Synthesis and physical properties of nanostructured semiconductor oxides decorated with quantum dots of perovskites CsPb(Br, I)3
Nanostructures of traditional semiconducting transition metal oxides exhibit interesting and important physical properties for technological applications. On the other hand, semiconductors with a perovskite-type structure of halide (Cl, Br, I) synthesized in the form of Quantum Dots (QDs), have shown high efficiency in both solar cells and light emitting devices. In this work, nanostructures of transition metal oxides, Fe2O3, NiO and ZnO were obtained through the thermal oxidation process by using metal microwires and microfoils (Fe, Ni, Zn) as precursor materials. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of nanostructures with different morphologies on the surface of the microwires/microfoils, such as nanowires, nanoparticles, and nanofoils for the studied oxides. X-ray diffraction confirmed the hexagonal, cubic, cubic, and rhombohedral crystalline phases for ZnO, NiO, Fe2O3 (hematite), and Fe3O4 (magnetite), respectively. On the other hand, colloidal solution with halide QDs, CsPbX3, where X = Br, I, with perovskite structure, was obtained by the hot injection and supersaturated recrystallization methods at room temperature. Photoluminescence measurements indicated a very pronounced and narrow emission peak at 517 nm and 700 nm for the CsPbBr3 and CsPbI3 QD samples, respectively. The results of UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy corroborate with the emission results of the QDs. The band gap energy obtained using the emission peak was 2.30(2) eV and 1.70(2) eV for the QDs of CsPbBr3 and CsPbI3, respectively. Afterwards, the nanostructures of ZnO, Fe2O3 and NiO were decorated with the QDs in order to obtain local nanoheteroestructures on the surface of the microwires/microfoils. Structural and morphological characterizations confirmed that the QDs were deposited on the surface of the oxides. SEM images also show that on the surface of the oxides were nanocrystals formed in the form of cubes, rods and spheres.