Formation of Quantum Dots by Aerosol Reactor

Nanometer sized semiconductors, or quantum dots (QDs) are sought after for their size-dependent photoluminescent properties. The synthesis of QDs in the past has been by the hot solvent injection approach. An alternative to hot solvent injection is aerosol route formation, which has the potential to be a continuous and large scale QD production method. This study focused on; (a) the aerosol route formation of QDs, and (b) examination of the effects of the ratio between the cadmium (Cd) and selenium (Se) precursors. The first part of the study was primarily to create QDs of various sizes with emission wavelengths ranging from blue (465 nm) to red (608 nm) using an aerosol-based synthesis. The second part of the study explored the effects of the molar ratio of cadmium acetate to Se on particle growing rate and the photoluminescent properties. Various molar ratios were tested, 1:5, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, and 5:1, of cadmium acetate to selenium.