This synthetic protocol is fundamentally different from the more widely employed nucleophilic lysing of metal alkylcarboxylates for other metal oxide NCs.  Owing to this difference, the NC surfaces are populated by ether molecules through an L-type coordination along with covalently bound (X-type) hydroxyl moieties, which enables easy switching from nonpolar to polar solvents without resorting to cumbersome ligand exchange procedures. 
THERM