Preparation and characterization of CdS and PbS quantum dots in zeolite Y and their applications for nonlinear optical materials and solar cell

Zeolites have been utilized as hosts for ultra-small (<1 nm) ligand-free quantum dots (QDs) of uniform size. The nanocages of the zeolite have acted as nanomolds or nanotemplates for the generation of these QDs, organizing them into regular arrays, and stabilizing them for extended periods of time. This review summarizes the preparation and characterization of CdS and PbS QDs in zeolite Y, their properties and applications in the fields of 3rd-order nonlinear optical (3NLO) materials and QD array-based solar cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.