Direct photolithography of QDs via photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry has emerged as an attractive approach for the fabrication of high-resolution QD-based displays, benefiting from its site-controlled and byproduct-free reaction pathway. Nevertheless, this approach remains constrained by limited colloidal stability and suboptimal optoelectronic performance, stemming from spontaneous ligand exchange and unfavorable reaction kinetics.
Chang Gu and Ting Zhang et al. proposed a dual-ligand passivation strategy to achieve robust and ultralow-energy thiol-ene click chemistry for direct QD photolithography through replacing the native ligands of QDs with rationally designed alkenyl ligands as functional ligands and alkyl thiols as dispersing ligands. Key advancements include:
Record Resolution and QLED performance: QLED devices based on photo-crosslinked QDs and nano-patterned QDs exhibited notably high electroluminescent performance (e.g., peak EQEs of 21.17% and 15.67%, respectively), representing state-of-the-art values in the field.
Hao Tan, the first author, emphasized the industrial impact: “this strategy will release the considerable potential of direct photolithography of QDs via thiol-ene click chemistry for advancing high-resolution display technologies and facilitating large-scale industrial adoption, thereby accelerating the development of next-generation high-quality QD-based optoelectronic devices.”
Other contributors include Zhixin Zhai, Chengjun Li, Kai Chen and Wenxuan Wang from Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information Technology and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, China.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62404227), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. LMS26E020007), Ningbo young doctor innovative research project (No. 2025J030), the Key projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62234004), “Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (Nos. 2024C01191), the Hangzhou Joint Fund of Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant (No.HZSZ26E020005), Ningbo 3315 Programme (No. 2020A-01-B), YONGJIANG Talent Introduction Programme (Nos. 2021A-038-B), and Ningbo Science and Technology Yongjiang 2035 Key Technology Breakthrough Plan Project (Nos. 2025Z079, 2024Z146). The authors thank Ben He for his suggestions on molecular synthesis and the preliminary design of this work.
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908915
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Nano Research
Robust and ultralow-energy direct photolithography of quantum dots via dual-ligand passivated thiol-ene click chemistry
25-Aug-2026