Preparation and Characterization of Monodisperse PbSe Semiconductor Nanocrystals in a Noncoordinating Solvent

Spherical PbSe semiconductor nanocrystals with nearinfrared absorption of 1100-2520 nm (corresponding to diameters of 3-13 nm) were synthesized in a noncoordinating solvent (1-octadecene). The asprepared PbSe semiconductor nanocrystals have very narrow size distributions ((delta)=5-7%) without any postsynthetic size selection. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction show that the nanocrystalline particles are single domains of rocksalt PbSe. A water-soluble form of these materials was generated through simple surface treatments