Studies have shown that the addition of dithiocarbamate molecules to films of CdSe nanocrystals can increase the nanocrystal band gap and can increase film conductivity. These reports indicate that studying the interactions between dithiocarbamate derivatives and CdSe nanocrystals may help increase the efficiency of nanocrystal based electronic devices. Previous studies of these ligands have primarily examined the effects of ammonium dithiocarbamate molecules on nanocrystal films, because colloidal nanocrystals precipitate when ammonium dithiocarbamate molecules are added to nanocrystal solutions. To address this issue we have synthesized dithiocarbamate molecules using a bulkier cation (1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium (TMG+)) following synthetic methods from the literature. We report that when TMG+ dithiocarbamates are added to solutions of colloidal nanocrystals, that the nanocrystals remain soluble in chloroform and that we still observe red-shifting of the nanocrystal band gap for spherical nanocrystals. This allows us to investigate the interactions between dithiocarbamate ligands and colloidal CdSe nanocrystals in solution as well as in nanocrystal films. We investigate the effects of TMG+ 3,5-dimethylphenyldithiocarbamate on CdSe nanocrystals by characterizing nanocrystal solutions with absorbance, photoluminescence, and NMR spectroscopy and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry.

Investigating interactions between CdSe nanocrystals and dithiocarbamate ligands in solution

249th National Meeting (2015)

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