Issue 42, 2018

Selective formation of ternary Cu–Ge–S nanostructures in solution

Abstract

In this paper, special attention is given to ternary copper germanium sulfides (Cu–Ge–S), which belong to an important class of mixed-metal chalcogenide materials called the copper-based multinary sulfides (CMSs). Like most members of the CMS family, the Cu–Ge–S compounds display enormous potential in energy-related applications especially in their nanostructured forms, but there exists very little research on the preparation of Cu–Ge–S materials in the nanometer size range. Herein, we report a simple noninjection protocol for the selective synthesis of Cu–Ge–S nanomaterials. We show that variations in the solvent environment can lead to different types of Cu–Ge–S nanostructures (i.e., from large, faceted Cu8GeS6 to smaller, irregularly-shaped Cu2GeS3). Our investigation of the growth process revealed interesting formation pathways, which could help advance our understanding of the selective formation of compositionally and structurally diverse multinary materials in solution.

Graphical abstract: Selective formation of ternary Cu–Ge–S nanostructures in solution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Aug 2018
Accepted
07 Oct 2018
First published
08 Oct 2018

CrystEngComm, 2018,20, 6803-6810

Selective formation of ternary Cu–Ge–S nanostructures in solution

M. D. Regulacio, S. Y. Tee, S. H. Lim, Z. Zhang and M. Han, CrystEngComm, 2018, 20, 6803 DOI: 10.1039/C8CE01443D

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