Sterically induced shape and crystalline phase control of GaP nanocrystals

We demonstrate a novel synthetic scheme that can be used to control the crystalline phase and shape of GaP semiconductor nanocrystals. Our study shows that steric effects of surfactant ligands can modulate the crystalline phases and control the shapes of nanocrystals. The shape of the nanocrystals obtained varies from zero-dimensional spheres to one-dimensional rods via controlling the ratio between primary and tertiary alkylamines. III-V semiconductors (in our case: GaP) under 10 nm in width are first reported, and unique optical properties due to shape anisotropy are also observed.     

Controlling synthesis of BiIn dendritic nanocrystals by solution dispersion

In this study, we report a novel and simple solution-phase route for one-dimensional metal nanocrystals. BiIn nanocrystals were prepared by directly dispersing melting BiIn alloy at an appropriate solvent. The as-obtained BiIn nanocrystals with a dendritic shape possess a good crystalline phase. The morphology of the nanocrystals can be greatly modified by changing the reaction parameters. This strong UV emission might arise from the quantum-confined In2O3 particles.     

一种新型纺锤状α-Fe_2O_3纳米晶的合成、表征及其表面性能(英文)

合成了一种新型的具有单晶结构的α-Fe2O3纳米晶(NFO-1).在我们的合成方法中,样品的形貌和结构在低反应浓度体系中运用无机盐和有机模板进行双重调控,同时用溶剂挥发诱导自组装(EISA)来加速反应和在不改变形貌结构的前提下获得高产率样品.所得α-Fe2O3纳米晶的形貌和结构对其表面修饰功能有明显的影响,NFO-1因其特殊的纺锤状形貌而与表面功能试剂(多巴胺)之间的化学作用有明显的增强.并且,本文所描述的合成方法同样适用于其他过渡金属氧化物纳米单晶的合成.我们预期,这种方法可为新型纳米材料的合成提供新的途径.     

Shape‐Controlled Synthesis of Metal Nanocrystals: Simple Chemistry Meets Complex Physics?

Nanocrystals are fundamental to modern science and technology. Mastery over the shape of a nanocrystal enables control of its properties and enhancement of its usefulness for a given application. Our aim is to present a comprehensive review of current research activities that center on the shape‐controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals. We begin with a brief introduction to nucleation and growth within the context of metal nanocrystal synthesis, followed by a discussion of the possible shapes that a metal nanocrystal might take under different conditions. We then focus on a variety of experimental parameters that have been explored to manipulate the nucleation and growth of metal nanocrystals in solution‐phase syntheses in an effort to generate specific shapes. We then elaborate on these approaches by selecting examples in which there is already reasonable understanding for the observed shape control or at least the protocols have proven to be reproducible and controllable. Finally, we highlight a number of applications that have been enabled and/or enhanced by the shape‐controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals. We conclude this article with personal perspectives on the directions toward which future research in this field might take.     

Shape evolution of single-crystalline iron oxide nanocrystals

Shape- and size-controlled synthesis of single-crystalline maghemite (gamma-Fe2O3) nanocrystals are performed by utilizing a solution-based one-step thermolysis method. Modulating the growth parameters, such as the type and amount of capping ligands as well as the growth time, is shown to have a significant effect on the overall shape and size of the obtained nanocrystals and on the ripening process itself. The resulting shapes of the novel structures are diverse, including slightly faceted spheres, diamonds, prisms, and hexagons, all of which are in fact truncated dodecahedron structures with different degrees of truncation along the {111}, {110}, or {100} faces. Spherical nanocrystals are easily assembled into the three-dimensional superlattices, demonstrating the uniformity of these nanocrystals. The size-dependent magnetic properties are examined, and large hexagon-shaped gamma-Fe2O3 nanocrystals are shown to be ferrimagnetic at room temperature.     

Polyhedral gold nanocrystals with O h symmetry: from octahedra to cubes

We report the shape and size control of polyhedral gold nanocrystals by a modified polyol process. The rapid reduction of gold precursors in refluxing 1,5-pentanediol has successfully provided a series of gold nanocrystals in the shape of octahedra, truncated octahedra, cuboctahedra, cubes, and higher polygons by incremental changes of silver nitrate concentration. All nanocrystals were obtained quantitatively and were uniform in shape and size in the range of approximately 100 nm. Smaller octahedra and cubes were also prepared by using large amounts of PVP. Silver species generated from AgNO3 seemed to determine the final nanocrystal morphology by the selective growth of {111} and/or the restriction of {100}. The shape evolution of the particles was addressed by quenching the reactions at different time intervals. The approximately 60 nm seeds were generated rapidly and grown slowly with simultaneous edge sharpening. Aging the reaction mixture focused the size and shape of the nanocrystals by Ostwald ripening. We believe that our selective growth conditions can be applied to other shapes and compositions of face-centered cubic metals.     

