Recovering costly quantum dots

To create supraparticle lasers, colloidal quantum dots are suspended in an oil-in-water emulsion stabilized with a surfactant. This forms microbubbles in which the colloidal quantum dots naturally aggregate. However, not all batches successfully create supraparticle lasers, and even those that do will degrade with time.

The idea to develop the new recycling method arose during a meeting when members of the research team expressed frustration over the costly loss of nanoparticle quantum dots in faulty supraparticle batches. In an off-the-cuff remark, Downie proposed a potential recycling technique. With Laurand’s support, they tried the method on a defective sample, aiming to recover and reuse the expensive quantum dots.