Formation of high-quality CdS and other II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals in noncoordinating solvents: Tunable reactivity of monomers

Controllable reactivity of Cd precursors in the growth of CdS nanocrystals was achieved by varying the concentration of stabilizing ligand with a noncoordinating solvent. Such tunable reactivity is critical for developing the synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals to the level of that of CdSe nanocrystals. The high quality of the CdS nano-crystals is indicated by the sharpness of the UV/Vis and photoluminescence spectra (see diagram, A = absorbance, IPL = photoluminescence intensity).