Template-assisted synthesis of shape-controlled Rh2P nanocrystals

When reacted with trioctylphosphine at approximately 360 degrees C, rhodium nanocrystals convert to rhodium phosphide Rh(2)P nanocrystals. Careful control over synthetic variables, such as temperature, stabilizing ligands, and cosolvents, can result in Rh(2)P nanocrystals with shapes that reflect the Rh nanocrystal templates. Accordingly, Rh nanocrystals with multipod, cube- and triangle-derived shapes convert to Rh(2)P nanocrystals that maintain the shape of their Rh precursors. Both dense and hollow Rh(2)P nanocrystals can be generated using a single unified chemical conversion strategy. These empirical guidelines for generating a morphologically diverse library of Rh(2)P nanocrystals provide important insights into shape conservation using nanocrystal templates and will likely be portable to other multielement systems for which rigorous shape-controlled synthesis remains challenging.     

Controlled growth of uniform noble metal nanocrystals: aqueous-based synthesis and some applications in biomedicine

Aqueous-dispersed single and binary noble metal nanocrystals have attracted much attention as key materials in many fields, especially in biomedicine, catalysis, etc. Controlled growth of the metal nuclei allow for the manipulation of uniform morphology of final products. This behavior would tailor their unique physiochemical and electronic properties and follows by their practical applications. This review presents an overall picture of kinetic formation of a particle and then summarizes an overview of recent progress in many research groups concerning aqueous- and/or polyol-based syntheses of many types of aqueous-dispersed single metallic and bimetallic nanocrystals with controlled shape. The main advantages in these synthetic approaches for the shape-controlled metal nanocrystals are simple, versatile, environmentally friendly, low cost, pure and single-crystalline products, and high yield. The formed products can be easily dispersed in water medium and compatible for biotechnological field. Particularly the biomolecule (antibody including protein and/or DNA)-conjugated gold nanocrystals have been utilized as an active agent for a broad range of biomedical applications. We expect that this review will have a high potential towards novel materials fabrication and nanotechnological fields.     

Controllable synthesis of Cu2S nanocrystals and their assembly into a superlattice

Highly uniform Cu2S nanocrystals with controllable sizes and shapes (circular and elongated) have been synthesized through a novel water-oil interface confined reaction. They can self-assemble into highly ordered multilayer superlattices. By controlling the size and shape of building block nanocrystals, the packing symmetry of the superlattice can be engineered. For circular nanocrystals, both fcc and hcp multilayer superlattices are found in the sample. For elongated nanocrystals, they can also generate a close-packed layer and further stack into a multilayer superlattice. The dipole moment of the inner nanocrystals is useful for their stacking. This work provides a simple bottom-up approach to integrate nanocrystals, as well as to adjust the packing symmetry of the final superlattice, which may have potential applications for nanomaterials and nanodevices in the future.     

以单晶银纳米方块为液相外延生长晶种的纳米晶形貌可控合成方法

本文简要综述了以单晶银纳米方块做为可控外延生长的品种来合成各种银纳米晶的相关工作．通过改变银前驱体和晶种颗粒的比例、表面包裹分子及其用量、还原剂浓度、添加欠电位金属阳离子等手段,我们成功地控制了银纳米晶的外延生长方向和裸露晶面,并合成出一系列尺寸、形貌可控的银纳米晶,包括立方体、立方八面体、八面体、八足体、二十四面体、凹面立方八面体和凹面八面体等．除了对合成方法和过程的介绍,本文还简要讨论了每种纳米结构的形成机制．     

Shape-Controlled Nanocrystals for Catalytic Applications

The activity, selectivity, and long-term stability of catalyst nanoparticles can be enhanced by shape modulation. Such shaped catalytic nanocrystals have well-defined surface crystalline structures on which the cleavage and recombination of chemical bonds can be rationally controlled. Metal and metal oxide nanocrystals have been synthesized in various shapes using wet chemistry techniques such as reducing metal precursors in the presence of the surface-capping agents. The surface-capping agents should be removed prior to the catalytic chemical reaction, which necessitates clean catalytically active surface. The removal process should be performed very carefully because this removal often causes shape deformation. A few examples in which the surface-capping agents contribute positively to the chemical reactions have been reported. The examples described in this review include shaped metal, metal composite, and metal oxide nanocrystals that show enhanced catalytic activity, selectivity, and long-term stability for various gas-phase, liquid-phase, or electrocatalytic reactions. Although most of the studies using these shaped nanocrystals for catalytic applications have focused on low-index surfaces, nanocrystals with high-index facets and their catalytic applications have recently been reported. By bridging surface studies with nanoparticle catalysts using shape modulation, catalysts with improved properties can be rationally designed.     

