Photoinduced charge carrier dynamics in a ZnSe quantum dot-attached CdTe system

Abstract

A new nanohybrid material is prepared by attaching CdTe nanoneedles (NNs) to surface-modified ZnSe quantum dots (QDs). The NNs and QDs are prepared by a colloidal synthesis method in an aqueous alkaline medium. The surface modification and the attachment of nanostructures are achieved by a bifunctional ligand 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA). The band gap of the ZnSe QDs is varied by controlling the size of the QDs in order to get the maximum overlap between the absorption band of the CdTe NNs and the emission band of the ZnSe QDs, which is a prerequisite for effective charge/energy transfer. The possibility of photoinduced charge transfer (PCT) and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the donor (QDs) to the acceptor (NNs) has been assessed. Very fast (less than 800 ps) PCT and FRET from QDs to NNs occur because the emission band of QDs overlaps with the absorption band of NNs. The calculated large value of the overlapping integral, J ( λ ) ∼4.5 × 10 19  M −1  cm −1  nm 4 , of the donor and the acceptor bands proves the feasibility of energy transfer. These findings suggest that the ZnSe QDs can exchange photoinduced energy with the CdTe NNs effectively over a wide distance in a CdTe–ZnSe nanohybrid.