April 13, 2009: NN-Labs LLC has introduced indium phosphide-based quantum dots as a new environmentally friendly, heavy metal-free, high-performance alternative to cadmium selenide-based (CdSe) quantum dots for research and teaching applications.

CdSe-based quantum dots, the current workhorse of quantum dot luminescent materials, are known to be highly toxic and environmentally hazardous but are still used widely because of the absence, until now, of alternative materials, the company said in a news release.

NN-Labs has developed a line of indium phosphide-based (InP) quantum dots, that offer high performance while eliminating the use of cadmium, a Level A toxic element with zero use tolerance for purpose-built commercial applications. NN-Labs is offering InP/ZnS core-shell quantum dots in kits of five emission colors: green (530nm), yellow (570nm), orange (600nm), red (630nm), and deep red (650nm).

Kits are available with the quantum dots dispersed in organic solvents and in water. These quantum dots are readily observed through absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and offer similar emission color ranges to that of CdSe. In particular, these kits are designed to meet research needs requiring high performance, heavy metal-free quantum dots and teaching needs (such as experiments demonstrating spectroscopic characteristics of quantum dots.