Alloyed Zinc Chalcogenide Magic-Sized Nanoclusters and Their Transformation to Alloyed Quantum Dots

Alloying provides the opportunity to widen the physical and chemical properties of quantum dots (QDs); however, the precise controlled composition of alloyed QDs is still a challenge. In this work, a few quaternary alloyed zinc chalcogenide magic-sized nanoclusters (MSCs) were synthesized using the active chalcogen precursors of tri(dimethylamine)phosphine chalcogen, such as Zn₂₁S₄Se₃Te₄ (MSCs-348), Zn₁₄S₄Se₄Te₇ (MSCs-350), Zn₁₅S₁Se₄Te₆ (MSCs-349), and Zn₁₇S₂Se₂Te₇ (MSCs-355) MSCs. The composition of alloyed zinc chalcogenide MSCs was tuned with the different amounts of added chalcogen precursors. Finally, the produced alloyed zinc chalcogenide MSCs can be used as precursors to synthesize alloyed zinc chalcogenide QDs, and the composition of zinc chalcogenide QDs can be adjusted with different alloyed MSCs. This work provides methods to alloy MSCs with controlled composition, providing efficient precursors for alloyed QDs.