Quantification of the morphological transition in cadmium selenide nanocrystals as a function of reaction temperature

Abstract

Controlling the morphology of semiconductor nanocrystals has typically relied on controlling the concentration and species of surface ligands utilized in synthesis. Specific shapes, such as branched structures are of particular interest as the light harvesting and charge separating layer in a photovoltaic device. In this work we quantify how changes in the reaction temperature affect the resulting morphology of the nanocrystals. The narrowness of the temperature range over which the morphological transition occurred provides guidance to the tolerances necessary in the synthesis of CdSe utilized in commercial devices on a large scale.

Keywords

CdSe / nanocrystals / morphology control / synthesis / electron microscopy

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Lander Foundation for providing funding for this project.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg