Electronic structures of CdSe nanocrystals — An X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) investigation

CdSe nanocrystals (NCs), capped with trioctylphosphine oxide and 1-octadecanamine, have been synthesized with colloidal methods. Both UV–vis absorption and photoluminescence spectra show that the prepared nanostructures exhibit a quantum confinement effect. X-ray absorption near–edge structure (XANES) at Se K-edge recorded in fluorescence yield mode have been carried out on these NCs, with different size and capping ligands to gain insight into how their electronic structures are affected by the NC size and chemical properties of the ligands. The results indicate that XANES are sensitive to both the NC size and the nature of the capping ligands. The whiteline intensity in XANES spectra can be related to the photoluminescence properties of these NCs.