Synthesis kinetics of CdSe quantum dots in trioctylphosphine oxide and in stearic acid

A diffusion-barrier model described the early evolution of size-dependent photoluminescence emission from CdSe quantum dots formed by organometallic synthesis. Emission peak widths, emission redshift rates, and nanocrystal growth rates all decreased to a minimum at a reaction completion time. Growth after the completion time by Ostwald ripening was marked by a doubling of the activation energy. The temperature dependence of both reaction completion rates and photoluminescence redshift rates followed Arrhenius behavior governed by activation energies that increased with solvent molecular weight, in this limited case. In stearic acid and in trioctylphosphine oxide, the typical activation energies were 0.6 +/- 0.1 and 0.92 +/- 0.26 eV/molecule, respectively. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.