Structural,photoluminescence and photoelectrochemical properties of electrosynthesized ZnSe spheres

Zinc selenide (ZnSe) spheres have been successfully synthesized by a simple galvanostatic mode of electrodeposition method for the photoelectrochemical properties. These spheres are characterized for their structural and morphological features using X-ray diffraction studies, scanning electron microscopy techniques. The growth mechanism of the ZnSe spheres have been discussed in detail, which can be addressed as the 2H⁺ gas trap and cation exchange reaction. UV–vis absorption spectra revealed that an absorbance peak at 380 nm and its band gap energy was found to be ~2.57 eV. Photoluminescence measurement spectra revealed that, the spheres exhibit strong emission at 675.94 nm. The photoelectrochemical measurement of ZnSe spheres was studied and the calculated efficiency was found to be ~0.05 %. In the electrodeposition galvanostatic mode is good technique applicable for controlling the film thickness. Hence, these galvanostatically electrosynthesized ZnSe spheres could be used as a buffer layer in the photoelectrochemical solar cells.     

Synthesis and luminescence properties of water-dispersible ZnSe nanocrystals

Water-dispersible ZnSe nanocrystals were synthesized by a green and simple route. Growth of the nanocrystals was performed under water-bath temperature, using selenium powder and zinc acetate as precursors, upon addition of mercaptoacetic acid as a stabilizer. Products were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), absorption and fluorescence spectra. Photoluminescence (PL) properties of ZnSe nanocrystals in evolution are discussed. PL is the contribution of both excitonic and defect emission. The excitonic emission peak can be tuned by changing the refluxing time and pH value. Mercaptoacetic acid is available in controlling the ratio of excitonic emission to defect emission. All desired properties of nanocrystals prepared here imply the possibility of high quality ZnSe nanocrystals developed under a mild condition.     

Impact of ripening on manganese-doped ZnSe nanocrystals

We examine the impact of growth kinetics on the incorporation of Mn dopants into ZnSe nanocrystals. We synthesize such particles, also known as colloidal quantum dots, and use optical spectroscopy to extract information about the average number of Mn impurities per nanocrystal as the reaction proceeds. We find that this number increases with particle growth until the Zn and/or Se precursors are depleted in the reaction solution. If the reaction is continued further, then ripening of the colloid begins and the average number of Mn per nanocrystal decreases, even as the particles slowly increase in size. We show that this effect, which is detrimental for enhanced doping, can be avoided if the reactant concentration is maintained by addition of more reactants. We consider several explanations and conclude that intraparticle ripening, in which material is redistributed on the same nanocrystal due to evolution of the particle shape, is the most consistent with experimental observations.     

水溶性ZnSe纳米晶的微波制备与表征

本文利用微波辐射方法,在水相中直接快速制备,得到了谷胱甘肽修饰的水溶性ZnSe纳米晶,并详细讨论了制备条件(溶液中离子配比、PH值、反应温度和时间等)对结果的影响.在最佳条件下制备所得的ZnSe纳米晶,发射波长在360nm～410nm之间可调,荧光光谱半峰宽最小值可达到21nm.另外,进一步利用光辐射方法,对ZnSe纳米晶进行表面修饰,将其荧光量子效率提高到了55%.本文制备方法具有过程简单、经济的优点,此外,这种水溶性ZnSe纳米晶具有优良的光谱性能和良好的生物相溶性,可使其作为荧光探针进一步应用在生物领域.     

Blue-shifted photoluminescence of Alq3 dispersed in PMMA

Alq₃ is known to emit bright green light under UV excitation. Blue shift of the emission was reported in recent literature. This was ascribed to the presence of various isomers/crystallographic modifications obtained through train sublimation. Here a blue shift was reported for Alq₃ dispersed in PMMA. No isomers/ phases, which were reponsible for blue-shift, separated and yet the emission maxima shift to shorter wavelengths as the concentration of Alq₃ in PMMA decreases. The results were interpreted on the basis of cross relaxation between interacting Alq₃ molecules.     

