Nanocrystal

A nanocrystal is a crystalline substance whose size in the range of nanometers, a nanoparticle having a mainly crystalline structure. These materials are technically interesting, as many of their electrical and thermodynamic properties as a function of their size are. This allows the expression of these properties are controlled by precise processing of the material.

In addition, nanocrystals for research are interesting because their crystal lattice may be homogeneous part. The information gained from research on these crystal structures can help to understand the behavior of macroscopic samples of similar materials whose crystalline structure has lattice defects such as grain boundaries, which would make it difficult to research.

Semiconducting nanocrystals in the size range of less than 10 nanometers are often referred to as quantum dots.

Application Examples

Nanocrystals are made of zeolites are used in an oil refinery in Louisiana ExxonMobil as a filter to process crude oil into diesel fuel. This method is less expensive than traditional methods.

In a new type of solar panels called SolarPly the company Nanosolar, a layer of nanocrystals will be used. These solar panels are cheaper, more flexible and change according to the manufacturer 12 % of the incident solar energy into electricity. The other hand, traditional low-cost solar panels convert only 9% of the solar energy. Crystalline tetrahedron with a width of 40 nanometers convert photons into electricity, but only have a level of efficiency of 3%.