Size quantization in Cu2Se nanocrystals

•Size quantization in copper selenide nanocrystals depicted through colour.•Narrow quantization window.•Very small sizes of the nanoparticles.

Herein we report on the synthesis of size quantized copper selenide nanocrystals via the colloidal method. Different colours of the sample were obtained at different time intervals indicative of the sizes of the nanocrystals. The absorption band edges were blue-shifted from bulk indicative of quantum confinement. This was corroborated by the TEM results that showed very small particles ranging from 2 nm to 7 nm. This work therefore shows a phenomenon readily observed in cadmium chalcogenide nanocrystals but has never been reported for copper based chalcogenides.