A highly reactive chalcogenide precursor for the synthesis of metal chalcogenide quantum dots

Metal chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are ideal inorganic materials for solar cells and biomedical labeling. In consideration of the hazard and instability of alkylphosphines, the phosphine-free synthetic route has become one of the most important trends in synthesizing selenide QDs. Here we report a novel phase transfer strategy to prepare phosphine-free chalcogenide precursors. The anions in aqueous solution were transferred to toluene via electrostatic interactions between the anions and didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB). The obtained chalcogenide precursors show high reactivity with metal ions in the organic phase and could be applied to the low-temperature synthesis of various metal chalcogenide NCs based on a simple reaction between metal ions (e.g. Ag+, Pb2+, Cd2+) and chalcogenide anions (e.g. S2-) in toluene. In addition to chalcogenide anions, other anions such as BH4- ions and AuCl4- ions can also be transferred to the organic phase for synthesizing noble metal NCs (such as Ag and Au NCs).