EP1097108A1 - Dispositifs optiques - Google Patents
Dispositifs optiquesInfo
- Publication number
- EP1097108A1 EP1097108A1 EP99933046A EP99933046A EP1097108A1 EP 1097108 A1 EP1097108 A1 EP 1097108A1 EP 99933046 A EP99933046 A EP 99933046A EP 99933046 A EP99933046 A EP 99933046A EP 1097108 A1 EP1097108 A1 EP 1097108A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- nanoparticles
- solvent
- organic material
- polymer
- organic
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82B—NANOSTRUCTURES FORMED BY MANIPULATION OF INDIVIDUAL ATOMS, MOLECULES, OR LIMITED COLLECTIONS OF ATOMS OR MOLECULES AS DISCRETE UNITS; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT THEREOF
- B82B3/00—Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures by manipulation of individual atoms or molecules, or limited collections of atoms or molecules as discrete units
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y30/00—Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
- C01B33/00—Silicon; Compounds thereof
- C01B33/113—Silicon oxides; Hydrates thereof
- C01B33/12—Silica; Hydrates thereof, e.g. lepidoic silicic acid
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
- C01B33/00—Silicon; Compounds thereof
- C01B33/113—Silicon oxides; Hydrates thereof
- C01B33/12—Silica; Hydrates thereof, e.g. lepidoic silicic acid
- C01B33/18—Preparation of finely divided silica neither in sol nor in gel form; After-treatment thereof
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
- C01G23/00—Compounds of titanium
- C01G23/04—Oxides; Hydroxides
- C01G23/047—Titanium dioxide
- C01G23/0475—Purification
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
- C01G23/00—Compounds of titanium
- C01G23/04—Oxides; Hydroxides
- C01G23/047—Titanium dioxide
- C01G23/053—Producing by wet processes, e.g. hydrolysing titanium salts
- C01G23/0536—Producing by wet processes, e.g. hydrolysing titanium salts by hydrolysing chloride-containing salts
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
- C08K—Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
- C08K3/00—Use of inorganic substances as compounding ingredients
- C08K3/01—Use of inorganic substances as compounding ingredients characterized by their specific function
- C08K3/013—Fillers, pigments or reinforcing additives
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- C09C—TREATMENT OF INORGANIC MATERIALS, OTHER THAN FIBROUS FILLERS, TO ENHANCE THEIR PIGMENTING OR FILLING PROPERTIES ; PREPARATION OF CARBON BLACK ; PREPARATION OF INORGANIC MATERIALS WHICH ARE NO SINGLE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS AND WHICH ARE MAINLY USED AS PIGMENTS OR FILLERS
- C09C1/00—Treatment of specific inorganic materials other than fibrous fillers; Preparation of carbon black
- C09C1/36—Compounds of titanium
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
- G02B5/08—Mirrors
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y20/00—Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2002/00—Crystal-structural characteristics
- C01P2002/70—Crystal-structural characteristics defined by measured X-ray, neutron or electron diffraction data
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2002/00—Crystal-structural characteristics
- C01P2002/80—Crystal-structural characteristics defined by measured data other than those specified in group C01P2002/70
- C01P2002/84—Crystal-structural characteristics defined by measured data other than those specified in group C01P2002/70 by UV- or VIS- data
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2002/00—Crystal-structural characteristics
- C01P2002/80—Crystal-structural characteristics defined by measured data other than those specified in group C01P2002/70
- C01P2002/85—Crystal-structural characteristics defined by measured data other than those specified in group C01P2002/70 by XPS, EDX or EDAX data
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
- C01P2004/01—Particle morphology depicted by an image
- C01P2004/04—Particle morphology depicted by an image obtained by TEM, STEM, STM or AFM
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
- C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
- C01P2004/64—Nanometer sized, i.e. from 1-100 nanometer
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
- C01P2004/80—Particles consisting of a mixture of two or more inorganic phases
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
- C08K—Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
- C08K2201/00—Specific properties of additives
- C08K2201/011—Nanostructured additives
Definitions
- This invention relates to optical devices, especially ⁇ evices comprising particles
- Nanoparticles are particles of very small size, tyDically less than 100nm across The preparation of well-defined nanoparticles via colloid chemistry was demonstrated at least as early as the 1980s A review of the current technology in this field is given in M P Piieni Langmuir, 13, 1997, 3266-3279 Tnere are three principal established routes for the formation of nanoparticles a microemulsion route, a sol-gel route and a high temperature process use ⁇ D ⁇ ncipally for semiconducting nanoparticles such as CdSe
- a microemuision is a sufficiently tnerrno ⁇ ynamically stabie solution of two normally immiscible iiquids (for example on and water) consisting of nanosized droplets (or cores) of one phase in anotne- continuous" phase, stabilised oy an interfacial film of a surfactant with or witnou: a co-surfactant
- surfactants include ionic ones sucn as Aerosol OT and cetyidimethylethyiammonium bromide and non-ionic ones such as tne Doivoxyethylene ether and ester surfactants
- co-surfactants inciu ⁇ e me ⁇ ium to long alkyl-chain alcohols such as 1-nexanc!
