Controlled synthesis of selenium of different morphologies at room temperature

Abstract

A facile and convenient chemical precipitation route has been developed for the controlled growth of selenium nanowires and hierarchical microspheres at room temperature, with Na 2 SeO 3 and hydrazine hydrate as starting materials in the presence of 1,2,3-trimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (tmimBF 4 ). The surface morphology of microspheres can be tuned by adjusting the reaction media. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Possible formation mechanisms of selenium nanowires and microspheres are proposed, respectively. The influences of the nature of reaction media, agitation and tmimBF4 on the morphologies development were experimentally investigated and it was found that these factors were of great importance for the formation of Se morphologies.

On the dissolution of non-metallic solid elements (sulfur, selenium, tellurium and phosphorus) in ionic liquids

“…The formation of elemental selenium of different morphologies was carried out in 1,2,3-trimethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, but no details of its solubility are noted. 10 In this work, ionic liquids are shown to be safe alternatives to conventional solvents for sulfur, and they can be designed to give the greatest known solubility for sulfur in any solvent (at atmospheric pressure). 11 A number of readily available ionic liquids were tested for sulfur solubility at elevated temperatures.…”

The production methods of selenium nanoparticles

“…Other studies reported that trigonal selenium nanowires were synthesised by chemical methods in a physical way. For example, trigonal selenium (t-Se) nanowires and microspheres were synthesised at room temperature by the chemical precipitation method using hydrazine hydrate as precipitator in the presence of 1,2,3-trimethylimidazolium-tetrafl uoroborate (tmimBF4) with sodium selenite (Ma et al, 2008). Similarly, trigonal selenium nanowires were successfully synthesised via low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis route.…”

Hydrothermal synthesis of CdSe hierarchical microspheres

“…Most recently, the advantages of ILs in inorganic synthesis have been gradually realized, and a few inorganic nanomaterials with novel morphologies and special properties have been prepared in ILs, such as TiO 2 nanocrystals, Fe 2 O 3 nanostructures, Se microspheres, and ZnSe hollow nanospheres [12][13][14][15]. However, the exploration of ILs for the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials is still in its infancy, and the application of ILs in inorganic synthesis should be intensively investigated.…”