Metal chalcogenide nanocrystal synthesis reactions rely heavily on control over precursor conversion kinetics, but a dearth of suitable precursors has hampered progress toward viable solid-state lighting, biological imaging, and photovoltaic technologies. In this talk, I will describe a library of substituted thiourea and selenourea precursors that are prepared in one step and whose precursor conversion kinetics are determined by the nature of the substituents. Using this library, we observe well-defined relationships between precursor conversion rate and nanocrystal concentration, enabling the synthesis of desired sizes in quantitative yields. We further apply this concept to mixtures of sulfur and selenium precursors to achieve kinetically controlled CdSe/CdS graded alloy nanocrystals with desirable luminescence properties.

Tunable library of substituted thiourea and selenourea precursors to metal chalcogenide nanocrystals

251st National Meeting (2016)

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