- Forming nanoparticles by the microemulsion route typically involves preparing a reaction mixture as a water-in-oil reverse micellar system using a ternary phase mixture containing high oil and surfactant contents, but low water content This allows discrete but thermodynamically-stable nanometer-sized "water pools” or "water cores” to develop in the reaction mixture
- the water cores are around 1 to 10nm in diameter
- One reactant for the nanoparticle formation can be initially housed in these water cores
- the second reactant can suDsequently diffuse into and react inside these "nano-reactors in the normal course of microemulsion dynamics
- microemuisions provide a versatile route to the controlled synthesis of a wide array of oxide and non-oxide types of nanoparticle
- a metal salt can be reduced to the free metal, or metathesis reactions can be included, to obtain a controlled nucleation and growth of the ⁇ esired nanoparticle material
- the surfactant can be initially housed in these water
- Organic materials are used for a wide range of applications, including the formation of light emissive devices (see PCT/WO90/13148 and US 4,539,507, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference).
- properties of the materials to be used including conductivity (and/or mobility), refractive index, bandgap and morphology.
- conductivity This has been tuned by adding a chemical compound that acts as a donor or acceptor (namely an electronic dopant), see C. K. Chiang, C. R. Fincher, Y. W.
- Scattering Highly aggregated or very large size particles have been blended into poiymers to take advantage of multiple internal light-scattering so as to increase the effective length the light travels within the polymer and hence, enhance amplified stimulated emission processes (F. Hide, B. J. Schwartz, M. A. Diazgarcia, and A. J. Heeger, "Laser-emission from solutions and films containing semiconducting polymer and titanium-dioxide nanocrystals," Chem. Phys. Lett., vol. 256, pp. 424-430, 1996). Scattering might have also been used to enhance external efficiency of LEDs (S Carter, J C Scott and P J Brock, Appl. Phys. Lett. 71 , 1997, 1145-1147).
- a method for preparing nanoparticles for use, from a mixture of nanoparticles with another material comprising washing the mixture with a solvent in which the nanoparticles are soluble to remove the said otner material and form a solution of nanoparticles in the solvent.
- the solvent is preferably one in which the said other material is not soluble.
- the solvent may be one in which the other material is soluble but the nanoparticles are not.
- the method preferably comprises separating at least a first fraction of the nanoparticles from a mixture of the solvent and the said other material. These separated nanoparticles may then be used, for example in the applications described below. These nanoparticles are preferably only weakly bound (e.g. unaggregated or only weakly aggregated), and not strongly bound, so that they suitably exist in a disaggregated state. This can assist in subsequent processing steps, such as forming a substantially uniform dispersion of the nanoparticles in another material.
- the solvent is preferably one that is capable of holding the dissolved nanoparticles in a disaggregated state.
- the method preferably includes a step of maintaining the pH of the solvent at a predetermined level. This suitably maintains a charge on the nanoparticles.
- An acid or a base and/or a suitable buffer may be added to the solvent to maintain the desired pH.
- the method preferably includes diaiysis through a suitable membrane to remove soluble low molecular weight material (for example surfactant molecules) from the nanoparticle solution. Continuous or intermittent sonification could be performed during dialysis.
- soluble low molecular weight material for example surfactant molecules
- the separation may be performed by filtration and/or dialysis and/or centrifugation.
- the separation step or another step of the method also allows for the separation of the said first fraction of the nanoparticles from another fraction of the nanoparticles.
- the nanoparticles of the said other fraction may be a set of particles that are relatively small in comparison to the nanoparticles of the first fraction.
- the separation step may also serve to narrow the size distribution of the retained nanoparticles.
- the said other material may be a by-product of the formation of the nanoparticles , (examples include reaction products from the formation of the nanoparticles) and materials used to maintain process conditions during the formation of the nanoparticles, such as surfactants which could have been used in a microemulsion process for forming the nanoparticles.
- the solvent may be an organic or an inorganic solvent.
- the solvent may be a polar solvent such as water or methanol (which may improve the solubility of the nanoparticles with polar surfaces) or a non-polar solvent.
- the solvent may be a polar non-hydrogen bonding solvent. It is preferred that the said other material is soluble in the solvent, and most preferably that the solvent is one in which the said other material is preferentially soluble to the nanoparticles This can assist i n the separation of the components.
- the size range of the nanoparticles is preferably, but not necessarily, within the range from 1nm to 100nm.
