Predictable Particle Engineering: Programming the Energy Level, Carrier Generation, and Conductivity of Core–Shell Particles

Core–shell structures are of particular interest in the development of advanced composite materials as they can efficiently bring different components together at nanoscale. The advantage of this structure greatly relies on the crucial design of both core and shell, thus achieving an intercomponent synergistic effect. In this report, we show that decorating semiconductor nanocrystals with a boronate polymer shell can easily achieve programmable core–shell interactions. Taking ZnO and anatase TiO2 nanocrystals as inner core examples, the effective core–shell interactions can narrow the band gap of semiconductor nanocrystals, change the HOMO and LUMO levels of boronate polymer shell, and significantly improve the carrier density of core–shell particles. The hole mobility of core–shell particles can be improved by almost 9 orders of magnitude in comparison with net boronate polymer, while the conductivity of core–shell particles is at most 30-fold of nanocrystals. The particle engineering strategy is based on two driving forces: catechol-surface binding and B–N dative bonding and having a high ability to control and predict the shell thickness. Also, this approach is applicable to various inorganic nanoparticles with different components, sizes, and shapes.