Characterization of surface modified ZnCuInS2 nanocrystals and its application to white light-emitting diodes

Red-emitting ZnCuInS2 semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) were synthesized and surface modification was performed on the NCs with oleylamine, trioctylphosphine, and 3-mercaptopropionic acid by the ligand exchange strategy. UV-visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, time-resolved PL analysis, and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to verify the surface modification of NCs. Additionally, white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated using surface modified red-emitting ZnCuInS2 NCs as red phosphor to compensate for the deficiency of red emission in white LEDs, consisting of blue LEDs as excitation sources and YAG:Ce as yellow phosphor.