- all or substantially all of the nanoparticles are smaller than 50nm , 30nm or 10nm in diameter
- all or substantially all of the nanoparticles are larger than 1nm, 5nm or 10nm in diameter.
- the method preferably comprises surface modifying the nanoparticles. This may suitably be achieved by adsorbing a material to the surface of the particles.
- the material may be added as surface modifying agent to the solution of nanoparticles.
- the material may, for example, be a silylating agent or a dye or a chemical funct i onal material.
- the material may promote specific interactions with other materials such as polymers.
- the nanoparticles may already have a surface coating. This may be a coating of a surfactant
- the nanoparticles may be of metallic, semiconducting or insulating material
- suitable materials include inorganic oxides such as Si0 2 , Ti0 2 , Al 2 0 3 or Zr0 2 , or ternary or other binary inorganic materials such as BaS0 , YbF 3 , ZnS or other organic materials, especially polymer materials, such as PTFE , poly- methyimethacryiate (PMMA) or polystyrene (PS ' Tne nanoparticles are preferably light transmissive and most preferably optically transparent. Therefore, the material of which the nanoparticles are formed is preferably a wide optical bandgap material.
- the nanoparticles may have been formed by any suitable route. Examples include the microemulsion route and the sol-gel route.
- a further step in the processing of the nanoparticles is preferably to incorporate them into a body of material.
- the material of the body, or a precursor of it is preferably added to the solution of nanoparticles.
- a uniform (or substantially uniform) non-aggregated (or substantially non-aggregated) dispersion of the nanoparticles in the final body is achieved by ensuring that they are held in a substantially disaggregated state until fixed in place in the body, e.g.
- the material of the body is soluble in the solvent in which the nanoparticles are dissolved, and does not have undesirable interactions with the nanoparticles that may lead to severe aggregation or phase separation.
- the material of the body could be (but need not be) an organic material. Examples are polymers, oligomers and materials of small organic molecules. If the material is a polymer material it may be a conjugated poiymer such as poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV). Alternatives include poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl)hexyloxyphenylene-vinylene) ("MEH-PPV”), a PPV-derivative (e.g.
- a di-alkoxy or di-alkyl derivative a poiyfluorene and/or a co-polymer incorporating poiyfluorene segments, PPVs and/or related co- polymers
- poly (2,7-(9,9-di- ⁇ -octylfluorene)-(1 ,4-phenylene-((4-secbutylphenyl)imino)- 1,4-phenylene)) ("TFB")
- PFM poly(2,7 - (9,9 - di- ⁇ -octylfluorene) - (1 ,4-phenylene-((
- Alternative materials include organic molecular materials such as Alq3.
- the material is suitably iight-transmissive and/or light-emissive.
- the presence of the nanoparticles (including optionally any material attached to the surface of the nanoparticles) in the material of the body preferably influences at least one material property of the material of the body. This could be an optical property such as refractive index or an electrical property such as conductivity.
- the nanoparticles could be dispersed in the material of the body to tailor its refractive index - either increasing or decreasing it depending on the relative refractive indices of the material of the body and the nanoparticles.
- the presence of the nanoparticles, and the interaction between the nanoparticles and the polymer (including optionally any material attached to the surface of the nanoparticles) in the material of the body could also influence the morphology of the material of the body, for instance by inhibiting crystallisation.
- the volume fraction of the nanoparticles in the body is preferably greater than 1 , 5 or 10 volume %.
- the volume fraction of the nanoparticles in the body is preferably less than 50, 30 or 30 volume %.
- the density of the nanoparticle distribution in the body is preferably greater than 10 "17 and/or less than 10 "19 /cm 2 .
- the nanoparticles exist in the body in a disaggregated state. This suitably promotes uniformity of the properties in the body. Furthermore, in some circumstances aggregates of the particies could scatter incident light, and it is preferred that the particles are of a sufficiently small size and disaggregated nature that they substantially do not scatter incident light.
- the body could be a layer of a device such as an electronic and/or optical device.
- a device such as an electronic and/or optical device.
- Preferred non-limiting examples of such devices are as follows:
- a device comprising a stack of layers defining a light-reflective structure, with at least one of the layers comprising a dispersion of nanoparticles as described above.
- Preferably alternating layers of the device comprise a dispersion of nanoparticles as described above.
- This device is suitably a distributed Bragg reflector.
- a light emissive device in which a light emissive layer or a iayer adjacent to the light emissive layer comprises a dispersion of nanoparticles as described above.
- the nanoparticles may carry a fluorescent dye (suitably as a surface layer).
- This dye can suitably be stimulated to fluoresce by energy transfer or light emissio ' n from the emissive layer; thus the dye can act to modify the colour of light emission from the emissive layer.
