Large scale synthesis of cadmium selenide nanowires using template synthesis technique and their characterization

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spmi.2010.03.008Get rights and content

Abstract

We report the fabrication, and structural and optical characterization of CdSe nanowires. Large scale uniform nanowires with length 40 micron and diameter 100 nm were grown using the simple chemical reaction technique. Morphological study of CdSe nanowires was done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman studies show the crystalline structure of CdSe nanowires. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique was used to study the composition of CdSe nanowires. UV–Vis absorption studies show a blue shift of 0.26 eV in the optical band gap of CdSe nanowires.

Introduction

Chemically synthesized semiconductor nanowires are drawing increasing attention as building blocks for the bottom-up approach to the invention of nanoscale devices and sensors [1], [2]. CdSe is an important II–VI semiconductor material, and has exclusive physical properties such as direct band gap of 1.74 eV and electron mobility of 450–900 cm2/V s [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. Because of high photosensitivity, CdSe has been extensively used in photoconductive devices [8], [9], [10], [11].

Different techniques like cation-exchange route [12], γ-irradiation [13], solvothermal synthesis [14], electrodeposition [15], [16], hydrothermal-assisted thermal evaporation [17], DNA template driven [18], solution based approach [19], multiple injection method [20] etc. have been used for the synthesis of CdSe nanowires. CdSe nanowires grown using vapor transport deposition process exhibits superparamagnetic behavior [21]. CdSe nanowires doped with sulphur could be used in color-tuned photodetectors, nanolasers, biological labels, and nanoelectronics [22].

In this paper, we report the generation of CdSe nanowires using simple chemical reaction method through the pores in Anodic Alumina Membrane (AAM). Chemical reaction takes place inside the pores and the reaction yield is deposited in the pores. The morphological, structural and optical characterization of CdSe nanowires is also reported.

Section snippets

Experimental details

AAM (Whatman) is used for the fabrication of CdSe nanowires. The pore size is 100 nm. All the reagents used for the chemical solution are of pure analytical grade. Triply distilled water is used for the preparation of solutions.

Two compartment cell is used for the generation of CdSe nanowires. Alumina template is fixed between the two compartments so that it acts as semi permeable membrane. In the first compartment, an aqueous cadmium acetate solution (0.2 M with some drops of NH4OH) was added

Results and discussion

Fig. 1 shows SEM image of CdSe nanowires. It can be seen that diameter of nanowires is about 100 nm that closely corresponds to the diameter of pores of AAM used and also all the CdSe nanowires have analogous orientation and the length, diameter and direction of growth of CdSe are reasonably uniform which is due to the confined growth of nanowires in the ordered pores of AAM template.

X-Ray diffractogram of CdSe nanowires embedded in AAM template is shown in Fig. 2. The spectrum depicts three

Conclusion

Simple chemical reaction (non-galvanic) technique is a constructive technique for the large scale growth of CdSe nanowires. XRD shows the zinc blende (cubic) nature of CdSe nanowires. Blue shift of the order of 0.26 eV is observed in the optical band gap of 100 nm CdSe nanowires. Micro-Raman spectrum indicates the CdSe nanowires have good crystalline nature.

References (32)

  • U. Jeong et al.

    Chem. Phys. Lett.

    (2005)
  • S.J. Jo et al.

    Curr. Appl. Phys.

    (2006)
  • H. Wang et al.

    Mater. Chem. Phys.

    (2006)
  • M. Li et al.

    Mater. Lett.

    (2006)
  • L. Xi et al.

    J. Colloid Interface Sci.

    (2008)
  • M.T. Bjork et al.

    Appl. Phys. Lett.

    (2002)
  • X. Duan et al.

    Nature

    (2003)
  • Z. He et al.

    Small

    (2009)
  • J.S. Jie et al.

    Appl. Phys. Lett.

    (2006)
  • G. Dai et al.

    J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

    (2008)
  • Y.J. Doh et al.

    J. Park, Nano. Lett.

    (2008)
  • C.X. Shan et al.

    Nanotechnology

    (2005)
  • A.P. Alivisatos et al.

    J. Chem. Phys.

    (1989)
  • M.T. Gutierrez et al.

    J. Electrochem. Soc.

    (1989)
  • J. Giblin et al.

    ACS Nano.

    (2010)
  • G.V. Parkash et al.

    Mater. Lett.

    (2006)
  • Cited by (10)

    • Atomistic investigation on the mechanical properties and failure behavior of zinc-blende cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanowire

      2021, Computational Materials Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      CdSe NWs have so far been experimentally fabricated utilizing different crystal growth methods, including solution–liquid–solid, electrochemistry, and γ irradiation [39,40]. The natural phase of CdSe NWs is the wurtzite structure, however, it can also be crystallized in zinc-blende (ZB) by using molecular-beam epitaxy method [40,41]. While a great deal of effort has been made to assess the optical, thermal, and electronic properties of CdSe NWs, both in theory and in experiments, a few theoretical investigations have been carried out to explore its mechanical properties.

    • Optical, electrical and photoelectrical properties of nanocrystalline cadmium selenide films for photosensor applications

      2018, Optik
      Citation Excerpt :

      Up to date, they are used in different fields such as medical applications, light emitting diodes, laser and hybrid solar cells [1–4]. CdSe is an important member of II–VI group with a good sensitivity to the light and reasonable electron mobility [5]. It has direct band gap energy around 1.7 eV matching a wide range of solar spectrum [6].

    • Size and temperature dependence of the tensile mechanical properties of zinc blende CdSe nanowires

      2013, Physics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
      Citation Excerpt :

      In experiment, CdSe NWs have been successfully synthesized by different methods [21–25], such as γ-irradiation, electrochemistry, Solution–Liquid–Solid (SLS) and some other effective methods. The obtained CdSe NWs are mixture of zinc blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) structure, and the proportion of the two types of NWs is dependent on the synthesis conditions [22,26–29]. Although many efforts have been put to study the electronic and optical properties of CdSe NWs [30,31], very limited experimental and theoretical information is available for the study of mechanical properties of CdSe NWs.

    • Ion implantation effects of negative oxygen on copper nanowires

      2017, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text