The effect of ligand chain length on the optical properties of alloyed core-shell InPZnS/ZnS quantum dots

In this work, we demonstrate the effect of organic ligands on the optical properties of alloyed core-shell InPZnS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). We have systematically studied the synthesis and characterization of InPZnS/ZnS QDs using short and long chain length ligands i.e., butyric (C4), hexanoic (C6), octanoic (C8), dodecanoic (C12), myristic (C14), palmitic (C16) and stearic acids (C18), respectively. This study achieved more than 85% quantum yield with 43 nm full-width-half maximum value, using dodecanoic acid as the capping ligand. The properties of the QDs with short and long chain length ligands have been analyzed using UV-Vis absorption spectrophotometer, steady state and time resolved photoluminescence spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, Zeta sizer, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.