- the device may also comprise a waveguide structure defined by a relatively high refractive index layer located between two relatively low refractive index layers.
- One of those three layers preferably comprises a dispersion of nanoparticles as described above which suitably modifies its refractive index to help define the waveguide structure.
- the waveguide is preferably located outside and/or separately from and/or independent of the light-emissive region of the device (the energy level profile of the device may be arranged to encourage light emission other than in the waveguide). This can permit independent tuning of the material properties of the emissive layer and the waveguide layer.
- the device may have a pair of mirrors located on either side of it - either mirrors of the type described for device 1 above or mirrors of another type such as cleavage surfaces. These mirrors may define a microcavity which can spectrally redistribute light generated by the device.
- the device may be a laser, for instance a microcavity or waveguide laser.
- a mirror could be provided by a DBR grating superimposed on the waveguide structure (on a substrate or any subsequent layer).
- aspects of the present invention include any or all of the articles described above.
- an optical and/or electronic device including any of the features described above.
- a method for forming an optical and/or electronic device including any of the features described above.
- a solution of nanoparticles in other than a strongly bound state suitably including any of the features described above.
- a solution of a polymer material (or a polymer precursor material) and nanoparticles in other than a strongly bound state there is provided.
- an organic material containing a substantially uniform dispersion of nanoparticles preferably the organic material is a semiconductive and/or a polymer material.
- a method for tailoring at least one property of an organic material the method comp ⁇ sing forming a substantially uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in the material.
- figure 1 shows the results of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry of Ti0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 2 snows the results of Raman spectroscopy of Ti0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 3 shows the results of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy of Ti0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 4 shows the UV-Vis spectrum of Ti0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 5 shows the results of transmission electron microscopy of Ti0 2 nanoparticles deposited as a film
- figure 6 shows an electron diffraction pattern for Ti0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 7 shows the results of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry of Si0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 8 shows the results of Raman spectroscopy of Si0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 9 shows the results of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy of Si0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 10 shows the UV-Vis spectrum of SiO?
- figure 11 shows the results of transmission electron microscopy of SiO ⁇ nanoparticles deposited as a film
- figure 12 shows an electron diffraction pattern for Si0 2 nanoparticles
- figure 13 plots refractive index measurements for PPV.Ti0 2 thin films
- figure 14 illustrates the structure of a distributed Bragg reflector
- figures 15 and 16 each show reflection spectra for two distributed Bragg reflectors showing that the reflection peak can be tuned
- figure 17a shows the structure of an edge emitting organic light emitting device
- figure 17b shows the refractive indices (n) and energy levels (E) through the device of figure 17a
- figure 18 shows difference UV-Vis spectra for PPV containing dye-loaded nanoparticles
- figure 19a shows the result of atomic force microscopy of a PPV film
- figure 19b shows the result of atomic force microscopy of a PPV:Ti0 2 film with
- figure 20 shows UV-Vis spectra for PPV:Ti0 2 films with differing amounts of
- nanoparticles Processes for the formation of nanoparticles, together with some exemplary applications for those nanoparticles (or for other suitable nanoparticles), will now be described.
- the processes allow for the formation of nanoparticles in a sufficiently non-aggregated state that they can be dispersed relatively evenly into a matrix such a poiymer body. In that state the nanoparticles can be employed to taiior the properties of the matrix in desired ways.
- a microemulsion of H 2 0+NH3/AOT/cyclohexane was prepared To prepare the microemulsion 17.2g of finely divided sodium dioctylsuifosuccinate (AOT) (39mmol, Aldrich) was dried at 120°C in a vacuum oven for 2h to remove adsorbed moisture (3% weight loss), and then added to 200ml of HPLC grade cyclohexane (Aldrich) in a three-necked round bottom flask quipped with a magnetic stirrer to give a 0.2M AOT solution Then 3.8ml of concentrated aqueous NH 3 (35w/v%, Aldrich) was added to this solution to give a H 2 0:NH 3 :AOT molecular ratio of 1.8.3.2:1.0 and the solution was cooled to 5°C under N 2 flow in an ice-bath to give an optically clear single-phase microemulsion The total molar ratio of H 2 0+NH3/AOT
- Ti0 2 precursor solution To prepare a Ti0 2 precursor solution, 2.0ml TiCI 4 (18mmol, Aldrich) was added by syringe into 10ml HPLC grade cyclohexane (previously dried for 18h over 3A molecular sieves, Aldrich) in a vial equipped with a rubber septum. This Ti0 2 precursor solution was added in two portions to the AOT solution with vigorous stirring. Rapid evolution of HCI gas was observed together with the formation of a cloudy suspension of NH 4 CI in the reaction medium, according to the following equations:
- the amount of H 2 0 in the reaction medium (120mmol) was well in excess of the amount needed to hydrolyse the TiCU- However, the amount of NH 3 was not sufficient to neutralise all the HCI produced, so the reaction medium became acidic and a positive surface charge developed on the Ti0 2 nanoparticles. (The iso-electric point of bulk Ti0 2 is about pH 4 to 5).
