General criteria for evaluating suitable polymer ligands for the synthesis of aluminum nanocrystals

Herein, we evaluate the suitablity of polystyrenes with thiol, dithioester and trithiocarbonate end-groups for the synthesis of Al nanocrystals. Both the end-groups and molecular weight of the polymer ligands play important roles for controlling the size and shape of the Al nanocrystals. A general criterion for evaluating polymers as the ligand for the synthesis of Al nanocrystals is proposed.