TITLE:
Wet-Chemical Synthesis and Optical Property of ZnSe Nanowires by Ag2Se-Catalyzed Growth Mechanism
AUTHORS:
Junli Wang, Hui Feng, Weiling Fan, Kangmin Chen, Qing Yang
KEYWORDS:
ZnSe; Nanowires; Catalytic Growth; Ag2Se Catalyst; Oleylamine
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry,
Vol.3 No.6,
October
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: High-quality II-VI semiconductor ZnSe nanowires were facilely prepared in the oleic acid and oleylamine mixed solution at low temperatures of 130°C-200°C through an Ag2Se-catalyzed growth mechanism. Oleylamine served as an effective reducing agent and a surfactant in the synthesis. Many of the resultant nanowires were terminated by an Ag2Se catalyst particle at one of their ends, confirming that the nanowire growth followed a catalytic mechanism. The crystal structure of Ag2Se catalyst was examined, which exhibited a metastable tetragonal phase, not the common orthorhombic phase. Meanwhile, the optical properties of as-synthesized ZnSe nanowire solid powder were evaluated by the UV-Visible diffuse reflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy and a significant blue shift was observed compared to the bulk ZnSe with a band gap of 2.7 eV. This work would provide an alternative and effective catalytic route for the preparation of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures of ZnSe and other metal selenides.