二氧化钛纳米晶的制备及其光致发光的研究

以Ti（SO4）2为前驱体,采用沉淀法制备了二氧化钛纳米晶,通过X射线衍射（XRD）、透射电子显微镜（TEM）和光致发光（PL）光谱对微晶进行表征。研究表明,制备的TiO2纳米晶呈类球形颗粒且分散性好,平均粒径最小约为4nm,热处理温度升高到750℃时,样品仍为单一的锐钛矿相;PL谱分析表明,室温下,用高于带隙的能量激发,在370～550nm范围内纳米TiO2粒子呈现出强而宽的发光带,分别对应于价带和导带间的电子跃迁以及表面态的发光;另外发现随焙烧温度升高,粒径增大的同时,发光峰的强度呈无规则变化,分析可能与表面态和晶粒内部缺陷的数量有关。     

On the photoluminescence emission of ZnO nanocrystals

Photoluminescence emission (PL) behaviour of ZnO nanocrystals capped by different organic molecules and dispersed in solvents with increasing dielectric constant is studied. PL energy is observed to red shift or blue shift or even remains invariant with increasing dielectric constant of the dispersing medium depending on the capping agent. The effective dielectric constant of the dispersing medium shifts the surface defect levels energetically and governs the interfacial charge re-organisation. Further, solvent relaxation effects also cause lowering of the energy levels. Defects located at the surface of nanocrystals profoundly influence the luminescence behaviour.     

Surfactant-dependent photoluminescence of CdTe/CdS nanocrystals

ABSTRACT

The photoluminescence of aqueously synthesised core/shell CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) was investigated. Two molar ratios (2.4 and 1.3) of thioglycolic acid (TGA) to Cd²⁺ were compared to determine the best synthesis conditions for high photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY) and photostability. A difference in the PLQY of the CdTe/CdS QDs was observed when CdS shells were grown with different TGA/Cd²⁺ ratios. The difference in the observed PLQY was attributed to the quality of the passivation of the CdTe during the CdS shell growth. At TGA/Cd²⁺ ratio of 1.3, the CdS shell forms through homogeneous nucleation, which is limited by diffusion of growth material from the solution onto the QDs surface. Due to the lattice mismatch of CdTe and CdS, the core will experience coherence strain resulting in dislocation sites and surface defects between nucleation sites which can result in non-radiative trap states. When the TGA/Cd²⁺ ratio is 2.0, the CdS shell grows epitaxially, minimising the number of surface trap states. Finally, we observed that the fluorescence intermittency was supressed for CdTe QDs after UV light illumination, attributed to annealing of deep surface trap states by UV light.     

Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of ligand-capped PbS nanocrystals

PbS nanocrystals are synthesized using colloidal techniques and have their surfaces capped with oleic acid. The absorption band edge of the PbS nanocrystals is tuned between 900 and 580?nm. The PbS nanocrystals exhibit tuneable photoluminescence with large non-resonant Stokes shifts of up to 500?meV. The magnitude of the Stokes shift is found to be dependent upon the size of PbS nanocrystals. Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of the PbS nanocrystals reveals that the photoluminescence has an extraordinarily long lifetime of 1?μs. This long fluorescence lifetime is attributed to the effect of dielectric screening similar to that observed in other IV-VI semiconductor nanocrystals.     

Enhanced photoluminescence features of Eu3+-modified di-ureasil-zirconium oxocluster organic–inorganic hybrids

In this work, a series of transparent di-ureasil hybrids containing different amounts of methacrylic acid modified zirconium tetrapropoxide (ZrMcOH) nanoclusters (5–85 mol%) and incorporating EuCl₃ and [Eu(tta)₃(H₂O)₂] (tta = thenoyltrifluoroacetonate) complex were prepared. These hybrids are multi-wavelength emitters due to the convolution of the host intrinsic emission (electron–hole recombinations occurring in siliceous and urea cross-linkages) Eu³⁺ intra-4f⁶ transitions. The ZrMcOH incorporation deviates the maximum excitation wavelength of the hybrid host intrinsic emission from the UV (365 nm) to the blue (420 nm) and enhances the absolute emission quantum yield from 6.0 ± 0.6% to 9.0 ± 0.9%, and contributes to an increase in the ⁵D₀ lifetime values, quantum efficiency due to a decrease in the non-radiative transition probability and OH groups coordinated to the Eu³⁺ ions.     

Cation exchange in ZnSe nanocrystals for signal amplification in bioassays

ZnSe nanocrystals (NCs), possessing low native luminescence but high biocompatibility, were employed as labeling tags in bioassays. They were able to amplify each target recognition event thousands of times through a cation-exchange reaction (CXAmp) that released over 3000 encapsulated Zn(2+) from one single NC. The freed cations in turn triggered strong fluorescence from the Zn-responsive dyes. The present study demonstrated that CXAmp with ZnSe delivered superior detection performance in comparison to the conventional labeling methods. The overall fluorescence intensity of CXAmp using 5 nM ZnSe NCs was 30 times higher than that from 5 nM core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). The limit of detection (LOD) obtained with ZnSe-based CXAmp was 10-fold lower than with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeling, and the detection sensitivity, represented by the slope of the signal-versus-concentration curve, was 20-fold higher. When applied to detect immunoglobulin E (IgE) in a sandwich format, a LOD of 1 ng/mL was achieved. The highly sensitive CXAmp also allowed detection of the total IgE content in dilute human serum, in which the abundant matrix proteins exhibited less interference and more accurate quantification could be performed. Besides high signal amplification efficiency and good biocompatibility, CXAmp with ZnSe could be easily adapted to common laboratory settings and act as a universal labeling system for reliable detection of low-abundance targets.     

