Shape Control of Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Shape control of inorganic nanocrystals is important for understanding basic size- and shape-dependent scaling laws, and may be useful in a wide range of applications. Methods for controlling the shapes of inorganic nanocrystals are evolving rapidly. This paper will focus on how we currently control the shape of semiconductor nanocrystals using CdSe as example.     

a-CdSe超快光电探测器特性研究

本文报道淀积条件对非晶态硒化镉(a-CdSe)薄膜微区结构的影响,并对利用a-CdSe为光敏介质的超快光电探测器的特性进行了比较深入的测试研究。     

Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy Study on the Photophysical Behavior of Quantum Dots

Room-temperature time-resolved luminescence measurements on single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) are presented. Fluorescence emission spectra were recorded over periods of up to 30 minutes with a time resolution as small as 6 ms. For QDs in ambient air, a clear 30–40 nm blue shift in the emission wavelength is observed, before the luminescence stops after about 2–3 minutes because of photobleaching. In a nitrogen atmosphere, the blue shift is absent while photobleaching occurs after much longer times (i.e., 10–15 minutes). These observations are explained by photoinduced oxidation. The CdSe surface is oxidized during illumination in the presence of oxygen. This effectively results in shrinkage of the CdSe core diameter by almost 1 nm and consequently in a blue shift. The faster fading of the luminescence in air suggests that photoinduced oxidation results in the formation of non-radiative recombination centers at the CdSe/CdSeO_x interface. In a nitrogen atmosphere, photoinduced oxidation is prevented by the absence of oxygen. Additionally, a higher initial light output for CdSe/ZnS QDs in air is observed. This can be explained by a fast reduction of the lifetime of the long-lived defect states of CdSe QDs by oxygen.     

Processing parameters and transport properties of vacuum evaporated CdSe thin films

Semiconducting thin films of cadmium selenide have been grown by conventional thermal evaporation technique on glass substrate. Films evaporated at substrate temperature equal 523 K are stoichiometric and homogeneous. Effect of various growth parameters like rate of deposition and substrate temperature on the electrical properties has been studied in details. Also, the annealed at 673 K under vacuum for 1 h films have been analyzed for resistivity and Hall effect.     

Carboxylic‐Acid‐Passivated Metal Oxide Nanocrystals: Ligand Exchange Characteristics of a New Binding Motif

Ligand exchange is central in the processing of inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) and requires understanding of surface chemistry. Studying sterically stabilized HfO₂ and ZrO₂ NCs using ¹H solution NMR and IR spectroscopy as well as elemental analysis, this paper demonstrates the reversible exchange of initial oleic acid ligands for octylamine and self‐adsorption of oleic acid at NC surfaces. Both processes are incompatible with an X‐type binding motif of carboxylic acids as reported for sulfide and selenide NCs. We argue that this behavior stems from the dissociative adsorption of carboxylic acids at the oxide surface. Both proton and carboxylate moieties must be regarded as X‐type ligands yielding a combined X₂ binding motif that allows for self‐adsorption and exchange for L‐type ligands.     

Separation and quantification of quantum dots and dissolved metal cations by size exclusion chromatography–ICP-MS

The prevalence of engineered metallic nanoparticles within electronic products has evoked a need to assess their occurrence and fate within environmental systems upon potential release of these nanoparticles. Quantum dots (QDs) are mixed-metal nanocrystals with the smallest of particle sizes (2–10 nm) that readily leach heavy metal cations in water, potentially creating a co-occurrence of nanoparticulate and dissolved metal pollutants. In this report, we develop a size exclusion chromatography–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry method (SEC-ICP-MS) for the rapid separation and quantification of ~5-nm-sized CdSe/ZnS QDs and dissolved Cd²⁺ and Zn²⁺ cations in water. The SEC-ICP-MS method provided a wide chromatographic separation of CdSe/ZnS QDs and dissolved Cd²⁺ and Zn²⁺ cations only when using the smallest SEC column pore size available and an eluent composition that prevented loss of metals to column polymer surfaces by using a surfactant to ensure elution of QDs (ammonium lauryl sulfate) and a complexing ligand to ensure elution of metal cations (ethylenediaminetetraacetate). Detection limits were between 0.2 and 2 µg L^–1 for Cd²⁺ and Zn²⁺ among dissolved cation and QD phases, and ranges of linearity covered two to three orders of magnitude. Gold nanoparticles of sizes 5, 10, 20 and 50 nm were also effectively separated from dissolved Au³⁺ cations, illustrating the method applicability to a wide range of nanoparticle sizes and compositions. QD and dissolved metal concentrations measured by SEC-ICP-MS were comparable to those measured using the more conventional method of centrifuge ultrafiltration on split samples for dissolved and total metals. The applicability of the SEC-ICP-MS method to environmental systems was verified by measuring QDs and dissolved metals added to samples of natural waters. The method was also applied to monitoring CdSe/ZnS dissolution kinetics in an urban river water. The SEC-ICP-MS developed here may offer improved automation for characterising heterogeneous suspensions containing >1 µg L^–1 heavy metals.     

