Charge and Heat Transfer Mechanism in Directly Coupled CdSe–Metal Nanohybrids

The charge and heat energy transfer dynamics of directly coupled mixtures of CdSe quantum dots with metal nanoparticles have been studied using thermal lens and photoluminescence (PL) techniques, respectively. The PL of such nanohybrids is found to be quenched dramatically at a particular threshold. Fluorescence decay curves of the Au–CdSe nanohybrids and Ag–CdSe nanohybrids show distinct decay channels with the fastest one associated with transfer of electrons from the CdSe portion to the metal portion. A study on the influence of this charge transfer on the thermal diffusivity with respect to the emission wavelength of quantum dots has been carried out, which could lead to the design of modern photocatalysts and solar cells constructed from nanoscale metal–semiconductor hybrids.