Microwave-assisted synthesis of CdTe quantum dots using 3-mercaptopropionic acid as both a reducing agent and a stabilizer

In this paper, a facile synthetic approach to prepare CdTe quantum dots(QDs) with high luminescence via a one-pot microwave irradiation reaction route using 3-mercaptopropionic acid(MPA) as both a sodium tellurite reducer and a capping molecule was described, and the mechanism of the formation of CdTe QDs was elucidated. In this approach, CdTe QDs with six different emission wavelengths of 553, 567, 577, 595, 608 and 615 nm were obtained via changing the refluxing time and the quantum yields(QY) of these QDs were 40.6%, 55.3%, 63.6%, 43.4%, 37.4% and 29.7%, respectively. The characterization results of X-ray powder diffraction(XRD) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) indicate that the obtained QDs have a pure cubic zinc blended structure with a spherical shape. No toxic gases were released during the preparation process, indicating that the method is relatively fast, cheap and environmentally friendly.