Wet chemical synthesis of highly luminescent HgTe/CdS core/shell nanocrystals

The growth of HgTe/CdS core/shell nanocrystals in aqueous solution at room temperature was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The composite material does not show a significant increase in photoluminescence quantum yield, but this may not be too surprising because the already high quantum efficiency of the bare particles indicates that the surface is already well passivated. The fact that the solutions can undergo prolonged refluxing shows that the thick CdS layer on the surface makes the HgTe dots more robust and able to withstand considerably higher temperatures without significantly altering the optical properties.