Effect of mercaptocarboxylic acids on luminescent properties of CdTe quantum dots

CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were prepared in an aqueous solution using various mercaptocarboxylic acids, such as 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and thioglycolic acid (TGA), as stabilizing agents. The experimental result indicated that these stabilizing agents played an important role for the properties of the QDs. Although both TGA and MPA-capped CdTe QDs exhibited the tunable photoluminescence (PL) from green to red color, the TGA-capped QDs revealed a higher PL quantum yield (QY) up to 60% than that of MPA-capped QDs (up to 50%) by using the optimum preparation conditions, such as a pH value of ~11.2 and a TGA/Cd molar ratio of 1.5. PL lifetime measurements indicate that the TGA-capped QDs exhibited a short average lifetime while the MPA-capped QDs revealed a long one. Furthermore, the average lifetime of the TGA-capped QDs increased with the increase of the QDs size, while a decreased lifetime for the MPA-capped QDs was obtained. This means that the PL lifetime depended strongly on the surface state of the CdTe QDs. These results should be utilized for the preparation and applications of QDs.