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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Synthesis of Hierarchical ZnO/CdSSe Heterostructure Nanotrees

Synthesis of Hierarchical ZnO/CdSSe Heterostructure Nanotrees

Published on: November 29, 2016

Wurtzite InP/ZnSe/ZnS Core/Shell Semiconductor Quantum Dots with Bright Near-IR Emission.

Jiekai Dai^1,2, David Stone^1,2, Xiang Li^1,2

¹Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|June 15, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed new cadmium-free indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) with enhanced near-infrared (NIR) emission. These wurtzite-phase InP/ZnSe/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs show improved photoluminescence efficiency and stability for optoelectronic and bioimaging applications.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Nanotechnology
Quantum Dot Synthesis

Background:

Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) are valuable heavy-metal-free materials for optoelectronics and bioimaging.
Conventional synthesis methods often yield zinc-blende InP QDs, limiting the production of large-sized QDs with uniform distribution and efficient near-infrared (NIR) emission.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize monodisperse wurtzite-phase InP (w-InP) quantum dots with tunable sizes.
To improve photoluminescence (PL) efficiency and photochemical stability by epitaxially growing ZnSe/ZnS shells.
To achieve bright, size-tunable NIR emission for advanced applications.

Main Methods:

Cation-exchange synthesis to produce monodisperse wurtzite-phase InP (w-InP) quantum dots.
Epitaxial growth of ZnSe/ZnS core/shell/shell (CSS) structures on w-InP cores.
Photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and photostability measurements under various conditions.

Main Results:

Successfully synthesized size-tunable w-InP QDs via cation exchange.
Achieved bright NIR emission (740-820 nm) from w-InP/ZnSe/ZnS CSS QDs.
Demonstrated high PLQY (up to 78%) with narrow full-width at half-maximum (fwhm) of ~33 nm for NIR emission (~780 nm).
Observed stable optical properties under dark storage; light-induced surface oxidation enhanced PLQY in w-InP cores, while photo-oxidation of the ZnSe shell affected CSS QD performance under illumination.

Conclusions:

Epitaxially grown ZnSe/ZnS shells significantly enhance the PL efficiency and photochemical stability of wurtzite-phase InP QDs.
The developed cadmium-free CSS QDs exhibit high-performance, size-tunable bright NIR emission.
These QDs show strong potential for next-generation optoelectronics and bioimaging technologies.