Thiol-capping of CdTe nanocrystals:: An alternative to organometallic synthetic routes

New approaches to synthesize photostable thiol-capped CdTe nanocrystals are reported. Post-preparative size-selective precipitation and selective photochemical etching have been developed as methods providing an increase of photoluminescence quantum efficiency of the nanocrystals of up to 40%. Some advantages of thiol-capping in comparison to conventional organometallic syntheses of quantum dots are discussed.