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Morphology-tuned wurtzite-type ZnS nanobelts

Nature Materials volume 4, pages 922–927 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Nanometre-sized inorganic dots, wires and belts have a wide range of electrical and optical properties, and variable mechanical stability and phase-transition mechanisms that show a sensitive dependency on size, shape and structure. The optical properties of the semiconductor ZnS in wurtzite structures are considerably enhanced, but the lack of structural stability limits technological applications. Here, we demonstrate that morphology-tuned wurtzite ZnS nanobelts show a particular low-energy surface structure dominated by the surface facets. Experiments and calculations show that the morphology of ZnS nanobelts leads to a very high mechanical stability to ∼6.8 GPa, and also results in an explosive mechanism for the wurtzite-to-sphalerite phase transformation together with in situ fracture of the nanobelts. ZnS wurtzite nanobelts provide a model that is useful not only for understanding the morphology-tuned stability and transformation mechanism, but also for improving synthesis of metastable nanobelts with quantum effects for electronic and optical devices.

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Figure 1: The synthesized wurtzite-structure ZnS nanobelts.
Figure 2: High-pressure X-ray-diffraction patterns of the wurtzite ZnS nanobelts.
Figure 3: Correlation between the nano-thickness (D) and transition pressure of one-dimensional wurtzite nanobelts.
Figure 4: Comparison of the three characteristic X-ray-diffraction peaks between wurtzite and sphalerite polymorphs at 1 atm pressure.
Figure 5: Schematic representation of the wurtzite-to-sphalerite phase transformation.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate financial support from the Director’s Funded Postdoctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory. We also acknowledge gratefully the staff at CHESS, Wilson Laboratory of Cornell University for assistance with experimental matters. X.D.W. and Z.L.W. are grateful for support from NSF. Special appreciation goes to the Carnegie/DOE Alliance Center (CDAC) for significant support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

    Zhongwu Wang, Luke L. Daemen & Yusheng Zhao

  2. CHESS, Wilson Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    C. S. Zha

  3. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    Robert T. Downs

  4. School of Materials and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332, USA

    Xudong Wang & Zhong Lin Wang

  5. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Russell J. Hemley

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  1. Zhongwu Wang
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Correspondence to Zhongwu Wang.

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Wang, Z., Daemen, L., Zhao, Y. et al. Morphology-tuned wurtzite-type ZnS nanobelts. Nature Mater 4, 922–927 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1522

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