Aqueous synthesis of 79% efficient AgInGaS/ZnS quantum dots for extremely high color rendering white light-emitting diodes

Over the past few decades, I-III-VI quantum dots (QDs) have attracted considerable attention due to their large Stokes shifts, good eco-friendliness, and wide tunable emissions. In this work, a facile microwave-assisted aqueous route using glutathione (GSH) and citric acid (CA) as dual stabilizers is introduced to synthesize AgInGaS/ZnS (AIGS/ZnS) core/shell QDs. An exceptional photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) as high as 79% is successfully achieved, boosting the best performance of water-dispersible AIGS QDs. By varying the Ag/Ga ratio, the PL peak wavelength can be tuned from 547 to 616 nm, and luminescent hydrogel films with different colors are obtained by embedding AIGS/ZnS QDs in polyacrylamide/poly-vinyl alcohol (PAAm/PVA) hydrogels. The white light-emitting diode (WLED) with a high color rendering index (CRI) of 92.1 (R9=92.0) and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 3022 K is fabricated using QDs-PAAm/PVA hydrogel films in combination with a blue InGaN LED chip, indicating that the as-prepared QDs are competitive color-conversion materials for WLEDs.