Effect of Surfactants on the Structural and Luminescence Properties of γ‐CuI Nanocrystals Synthesized by Facile Sonochemical Method

Abstract

Semiconducting cuprous iodide (CuI) nanocrystals have been synthesized by the one-pot sonochemical method at room temperature. The synthesis was performed in aqueous medium using ascorbic acid, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, p-toluene sulfonic acid and docusate sodium as surfactants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study of resulting material reveals the crystalline nature, cubic zinc blende lattice structure and γ phase of CuI nanocrystals. Scherrer method, Williamson-Hall plot and Size-Strain plot method have been used to investigate the particle size and intrinsic strain values from the XRD analysis. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed the morphology and different shapes (truncated tetrahedron, irregular, hexagonal & clustered) of CuI nanocrystals synthesized using different surfactants. In the PL spectrum of γ-CuI nanoparticles strong near band-edge emission was observed at about 423 nm. A slight red-shift in near band edge emission was observed due to the presence of surfactants. Enhanced electrical conductivity values (1.96 S/cm-9.19 S/cm) were obtained due to the presence of surfactants for γ-CuI nanocrystals. These properties of CuI nanocrystals makes them a suitable material for the design and development of optoelectronic devices.

Visible-Blind Self-Powered Ultraviolet Photodetector Based on CuI/TiO2 Nanostructured Heterojunctions

“…The excitation light wavelength of the PL spectrum test was 325 nm, and the test results are shown in Figure b. The CuI film had an emission peak caused by inter-band exciton recombination at 415 nm, , and the emission peak of CuI/TiO 2 film was lower than that of the CuI film, which indicates that the inter-band composite emission of the heterostructure was significantly quenched.…”

Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles: Unusual Growth Mechanism for Size‐Dependent Properties

“…In this work, the time‐dependent grain size (fixed the reaction temperatures at 120 °C and 200 °C) and temperature‐dependent one (fixed the reaction time for 12 h) were examined by XRD analysis. Generally, the mean grain size (D) of nanoparticles was determined by Scherrer formula, [28,29] …”