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Research Article

Formation of ZnSe magic-size clusters displaying optical absorption doublets from prenucleation clusters

Dingyu Zhao1Shasha Wang2Jiawei Xue2Chunchun Zhang3Shanling Wang3Xiaoqin Chen2Chaoran Luan4()Kui Yu1,2()
Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Engineering Research Center in Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Analytical & Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
College of Biomedical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
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Magic-size clusters (MSCs) develop from their precursor compounds (PCs). dMSC-345 forms in a reaction of Zn and Se precursors via steps 1/2/3. Alcohol promotes step 4, and dMSC-320 (via steps 4/5) and dMSC-345 (via steps 4/6/3) are seen at relatively early and later stage when PC-299 is heated.

Abstract

The formation pathway of colloidal semiconductor ZnSe magic-size clusters (MSCs) in a reaction that display an optical absorption doublet remains poorly understood. The reaction of Zn(OAc)2/OLA (made from zinc acetate and oleylamine) and tri-n-octylphosphine selenide (SeTOP) in OLA in the presence of diphenylphosphine (HPPh2) is studied, in which dMSC-345 displays a doublet peaking at 328/345 nm. We suggest that the development is from the clusters that form in the initial prenucleation stage of the reaction. The clusters are the precursor compound (PC-299) of MSC-299 (displaying an absorption singlet peaking at 299 nm). PC-299 transforms to PC-345 at a later stage. The presence of alcohol (such as methanol or ethylene glycol) promotes another pathway, which is the PC-299 to PC-320 transformation. PC-320 transforms to dMSC-320 (with a doublet at 305/320 nm), followed by dMSC-345 via PC-345. The present study provides additional evidence that clusters (PC-299) form and transform (such as to dMSC-345 via PC-345) in the prenucleation stage of ZnSe quantum dots (QDs).

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Nano Research
Pages 6741-6748
Cite this article:
Zhao D, Wang S, Xue J, et al. Formation of ZnSe magic-size clusters displaying optical absorption doublets from prenucleation clusters. Nano Research, 2024, 17(7): 6741-6748. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6627-0
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