Solvent-induced luminescence charge carrier dynamics for ZnO quantum dots

•Luminescent ZnO QDs synthesized with three different solvents.•Steady state and time resolved photoluminescence study presented.•Solvent induced average life time and quantum yield discussed.•Luminescence decay processes discussed to understand emission mechanism. A steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) study was performed herein to understand the change in carrier dynamics responsible for the luminescence process in zinc oxide quantum dots synthesised using three solvents. To this end, steady-state luminescence data were analysed through a deconvolution process, and a tri-exponential decay fit was used to investigate the TRPL curves to determine the contributions of different luminescence bands and charge carrier dynamics involved in the relaxation process. The average carrier lifetime derived from the TRPL was also analysed using the observed decay components to understand the role of different mid-bandgap transitions. Finally the role of solvent-induced decay processes under different surface recombinations was also discussed to optimise the luminescence quantum yield.