Alkyl chains of surface ligands affect polytypism of cdse nanocrystals and play an important role in the synthesis of anisotropic nanoheterostructures

We show that the length of the alkyl chain of surface ligands can shift the equilibrium between the wurtzite and zinc blende polytypes of CdSe nanocrystals. In-situ wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal that short-chain (e.g., propyl) phosphonic acids stabilize CdSe nanocrystals with the zinc blende phase whereas octadecylphosphonic acid stabilize nanocrystals with the wurtzite phase. We also demonstrate how this effect can be used to improve the shape selectivity in the synthesis of anisotropic CdSe/CdS and ZnSe/CdS nanoheterostructures.     

A novel PbS hierarchical superstructure guided by the balance between thermodynamic and kinetic control via a single-source precursor route

In this work, a novel lead sulfide (PbS) hierarchical superstructure, denoted as octapodal dendrites with a cubic center, has been synthesized employing a simple single-source precursor route. Our experimental results demonstrate that the novel hierarchical superstructure was generated through the delicate balance between the kinetic growth and thermodynamic growth regimes. Moreover, the morphology of PbS crystals can be controlled by adjusting the solvent under a thermodynamically or kinetically controlled growth regime. It is highly expected that these findings will be useful in understanding the formation of PbS nanocrystals with different morphologies, which are also applicable to other face-centered cubic nanocrystals.     

Shape control and associated magnetic properties of spinel cobalt ferrite nanocrystals

By combining nonhydrolytic reaction with seed-mediated growth, high-quality and monodisperse spinel cobalt ferrite, CoFe(2)O(4), nanocrystals can be synthesized with a highly controllable shape of nearly spherical or almost perfectly cubic. The shape of the nanocrystals can also be reversibly interchanged between spherical and cubic morphology through controlling nanocrystal growth rate. Furthermore, the magnetic studies show that the blocking temperature, saturation, and remanent magnetization of nanocrystals are solely determined by the size regardless the spherical or cubic shape. However, the shape of the nanocrystals is a dominating factor for the coercivity of nanocrystals due to the effect of surface anisotropy. Such magnetic nanocrystals with distinct shapes possess tremendous potentials in fundamental understanding of magnetism and in technological applications of magnetic nanocrystals for high-density information storage.     

Thermal decomposition of [bis(salicylaldehydato)cadmium(II)] to CdS nanocrystals

The present investigation reports, the novel synthesis of nanocrystals CdS using thermal decomposition of [bis(salicylaldehydato)cadmium(II)], as a new precursor, and elemental sulfur in oleylamine. The as-synthesized CdS crystals have diameters about 10 nm. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy and Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectra. The results of this paper show that the shape and size of cadmium sulfide nanocrystals can be controlled systematically by adjusting certain reaction parameters, such as the reactant concentration, the reaction temperature and the reaction time. Cadmium sulfide nanoparticles and nanorods with different lengths have been successfully prepared.     

Thermally-activated shape memory behaviour of bionanocomposites reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals

Bionanocomposites with thermally-activated shape memory ability have been designed based on a synthesized poly(ester-urethane) matrix reinforced with both neat and functionalized cellulose nanocrystals. The functionalization of the cellulose nanocrystals was performed by grafting poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) chains onto their surface. The matrix has a block copolymer structure of two biodegradable and biocompatible polymers, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and PLLA. This research is focused on the effects of cellulose nanofillers on the thermally-activated shape memory response of the neat matrix confirming that the bionanocomposites are able to show shape memory effects at 35 °C, close to the human body temperature, making these materials good candidates for biomedical applications. Three thermo-mechanical cycles at 50 % of deformation were performed in order to check the thermally-activated shape memory ability of the bionanocomposites and to determine the shape memory parameters, namely the strain fixity (R_f), and the strain recovery (R_r) ratio. Both bionanocomposites, with neat and functionalized cellulose nanocrystals, present excellent shape memory behaviour maintaining the recovery behaviour at values of about 90 % as measured previously for the pure matrix, indicating that the addition of the nanofiller maintains the good ability to recover the initial shape of the matrix. The cellulose nanofillers clearly improve the ability of the polymer to fix the temporary shape. In fact, the bionanocomposites show R_f at about 90 %. Moreover, bionanocomposites reinforced with the functionalized cellulose nanocrystals maintain constant their performance during all the thermo-mechanical cycles thus confirming that the improvement in the shape memory behaviour can be mainly attributed to the increase of the interactions between the functionalized cellulose nanocrystals with the polymeric matrix.     

