Synthesis of multilayer 2D chiral perovskites

Student’s name: Farah Lino Home Institution: University of West Florida NNCI Site: RTNN @ NC State University REU Principal Investigator: Dr. Xiaotong Li – Department of Chemistry, NC State University REU Mentor: Allen Liu and Dr. Xiang-bin Han - Department of Chemistry, NC State University Abstract: Multilayer 2D hybrid perovskites have proven to be promising materials in semiconductor applications due to their balanced stability and properties. In contrast to 3D perovskites, the inorganic layers of 2D hybrid perovskites are separated by large organic cations called spacers, which shield the structure from environmental degradation, thereby improving its structural tunability and functionality. The chirality of the organic spacer cation also introduces new chiroptical properties into the material; however, the incorporation of chiral spacer cations into 2D hybrid perovskites has been reported for only two organic cations to date. Using known predictors of successful incorporation of organic spacer cations, we explored the combination of new chiral organic spacers and A-site cations to synthesize multilayer 2D hybrid perovskites and investigated their chiroptical properties. The structures of the materials were initially characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, and their optical properties were measured using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and circular dichroism.