- Electron probe energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry shows the final product to be pure Ti0 2 with a surface coating of AOT and Cl It is beiieved that the AOT (which is the origin of the S signal) is strongly absorbed onto the Ti0 2 surface while Cl is beiieved to have existed in the form of Cl " acting as a weakly-bound counte ⁇ on for the positively-charged Ti0 2 surface
- This coating appears to be stable against further dialysis
- Raman spectroscopy confirms the structure as being that of Ti0 2 , with broad vibration peaks at 170cm 1 , 440cm "1 and 610cm "1
- Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy provides further confirmation of structure
- Ultraviolet-visible spectrometry shows the product to be non-scattering in the visible, and provides evidence for the highly dispersed (non-aggregated) nature of tne T ⁇
- Si0 2 precursor solution 2.1ml SiCI 4 (18mmol, Aldrich) was added by syringe into 10ml HPLC grade cyclohexane (previously dried for 18h over 3A molecular sieves, Aldrich) in a vial equipped with a rubber septum.
- This Si0 2 precursor solution was added in two portions to the AOT solution with vigorous stirring. Rapid evolution of HCI gas was observed together with the formation of a cloudy suspension of NH 4 CI in the reaction medium, according to the following equations:
- Electron probe energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry shows the final product to be pure Si0 2 with essentially no surface coating
- Raman spectroscopy confirms the structure as being that of S ⁇ 0 2 with broad vibration peaks at 490cm "1 , and 830cm '1
- Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (see figure 9) provides further confirmation of structure
- Ultraviolet- visible spectrometry shows the product to be essentially non- scattering in the visible, providing evidence for the highly-dispersed (non-aggregated) nature of the S ⁇ 0 2 nanoparticles achieved in the described synthesis and isolation
- Transmission electron microscopy shows that a particle size range of 2-8nm was been achieved, while electron beam diffraction (see figure 12) gives the expected d-spacings for Si0 2 .
- the nanoparticle synthesis process can be suited to formation of nanoparticles of a desired type by selection of the materials involved in the process, for instance the precursor materials and surfactant, and optimisation of chemical parameters such as oil composition, temperature, water-surfactant ratio, surfactant-oil ratio, co-surfactant composition and reactant ratio. Nucleation and growth of the particles could be monitored by TEM and/or UV-Vis spectroscopy to ensure suitable reaction rates and size distribution are achieved.
- the steps be performed in a controlled atmosphere to minimise undesirable reaction in the nanoparticle solution.
- the temperature of the nanoparticle formation step could be fixed to favour the desired balance between nucleation and growth rates to give a preferred particle size distribution.
- the emulsion conditions described above have been chosen to yield especially small water cores.
- nanoparticles could be synthesised by other routes, such as the soi-gei route based on direct hydrolysis in water or alcohols, (see for example T. Moritz, J. Reiss, K. Diesner, D. Su, and A. Chemseddine," Journal of Physical Chemistry B 101 (1997) pp. 8052-8053) and then isolated in a non-strongly aggregated state generally as described above.
- Nanoparticles prepared by other routes could be used in these applications, provided they were of the appropriate size and composition and had a level of disaggregation sufficient to aliow them to be dispersed relatively uniformly in the polymer matrices.
- the particles may be selected and/or treated so that they do not significantly alter the intrinsic properties of the host material. For most applications it would be preferred that such particles are of a size beiow around 20nm (to allow them to be easily dispersed uniformly in the host) and above 5nm (suitably to avoid them acting like molecules and possibly interfering with the host structure - for example by chain separation in a polymer matrix).
- the particles may be selected and/or treated so that they do interact significantly with the host material to affect its intrinsic properties. This may occur if: a.
- the particles themselves or especially their attached surface functions are of a material that interacts with the host material, through chemical or physical interactions.
- the particles may carry an additive agent that interacts with the host material, for example to change the chemical properties of the host (e.g. electrical/optical doping) and/or its physical properties (e.g. polarisation or alignment or energy transfer).
- the additive agent may be bound to the surface of the particles or at least partially included in the particles.
- the particles are sufficiently small and numerous that they significantly perturb the arrangement of the molecules in the body - for instance to affect the morphological structure of a polymer host (e.g.
- Examples 1, 2 and 3 below use nanoparticles predominantly in the non-interfering mode. Examples 4 and 5 use nanoparticles in the interfering mode.