溶剂热法合成锐钛矿型二氧化钛纳米晶的形状演化规律

以钛酸四丁酯为前驱体,乙醇为溶剂,月桂酸和十二胺为共同稳定剂,采用溶剂热法制备了不同形状的锐钛矿型二氧化钛纳米晶。利用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、选区电子衍射(SAED)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱和热失重-差热分析(TG-DTA)等技术对纳米晶的结构、尺寸、形貌及形状进行了系统的表征,并探讨了月桂酸与十二胺不同配比时纳米晶的形状演化规律。结果表明:用溶剂热法在不同配比情况下获得的二氧化钛均为锐钛矿相;在月桂酸与十二胺总摩尔量不变的情况下,随着十二胺含量的增加,二氧化钛纳米晶的形状由球形逐渐演化为棒状,且结晶化程度在两者摩尔比为1:1时最好;月桂酸与十二胺稳定剂与纳米晶内核之间以桥接配位体的形式结合,且稳定剂在样品中的含量约为5%。     

Seed-mediated growth method for high-quality noble metal nanocrystals

This review highlights work from the authors’ laboratory on the recent development of seed-mediated growth method for noble metal nanocrystals. The seed-mediated growth method has become one of the most efficient and versatile methods for synthe-sizing high-quality noble metal nanocrystals. The seed-mediated growth method can separate the nucleation and growth stages of metal nanocrystals, and thus provide better control over the size, size distribution, and crystallographic evolution of metal nanocrystals. Because of its high controllability, the seed-mediated growth method is especially promising in providing mechanistic insights into the growth mechanisms of noble metal nanocrystals. In this review, the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for the nucleation and growth of noble metal nanocrystals are systematically summarized. Mechanistic understanding of these parameters is provided. These studies provide useful guidelines for the rational design and synthesis of novel noble metal nanocrystals with high quality.     

Formation of orientation-ordered superlattices of magnetite magnetic nanocrystals from shape-segregated self-assemblies

Magnetic magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals have been synthesized by combining nonhydrolytic reaction with seed-mediated growth. The shape of these magnetite nanocrystals can be controlled either as pure spheres or a mixture of mainly faceted nanocrystals. Faceted magnetite nanocrystals consist of truncated tetrahedral platelets (TTPs), truncated octahedrons (TOs), and octahedrons (OTs). Transmission electron microscopy analysis indicates that the faceted nanocrystal mixture tends to self-segregate based upon the shape in a self-assembly process, and each shape forms its own distinct crystallographic orientation-ordered superlattice assemblies. Self-assemblies of the Fe3O4 nanocrystals in the shapes of TTP, TO, and OT show hexagonal, primitive cubic, and distorted body-centered cubic (bcc) superlattice structures, respectively. The possible mechanism for the formation of different superstructures is attributed to van der Waals interactions. Nanocrystals with different shapes provide diverse building blocks for bottom-up approaches in building nano- and mesosystems. Furthermore, the self-segregation phenomenon of different shaped nanocrystals in self-assembly processes could be very important in envisioning efficient assembly strategies for nanoscience- and nanotechnology-based devices.     

Symmetry-controlled colloidal nanocrystals: nonhydrolytic chemical synthesis and shape determining parameters

Since inorganic nanocrystals exhibit unique shape-dependent nanoscale properties and can be utilized as basic building blocks for futuristic nanodevices, a systematic study on the shape control of these nanocrystals remains an important subject in materials and physical chemistry. In this feature article, we overview the recent progress on the synthetic development of symmetry-controlled colloidal nanocrystals of semiconductor and metal oxide, which are prepared through nonhydrolytic chemical routes. We describe their shape-guiding processes and illustrate the detailed key factors controlling their growth by examining various case studies of zero-dimensional spheres and cubes, one-dimensional rods, and quasi multidimensional structures such as disks, multipods, and stars. Specifically, the crystalline phase of nucleating seeds, surface energy, kinetic vs thermodynamic growth, and selective adhesion processes of capping ligands are found to be most crucial for the determination of the nanocrystal shape.