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PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Single-particle FRET reveals ligand configurations on colloidal perovskite quantum dots

  • Leon G. Feld1,2,3,4
  • Oleksandr Kolomiiets1,2,3,4
  • Noah Shahin1,2,3,4
  • Sebastian Sabisch1,2,3,4
  • Gabriele Rainò1,2,3,4
  • Maksym V. Kovalenko1,2,3,4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
  2. 2ETH Zürich
  3. 3Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics
  4. 4Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
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Abstract

The functionality of colloidal quantum dots (QDs), whether in fundamental studies, optoelectronics, or emerging quantum technologies, critically depends on their surface chemistry, with organic ligands influencing nearly every aspect of their behavior. Whereas the inorganic core can be comprehensively characterized at atomic resolution, ligands remain dibicult to probe owing to their low atomic contrast and soft, disordered structure. Here, we empower single-particle photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to resolve ligand conformations at sub-nanometer resolution. Tagging ligand tails with organic dyes enables measuring their distance from the QD via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). Single-particle, single-molecule FRET experiments performed on lead halide perovskite QDs reveal nanometer-scale variations in dye-surface distances, both within individual particles (0.81 ± 0.22 nm on average) and between QDs with varied ligand chemistries (from 0.25 nm to 1.02 nm). Supported by atomistic modelling, our experiments tie variations in the local ligand environment to this conformational diversity. A powerful yet accessible spectroscopic method for interrogating the complex surface chemistry of QDs is highly relevant to QD-based optoelectronics, quantum applications, and photocatalysis.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{feld2026singleparticle,
  title = {{Single-particle FRET reveals ligand configurations on colloidal perovskite quantum dots}},
  author = {Leon G. Feld and Oleksandr Kolomiiets and Noah Shahin and Sebastian Sabisch and Gabriele Rainò and Maksym V. Kovalenko},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008880/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008880/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Single-particle FRET reveals ligand configurations on colloidal perovskite quantum dots
AU  - Leon G. Feld
AU  - Oleksandr Kolomiiets
AU  - Noah Shahin
AU  - Sebastian Sabisch
AU  - Gabriele Rainò
AU  - Maksym V. Kovalenko
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008880/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008880/v1
AB  - The functionality of colloidal quantum dots (QDs), whether in fundamental studies, optoelectronics, or emerging quantum technologies, critically depends on their surface chemistry, with organic ligands influencing nearly every aspect of their behavior. Whereas the inorganic core can be comprehensively characterized at atomic resolution, ligands remain dibicult to probe owing to their low atomic contrast and soft, disordered structure. Here, we empower single-particle photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to resolve ligand conformations at sub-nanometer resolution. Tagging ligand tails with organic dyes enables measuring their distance from the QD via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). Single-particle, single-molecule FRET experiments performed on lead halide perovskite QDs reveal nanometer-scale variations in dye-surface distances, both within individual particles (0.81 ± 0.22 nm on average) and between QDs with varied ligand chemistries (from 0.25 nm to 1.02 nm). Supported by atomistic modelling, our experiments tie variations in the local ligand environment to this conformational diversity. A powerful yet accessible spectroscopic method for interrogating the complex surface chemistry of QDs is highly relevant to QD-based optoelectronics, quantum applications, and photocatalysis.
ER  -