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Controlled growth of high-density CdS and CdSe nanorod arrays on selective facets of two-dimensional semiconductor nanoplates

Nature Chemistry volume 8, pages 470–475 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The rational synthesis of hierarchical three-dimensional nanostructures with specific compositions, morphologies and functionalities is important for applications in a variety of fields ranging from energy conversion and electronics to biotechnology. Here, we report a seeded growth approach for the controlled epitaxial growth of three types of hierarchical one-dimensional (1D)/two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures, where nanorod arrays of II–VI semiconductor CdS or CdSe are grown on the selective facets of hexagonal-shaped nanoplates, either on the two basal facets of the nanoplate, or on one basal facet, or on the two basal facets and six side facets. The seed engineering of 2D hexagonal-shaped nanoplates is the key factor for growth of the three resulting types of 1D/2D nanostructures. The wurtzite- and zinc-blende-type polymorphs of semiconductors are used to determine the facet-selective epitaxial growth of 1D nanorod arrays, resulting in the formation of different hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures.

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Figure 1: Synthesis and characterization of type A nanostructures.
Figure 2: Synthesis and characterization of type B nanostructures.
Figure 3: Synthesis and characterization of type C nanostructures.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Ministry of Education (MOE) under AcRF Tier 2 (ARC 26/13, no. MOE2013-T2-1-034; ARC 19/15, no. MOE2014-T2-2-093) and AcRF Tier 1 (RGT18/13, RG5/13), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) under a start-up grant (M4081296.070.500000) in Singapore. Research was also conducted by the NTU-HUJ-BGU Nanomaterials for Energy and Water Management Programme at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), which is supported by the National Research Foundation of the Prime Minister's Office, Singapore. Y.H. thanks the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for the baseline (BAS/1/1372-01-01) and CCF (FCC/1/1972-03-01) research grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Xue-Jun Wu, Junze Chen, Chaoliang Tan & Hua Zhang

  2. Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

    Yihan Zhu & Yu Han

Authors
  1. Xue-Jun Wu
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  6. Hua Zhang
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Contributions

H.Z. proposed the research direction and guided the project. X.-J.W. and J.C. designed and performed the entire experiment. Y.Z. and Y.H. carried out the high-resolution TEM tomography. All authors analysed and discussed the experimental results. X.-J.W., C.T. and H.Z. drafted the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hua Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wu, XJ., Chen, J., Tan, C. et al. Controlled growth of high-density CdS and CdSe nanorod arrays on selective facets of two-dimensional semiconductor nanoplates. Nature Chem 8, 470–475 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2473

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