One-pot synthesis of ZnO-incorporated CsPbBr3 nanocrystals with near-unity PLQY for wide-gamut backlights

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are promising color converters for displays but are limited by defect-related inefficiency and instability. To address this, a one-pot synthesis is developed in which ZnO NCs and oleic acid first form stable zinc oleate complexes that anchor onto the surface of CsPbBr 3 NCs, thereby creating a stable organic-inorganic ligand shell, which suppresses degradation and Ostwald ripening during processing. Theoretical calculations confirm that the introduction of ZnO enhances the stability of NCs by raising the formation energy and suppressing defect generation. Consequently, photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) is boosted to 97%, representing a dramatic increase from the 32.4% value of pristine CsPbBr 3 NCs. Employing these high-performance NCs, a white light-emitting diode (WLED) was fabricated by integrating the composite film with a blue LED chip. More importantly, the NC-based composite films demonstrate robust stability under thermal, aqueous, and optical stresses, retaining > 70% of their initial PL intensity—significantly outperforming control samples (<30%). This WLED exhibits a wide color gamut, covering 129.8% of the NTSC standard and 96.9% of Rec. 2020. Subsequently, a WLED array backlight unit was fabricated and subsequently integrated into a prototype display. This work establishes the practical potential of ZnO-incorporated CsPbBr 3 NCs as efficient and stable color-conversion materials, thereby paving the way for advancing high-performance backlit display technology.