Optical characterization of CdSe quantum dots with metal chalcogenide ligands in solutions and solids

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The exchange of the original organic ligands of colloidal CdSe core and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/multishell quantum dots (QDs) with inorganic metal chalcogenide ligands (SnS44−) resulted in carrier delocalization in solutions and enhanced inter-QD electronic coupling in solids, as inferred from peak redshift and broadening of the absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The SnS4-capped QDs retained strong excitonic absorption but suffered significant PL quenching. Mild thermal treatment below 350 °C transformed the SnS4 ligands into a more conductive phase, leading to stronger coupling yet complete PL quenching. These findings suggest that QD solids with metal chalcogenide ligands may have high quantum yields of photocurrent generation and can be used as functional blocks in thin-film solar cells for efficient solar energy conversion.