Abstract
Highly photoluminescent glass beads incorporating CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) were prepared via a two-step preparation procedure: (Step 1) formation of thin SiO2 layer on the CdTe NCs; (Step 2) encapsulation of the SiO2-coated CdTe NCs into glass beads by a reverse micelle method. The size of the glass beads can be controlled from 30 nanometers to 2 micrometers by changing the injection speed of the SiO2-coated CdTe NCs solution in Step 2. A red-emitting bead with 30 nm in diameter encapsulated roughly 14 NCs with retaining their initial PL efficiency (65%) in colloidal solution. Possible reasons for the retention of high PL efficiency during incorporation are proper pH control, protection of the NC surface in Step 1, and short reaction time.
