NPs exchanged with inorganic ions. A photoluminescence study of the GQD–NP composite also suggests energy transfer from GQDs to NPs.
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Journal Title

Chemical Science

Volume

Issue

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1039/c5sc00910c

Copyright Statement

© The Author(s) 2015. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.

Subject

Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry not elsewhere classified

Publication URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10072/172634

Collection

Journal articles