Iron antimonate quantum dots exhibiting tunable visible light emission

Abstract

In this paper, we report for the first time tunable visible light emission from FeSbO₄ quantum dots prepared by combustion synthesis, a property hitherto unknown for this oxide. The auto-combustion process results in the formation of quantum dots of rutile FeSbO₄ of 3–6 nm in size exhibiting tunable visible blue light emission in the 350 to 550 nm wavelength range with quantum yields of 2.74 and 2.03, respectively, in solid form. These fluorescent quantum dots could form a new series of semiconducting quantum dots for various biosensing, imaging and photovoltaic applications.