Effect of solvent on silicon nanoparticle formation and size: a mechanistic study

Abstract

Silicon nanoparticle size is adjusted by simply changing the reaction solvent. The role of solvent on nanoparticle formation is investigated.

Size-tunable silicon nanoparticles synthesized in solution via a redox reaction

“…The change in particle size is possibly due to a difference in reduction potential as a function of solvent. 39 Even so, the silicon nanoparticles produced were crystalline, with a Raman shift of ∼500 cm −1 , indicating that the degree of crystallinity is not very sensitive to the solvent composition ( Fig. 3c ).…”

Stable “snow lantern-like” aggregates of silicon nanoparticles suitable as a drug delivery platform

“…Therefore, extensive efforts have been directed to fabrication methods for nanostructured Si materials to yield suitable size, shape, pore morphology and surface chemistry for the intended applications. These methods include top-down approaches such as photolithography 7 or electrochemical etching of Si wafers 8 as well as bottom-up approaches such as solution chemistry, [9][10][11] solidstate synthesis 12 and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). 13 One of the most important pSi NPs synthesis routes involves electrochemical etching of crystalline silicon wafers using hydrofluoric acid (HF)-containing electrolytes.…”