Toward Ultra-stable Barrier-free Quantum Dots-Color Conversion Film via Zinc Phenylbutyrate Modification

Quantum dot (QD) color conversion films (CCFs) hold significant promise for advancing display technologies with their superior color performance and efficiency. However, achieving long-term stability in QD-CCFs without additional air-barrier film coatings remains a challenge. Here, we develop a surface passivation strategy using zinc phenylbutyrate (Zn(PA)₂) to modify QDs through a trioctylphosphine-mediated surface reaction, which results in the selective capping of surface sulfur atoms by zinc-monophenylbutyrate. Density functional theory calculations and multiple-washing tests reveal robust -ZnPA binding that effectively passivates the QD surface and enhances resistance to environmental conditions. Moreover, the phenylbutyrate groups enhance the solubility of QDs in styrene, facilitating their copolymerization to create QD-PS CCFs with high QD concentration, excellent light uniformity, and long-term stability even after 500 h of water immersion and photoaging. CCFs incorporating mixtures of green and red QDs achieve a wide color gamut exceeding 120% of the NTSC standard, demonstrating the advantage of this approach for enhancing the color performance of the QD-CCFs.