Mechanistic insights into the formation of InP quantum dots.

This paper examines the molecular mechanism of InP colloidal quantum dot (QD) syntheses. Unlike methods for monodisperse PbSe and CdSe we found that existing InP syntheses result in total depletion of molecular phosphorous species following nucleation, so QD growth is due exclusively to non-molecular ripening. We find that amines inhibit precursor depletion via solvation, and these findings may lead to better synthetic methodology for InP QDs.