Enhanced Ripening Behaviour of Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots (CdSe QDs)

In this research, cadmium selenide quantum dots (CdSe QDs) are synthesized successfully in the absence of trioctylphosphine (TOP) for 46 minutes and characterized by TEM and XRD analysis. The TEM image reveals that the CdSe QDs are spherical, compact with a dense stucture. The ripening behaviour of CdSe QDs is monitored using the red-shift characteristic in the UV-visible absorption peaks, and their size variations are estimated by the quantum confinement theory. The coarsening effect of CdSe QDs can be observed clearly from LSW plots due to the increase in ripening time and ripening temperature. The ripening coefficient is obtained to be 6.84 (10(-3)) nm(3)/min. The Arrhenius plot provides the activation energy value of the ripened samples, which are very low compared to the sample prior ripening, and is attributed to the domination of volume diffusion through the liquid phase.