Synthesis and photo-darkening/photo-brightening of blue emitting doped semiconductor nanocrystals

By programming the synthetic reaction chemistry, stable blue emitting Cu(I) or Ag(I) doped Al(III) co-doped ZnS (Al,Cu:ZnS or Al,Ag:ZnS) semiconductor nanocrystals are designed. Further, the photostability of the obtained intense blue-violet emission is studied, and the effects of doping/co-doping are correlated. Finally, it is revealed that the strong binding surface ligand 1-dodecanethiol and Al(III) co-doping play pivotal roles in achieving such stable blue emitting doped nanocrystals.