Hydrogen Silsesquioxane: A Molecular Precursor for Nanocrystalline Si−SiO₂ Composites and Freestanding Hydride-Surface-Terminated Silicon Nanoparticles

Abstract

We report the bulk preparation of nanocrystalline Si−SiO2 (nc-Si/SiO2) composites via straightforward reductive thermal annealing of a well-defined molecular precursor, hydrogen silsesquioxane. The presented method affords quantitative yields of composite powders in large quantities. Freestanding, hydride-surface-terminated silicon nanocrystals that photoluminesce throughout the visible spectrum are readily liberated from nc-Si/SiO2 composite powders upon etching in ethanol−water solutions of hydrofluoric acid. Composites and freestanding particles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT−IR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).