Quantitative Analysis of the Photodegradation of Emitting CdTe Nanocrystals Dispersed in Glass Films

Photo-degradation study of CdTe nanocrystals by fluorescence measurement

The photo-degradation of green-, yellow-, orange- and red-emitting CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) in sol-gel SiO(2) films was investigated quantitatively by measuring the PL efficiency as a function of the irradiation intensity. The degradation behaviors of the NCs depended strongly on the particle size and the surface state. Green- and yellow-emitting CdTe NCs exhibited a red-shifted PL peak wavelength and decreased PL efficiency after irradiation. In contrast, the PL peak wavelength of red-emitting CdTe NCs remained unchange and their PL efficiency increased. Furthermore, the degraded degree of green-emitting NCs depended linearly on the irradiation intensity [Formula: see text], whereas hat of red-emitting NCs showed a quadratic dependence [Formula: see text] at room temperature. This is ascribed to the different surface state of green- and red-emitting CdTe NCs.

Encapsulation of emitting CdTe QDs within silica beads to retain initial photoluminescence efficiency

Highly luminescent silica beads (30 nm-2 mum slashed circle) incorporating CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were prepared via a two-step preparation procedure, namely a modified Stöber synthesis and a subsequent reverse micelle route. In the modified Stöber synthesis, the silica molecules are deposited on the surface of the QDs. After this first step, these coated QDs were incorporated into silica beads via a reverse micelle route. Inductively coupled plasma analysis revealed a red-emitting silica bead of 30 nm in diameter thus prepared encapsulated roughly 14 CdTe QDs. These glass beads (30-40 nm slashed circle) retained the initial photoluminescence (PL) efficiencies of the colloidal QDs (27 and 65% for the green- and red-emitting beads, respectively). The protection of QDs by a silica layer at the first step, together with the short total reaction time, is the main reason for the retention of the PL efficiency. The size of the glass beads can be easily controlled over the wide range by adjusting the injection speed and the ratio of chemicals used for the reverse micelle preparation. Since the original efficiency was maintained in the beads and is the highest ever reported for QD-containing silica beads, the method presented here is of significant importance for applications of silica beads to biological probes.