Issue 5, 2013

Micron-sized hexagonal single-crystalline rods of metal nitride clusterfullerene: preparation, characterization, and photoelectrochemical application

Abstract

Micron-sized hexagonal single-crystalline Sc3N@C80 rods have been successfully prepared for the first time by a liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation (LLIP) method with the first utilization of p-xylene as the solvent dissolving Sc3N@C80. The effect of the concentration of the Sc3N@C80 solution on the size and length of the Sc3N@C80 rods has been studied, indicating that the length of Sc3N@C80 rods can be readily controlled by varying the concentration of the Sc3N@C80 solution. The crystal structure of the Sc3N@C80 rods has been investigated by XRD and the electron diffraction patterns, pointing to a hexagonal system. The growth kinetics of the Sc3N@C80 rods has been studied by monitoring the morphology evolution of the Sc3N@C80 crystals, and a plausible mechanism is proposed, featuring an intermediate hexagonal star-shaped prism structure with grooves. Raman spectroscopic characterization confirmed that the Sc3N@C80 rods are composed of monomeric pristine Sc3N@C80 molecules and no polymerization has occurred in the crystal lattice, and a significant Raman enhancement in the low-energy region is observed. According to the UV-vis-NIR absorption spectroscopic study of the Sc3N@C80 rods, where much broader and stronger absorptions in the visible and near-infrared regions than that of the Sc3N@C80 solution were revealed, we conclude that the electronic structure of the Sc3N@C80 molecule is largely perturbed upon formation of micron-sized single-crystalline rods because of the strong intermolecular π–π interactions. Finally photoelectrochemical application of the Sc3N@C80 rods was studied based on a Sc3N@C80 rods-modified ITO electrode prepared by electrophoretic deposition and revealed a higher photocurrent response than that obtained in the Sc3N@C80 films drop-coated onto an ITO electrode.

Graphical abstract: Micron-sized hexagonal single-crystalline rods of metal nitride clusterfullerene: preparation, characterization, and photoelectrochemical application

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Nov 2012
Accepted
29 Dec 2012
First published
03 Jan 2013

Nanoscale, 2013,5, 1993-2001

Micron-sized hexagonal single-crystalline rods of metal nitride clusterfullerene: preparation, characterization, and photoelectrochemical application

Y. Xu, J. Guo, T. Wei, X. Chen, Q. Yang and S. Yang, Nanoscale, 2013, 5, 1993 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR33586G

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