CHEMISTRY OF SEMICONDUCTOR NANOPARTICLES

Basic advances and prospects of further research in the field of the c hemistry of nanoparticles are considered. Principal factors determinin g unusual physicochemical properties of semiconductor nanoparticles ar e discussed. It is pointed out that the kinetics of chemical transform ations on the surface and in the bulk of small nanoparticles differs f rom the kinetics of chemical transformations in unlimited space. The c lassical equations of chemical kinetics can be used for describing the processes on the surface of nanoparticles down to their size that exc eeds the size of reacting molecules by an order of magnitude. The larg e relative fraction of superficial atoms in the nanoparticles determin es the size dependences of the melting temperature and pressure at whi ch a phase transition occurs in the semiconductor crystal. Because of comparable size of nanoparticles and the delocalisation radii of charg e carriers the non-linear optical effects arise and the redox properti es and optical characteristics of nanoparticles become dependent on th eir size.