01 Jan

Chemistry Nobel Prize: Quantum Dots

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Content

• Introduction
• Contributions
• Applications

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Quick Summary:

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry,
2023 to:

a. Moungi G. Bawendi (MIT, USA)

b. Louis E. Brus (Columbia University, USA)

c. Alexei I. Ekimov (Nanocrystals Technology Inc., New York, NY, USA)

“For the discovery and synthesis of “Quantum Dots”.

Details:

• Quantum Dots are nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties.
  • Understanding Size of Quantum Dots:

• • Understanding Properties: They have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colors depending on their size.

For decades, Quantum phenomena in the nanoworld were just a prediction.

Contributions:

• In the early 1980s, Alexie Ekimov and Louis Brus succeeded in creating – independently of each other – quantum dots, which are nanoparticles so tiny that quantum effects determine their characteristics.
  • Alexie Ekimov, in early 1980s, succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in colored glasses.
    • The color came from nanoparticles of copper chloride and Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the color of the glass via quantum effects.
    • This was the first time someone had succeeded in deliberately producing quantum dots – nanoparticles that cause size-dependent quantum effects.
  • Louis Brus, a few years later, was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid.
• Moungi Bawendi, in 1993, revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be utilized in applications.

Applications:

• Researchers have primarily utilized quantum dots to create colored light.
  • The luminous property of quantum dots is utilized in computer and television screens based on QLED technology, where the Q stands for quantum dot.
  • In these screens blue light is produced using the energy-efficient diodes that were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014. Quantum dots are used to change the color of some of the blue light, transforming it into red or green. This makes it possible
    to produce three primary colors of light needed in a television screen.
• LED Lamps: Quantum dots are used in LED lamps to adjust the cold light of the diodes. The light can then become as energizing as daylight or as calming as the warm glow from a dimmed bulb.
• Biochemistry and Biomedicine: Biochemists attach quantum dots to biomolecules to map cell and organs. Doctors are also investigating the potential use of quantum dots to track tumour tissue in the body. Chemists instead use the catalytic properties of quantum dots to drive chemical reactions.
  • Surgeries: These can guide surgeons when they remove tumour tissues, among many other things.
• Future Applications: Researchers believe that in the future they could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells, and quantum cryptography.

Conclusion: Quantum Dots are bringing great benefits to humankind, and we have just begun to explore their potential.