Preparation of CdTe nanocrystals and CdTe/SiO2 nanocomposites in glycol

CdTe nanocrystals were prepared in glycol using the reaction between Cd2+ and NaHTe in the presence of thioglycolic acid (TGA) as the stabilizing agents. And CdTe/SiO2 nanocomposites were fabricated in situ. The structure of CdTe/SiO2 nanocomposites was discrete CdTe nanocrystals embedded in a cross-linked silica matrix with the size of ca. 28 nm. This kind of nanocomposites was water-soluble and exhibited stronger stability than the pure CdTe nanocrystals, which could be applied in biological labeling and other fields.