Argonne National Laboratory

Research Highlight | Center for Nanoscale Materials

Thermal management of hybrid nanoparticles
In a recent study published in Nanoscale, researchers show increases in cooling time for poorer hydrocarbon solvents compared to better solvents, indicate penetration of solvent into the ligand layer facilitates improved heat transfer to the matrix.
Two-dimensional maps of the temporal and spectral response of 4 ML CdSe NPLs to 3.46 μm pump excitation as a solid film (left) and in methylcyclohexane-d14.

Scientific Achievement

Heat transfer across hybrid organic-inorganic interfaces was measured by infrared pump, electronic probe spectroscopy (IPEP) which does not use electronic excitation, thereby removing any measurement artifacts.

Significance and Impact

Matching vibrational and molecular structure of ligands with surrounding solvents allows for quicker cooling of colloidal nanocrystals, which has implications for heat management in areas such as thermoelectrics.

Research Details

  • Femtosecond infrared pulses heat up organic ligands which transfer heat to attached inorganic nanoparticles, changing the bandgap on a 10 picosecond time-scale, followed by loss of heat to the surrounding solvent over hundreds of picoseconds.
  • IPEP measurements were performed at CNM using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy.

This work was performed at the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

DOI: 10.1039/C9NR01473J

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