In this study, the surface passivation process for InP-based quantum dots (QDs) is investigated. Surface coating is performed with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and thioglycolic acid. The quantum yield (QY) of a PMMA-coated sample slightly increases by approximately 1.3% relative to that of the as-synthesized InP/ZnS QDs. The QYs of the uncoated and PMMA-coated samples drastically decrease after 16 days because of the high defect state density of the InP-based QDs. PMMA does not have a significant effect on the defect passivation. Thioglycolic acid is investigated in this study for the effective surface passivation of InP-based QDs. Surface passivation with thioglycolic acid is more effective than that with the PMMA coating, and the QY increases from 1.7% to 11.3%. ZnS formed on the surface of the InP QDs and S in thioglycolic acid show strong bonding property. Additionally, the QY is further increased up to 21.0% by the photochemical reaction. Electron–hole pairs are formed by light irradiation and lead to strong bonding between the inorganic and thioglycolic acid sulfur. The surface of the InP core QDs, which does not emit light, is passivated by the irradiated light and emits green light after the photochemical reaction.

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• Poly(methylmethacrylate) coating on quantum dot surfaces via photo-chemical reaction for defect passivation
  Doyeon Kim, So-Yeong Joo, Chan Gi Lee, Bum-Sung Kim, Woo-Byoung Kim
  Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry.2019; 376: 206.     CrossRef

In this study, we investigate the optical properties of InP/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) by controlling the synthesis temperature of InP. The size of InP determined by the empirical formula tends to increase with temperature: the size of InP synthesized at 140oC and 220oC is 2.46 nm and 4.52 nm, respectively. However, the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of InP is not observed because of the formation of defects on the InP surface. The growth of InP is observed during the deposition of the shell (ZnS) on the synthesized InP, which is ended up with green-red PL spectrum. We can adjust the PL spectrum and absorption spectrum of InP/ZnS by simply adjusting the core temperature. Thus, we conclude that there exists an optimum shell thickness for the QDs according to the size.

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• Study on Surface-defect Passivation of InP System Quantum Dots by Photochemical Method
  Doyeon Kim, Hyun-Su Park, Hye Mi Cho, Bum-Sung Kim, Woo-Byoung Kim
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2017; 24(6): 489.     CrossRef

This study investigates the main growth mechanism of InP during InP/ZnS reaction of quantum dots (QDs). The size of the InP core, considering a synthesis time of 1-30 min, increased from the initial 2.56 nm to 3.97 nm. As a result of applying the proposed particle growth model, the migration mechanism, with time index 7, was found to be the main reaction. In addition, after the removal of unreacted In and P precursors from bath, further InP growth (of up to 4.19 nm (5%)), was observed when ZnS was added. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the synthesized InP/ZnS quantum dots was found to be relatively uniform, measuring about 59 nm. However, kinetic growth mechanism provides limited information for InP / ZnS core shell QDs, because the surface state of InP changes with reaction time. Further study is necessary, in order to clearly determine the kinetic growth mechanism of InP / ZnS core shell QDs.

In this study, simple chemical synthesis of green emitting Cd-free InP/ZnS QDs is accomplished by reacting In, P, Zn, and S precursors by one-pot process. The particle size and the optical properties were tailored, by controlling various experimental conditions, including [In]/[MA] (MA: myristic acid) mole ratio, reaction temperature and reaction time. The results of ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and of photoluminescence (PL), reveal that the exciton emission of InP was improved by surface coating, with a layer of ZnS. We report the correlation between each experimental condition and the luminescent properties of InP/ZnS core/shell QDs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to characterize the as-synthesized QDs. In contrast to core nanoparticles, InP/ZnS core/shell treated with surface coating shows a clear ultraviolet peak. Besides this work, we need to study what clearly determines the shell kinetic growth mechanism of InP/ZnS core shell QDs.

We report a synthesis of non-toxic InP nanocrystals using non-pyrolytic precursors instead of pyrolytic and unstable tris(trimethylsilyl)phosphine, a popular precursor for synthesis of InP nanocrystals. In this study, InP nanocrystals are successfully synthesized using hexaethyl phosphorous triamide (HPT) and the synthesized InP nanocrystals showed a broad and weak photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. As synthesized InP nanocrystals are subjected to further surface modification process to enhance their stability and photoluminescence. Surface modification of InP nanocrystals is done at 230°C using 1-dodecanethiol, zinc acetate and fatty acid as sources of ZnS shell. After surface modification, the synthesized InP/ZnS nanocrystals show intense PL spectra centered at the emission wavelength 612 nm through 633 nm. The synthesized InP/ZnS core/shell structure is confirmed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). After surface modification, InP/ZnS nanocrystals having narrow particle size distribution are observed by Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscope (FE-TEM). In contrast to uncapped InP nanocrystals, InP/ZnS nanocrystals treated with a newly developed surface modified procedure show highly enhanced PL spectra with quantum yield of 47%.

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• Synthesis and Properties of InP/ZnS core/shell Nanoparticles with One-pot process
  So Yeong Joo, Myung Hwan Hong, Leeseung Kang, Tae Hyung Kim, Chan Gi Lee
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2017; 24(1): 11.     CrossRef