Direct Aqueous Synthesis of Band-Edge-Emitting Cadmium-Free ZnTe Quantum Dots

In this study, we investigated the direct aqueous synthesis of water-soluble ZnTe quantum dots (QDs). To suppress oxidation of the Te precursor, dissolved oxygen was removed from the precursor solution by nitrogen bubbling in a glove box. The hydrothermally synthesized ZnTe QDs exhibited band-edge photoluminescence (PL) with a maximum PL quantum yield of 9.3%. Furthermore, the PL energy was tunable through control of the heating temperature and reaction time. The optimized ZnTe QDs exhibited good crystallinity and a narrow size distribution. These results demonstrate an effective approach for the direct aqueous synthesis of cadmium-free ZnTe QDs and provide useful insights for the development of environmentally friendly luminescent materials.