Conversion Reactions of Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanocrystal Precursors

We survey the chemical reactions between common precursors used in the synthesis of metal chalcogenide nanocrystals and outline how they affect the mechanism and kinetics of nanocrystal growth. We emphasize syntheses of cadmium selenide and cadmium sulfide where a variety of metal and chalcogenide precursors have been explored, though this is supplemented by studies of zinc and lead chalcogenide formation where appropriate. This review is organized into three sections, highlighting kinetics, metal precursors, and chalcogenide precursors, respectively. Section I is dedicated to the role of precursor conversion as a source of monomers and the importance of the supply rate on nanocrystal nucleation and growth. Section II describes the structure and reactivity of cadmium carboxylates, phosphonates, and chalcogenolates. Section III describes the reaction chemistry of commonly employed chalcogenide precursors and the mechanisms by which they react with metal precursors.