Controlled growth of tetrapod-branched inorganic nanocrystals

Nanoscale materials are currently being exploited as active components in a wide range of technological applications in various fields, such as composite materials, chemical sensing, biomedicine, optoelectronics and nanoelectronics. Colloidal nanocrystals are promising candidates in these fields, due to their ease of fabrication and processibility. Even more applications and new functional materials might emerge if nanocrystals could be synthesized in shapes of higher complexity than the ones produced by current methods (spheres, rods, discs). Here, we demonstrate that polytypism, or the existence of two or more crystal structures in different domains of the same crystal, coupled with the manipulation of surface energy at the nanoscale, can be exploited to produce branched inorganic nanostructures controllably. For the case of CdTe, we designed a high yield, reproducible synthesis of soluble, tetrapod-shaped nanocrystals through which we can independently control the width and length of the four arms.     

Structural study, photoluminescence, and photocatalytic activity of semiconducting BaZrO3:Bi nanocrystals

Wide band gap nanocrystalline bismuth doped barium zirconate is synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method at 100 °C. The obtained cubic perovskites are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and photocatalytic activity. The estimated band gap in the 2.4-4.9 eV range, depending on Bi concentration, suggests nanocrystalline BaZrO₃:Bi as a useful visible-light activated photocatalyst under excitation wavelengths <800 nm. Displacement of main XRD pattern peaks suggest that bismuth ion mostly substitutes into Zr⁴⁺ sites within the BaZrO₃ host lattice. It is found that BaZrO₃:Bi decomposes methylene blue (MB) under both UV and visible light irradiation. The photocatalyst efficiency depends strongly on Bi content and induced defects.     

Preparation and characterization of silica-coated ZnSe nanowires with thermal stability and photoluminescence

Silica-coated ZnSe nanowires with well-controlled the thickness of sheath in the range of 10-60 nm have been synthesized through a simple sol-gel process. The thickness of silica coating could be controlled through altering reaction parameters such as volume ratio of TEOS and ammonia. XRD, high-resolution TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectra, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to characterize the core/sheath nanostructures. Room-temperature PL measurements indicate these silica-coated ZnSe nanowires remarkably improve the PL intensity. Meanwhile, the thermal stability has been enhanced greatly, which is useful for their potential applications in advanced semiconductor devices.     

Optical absorption processes in CdSe nanocrystals embedded in silicate glass and organic polymer matrices under 7-MeV electron irradiation

Irradiation-induced bleaching occurs in the spectra of glass-embedded CdSe nanocrystals due to their ionization resulting from charge transfer between them and color centers formed in glass by electron irradiation. No bleaching in the spectra of CdSe nanocrystals encapsulated in gelatine is observed because no deep traps are formed in the matrix under electron irradiation.     

Etching and chemical mechanical polishing of ZnSe using inorganic acids

The etching behavior of zinc selenide has been studied at temperatures from 20 to 90°C in inorganic acid solutions of different concentrations, with additions of H₂O₂ as an oxidant. The kinetic data obtained have been used to identify the mechanisms of the reactions involved and develop a chemical mechanical polishing procedure for polycrystalline zinc selenide.     

Electroluminescence from light-emitting diodes by using water-dispersed ZnSe nanocrystals and polymer

Electroluminescence was obtained from an indium-tin-oxide/poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV): ZnSe/2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP)/ 8-tris-hydroxyquinoline (Alq3)/LiF/Al structured device, in which ZnSe nanocrystals were synthesized in aqueous solution by using mercapto-acetate acid as stabilizer. The mechanical, electrical, and optical properties of the device were established. The photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra changed with the mass ratio of ZnSe to MEH-PPV in the composite. Comparison between the absorption spectra and photoluminescence spectra of the ZnSe nanocrystals and the MEH-PPV thin film exhibited an effective energy transfer from ZnSe nanocrystals to MEH-PPV, which was one reason for the difference between the photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectra of the MEH-PPV: ZnSe composite film. The recombination mechanism of ZnSe nanocrystals under photo excitation and electric injection was investigated with the help of a single layer device structure of indium-tin-oxide/ZnSe/LiF/Al.