Nanocluster-Mediated Synthesis of Diverse ZnTe Nanostructures: from Nanocrystals to 1D Nanobelts

Graphical Nano nano : Considering the difficulty of direct nucleation-growth, monodisperse ZnTe nanoclusters were chosen to mediate the seed growth and oriented attachment mechanism to synthesize the flexible ZnTe nanostructures, from monodisperse dendrimer-like nanocrystals to flexible 1D tens-of-micrometers-length nanobelts. Liquid phase one-pot synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals, by direct nucleation-growth crystallization, is unsuccessful for synthesis of some kinds of semiconductors. Using ZnTe as an example here, highly disperse ZnTe nanoclusters with diameters of 2–3 nm were first synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. Then the ZnTe nanoclusters were chosen as starting crystallization seeds to mediate the synthesis of flexible semiconductor nanostructures. Three-dimensional (3D) oriented assembly of ZnTe nanoclusters to monodisperse dendrimer-like nanocrystals (DLNCs), and one-dimensional (1D) ZnTe nanobelts with cubic phase, have been achieved successfully. Supported by TEM characterization of time-dependent morphology evolution, the oriented attachment assisted seed growth, based on ZnTe nanoclusters, enabled the 1D flexible ZnTe nanobelts formation, which could reach to ≈10 micrometers length.