Phosphine-free synthesis of high-quality CdTe quantum dots: The combination of TeO2-dodecanethiol and oleylamine as Te precursor

Abstract

Currently, the synthesis of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) in organic phase has basically involved costly and air-sensitive reagents such as alkylphosphines, making a more economical approach desirable. Here, a phosphine-free approach has been developed to prepare CdTe QDs, in which TeO2 dissolved in 1-dodecanethiol (DT) was employed as the Te source. The obtained QDs were highly luminescent and exhibited desirable size-tunability and narrow size distribution. More importantly, oleylamine (OLA), the specific solvent in this method, has been found to be crucial for TeO2-DT to provide reactive Te species for the formation of CdTe. These results suggest that the combination of TeO2-DT and OLA should be an efficient Te precursor for the preparation of colloidal tellurides.