Shape-Controlled Colloidal Synthesis of Rock-Salt Lead Selenide Nanocrystals

Abstract

Developing simple synthetic methods to control the size and morphology of nanocrystals is an active area of research as these parameters control the material's electronic and optical properties. For a semiconductor with a symmetrical crystal structure such as lead selenide, anisotropic colloidal growth has been previously accomplished via the use of templates, seeds, or by block assembly of smaller, symmetrical subunits. Here, we present a simple method to create monodisperse lead selenide nanorods and multipods at low temperatures. The size distribution and the observed morphologies are consistent with a continuous, anisotropic growth of material. The syntheses of these anisotropic shapes are due to the nature of the nuclei that form upon injection of precursors into partially oxidized alkene solvents that may contain lactone and carbonate-functional derivatives.

Shape effect on the valley splitting in lead selenide nanowires

“…They include colloidal synthesis [10], solution-liquid-solid [12] methods and even oriented attachment of lead salt nanocrystals [8]. Nowadays it is not only possible to grow a nanowire a few nm thin [13], but also to control its shape [14][15][16], size [17] and growth direction [18]. Nonetheless, theoretical modelling of lead chalcogenide NWs is quite challanging due to the multivalley band structure and strong intervalley coupling in these systems.…”

Facile synthesis of ultra-small PbSe nanorods for photovoltaic application

“…35 Jawaid et al showed that PbSe rods and multipods of nearly 4.5 nm diameter can be synthesized in the inadvertently oxidated polyunsaturated solvent. 36 Recently, Murray's group has reported PbSe NRs of ∼4 nm diameter by using a new phosphine selenide precursor. 37 However, none of the PbSe NRs reported previously have been employed in solar cells likely due to their large diameters (>4 nm), resulting in an unsuitably small bandgap for photovoltaic application.…”

A Facile Phosphine‐Free Method for Synthesizing PbSe Nanocrystals with Strong Optical Limiting Effects

“…[12,13] In addition, the large nonlinearity of PbSe NCs has also been reported, thereby rendering them attractive materials in nonlinear optics. [14] Currently, a considerable number of methods have been developed to fabricate PbSe NCs with various sizes and morphologies, including spheres, [15][16][17] cubes, [15,18,19] multipods, [18,20] rods, [18,21] octahedrons, [22] wires, [18,22] and rings. [22] The available synthetic methods generally use stabilizing ligands such as trioctylphosphine (TOPO) and lead sources such as lead acetate trihydrate or lead oxides.…”