⟨0001⟩-Preferential Growth of CdSe Nanowires on Conducting Glass: Template-Free Electrodeposition and Application in Photovoltaics

Abstract

By contrast with the rich, wurztite-related, one-dimensional nanostructure of ZnO and its wide variety of applications, there only exists a few methods for the controlled and designed synthesis of one-dimensional CdSe nanostructures. Here, we describe a low-temperature and directed preparation of CdSe nanowires in a simple one-step, template-free electrochemical deposition. The preparation takes advantage of both the wurtzite structure characteristics and current-induced preferential orientation. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns clearly verify that the prepared CdSe nanowires have a single-crystal wurtzite structure and grow along the [0001] (c-axis). With the discovery of other one-dimensional CdSe nanostructures and CdS nanowires, it is anticipated that this electrochemical synthesis method can be extended to other nanostructures of CdSe and to other II−VI semiconductors and can also be developed into a systematic synthesis for nanostructured semiconductors. The average diameter of the thus prepared CdSe nanowires is larger than those synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and solution−liquid−solid (SLS) methods. This may be an advantage in some applications, for example, as the light-harvesting material in photovoltaic cells. Organic/inorganic hybrid photovoltaic cells fabricated with CdSe nanowires and PEDOT:PSS give a good photovoltaic performance, demonstrating the attractive potential of CdSe nanowire applications in photovoltaics.

Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron-beam lithography templating for photovoltaic applications

“…Bulk heterojunction PV devices utilizing zinc oxide nanowire arrays have shown high performance when prepared in conjunction with a variety of active materials including P3HT [3,4], PCBM:P3HT [5,6], CdS [7,8], dye-sensitizers [9,10] and colloidal quantum dot (QD) thin films [1]. The minority carrier diffusion length in the active material of these devices lies in the nano-to micrometer length scale.…”

The role of glutathione on shape control and photoelectrical property of cadmium sulfide nanorod arrays

“…Many II-IV group nanorods, such as CdS, CdSe, CdTe, ZnS, ZnSe, and ZnTe, have been successfully synthesized in colloidal solutions [17][18][19][20][21][22]. However, except ZnO [23], there are only a few reports that describe the fabrication of aligned II-IV nanorod or nanowire arrays without involving of catalyst and/or templates [24][25][26][27][28]. Xiong et al have succeeded in growing the CdS, CdSe, and CdTe nanorod arrays on meca using CVD method [24,25].…”

“…Qian et al and Jiang et al have independently reported the synthesis of ordered arrays of wurtzite CdS nanowires on Cd-foil substrates via solvothermal route [26,27]. Zhou et al have fabricated CdSe nanowire arrays on ITO (tin-doped indium oxide) by electrochemical approach [28]. Most recently, Chen' group has developed a non-template hydrothermal method to grow CdS nanorod arrays (CdS NRs) on ITO substrate by using glutathione as capping agents [29].…”

Synthesis and Application of Solution-Based II–VI and IV–VI Semiconductor Nanowires

“…These features make them desirable for use in various applications. As illustrations, II-VI NWs have been used in photodetectors [1][2][3][4], solar cells [5][6][7][8][9] and in photocatalytic applications [10,11]. Likewise, IV-VI NWs, especially the lead chalcogenides, have been used in infrared photodetectors [12], thermoelectric devices [13,14] and in field effect transistors (FETs) [15][16][17].…”