- the refractive index of films of PPV is tuned by the addition to the film of a dispersion of Ti0 2 nanoparticles. Since the nanoparticles are light transmissive and sufficiently small to avoid scattering of incident light the resulting film has good optical properties.
- PPV:Ti0 2 Four samples of PPV containing varying amounts of Ti0 2 (referred to herein as "PPV:Ti0 2 ”) were fabricated by blending the appropriate volume of the 1.4w/v% precursor PPV-MeOH solution (Cambridge Display Technology) with a 1.8w/v% Ti0 2 -MeOH solution to give the same final concentration of precursor PPV but different concentrations of Ti0 2 .
- the size range of the Ti0 2 particles was approximately 2-8nm.
- a nominally 1000A film was obtained by spin-coating on to a glass substrate and then thermaliy-converted at 180°C under dynamic vacuum (less than 10 "5 mbar) for 8h.
- the actual Ti0 2 content in the film was measured by a combination of electron probe x-ray spectrometry (for Ti0 2 content) and visible spectrometry (for PPV content) and the film thickness was measured by surface profilometer.
- the precursor PPV polycation and the negatively-charged Si0 2 nanoparticles interact to give a precipitate when mixed together.
- concentration conditions could be selected to overcome this problem (with low PPV and Si0 2 concentrations relative to the MeOH). and any slight precipitation could be removed by centrifugafion.
- the optically-clear centrifugate could then be used to fabricate films with almost no scattering.
- Photoiuminescence measurements indicate that high photoiuminescence efficiency is retained in the PPV:Si0 2 films, in contrast to PPV:Ti0 2 fiims since, unlike Ti0 2 particles, Si0 2 particles do not quench the PPV excited states.
- PPV:Si0 2 films could therefore be preferred for use as emissive layers of electroluminescent devices.
- quenching nanoparticles such as Ti0 2 could be treated to carry a surface isolation or spacing iayer of a material such as alkyl chains or Si0 2 ).
- the basic structure of such devices is well known and generally comprises a light- emissive organic layer, for instance a film of PPV, sandwiched between two electrodes.
- the organic light emissive material is a polymer.
- the organic light emissive material is of the class known as small molecule materials, such as tris-(8-hydroxyquinoiino)aluminium ("Alq3").
- one of the electrodes is typically transparent, to allow photons to escape the device.
- This technique for varying refractive index could be used for matrices of other materials, especially other organic materials.
- the organic materials could be polymers, oiigomers or small organic materials or blends of two or more such materials.
- the refractive index of the resulting material could be fixed by appropriate choice of the material of the nanoparticles and their volume fraction in the matrix.
- the effective refractive index could be estimated by the Bruggeman effective medium approximation.
- the refractive index is thus adjustable depending on the refractive index of the organic matrix and the nanoparticle, the loading volume fraction, and the dispersion morphology.
- a distributed Bragg reflector consists of a stack of regularly alternating higher- and lower-refractive index dielectrics (light transmissive materials) fabricated to fulfil the Bragg condition for reflection at the design wavelength. This occurs when the optical path of the periodicity in the dielectric stack corresponds to half a wavelength, and the reflectivity is further optimised when the DBR stack obeys the following equation: where n ⁇ , n 2 are the respective refractive indices; di, d 2 are the corresponding component film thicknesses in the DBR; and ⁇ is the design wavelength.
- Figure 14 shows a polymer distributed Bragg reflector (polymer mirror) in which the alternate layers are formed of PPV and PPV modified by the dispersion of Ti0 2 nanoparticles to tailor its refractive index.
- PPV-MeOH solution Cambridge Display Technology
- 70ppm AOT as surface tension modifier
- PPV:Ti0 2 - MeOH solution in which the ratio of precursor PPV to Ti0 2 is 1 :1.8 by weight
- the PPV material 10 forms the higher refractive index iayers while the PPV:Ti0 2 11 forms the lower refractive index layers.
- the spin coating could be performed on to a substrate of, for example, giass or plastic, which could in addition have a transparent conducting layer for charge injection.
- Reflection spectra for three- and six-pair polymer layers with a first order reflection maximum at about 600nm (see figure 15) and 550nm (see figure 16) show the high level of control that can be achieved
- the DBR is formed of conjugated material it could be electrically-pumped to generate photons in addition to reflecting
- the ability to vary the refractive index of a material by dispersing nanoparticles in it provides an important enabling technology for the fabrication of photonic structures
- An example is a photonic structure that makes use of refractive index contrasts (variations) to confine optical photon modes, for example to form waveguide structures and/or separate confinement heterostructures (see for example: S. M. Sze, "Semiconductor Devices Physics and Technology," John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1985).
- the inability to conveniently vary refractive index has hitherto been a major obstacle to the full exploitation of organic materials in optoelectronic device technologies.
