Shaped articles comprising semiconductor nanocrystals and methods of making and using same
View Patent ↗A shaped article comprising a plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals. Devices incorporating shaped articles are also provided. Methods of manufacturing shaped articles by various molding processes are also provided.
1. A method of manufacturing a shaped article comprising a plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals, comprising:
(1) preparing a pre-form material by adding a plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals to a first material; and
(2) molding the pre-form material into the shape article, wherein the molding includes molding the pre-form material using at least one method selected from a group consisting of: injection molding, extrusion molding, blow molding, compression molding, contact molding, impression molding, press molding, and resin transfer molding.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals comprises a PbS core.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shaped article is a lens.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shaped article is in a light emitting diode cup.
5. A method of manufacturing a light emitting diode comprising the method of claim 3 and further comprising incorporating the shaped article into a light emitting diode.
6. A method of manufacturing a light emitting diode comprising the method of claim 4 and further comprising incorporating the shaped article into a light emitting diode.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shaped article comprises optical epoxy.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein upon excitation the shaped article emits light in the infra-red range.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shaped article is a layer of a solar cell.
10. A method of manufacturing a solar cell comprising the method of claim 9 and further comprising incorporating the shaped article into a solar cell.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material is a matrix material.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material is a polymer.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals is a plurality of two or more different semiconductor nanocrystals.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (1) comprises: dissolving the first matrix material in a solvent to form a first matrix material solution; dissolving the plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals in the same solvent to form a semiconductor nanocrystal solution; mixing the first matrix material solution and the semiconductor nanocrystal solution to form a semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution; evaporating the solvent from the semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution to form the pre-form material.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (1) comprises: dissolving the first matrix material in a solvent to form a first matrix material solution; dissolving the plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals in the same solvent to form a semiconductor nanocrystal solution; mixing the first matrix material solution and the semiconductor nanocrystal solution to form a semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution; evaporating the solvent from the semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution to form a solid semiconductor nanocrystal composition; and micronizing the solid semiconductor nanocrystal composition to make the pre-form material.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (1) comprises: dissolving the first matrix material in a solvent to form a first matrix material solution; dissolving a plurality of semiconductor nanocrystals in the same solvent to form a semiconductor nanocrystal solution; mixing the first matrix material solution and the semiconductor nanocrystal solution to form a semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution; evaporating the solvent from the semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution to form a solid semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material composite; and micronizing the solid semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material composite to form a micronized semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material composite; and dispersing the micronized semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material composite in a second matrix material to make the pre-form material.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first matrix material is a silica sol-gel.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second matrix material is an optical epoxy.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (1) comprises: dissolving the first matrix material in a solvent to form a first matrix material solution; dissolving a plurality of first semiconductor nanocrystals and a plurality of second, different semiconductor nanocrystals in the same solvent to form a semiconductor nanocrystal solution; mixing the first matrix material solution and the semiconductor nanocrystal solution to form a semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution; evaporating the solvent from the semiconductor nanocrystal-first matrix material solution to form a solid semiconductor nanocrystal composition; and micronizing the solid semiconductor nanocrystal composition to make the pre-form material.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (1) comprises: adding a plurality of first semiconductor nanocrystals to the first matrix material to form a first mixture; micronizing the first mixture; adding a plurality of second, different semiconductor nanocrystals to a second matrix material to form a second mixture; micronizing the second mixture; and adding the micronized first mixture and the micronized second mixture to a base matrix material to make the pre-form material.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the pre-form material comprises injection molding the pre-form material.