Cesium Oleate Precursor Preparation for Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal Synthesis: The Influence of Excess Oleic Acid on Achieving Solubility, Conversion, and Reproducibility

Abstract

In the colloidal synthesis of inorganic perovskite materials, cesium oleate (CsOL) is the most commonly used Cs precursor. Yet, despite its ubiquitous use in literature, CsOL has been observed to be insoluble at room temperature and leads to surprisingly inconsistent results in CsPbX3 nanocrystal synthesis, depending on the Cs salt from which the precursor is derived. We show that under the conditions used in most reports, the amount of oleic acid (OA) added, while stoichiometrically sufficient, still leads to incomplete conversion of the Cs salts to CsOL. This results in a mixture of Cs sources being present during the reaction, causing decreased homogeneity and reproducibility. When a 1:5 Cs:OA ratio is used, complete conversion is readily obtained, even under mild conditions, resulting in a precursor solution that is soluble at room temperature and yields identical synthetic results, regardless of the initial Cs source. Furthermore, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of solutions prepared using varying Cs:OA ratios shows that the maximum ratio of Cs:OA obtainable in solution is 1:5, with any excess Cs present in the precipitate. We believe the use of a soluble, fully converted CsOL reagent will improve reproducibility for Cs-based perovskite synthesis and directly benefit synthetic methods based on microfluidics.