Quantum-Dot-Based Organic Framework Nanostructures: Engineering toward Enhanced Optical Properties

Functional nanostructures are widely designed and investigated for their broad applications in optoelectronic devices, biomedicine, and catalysis, among them, framework nanostructures attracted much attention for their compatibility with ions, functional molecules to wide applications. Herein, 2-methylimidazole conjugated with zinc cations on the surface of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) in a periodic arrangement to form crystalline framework nanostructures. QDs were incorporated into the QD Organic Framework (QDOF), exhibiting exceptional stability, retaining the initial photoluminescence quantum yield after 50 days in air and showing minimal degradation in polar solvents. This strategy has been demonstrated to be widely applicable to binary, ternary, and quaternary QDs with ZnS shells and ultimately yield ordered QDOF nanostructures. Finally, a white-light-emitting QDOF is fabricated with Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.2918, 0.3076), demonstrating the power of this platform for creating functional composite materials.