Size-Dependent Phase Transition in Perovskite Nanocrystals.

The complex structure of halide and oxide perovskites strongly affects their physical properties. Here, the effect of dimensions reduced to the nanoscale has been investigated by a combination of single-dot optical experiments with a phase transition theory. Methylammonium lead bromide (CH3NH3PbBr3) nanocrystals with two average particle sizes of ∼2 and ∼4 nm with blue and green photoluminescence, respectively, were spectrally and temporally probed on a single-particle level from 5 to 295 K. The results show that the abrupt blue shift of the photoluminescence spectra and lifetimes at ∼150 K can be attributed to the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition in the large 4 nm nanocrystals, while this phase transition is completely absent for the small 2 nm particles in the investigated temperature range. Theoretical calculations based on Landau theory reveal a strong size-dependent effect on temperature-induced phase transitions in individual CH3NH3PbBr3 nanocrystals, corroborating experimental observations. This effect should be considered in structure-property analysis of ultrasmall perovskite crystals.

Stretchable Organometal-Halide-Perovskite Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

Stretchable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and electroluminescent capacitors have been reported to potentially bring new opportunities to wearable electronics; however, these devices lack in efficiency and/or stretchability. Here, a stretchable organometal-halide-perovskite quantum-dot LED with both high efficiency and mechanical compliancy is demonstrated. The hybrid device employs an ultrathin (<3 µm) LED structure conformed on a surface-wrinkled elastomer substrate. Its luminescent efficiency is up to 9.2 cd A-1 , which is 70% higher than a control diode fabricated on the rigid indium tin oxide/glass substrate. Mechanical deformations up to 50% tensile strain do not induce significant loss of the electroluminescent property. The device can survive 1000 stretch-release cycles of 20% tensile strain with small fluctuations in electroluminescent performance.

Gram-Scale Synthesis of Blue-Emitting CH3NH3PbBr3 Quantum Dots Through Phase Transfer Strategy.

Reprecipitation synthesis has been demonstrated to be a simple and convenient route to fabricate high quality perovskite quantum dots toward display applications, whereas the limited chemical yields (< 10%) and difficulty of purification limited its further application. In order to overcome this issue, we here report a modified emulsion synthesis by introducing phase transfer strategy, which achieving effective extraction of newly formed perovskite quantum dots into non-polar solvent and avoiding the degradation of perovskite quantum dots to a large extent. Based on this strategy, gram-scale CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots were fabricated in 10 mL (~0.02 mol/L) colloidal solution with chemical yields larger than 70%. The as fabricated CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots exhibit an emission peak of 453 nm and a full width at half maximum of only 14 nm. Moreover, electroluminescent devices based on blue emitting CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots were also explored with a maximum luminance of 32 cd/m2, showing potential applications in blue light emitting devices.