Many metal halide semiconductors offer promising optical and electronic properties but suffer from poor water and thermal stability. This instability limits their use in real-world environments, especially in sensing, energy, and environmental monitoring applications where exposure to moisture and heat is unavoidable. Existing ammonium-based materials often degrade quickly, reducing device lifespan and reliability.
This technology introduces phosphonium-based metal halide semiconductors that achieve record water and thermal stability through a targeted single-atom substitution strategy. The materials maintain strong optical emission, accessible redox activity, and low charge-transfer resistance, enabling applications in PFAS sensing, energy storage, catalysis, and optoelectronics. Demonstrated long-term aqueous stability and enhanced thermal robustness support scalable, practical deployment.
The image illustrates the benefits of replacing conventional ammonium-based ligands with phosphonium-based ones and integrating them into metal halide semiconductor materials with excellent sensitivity towards PFAS molecules in aqueous samples.