Semiconductor Particles and Particulate Films

Ultrathin metal films, prepared either chemically or electroehemically, contain interconnected, roughened metal particles which can be exploited for catalysis, electron transfer, non-linear and surface-enhanced optics, and related applications. 

Available information on the generation of metallic particulate films in the different membrane-mimetic compartments is summarized in Table 5. 

However, there are a number of difficulties associated with the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor particles. The preparation of stable, monodispersed, well-characterized populations of nanosized, colloidal semiconductor particles is experimentally demanding and intellectually challenging. Small and uniform particles are needed to diminish non-productive electron-hole recombinations the mean distance by which the charge carriers need to diffuse to reach the particle surface from which they are released is necessarily reduced in small particles. Monodispersity is a requirement for the observation of many of the spectroscopic and electro-optical manifestations of size quantization in semiconductor particles. Small semiconductor particles are difficult to maintain in solution in the absence of stabilizers flocculations and Ostwald ripening 

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Available results on the preparation, characterization, and utilization of metallic and catalytic particles (Sect. 3), semiconductor particles and particulate films (Sect. 4), conductors and superconductors (Sect. 5), magnetism and magnetic particles and particulate films (Sect. 6), and advanced ceramic materials (Sect. 7) will constitute the main body of the monograph. An attempt will be made to cover these materials exhaustively. 

Semiconductor Particles and Particulate Films in Membrane-Mimetic Compartments... 

Membrane-mimetic compartments are being increasingly utilized as hosts for semiconductor particles and particulate films. Available information is summarized in Table 7 [611-709]. 

Table 7. Semiconductor particles and particulate films in membrane-mimetic compartments...

Polyions, polymers, and polymeric membranes also provide suitable compartments for semiconductor particles and particulate films [668-682]. With improved chemical and physical methodologies, polymer chemists will soon be able to construct supramolecular, dimensionally controlled assemblies which will rival the sophistication of LB and SA films. 

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