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Facile and green synthesis of core–shell ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots in aqueous solution

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Abstract

In this work, core–shell ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with excellent blue light emission were successfully synthesized in aqueous solution using thioglycolic acid as a stabilizer, thiourea as a sulphur source, and zinc acetate dihydrate as a Zn source. The crystal structure and optical properties of the as-synthesized ZnSe/ZnS QDs were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and UV–Visible spectroscopy. The ZnSe/ZnS QDs had a cubic zinc blende crystalline structure with an average particle size of approximately 4.6 nm. The excitonic emission slightly shifted to a longer wavelength and the PL intensity increased considerably with the growth of the ZnS shells. Meanwhile, the PL quantum yield of the ZnSe/ZnS QDs increased to 58.5%, which was much higher than that of ZnSe QDs. The exciton radiative lifetimes were approximately 46.3 and 23.1 ns for the core–shell ZnSe/ZnS QDs and ZnSe QDs, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61474024, 61775038), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB0401600) and the science and technology projects in Guangdong province (Grant No. 2016B090906001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics and Information Engineering, University of Fuzhou, Fuzhou, 350016, Fujian, China

    S. L. Zhang, C. F. Lin, Y. L. Weng, L. C. He, T. L. Guo, Y. A. Zhang & X. T. Zhou

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  1. S. L. Zhang
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  2. C. F. Lin
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  3. Y. L. Weng
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  4. L. C. He
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  5. T. L. Guo
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  6. Y. A. Zhang
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  7. X. T. Zhou
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Correspondence to Y. A. Zhang or X. T. Zhou.

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Zhang, S.L., Lin, C.F., Weng, Y.L. et al. Facile and green synthesis of core–shell ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots in aqueous solution. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 29, 16805–16814 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-9775-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-9775-8

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