Facile Size-controllable Aqueous Synthesis of Water Soluble CdTe/Cd(OH)2 Core/Shell Nanoparticles with Tunable Optical Property, High Quantum Yield and Good Stability

A facile procedure was developed to prepare size-tunable and water soluble CdTe/Cd(OH)(2) core/shell nanoparticles with high quantum yields and good stability using inexpensive inorganic precursors (CdCl2 and elemental Te). The emission colors of the prepared CdTe/Cd(OH)(2) core/shell nanoparticles can be readily tuned from cyan to salmon pink by varying incubation time to control the growth of the Cd(OH)(2) shell onto the CdTe nanoparticles. The CdTe/Cd(OH)(2) core/shell nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction spectrometry, photoluminescence and UV-Vis spectrometry. The good water-soluble nature of the CdTe/Cd(OH)(2) core/shell nanoparticles offers great potentiality for their bio-labeling application. This approach is simple, mild and readily scaled up, affording a simple way for synthesis of size-tunable inorganic metal hydroxide capped core/shell nanoparticles.