Quantitative imaging of anion exchange kinetics in halide perovskites

Ion exchange, as a postsynthetic transformation strategy, offers more flexibilities in controlling material compositions and structures beyond direct synthetic methodology. Observation of such transformation kinetics on the single-particle level with rich spatial and spectroscopic information has never been achieved. We report the quantitative imaging of anion exchange kinetics in individual single-crystalline halide perovskite nanoplates using confocal photoluminescence microscopy. We have systematically observed a symmetrical anion exchange pathway on the nanoplates with dependence on reaction time and plate thickness, which is governed by the crystal structure and the diffusion-limited transformation mechanism. Based on a reaction–diffusion model, the halide diffusion coefficient was estimated to be on the order of 10 − 14 cm 2 ⋅ s − 1 . This diffusion-controlled mechanism leads to the formation of 2D perovskite heterostructures with spatially resolved coherent interface through the precisely controlled anion exchange reaction, offering a design protocol for tailoring functionalities of semiconductors at the nano-/microscale.