Microwave-Enhanced Synthesis of Cu₃Se₂ Nanoplates and Assembly of Photovoltaic CdTe−Cu₃Se₂ Clusters

Abstract

High-quality Cu3Se2 nanoplates were synthesized in a large scale through microwave-enhanced reaction between selenium and copper(I) oleate. The nanoplates are approximately round with thickness of 17 nm and the diameter in the range of 700∼1000 nm. The distinct shape of the nanoplates provides an ideal site for combining functional units, and as an example, carboxyl-terminated CdTe quantum dots were adsorbed onto Cu3Se2 nanoplates to form Cu3Se2−CdTe nanocluster by the chemical linkage of carboxyl to Cu. The fabricated nanoclusters exhibit an enhanced photovoltaic property (i.e., large photocurrent and short response time). Furthermore, this work provides a rational method to the design and fabrication of quantum dots decorated semiconductor nanocomposites.

Characterization of single phase copper selenide nanoparticles and their growth mechanism

“…XRD result corresponds to the characteristic pattern of Cu 3 Se 2 phase [30]. The cell constants were determined to be a ¼6.392Å and c ¼4.297Å, which are also Scheme 1. consistent with the reported data [30,31]. Although there are many stoichiometries of copper selenide and some stoichiometries have different phases but each of them has its characteristic XRD pattern.…”

Aqueous preparation of surfactant-free copper selenide nanowires

“…An example is the cuprous selenide (Cu 2 Se) nanoparticles, which are easily oxidized into non-stoichiometric Cu 1.8 Se, and become into surprisingly good p-type semiconductor with over 3000 times of enhancements in electrical conductivity. [2] In order to tune the properties of nano-scale copper selenides, a number of techniques and strategies, such as hydro-or solvo-thermal approach, [2,15,16] sonochemistry, [17] electrochemical-deposition, [18] microwave-assistant route, [19] ball milling technique, [6] and chemical welding method, [5] have been developed to prepare nanocrystals, [20] nanotubes/wires, [15,[21][22][23] nanocages, [24] dendrimers, [16,25] and nanosheets [26] with well-defined size, morphology, crystal structure, and composition.…”

A versatile chemical conversion synthesis of Cu2S nanotubes and the photovoltaic activities for dye-sensitized solar cell

“…A variety of nanotubes, such as metals and semiconductors [5,9], the so-called functional materials, have so far been prepared by various approaches including hydrothermal method, sol-gel technique [10], template-assisted method [11,12], electroless deposition [13], surfactant intercalation method, microwave-enhanced synthesis [14], and thermal evaporation method [15]. At present, template-based techniques turn out to be particularly effective for growth of nanotubes in spite of complicated processes involved [16,17].…”