Abstract: Materials, methods to prepare, and methods of use for ionic nanocrystalline inorganic materials and hybrid composites thereof are described herein. A preferred embodiment comprises native ligand stripping under equilibrium control, where reversible Lewis acid-base chemistry is used to generate adduct-stabilized surfaces during ligand stripping. Through a preferred embodiment, the generation of physisorbed anionic species that stabilize the nanocrystal surface until coordinating solvent is able to repassivate the surface.