TY - JOUR A1 - Schneider, Ralf A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Lesnyak, V. A1 - Leubner, S. A1 - Lorenz, T. A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Dubavik, A. A1 - Joswig, J.-O. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Gaponik, N. A1 - Eychmüller, A. ED - Resch-Genger, Ute ED - Schneider, Ralf T1 - pH and concentration dependence of the optical properties of thiol-capped CdTe nanocrystals in water and D2O N2 - The optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals (SC NCs) are largely controlled by their size and surface chemistry, i.e., the chemical composition and thickness of inorganic passivation shells and the chemical nature and number of surface ligands as well as the strength of their bonds to surface atoms. The latter is particularly important for CdTe NCs, which – together with alloyed CdₓHg₁₋ₓTe – are the only SC NCs that can be prepared in water in high quality without the need for an additional inorganic passivation shell. Aiming at a better understanding of the role of stabilizing ligands for the control of the application-relevant fluorescence features of SC NCs, we assessed the influence of two of the most commonly used monodentate thiol ligands, thioglycolic acid (TGA) and mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), on the colloidal stability, photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY), and PL decay behavior of a set of CdTe NC colloids. As an indirect measure for the strength of the coordinative bond of the ligands to SC NC surface atoms, the influence of the pH (pD) and the concentration on the PL properties of these colloids was examined in water and D₂O and compared to the results from previous dilution studies with a set of thiol-capped Cd₁₋ₓHgₓTe SC NCs in D₂O. As a prerequisite for these studies, the number of surface ligands was determined photometrically at different steps of purification after SC NC synthesis with Ellman’s test. Our results demonstrate ligand control of the pH-dependent PL of these SC NCs, with MPA-stabilized CdTe NCs being less prone to luminescence quenching than TGA-capped ones. For both types of CdTe colloids, ligand desorption is more pronounced in H₂O compared to D₂O, underlining also the role of hydrogen bonding and solvent molecules. KW - Quantum dots KW - Fluorescence KW - Ligand analysis KW - Nano particles PY - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-371253 VL - 18 IS - 28 SP - 19083 EP - 19092 PB - RSC CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-37125 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leubner, S. A1 - Schneider, Ralf A1 - Dubavik, A. A1 - Hatami, Soheil A1 - Gaponik, N. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Eychmüller, A. T1 - Influence of the stabilizing ligand on the quality, signal-relevant optical properties, and stability of near-infrared emitting Cd1-xHgxTe nanocrystals N2 - Bright and stable near-infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) emitting chromophores are in high demand for applications in telecommunication, solar cells, security barcodes, and as fluorescent reporters in bioimaging studies. The best choice for wavelengths >750 nm are semiconductor nanocrystals, especially ternary or alloy nanocrystals like CdHgTe, which enable size and composition control of their optical properties. Here, we report on the influence of growth time and surface chemistry on the composition and optical properties of colloidal CdHgTe. Up to now, these are the only NIR and IR emissive quantum dots, which can be synthesized in high quality in water, using a simple one-pot reaction. For this study we utilized and compared three different thiol ligands, thioglycolic acid (TGA), 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), and glutathione (GSH). Aiming at the rational design of bright NIR- and IR-emissive alloy materials, special emphasis was dedicated to a better understanding of the role of the surface ligand and adsorption–desorption equilibria on the photoluminescence quantum yield and stability. In this respect, dilution and protonation studies were performed. Our results show that with this simple synthetic procedure, strongly fluorescent CdHgTe colloids can be obtained with MPA as stabilizing ligand revealing quantum yields as high as 45% independent of particle concentration. PY - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tc00582a SN - 2050-7526 SN - 2050-7534 VL - 2 IS - 25 SP - 5011 EP - 5018 PB - Royal Soc. of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-31073 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -