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Simple synthesis of high-quality CdTe QDs in spherical polyelectrolyte brushes with stable and reversible photoluminescence

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Abstract

A facile method of high-quality CdTe quantum dots (QDs) synthesis in spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPBs) was reported in this work. The size of CdTe QDs, with emission color from green to red, could be tuned by adjusting the duration of nucleation, feed ratio of reductants (NaBH4/N2H4), and pH of precursor (SPB solution). Short duration of nucleation and low ratio of NaBH4/N2H4 could promote the growth rate of QDs to form big-sized CdTe QDs. The pH of SPB solution, in the range of 7–9, was optimal condition for formation of high-quality QDs. The SPB@CdTe exhibited high photochemical stability as the pH of mixture was above 10, which could be stored in the visible light for several months without aggregation and optical deterioration. The photoluminescence emission of SPB@CdTe could be reversibly quenched and restored with shrinkage and swollen shell if employed pH as a regulator.

The synthesis process of SPB@CdTe and its reversible photoluminesence emission at oscillating pH values

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21004021,21374029, 51273063, 21476143), Shanghai education innovation key project (14ZZ061), the Fundamental Research Funds for the central universities (WA1014007,22220131011), State-key laboratory open subject SKL-ChE-11CO2, and the start funding of East China University of Science and Technology (YA0142119).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State-Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Yu Cang, Rui Zhang, Guixin Shi, Dingye Fang & Xuhong Guo

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  1. Yu Cang
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  2. Rui Zhang
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  3. Guixin Shi
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  4. Dingye Fang
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  5. Xuhong Guo
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rui Zhang or Xuhong Guo.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

Diameter of SPBs at different synthetic process, size of CdTe QDs, the properties of SPB@CdTe with different duration of nucleation and the weight content of CdTe in the SPB at different pH values (DOCX 828 kb)

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Cang, Y., Zhang, R., Shi, G. et al. Simple synthesis of high-quality CdTe QDs in spherical polyelectrolyte brushes with stable and reversible photoluminescence. Colloid Polym Sci 293, 3043–3047 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3692-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3692-7

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