Semiconductor Nanocrystals Hybridized with Functional Ligands: New Composite Materials with Tunable Properties

Semiconductor nanocrystals hybridized with functional ligands represent an important new class of composite nanomaterials. The development of these new nanoscale building blocks has intensified over the past few years and offer significant advantages in a wide array of applications. Functional ligands allow for incorporation of nanocrystals into areas where their unique photophysics can be exploited. Energy and charge transfer between the ligands and the nanocrystal also result in enhanced physical properties that can be tuned by the choice of ligand architecture. Here, progress in the development and applications involving this new class of composite materials will be discussed.