Metal sulfide precursor aqueous solutions for fabrication of Ag-doped ZnxCd1−xS quantum dots thin films

Aqueous solution deposition of metal chalcogenide semiconductor thin films is considered a green and low-cost approach. So it is hard to find a general aqueous solution approach to deposit various kinds of high-quality metal sulfide quantum dots thin films . Here, we describe a green and robust aqueous solution approach, and five types of metal sulfide precursor solutions (Cu(CH 3 COO) 2 , AgNO 3 , Zn(CH 3 COO) 2 , Cd(CH 3 COO) 2 ·2H 2 O, Ni(CH 3 COO) 2 ·4H 2 O) can be prepared at room temperature under air atmosphere. By this green route, luminescent Ag-doped Zn x Cd 1− x S semiconductor films have been successfully synthesized via a facile and green method in the open air at 260   °C using precursors. NH 3 ·H 2 O (28–30%) were used as solvent, and 3-mercaptopropionic acid was used as the capping agents. As-prepared quantum dot thin films exhibit a tunable emission covering the whole visible light region. The absolute photoluminescence quantum yields can reach as high as 24.6%, which have a high potential application in luminescent, transparent, and conductive thin films.