Synthesis and crystallographic analysis of shape-controlled SnS nanocrystal photocatalysts: evidence for a pseudotetragonal structural modification.

Tin sulfide, SnS, is a narrow band gap semiconductor comprised of inexpensive, earth abundant, and environmentally benign elements that is emerging as an important material for a diverse range of applications in solar energy conversion, energy storage, and electronics. Relative to many comparable systems, much less is known about the factors that influence the synthesis or morphology-dependent properties of SnS nanostructures. Here, we report the synthesis of colloidal SnS cubes, spherical polyhedra, and sheets and demonstrate their activity for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.

Synthesis, properties and applications of colloidal germanium and germanium-based nanomaterials.

Germanium nanoparticles have excited scientists and engineers because of their size-dependent optical properties and their potential applications in optoelectronics, biological imaging and therapeutics, flash memories, and lithium-ion batteries. In order to further develop these applications and to gain deeper insights into their size-dependent properties, robust and facile synthetic methods are needed to controllably synthesize Ge nanoparticles. However, when compared to other II-VI, IV-VI, and III-V semiconductor systems, colloidal routes to Ge NPs with uniform sizes and shapes are much less mature.

Formation of SnS nanoflowers for lithium ion batteries.

SnS nanoflowers containing hierarchically organized nanosheet subunits were synthesized using a simple solution route, and they function as lithium ion battery anodes that maintain high capacities and coulombic efficiencies over 30 cycles.

Hybrid CuO-TiO(2-x)N(x) hollow nanocubes for photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into methane under solar irradiation.

Methane-producing hollow nanocubes: Hybrid CuO-TiO(2-x)N(x) hollow nanocubes have been synthesized by first depositing TiO(2) onto Cu(3)N nanocube templates, then heating in air to oxidize the Cu(3)N to CuO while concomitantly incorporating nitrogen into the TiO(2). The nanostructured CuO-TiO(2-x)N(x) material photocatalytically converts CO(2) into methane under solar irradiation.

A precursor-limited nanoparticle coalescence pathway for tuning the thickness of laterally-uniform colloidal nanosheets: the case of SnSe.

The availability of high-quality colloidal nanosheets underpins a diverse range of applications and investigations into dimension-dependent physical properties. To facilitate this, synthetic methods that yield single-crystal colloidal nanosheets with regular shapes, uniform lateral dimensions, and tunable thicknesses are critically important. Most strategies that yield colloidal nanosheets achieve some, but not all, of these morphological characteristics.

Single-crystal colloidal nanosheets of GeS and GeSe.

Narrow-band-gap IV-VI semiconductors offer promising optoelectronic properties for integration as light-absorbing components in field-effect transistors, photodetectors, and photovoltaic devices. Importantly, colloidal nanostructures of these materials have the potential to substantially decrease the fabrication cost of solar cells because of their ability to be solution-processed. While colloidal nanomaterials formed from IV-VI lead chalcogenides such as PbS and PbSe have been extensively investigated, those of the layered semiconductors SnS, SnSe, GeS, and GeSe have only recently been considered.