Core–shell Ag@Au nanoprisms are prepared through a surfactant‐free seed‐mediated approach by taking advantage of the anisotropic structure of silver nanoprisms as seeds. The gold coating on the silver nanoprism surface is achieved by using hydroxylamine as a mild reducing agent, and the final fully gold‐coated prism structures are confirmed by microscopic and spectroscopic characterization. The resulting Ag@Au core–shell structure preserves the optical signatures of nanoprisms and offers versatile functionality and particularly better stability against oxidation than the bare silver nanoprism. The surface plasmon resonances of the core–shell Ag@Au nanoprisms can be tuned throughout the visible and near‐IR range as a function of the Au shell thickness. Such tailorable optical features and surfactant‐free gold shells have great potential applications in biosensing and bioimaging.
A single-step fabrication of ZnSb nanostructures using template-free electrochemical deposition was developed. Results have indicated that ZnSb nanoflakes, nanowires, or nanoparticles with controlled composition could be obtained by adjusting the precursor concentration, applied voltage, and substrate type. The ZnSb nanostructures deposited on Cu foils were directly used as Li-ion battery anodes without the addition of any binder. Electrochemical analyses revealed that the interconnected ZnSb nanoflakes depicted high discharge capacities and a stable performance, which were better than that of ZnSb nanowires and nanoparticles. With an initial discharge capacity of 735 mA h/g and an initial Columbic efficiency of 85%, the ZnSb nanoflakes maintained a discharge capacity of 500 mA h/g with a Coulombic efficiency of 98% after 70 cycles at a current density of 100 mA/g (0.18 C). The ZnSb nanowires and nanoparticles showed a capacity of 190 and 40 mA h/g, respectively, after 70 cycles at the same current density. The improved performance of the interconnected ZnSb nanoflakes is attributed to their open structure, with a large surface area and small crystal grains, to facilitate the diffusion of Li ions and to buffer the large volume swings during the lithium intercalation process.
ZnSb nanotubes were grown through a template free electrodeposition method under over-potential conditions. The growth of the nanotubes was attributed to the template effect from H(2) bubbles. Due to their hollow structure, the ZnSb nanotubes depicted better Li ion storage performance compared to that of ZnSb nanoparticles deposited under different conditions.
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