Joung et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:93 http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/93 Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Global Frontier R&D Program by the Center for Multiscale Energy Systems funded by the National Research Foundation under the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, the Industrial Core Technology Development Program funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (No. 10035274), and the Basic Research Fund from KIMM Author details 1Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon 305-343, Republic of Korea 2Department of Chemistry, Chungbuk National University, 52 Naesudong-ro, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk 361-763, Republic of Korea 3School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea Authors’ contributions The work presented here was carried out in collaboration among all authors. SMJ, SY, CSH, YK, and SJ defined the research theme. SMJ synthesized and characterized the indium phosphide NQDs and InP/ZnS. SY synthesized and characterized phosphorus precursors 1 to 3. SMJ and SY carried out the laboratory experiments and analyzed the data. YK, and SJ analyzed the data and discussed the analysis. YK, and SJ designed the experiments. YK and SJ wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Received: 22 September 2011 Accepted: 30 January 2012 Published: 30 January 2012 References 1. Heath JR, Shiang JJ: Covalency in semiconductor quantum dots. Chem Soc Rev 1998, 27:65-71. 2. Micic OI, Curtis CJ, Jones KM, Sprague JR, Nozik AJ: Synthesis and characterization of InP quantum dots. J Phys Chem 1994, 98:4966-4969. 3. Jun KW, Khanna PK, Hong KB, Baeg JO, Suh YD: Synthesis of InP nanocrystals from indium chloride and sodium phosphide by solution route. Mater Chem Phys 2006, 96:494-497. 4. Alivisatos AP: Perspectives on the physical chemistry of semiconductor nanocrystals. J Phys Chem 1996, 100:13226-13239. 5. Li L, Reiss P: One-pot synthesis of highly luminescent InP/ZnS nanocrystals without precursor injection. J Am Chem Soc 2008, 130:11588-11589. 6. Battaglia D, Peng X: Formation of high quality InP and InAs nanocrystals in a noncoordinating solvent. Nano Lett 2002, 2:1027-1030. 7. Yu WW, Peng X: Formation of high-quality CdS and other II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals in noncoordinating solvents: tunable reactivity of monomers. Angew Chem Int Ed 2002, 41:2368-2371. 8. Ryu E, Kim S, Jang E, Jun S, Jang H, Kim B, Kim SW: Step-wise synthesis of InP/ZnS core-shell quantum dots and the role of zinc acetate. Chem Mater 2009, 21:573-575. 9. Li L, Protiere M, Reiss P: Economic synthesis of high quality InP nanocrystals using calcium phosphide as the phosphorus precursor. Chem Mater 2008, 20:2621-2623. 10. Shriver DF: The Manipulation of Air-Sensitive Compounds New York: McGraw- Hill; 1969. 11. Errington RJ: Advanced Practical Inorganic and Metalorganic Chemistry London: Blackie Academic & Professional; 1997. 12. Armarego WLF, Chai C: Purification of Laboratory Chemicals. 5 edition. New York: Elsevier; 2003. 13. Askham FR, Stanley GG, Marques EC: A new type of transition-metal dimer based on a hexaphosphine ligand system: Co2(CO)4(eHTP)2+ (eHTP = (Et2PCH2CH2)2PCH2P(CH2CH2PEt2)2). J Am Chem Soc 1985, 107:7423-7431. 14. Xu S, Kumar S, Nann T: Rapid synthesis of high-quality InP nanocrystals. J Am Chem Soc 2006, 128:1054-1055. 15. Baek J, Allen PM, Bawendi MG, Jensen KF: Investigation of indium phosphide nancorystal synthesis using a high-temperature and high- pressure continuous flow microreatctor. Angew Chem Int Ed 2011, 50:627-630. Page 8 of 8 16. Micic OI, Cheong HM, Fu H, Zunger A, Sprague RJ, Mascarenhas A, Nozik AJ: Size-dependent spectroscopy of InP quantum dots. J Phys Chem B 1997, 101:4904-4912. doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-93 Cite this article as: Joung et al.: Facile synthesis of uniform large-sized InP nanocrystal quantum dots using tris(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) phosphine. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012 7:93. Submit your manuscript to a journal and beneﬁt from: 7 Convenient online submission 7 Rigorous peer review 7 Immediate publication on acceptance 7 Open access: articles freely available online 7 High visibility within the ﬁeld 7 Retaining the copyright to your article Submit your next manuscript at 7 springeropen.com