  We propose a new type of surfactants, namely, tetrazole derivatives which can
be controllably removed from the nanoparticle surface. Tetrazoles are a
peculiar class of heterocyclic compounds. The presence of four nitrogen atoms
in the tetrazole ring determines their interesting physical and chemical
properties. Tetrazoles show high thermal stability below 200C while decomposing
at higher temperature with formation of gaseous products and no or very little
solid residue. Moreover, the tetrazole group is known as an important ligand in
coordination chemistry. Its donor nitrogen atoms can bind to various metal ions
leading to stable complexes with diverse coordination modes of the heteroring.
We report the synthesis of CdS NPs capped with 1-R-5-thiotetrazoles using two
different synthetic schemes: solution-phase and solventless single precursor
approaches. In both synthetic procedures cadmium thiotetrazolates were used as
cadmium precursors and sources of surfactant.
