We investigate in detail the effect of aging on microstuctural, optical and luminescence behaviour of several sets of colloidal luminescent CdSe nanoparticles synthesized from starting solutions containing stoichiometric excess and deficit of Se. Particle growth with aging followed the Ostwald ripening mechanism in all the samples. No deviation in the nature of optical transition from the bulk material was found in any of the fresh or aged samples. The positions of absorption and emission peaks were red shifted with increasing period of aging. The luminescence intensity decreased with increasing period of aging when the samples were exposed in relatively humid air (relative humidity 80%). The CdSe nanoparticles synthesized from solution having higher Cd to Se molar ratio showed more stability against photo-oxidation.
