Key Roles of Solution pH and Ligands in the Synthesis of Aqueous ZnTe Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this work, we reported original synthesis of ZnTe nanoparticles in aqueous solution. The solution pH is believed to be a major factor governing the synthesis of thioglycolic acid (TGA)capped ZnTe nanoparticles. In the pH range of 5.9-7.1 and the pH range over 10.0, TGA-capped ZnTe nanoparticles can be successfully prepared. In the pH range of 7.1-10.0, TGA-capped ZnTe nanoparticles rapidly precipitate from the solution, which is caused by the formation of Zn(OH) 2 precipitates and the strong adsorption incapacity of Zn(OH) 2 with TGA-capped ZnTe nanoparticles. When 1-thiolglycerol (TG) is selected as the ligand, ZnTe nanoparticles show good stability in the pH range of 7.1-10.0 due to the weak adsorption capacity of Zn(OH) 2 with TG-capped ZnTe nanoparticles. As a result, ZnTe nanoparticles can be prepared in a wide pH range using TGA and TG as the ligands.

Aqueous synthesis of high-fluorescence ZnTe quantum dots

“…Moreover, reaction condition is very harsh, especially solution pH. We obtained the ZnTe QDs solution with colorless and transparent, which is different from the report [24]. The reason may due to the influence of solution pH.…”

“…Various synthetic methodologies including mechanical alloying [20], the organic phase [21][22][23], and aqueous phase [24], have been tried to prepare ZnTe nanocrystals. However, ZnTe nanoparticles were synthesized by these methods exhibit poor optical qualities.…”

“…Shuhong Xu. et al [24] investigated the effect of the pH and ligands on the synthesis of ZnTe QDs by aqueous methods in 2010. They obtained UV-Vis spectra of ZnTe QDs,but the fluorescence properties of ZnTe QDs had not been mentioned.…”

Aqueous Synthesis of Nontoxic Ag2Se/ZnSe Quantum Dots Designing as Fluorescence Sensors for Detection of Ag(I) and Cu(II) Ions

“…3-Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), 1-thiolglycerol (TG), and Se powder were purchased from Aldrich. NaHSe solution was prepared by using Se with NaBH 4 according to the reference methods [7][8][9].…”

“…There is no extra NaHSe to form ZnSe. Thus, Zn(OH) 2 precipitation can form outside Ag 2 Se under alkaline solution [13]. Therefore, the precipitation is yellowbrown from the color of Ag 2 Se.…”