Synthesis and structure design of I-III-VI quantum dots for white light-emitting diodes

Quantum-dot-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been considered as promising alternatives to traditional light sources due to their photo- and thermal-stability, emission wavelength tunability, and so forth. For the past few decades, I-III-VI quantum dots (QDs) have attracted considerable attention. Compared with binary II-VI or III-V QDs, I-III-VI QDs possess large Stokes shifts, good eco-friendliness and wide tunable emissions covering the visible to the near-infrared region, making them ideal lighting materials. This review summarizes the current research progress of I-III-VI QDs, focusing on the synthesis strategies and structural design. The applications in photoluminescent and electroluminescent white LEDs and improvements in device performances are also reviewed, followed by a discussion on the existing challenges, and the prospect is proposed.