Aluminum Quantum Dots with Surface Controlled Blue-UV Photoluminescence

Aluminum quantum dots (AlQDs) are an emerging class of optical material due to their unique photoluminescence in the ultraviolet waveband. Herein, a strategy is presented to control their photoluminescence emission. The synthesized AlQDs displayed photoluminescence from the UV-B region (<320 nm) to the near-ultraviolet region (similar to 425 nm) and high quantum yields. Our investigation revealed that surfactants and phosphonic acids (PAs) were competitively bound to the surface of AlQDs, and this was affected by the space volume of surfactants and charge of head groups. The steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic data suggested the emission properties of AlQDs mainly originated from the surface-mediated states. The red-shifting of emission peak was a result of increased amount of PAs on the surface of AlQDs, which could be related to the surface oxygen presented in both ligands and surfactants. Overall, this study indicates a method to control the photoluminescence of AlQDs by changing the surfactants and surface ligands, which is fundamental to their applications in photonics and applications to energy and environment, in addition to biomedicine.