Complementary Lock‐and‐Key Ligand Binding of a Triplet Transmitter to a Nanocrystal Photosensitizer

Owing to the difficulty in comprehensively characterizing nanocrystal (NC) surfaces, clear guidance for ligand design is lacking. In this work, a series of bidentate bis(pyridine) anthracene isomers (2,3‐PyAn, 3,3‐PyAn, 2,2‐PyAn) that differ in their binding geometries were designed to find the best complementary fit to the NC surface. The efficiency of triplet energy transfer (TET) from the CdSe NC donor to a diphenylanthracene (DPA) acceptor mediated by these isomers was used as a proxy for the efficacy of orbital overlap and therefore ligand binding. 2,3‐PyAn, with an intramolecular N–N distance of 8.2 Å, provided the best match to the surface of CdSe NCs. When serving as a transmitter for photon upconversion, 2,3‐PyAn yielded the highest upconversion quantum yield (QY) of 12.1±1.3 %, followed by 3,3‐PyAn and 2,2‐PyAn. The TET quantum efficiencies determined by ultrafast transient absorption measurements showed the same trend.     

量子点CdSe／ZnS的浓度对其荧光的影响研究

影响量子点荧光特性除了量子点尺寸因素外,其溶液浓度也会对其荧光特性起很重要的作用。但到目前,还未见到有关量子点 CdSe／ZnS 在溶液中浓度对其荧光影响的详细报道。为了掌握影响量子点CdSe／ZnS荧光特性的因素及其物理机制,利用紫外-可见吸收光谱仪和荧光光谱仪测量了尺寸为4 nm的量子点CdSe／ZnS在氯仿中不同浓度下的吸收光谱和荧光光谱,并侧重研究了量子点CdSe／ZnS的浓度对其发光特性的影响并分析了其物理机制。结果表明量子点对光谱的吸收随其浓度的增加而增大,但其发光却具有一个最佳浓度2μmol·L－1。当量子点的浓度＞2μmol·L－1时,量子点的荧光强度随着量子点浓度的增加而降低,而当量子点的浓度＜2μmol·L－1时,量子点的发光强度则随其浓度的降低而降低。其原因主要有两个：（1）荧光猝灭效应;（2）荧光发射与光吸收的竞争效应。当量子点的浓度＞2μmol·L－1时,由于量子点之间相距太近（仅为94 nm）而引起了荧光猝灭效应,且其荧光猝灭效应随量子点间距的减小而增大,且因为吸收过大,导致受激的量子点并未增加,因此,其荧光随浓度的增加而降低。而当量子点的浓度＜2μmol·L－1时,因为量子点之间的距离足够大,不再引起荧光猝灭效应,其荧光强度取决于单位体积内的量子点的个数,单位体积内量子点的个数越多,其发光强度越强。因此其发光强度随量子点溶液的浓度降低而降低。     

Determination of Hydrocortisone in Cosmetics by CdSe/CdS Quantum Dots-Based Fluoroimmunoassay Using Magnetic Fe3O4/Au Nanoparticles as Solid Carriers

This work demonstrated the feasibility of detecting hydrocortisone in cosmetics using a novel CdSe/CdS quantum dots‐based competitive fluoroimmunoassay with magnetic core/shell Fe₃O₄/Au nanoparticles (MCFN) as solid carriers. Hydrocortisone antigen was labeled with the synthesized core/shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) to form the antigen‐QDs conjugate. Meanwhile, hydrocortisone antibody was incubated with MCFN and the immobilized antibody was obtained. The immobilized antibody was then mixed sequentially with hydrocortisone and a slightly excess amount of the QDs‐labeled hydrocortisone antigen, allowing their competition for binding with the antibody immobilized on MCFN. The bound hydrocortisone and the antigen‐QDs conjugates on MCFN were removed subsequently after the mixture was applied to a magnetic force. The analyte concentration was obtained by measuring the fluorescence intensity of the unbound hydrocortisone antigen‐QDs conjugates. The proposed method was characterized by simplicity, rapidity, and high sensitivity with a wide linear working range of 0.5 to 15000 pg·mL^?1 and a low detection limit of 0.5 pg·mL^?1. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of hydrocortisone in cosmetics with satisfactory results.     

Probing cytotoxicity of CdSe and CdSe/CdS quantum dots

Toxicities of CdSe and CdSe/CdS quantum dots(QDs) synthesized by ultrasound-assisted methods were investigated in vitro and in vivo.Five human cell lines were used to assess the cytotoxicity of as-prepared CdSe and CdSe/CdS by assays of MTT viability,red blood cell hemolysis,flow cytometry,and fluorescence imaging.The results show that these QDs may be cytotoxic by their influence in S and G2 phases in cell cycles.The cytotoxicity of QDs depends on both the physicochemical properties and related to target cells.