- FIG 17a shows an edge-emitting organic light-emitting diode (EEOLED) that emits in the plane of the LED rather than vertically through it as in conventional surface emitting LEDs.
- EOLED organic light-emitting diode
- the EEOLED is fabricated by spin coating to give a multilayer structure as shown in figure 17a
- These PPV:Si0 2 thin layers provide a refractive index almost matching that of the adjacent MCP layers, but impose a weak electron and hole transport "hurdle” which can be exploited to enhance and direct recombination to occur largely in the MCP layer Hence, during operation of the device, excitons are produced in this layer.
- This structure forms the architecture for a wave-guiding electrically-pumped injection laser.
- Example 4- Nanoparticles as a fluorescent dye carrier
- Rhodamine 101 A (sub)monolayer of the well-known red laser dye Rhodamine 101 is first adsorbed on to Si0 2 nanoparticies prepared as described above To achieve this equal volumes (1ml) of a dilute 1w/v% solution of Rhodamine 101 (a Xanthene) in EtOH was mixed with 1.1w/v% Si0 2 in MeOH, and the homogeneous mixture dialysed against 200ml HPLC grade MeOH through a 6-8k MWCO cellulose dialysis tubing (Spectra/PorTM) twice.
- Rhodamine 101 molecules not bound to the surface of the Si0 2 particles were dialysed out with the dialysate wnereas bound dye molecules were retained on the surface of the dispersed nanoparticles in the retentate
- the retentate was then analysed by ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (see figure 18) to illustrate the principle that the surfaces of nanoparticles could indeed be used as a dye carrier.
- the nanoparticies prepared in this way could then be used as for the nanoparticles of example 1 to disperse the fluorescent dye into a layer of PPV.
- This layer could form the active layer of an organic light emitting device, in which the fluorescent dye could be stimulated by emission from the PPV to emit light at another frequency. This could be particularly significant in the manufacture of tri-colour displays.
- a wide range of fluorescent dye molecules are available, to provide sensitised emission over a wide range of frequencies, especially when used as a "guest” in a “guest-host” active layer structure where the host is a light emissive material which can stimulate the guest.
- the matrix "host” layer which could be of an organic material, performs the role of charge transport and acts as first-stage recombination centres, but subsequently the energy is to be transferred to the "guest” which then emits the desired colour. It is preferred that the energy transfer from the initial excitation created in the matrix to the final excitation to be created in the dye should be efficient, which in general demands that the emission spectrum of the initial ("host") excited state should overlap significantly with the absorption spectrum to the final (“guest”) excited state.
- the guest should exhibit a high photoluminescent efficiency: and that the density of the "guest" sites in the "host” matrix should be sufficiently high (preferably 10 "17 to 10 '19 /cm 3 ) if the effective radius of energy transfer (the Forster radius) is small, e.g. about 3-1 Onm.
- Example of suitable dyes may include the class of molecules widely known as the laser dyes (such as coumarins, xanthenes and oxazines).
- Example 5 Nanoparticles as a Polymer Morphology Modifier
- nanoparticles that are intimately dispersed in a polymer matrix can modify the morphology (e.g. the chain conformation) of the polymer.
- Polymer films of PPV:Ti0 2 (having the same composition as the film C described above) and PPV (as control) were spun and subjected to atomic force microscopy examination. Both films were thermally converted at 180°C.
- Figures 19a and 19b show the results of the examination.
- the surface of the control film exhibits a number of nanoscale protruding domains (about 10-20nm high and 20-40nm wide) that are beiieved to be related to micro-crystallisation of the PPV chains in the film thickness direction (M. A. Masse, D. C. Martin, E. L. Thomas and F. E.
- nanoparticies can induce perturbation of local polymer morphology, changing the effective conjugation length and/or crystallinity of the polymer matrix and thus its optical refractive index and other related properties.
- This feature of organic/nanoparticle composites could be used to inhibit the recrystallisation of the organic during storage or in operation. Recrystallisafion is generally undesirable as, taking optical devices as an example, it can cause changes in electrical behaviour, coiour stability and luminous efficiency, with a deleterious impact on device performance. Altering morphology could also alter many "intrinsic" properties such as transport, binding energies (as for excitons) and efficiency.
- Nanoparticles for the above applications and other applications could be formed of materials other than Si0 2 or Ti0 2 .
- some properties of the particles that may have to be borne in mind are:
- the particles would have to have a sufficiently large band-gap.
- the nanoparticles are dispersed in a matrix of an emissive polymer and are required to be transparent to emissions from that polymer the particles should have a larger band gap than the polymer material.
