Novel single-crystal PbS nanowires directed by [200]

In the present paper, we successfully synthesized novel single-crystal. closed PbS nanowires with regular geometric morphologies in a relatively simple oil system. They were prepared from the reaction of lead acetate and thiourea using phenyl ether as solvent and oleic acid as surfactant at 140 degrees C for 0.5 h under N-2 atmosphere. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). XRD pattern confirms the formation of binary phase-pure PbS nanocrystals. HRTEM and TEM results demonstrated that the diameter of the as-obtained PbS nanowires is similar to 7 nm and the length is several hundreds of nanometers. The crystal growth is preferential in the (200] direction. The results also indicated that high-temperature solution-phase method could provide another new method for the synthesis of other 1D nanostructures of chalcogenides with unusual shape and structures. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.