Germanium Halides Serving as Ideal Precursors: Designing a More Effective and Less Toxic Route to...

The three-precursors approach has proven to be advantageous for obtaining high-quality metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs). However, the current halide precursors of choice are mainly limited to those highly toxic organohalides, being unfavorable for large-scale and sustainable use. Moreover, most of the resulting PNCs still suffer from low quality in terms of photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Herein we present all-inorganic germanium salts, GeX₄ (X = Cl, Br, I), serving as robust and less hazardous alternatives that are capable of ensuring improved material properties for both Pb-based and Pb-free PNCs. Importantly, unlike most of the other inorganic halide sources, the GeX₄ compound does not deliver the Ge element into the final compositions, whereas the PLQY and phase stability of the resulting nanocrystals are significantly improved. Theoretical calculations suggest that Ge halide precursors provide favorable conditions in both dielectric environment and thermodynamics, which jointly contribute to the formation of size-confined defect-suppressed nanoparticles.