A Systematic Study of Electrophoretic Deposition of CdSe Quantum Dots

Electrophoresis is defined as the motion of (charged) colloidal particles or polyelectrolytes through a liquid under the influence of an electric field (E).¹ In electrophoretic deposition (EPD), the electrophoresis phenomenon is used to deposit charged particles from a suspension using an external electric field. The main advantage being the ease of deposition on conductive substrates of different shape, size, composition etc. Traditionally, this technique was used for deposition of ceramics in water² and polar organic solvents such as acetone or alcohols.³ Recently, it was expanded to different composite materials including nanostructures. For nanotechnology, it is promising since it allows manipulating different types of nanocrystals into large-scale final products.

In the presented work, we exploit the effects of temperature and addition of polar solvents to a stable organic-phase colloidal CdSe quantum dots model system. Essential parameters such as temperature, size, and dispersant composition (polar to non-polar solvents ratio) are studied and discussed. Finally, the generality of this approach is backed by other nanoparticle systems.

References

1 A. V. Delgado, F. González-Caballero, R. J. Hunter, L. K. Koopal and J. Lyklema, Pure Appl. Chem., 2005, 77, 1753–1805.

2 B. Ferrari and R. Moreno, Mater. Lett., 1996, 28, 353–355.

3 H. C. Hamaker, Trans. Faraday Soc., 1940, 35, 279.