Tetrazoles: Unique Capping Ligands and Precursors for Nanostructured Materials

Abstract

Capping agents play an important role in the colloidal synthesis of nanomaterials because they control the nucleation and growth of particles, as well as their chemical and colloidal stability. During recent years tetrazole derivatives have proven to be advanced capping ligands for the stabilization of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles. Tetrazole-capped nanoparticles can be prepared by solution-phase or solventless single precursor approaches using metal derivatives of tetrazoles. The solventless thermolysis of metal tetrazolates can produce both individual semiconductor nanocrystals and nanostructured metal monolithic foams displaying low densities and high surface areas. Alternatively, highly porous nanoparticle 3D assemblies are achieved through the controllable aggregation of tetrazole-capped particles in solutions. This approach allows for the preparation of non-ordered hybrid structures consisting of different building blocks, such as mixed semiconductor and metal nanoparticle-based (aero)gels with tunable compositions. Another unique property of tetrazoles is their complete thermal decomposition, forming only gaseous products, which is employed in the fabrication of organic-free semiconductor films from tetrazole-capped nanoparticles. After deposition and subsequent thermal treatment these films exhibit significantly improved electrical transport. The synthetic availability and advances in the functionalization of tetrazoles necessitate further design and study of tetrazole-capped nanoparticles for various applications.

5‐(2‐Mercaptoethyl)‐1H‐tetrazole: Facile Synthesis and Application for the Preparation of Water Soluble Nanocrystals and Their Gels

“…Over the last decade, the great potential of tetrazoles as stabilizing agents in the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots has been demonstrated . Quantum dots stabilized in this way possess superior properties, such as strong photoluminescence, long term stability, compatibility with biological media, and the ability to assemble.…”

“…Over the last decade, the great potential of tetrazoles as stabilizing agents in the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots has been demonstrated. [1,22] Quantum dots stabilized in this way possess superiorp roperties, such as strong photoluminescence, long term stability, compatibility with biological media, and the ability to assemble. Till now,m ainly thiols having short alkylenec hains with terminalh ydrophilicg roups (NH 2 Figure S6), which indicates an arrow size distribution of the NCs.…”

“…Tetrazole derivatives have received much attention in the recent years in the field of nanostructured materials . This interest is due to the unique combination of miscellaneous properties of these seemingly exotic polynitrogen compounds.…”

“…Te trazole derivatives have received much attention in the recent years in the field of nanostructured materials. [1] This interest is due to the unique combination of miscellaneousproperties of these seemingly exotic polynitrogenc ompounds. First, it is the donor character of the tetrazole ring that determines the ability of tetrazoles to form stable metallocomplexes as well as to stabilize colloidal nanocrystals (NCs).…”

Tetrazole-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles for Catalytic Applications

“…As prepared tetrazole-stabilized particles can potentially be used in field effect transistors, switches, sensors, solar cells, and exchange spring magnets. Usually, the presence of ligands negatively affects the electronic and catalytic properties of the devices built from NPs [4][5][6][7][8]. Fortunately, a thermal heat treatment can be used to remove the tetrazole ligands from the NP surface without a trace resulting in an increased performance.…”