Article abstract
Nature Materials 4, 855 - 863 (2005)
doi:10.1038/nmat1505
Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Design synthesis and processing
Formation of asymmetric one-sided metal-tipped semiconductor nanocrystal dots and rods
Taleb Mokari1, Claudia G. Sztrum2, Asaf Salant1, Eran Rabani2 and Uri Banin1
Abstract
Multicomponent nanoparticles represent a new approach for creating smart materials, requiring the development of the growth of different material types on one particle. Here, we report the synthesis of asymmetric metal–semiconductor heterostructures where gold is grown on one side of CdSe nanocrystal quantum rods and dots, creating nanostructures offering intrinsic asymmetry for diverse device functionalities such as diode elements, along with one-sided chemical accessibility through the gold tips. Surprisingly, one-sided growth is preceded by two-sided growth and is generally observed in different particle shapes. Theoretical modelling in a lattice-gas model and experimental analysis show that a ripening process drives gold from one end to the other, transforming two-sided growth to one-sided growth. Ripening is therefore occurring on the nanostructure itself, leading to a phase-segregated structure. This thereby extends the realm of ripening phenomena and their significance in nanostructure synthesis, in particular for nanocrystals composed of different materials.
- Department of Physical Chemistry, The Farkas Center for Light Induced Processes, and The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- School of Chemistry, The Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
Correspondence to: Eran Rabani2 e-mail: rabani@tau.ac.il
Correspondence to: Uri Banin1 e-mail: banin@chem.ch.huji.ac.il
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