Tailoring of branched structures in the shape of stars based on PbS semiconductor, revealing the reaction mechanism and controlling factors that dictate their morphology and associated optical properties.

Colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) have been at the forefront of scientific research and technological applications since their emergence in the 1980s. The limitations of single component NCs and the growing demand for wide electronic tunability switched the attention to core/shell nanoheterostructures (NHs). The NHs consist of at least two semiconductor compounds, exhibiting improved surface passivation of the cores and surplus electronic tunability beyond that gained by size confinement. Several synthetic approaches have been developed through the years for the formation of core/shell structures. This article discusses two recent synthetic approaches, cation exchange and the Kirkendall effect, for the preparation of core/shell NHs, focusing on IV–VI semiconductor compounds. Both cation exchange and the Kirkendall effect are postsynthetic routes which offer an indirect way to synthesize complex core/shell NHs, that are difficult to synthesize by other methods. Overall, the produced core/shell NCs show enhanced optical properties and improved chemical sustainability with respect to the corresponding pure cores.

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