Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth

Abstract Because of the lack of spatiotemporal characterization techniques, it has been of great challenge to investigate the crystallization of nanocrystals. With a high-speed structured illumination super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SIM), we hereby report an in situ fluorescence imaging te...

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Main Authors: Lige Liu, Dashan Dong, Zhiwei Long, Wanxue Wei, Chang Sun, Wei Liu, Xiaoshuai Huang, Liangyi Chen, Haizheng Zhong, Kebin Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60826-x
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author Lige Liu
Dashan Dong
Zhiwei Long
Wanxue Wei
Chang Sun
Wei Liu
Xiaoshuai Huang
Liangyi Chen
Haizheng Zhong
Kebin Shi
author_facet Lige Liu
Dashan Dong
Zhiwei Long
Wanxue Wei
Chang Sun
Wei Liu
Xiaoshuai Huang
Liangyi Chen
Haizheng Zhong
Kebin Shi
author_sort Lige Liu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Because of the lack of spatiotemporal characterization techniques, it has been of great challenge to investigate the crystallization of nanocrystals. With a high-speed structured illumination super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SIM), we hereby report an in situ fluorescence imaging technique to monitor the crystallization of perovskite nanocrystals at single-particle level. By correlating the fluorescence intensity with particle size, we illustrate the coupled nucleation-and-growth of perovskite nanocrystals in polymer matrix. The temporal fluorescence intensity analysis of individual nanocrystals reveals the diffusion-controlled growth process with a fast growth at the beginning followed by a slow growth. The analysis of ensemble nanocrystals illustrates the evolution of nucleation rate with the change of precursor concentrations. We further analyze the Gibbs free energy fluctuation of couple nucleation-and-growth. The growth free energy dominates in the continuous nucleation of perovskite nanocrystals, which accounts for the narrow size distribution. In comparison with LaMer model, the coupled nucleation-and-growth provides an alternative model to fabricate narrow sized nanocrystals.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-3c0eac8806a64cf9baa12873228ce87e2025-08-20T03:38:18ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-011611810.1038/s41467-025-60826-xSingle particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growthLige Liu0Dashan Dong1Zhiwei Long2Wanxue Wei3Chang Sun4Wei Liu5Xiaoshuai Huang6Liangyi Chen7Haizheng Zhong8Kebin Shi9State Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityState Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityMIIT Key Laboratory for Low-dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityState Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityState Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityBiomedical Engineering Department, Peking UniversityState Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Center for Life Sciences, College of Future Technology, Peking UniversityMIIT Key Laboratory for Low-dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of TechnologyState Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking UniversityAbstract Because of the lack of spatiotemporal characterization techniques, it has been of great challenge to investigate the crystallization of nanocrystals. With a high-speed structured illumination super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SIM), we hereby report an in situ fluorescence imaging technique to monitor the crystallization of perovskite nanocrystals at single-particle level. By correlating the fluorescence intensity with particle size, we illustrate the coupled nucleation-and-growth of perovskite nanocrystals in polymer matrix. The temporal fluorescence intensity analysis of individual nanocrystals reveals the diffusion-controlled growth process with a fast growth at the beginning followed by a slow growth. The analysis of ensemble nanocrystals illustrates the evolution of nucleation rate with the change of precursor concentrations. We further analyze the Gibbs free energy fluctuation of couple nucleation-and-growth. The growth free energy dominates in the continuous nucleation of perovskite nanocrystals, which accounts for the narrow size distribution. In comparison with LaMer model, the coupled nucleation-and-growth provides an alternative model to fabricate narrow sized nanocrystals.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60826-x
spellingShingle Lige Liu
Dashan Dong
Zhiwei Long
Wanxue Wei
Chang Sun
Wei Liu
Xiaoshuai Huang
Liangyi Chen
Haizheng Zhong
Kebin Shi
Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
Nature Communications
title Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
title_full Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
title_fullStr Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
title_full_unstemmed Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
title_short Single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation-and-growth
title_sort single particle fluorescence imaging of perovskite nanocrystal crystallization for illustrating coupled nucleation and growth
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60826-x
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