In our recent work entitled “Aqueous Colloidal Perovskite Quantum Emitters“, we report a new aqueous colloidal perovskite nanocrystal system, marking a significant advance toward overcoming the long-standing water instability of halide perovskites.

By repurposing OAmX molecules — traditionally used for surface passivation — we developed a simple, room-temperature in situ core–shell self-assembly strategy that yields nanocrystals highly emissive, color-tunable, and stably dispersed in pure water.

Self-Designed Frontispiece Art Work

These nanocrystals demonstrate:

• High photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), up to >80%
• Excellent dispersibility and monodispersity in water (zeta potential >80 mV)
• Strong emission even at ultra-dilute concentrations (as low as ≈0.1 nM)
• The first-ever single-photon emission in aqueous solution phase

Rather than fully solving stability, our work pushes the boundary forward, showing that perovskite nanocrystals can retain optical performance in water comparable to that in organic media. This opens new opportunities for aqueous photonic platforms, bioimaging probes, and liquid-phase quantum light sources.

Read more: Aqueous Colloidal Perovskite Quantum Emitters, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202500349