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Growth dynamics of zinc selenide quantum dots: the role of oleic acid concentration and synthesis temperature on driving optical properties

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Abstract

The growth dynamics of zinc selenide quantum dots (ZnSe QDs) using oleic acid as stabilizer was addressed in this work. The QDs were synthesized by hot-injection method, using 2:1 and 10:1 oleic acid/zinc acetate ratio at 170, 190, and 210 °C. The syntheses were carried out for 30 min, 1, 2, and 3 h and the samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The QDs diameter was evaluated by Effective Mass Approximation theory from the optical band gap. Lower oleic acid/zinc acetate molar ratio resulted in smaller particles and narrower size distribution. These results, evaluated under the light of Classical Nucleation and Growth Theory, were attributed to a smaller solubility of the monomers in the oleic acid solution. This effect leads to an increased supersaturation, promoting faster nucleation and, eventually, diffusion controlled growth, resulting in particles with narrower size distribution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank CNANO/UFRGS and CMM/UFRGS for the measurements.

Funding

The authors thank CNPq and CAPES for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências de Materiais, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Fábio Baum & Marcos José Leite Santos

  2. Curso de Química, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, Brazil

    Marcelle Fernandes da Silva, Gabriele Linden & Ester Schmidt Rieder

  3. Escola de Engenharia, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Daniela Feijo

  4. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Materiais e Processos Sustentáveis, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, Brazil

    Ester Schmidt Rieder

  5. Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Marcos José Leite Santos

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  1. Fábio Baum
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  2. Marcelle Fernandes da Silva
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  3. Gabriele Linden
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Correspondence to Marcos José Leite Santos.

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Baum, F., da Silva, M.F., Linden, G. et al. Growth dynamics of zinc selenide quantum dots: the role of oleic acid concentration and synthesis temperature on driving optical properties. J Nanopart Res 21, 42 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-019-4485-6

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