- One possibility is to use transparent, non-metallic, inorganic particles. It is preferred that the optical bandgap of the nanoparticle material is equal to or larger than that of the matrix material, so that tne absorption edge is not squeezed into the optical transparency window. 2 Insolubility (e.g. in water) This could be assessed in the first approximation by behaviour towards water as detailed in the CRC Handbook.
- Non-mobile ion forming A cation-exchange process could be used to remove unwanted ions such as Na " from tne preparation if they would otherwise interfere with performance.
- a preferred size range is about 5-1 Onm Particles greatly smaller than this may be undesirable because of lowered stability cue to their higher surface-to-volume ratio.
- the nanoparticles' diameters are generally less then half of the relevant light wavelength. If the body is small, such as a typical thin film of an optical device, it is preferred that the nanoparticles' diameters are less than half the thickness of the film, most preferably less than one fifth or one tenth of the thickness of the film.
- the size of the nanoparticies should be 1/5 (1/10) of the relevant size (wavelength or film thickness).
- AOT sodium decussate
- This is an ionic surfactant with short hydrophobic tails in the form of 2- ethylhexyioxy ester side-chains that may be expected to be compatible with and hence dispersibie in MEH-PPV and a variety of polar casting solvents like MeOH and CHCI3.
- Nanoparticles may be "blended" with sublimed molecule materials by forming a dispersed layer of particles and tnan subliming molecules on too of that iayer. In this way the molecules (oligomers etc.) can fill in the gaps set by the particles.
- the formation of the first iayer could be through spin coating or self assembly. This technique may also allow nanoparticies to be blended with materials that can be deposited by evaporation at high temperature as inorganic materials are deposited in a CVD (chemical vapour deposition) or MBE process or any variant or combination.
- CVD chemical vapour deposition
- the present invention may include any feature or combination of features disclosed herein either implicitly or explicitly or any generalisation thereof, irrespective of whether it relates to the presently claimed invention.
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Abstract
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GB9815270 | 1998-07-14 | ||
GBGB9815270.5A GB9815270D0 (en) | 1998-07-14 | 1998-07-14 | Particles and devices comprising particles |
PCT/GB1999/002271 WO2000003950A1 (fr) | 1998-07-14 | 1999-07-14 | Dispositifs optiques |
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EP (1) | EP1097108A1 (fr) |
JP (2) | JP2002520158A (fr) |
KR (1) | KR20010074718A (fr) |
CN (1) | CN1277748C (fr) |
AU (1) | AU4922199A (fr) |
GB (1) | GB9815270D0 (fr) |
WO (1) | WO2000003950A1 (fr) |
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WO2000024676A1 (fr) * | 1998-10-26 | 2000-05-04 | University Of Utah | Procede de decomposition moleculaire pour la synthese de poudres ceramiques et metalliques de grosseur nanometrique |
FR2816756B1 (fr) * | 2000-11-15 | 2003-10-31 | Univ Paris Curie | Procede d'obtention d'une composition polymere dopee par des nanoparticules pour la realisation de materiaux composites polymeres, dispositif pour sa mise en oeuvre, composition et materiaux obtenus |
WO2004086823A1 (fr) * | 2003-03-26 | 2004-10-07 | Philips Intellectual Property & Standards Gmbh | Dispositif electroluminescent a decouplage ameliore de la lumiere emise |
CN100392025C (zh) * | 2005-05-30 | 2008-06-04 | 河南大学 | 原位制备改性氢氧化物、含羟基盐、氧化物纳米粉体的方法 |
WO2009107859A2 (fr) * | 2008-02-29 | 2009-09-03 | Kyoto University | Nanopoarticule polymère et agent de contraste pour imagerie optique moléculaire |
JP2012222013A (ja) * | 2011-04-05 | 2012-11-12 | Panasonic Corp | 有機薄膜及びこれを発光層に含む有機エレクトロルミネッセンス素子 |
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IT1270200B (it) * | 1994-06-09 | 1997-04-29 | Ausimont Spa | Preparazione di particelle ultra fini da microemulsioni di acqua in olio |
DE19540623A1 (de) * | 1995-10-31 | 1997-05-07 | Inst Neue Mat Gemein Gmbh | Verfahren zur Herstellung von Kompositmaterialien mit hohem Grenzflächenanteil und dadurch erhältliche Kompositmaterialien |
WO1997024224A1 (fr) * | 1995-12-28 | 1997-07-10 | Heath James R | Nanocristaux de metal monodisperses organiquement fonctionnalises |
DE19614136A1 (de) * | 1996-04-10 | 1997-10-16 | Inst Neue Mat Gemein Gmbh | Verfahren zur Herstellung agglomeratfreier nanoskaliger Eisenoxidteilchen mit hydrolysebeständigem Überzug |
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JP2002520158A (ja) | 2002-07-09 |
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GB9815270D0 (en) | 1998-09-09 |
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