A reverse micelle microemulsion assisted hydrothermal approach has been developed for synthesizing Fe2+ doped ZnSe nanocrystals (NCs). The synthetic procedure contains two steps, a chemical reaction between Zn2+/Fe2+ and Se using a reducing agent in a Triton X-100 surfactant contained microemulsion, and a hydrothermal treatment. The ZnSe NCs have a decent crystallinity and the Fe2+ ions are effectively incorporated into the ZnSe matrix as indicated by the compositional mappings from scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). As shown by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), the as-synthesized nanocrystals have a cubic zinc blende ZnSe structure with high purity and homogeneity. The sizes of the as-synthesized ZnSe:Fe NCs can be well controlled by changing temperature in the hydrothermal procedure. The size of the ZnSe NCs can be controlled over a wide range from 3.6 nm at 90 oC to 10.4 nm at 140 oC, respectivley. The correlation of NC size versus temperature is nearly linear, which can be used to predict and tune NC sizes. Controlling size of the ZnSe:Fe nanocrystals is important for developing new sensor materials and mid-infrared laser media in the infrared region based on tunable optical properties of the nanomaterials.

Fe2+ doped ZnSe nanocrystals: Synthesis and size control via variation of temperature in a microemulsion assisted hydrothermal system

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.