Metastable CdTe@HgTe Core@Shell Nanostructures Obtained by Partial Cation Exchange Evolve into Sintered CdTe Films Upon Annealing.

ABSTRACT: Partial Hg²⁺ → Cd²⁺ cation exchange (CE) reactions were exploited to transform colloidal CdTe nanocrystals (NCs, 4-6 nm in size) into CdTe@HgTe core@shell nanostructures. This was achieved by working under a slow CE rate, which limited the exchange to the surface of the CdTe NCs. In such nanostructures, when annealed at mild temperatures (as low as 200 °C), the HgTe shell sublimated or melted and the NCs sintered together, with the concomitant desorption of their surface ligands. At the end of this process, the annealed samples consisted of ligand-free CdTe sintered films containing an amount of Hg²⁺ that was much lower than that of the starting CdTe@HgTe NCs. For example, the CdTe@HgTe NCs that initially contained 10% of Hg²⁺, after being anneal

SUBMITTER: Rosina I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8016170 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature