Publication
Title
Luminescent colloidal InSb quantum dots from in situ generated single-source precursor
Author
Abstract
Despite recent advances, the synthesis of colloidal InSb quantum dots (QDs) remains underdeveloped, mostly due to the lack of suitable precursors. In this work, we use Lewis acid–base interactions between Sb(III) and In(III) species formed at room temperature in situ from commercially available compounds (viz., InCl3, Sb[NMe2]3 and a primary alkylamine) to obtain InSb adduct complexes. These complexes are successfully used as precursors for the synthesis of colloidal InSb QDs ranging from 2.8 to 18.2 nm in diameter by fast coreduction at sufficiently high temperatures (≥230 °C). Our findings allow us to propose a formation mechanism for the QDs synthesized in our work, which is based on a nonclassical nucleation event, followed by aggregative growth. This yields ensembles with multimodal size distributions, which can be fractionated in subensembles with relatively narrow polydispersity by postsynthetic size fractionation. InSb QDs with diameters below 7.0 nm have the zinc blende crystal structure, while ensembles of larger QDs (≥10 nm) consist of a mixture of wurtzite and zinc blende QDs. The QDs exhibit photoluminescence with small Stokes shifts and short radiative lifetimes, implying that the emission is due to band-edge recombination and that the direct nature of the bandgap of bulk InSb is preserved in InSb QDs. Finally, we constructed a sizing curve correlating the peak position of the lowest energy absorption transition with the QD diameters, which shows that the band gap of colloidal InSb QDs increases with size reduction following a 1/d dependence.
Language
English
Source (journal)
ACS nano. - -
Publication
2020
ISSN
1936-0851
DOI
10.1021/ACSNANO.0C04744
Volume/pages
14 :10 (2020) , p. 13146-13160
ISI
000586793400068
Pubmed ID
32915541
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Correlating the 3D atomic structure of metal anisotropic nanoparticles with their optical properties (SOPMEN).
3D Structure of nanomaterials under realistic conditions (REALNANO).
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 07.12.2020
Last edited 12.12.2024
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