Facile Synthesis and Formation Mechanism of Metal Chalcogenides Hollow Nanoparticles

A facile route to synthesize Cu(7)S(4) hollow hexagonal-like nanoparticles using Cu(2)O nanocubes as sacrificial templates at room temperature was developed. According to the transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy observations, a formation mechanism of the Cu(7)S(4) hollow structure based on the Kirkendall effect between the Cu(7)S(4) shell and Cu(2)O core at nanoscale was proposed. Interestingly, no conventional mass transport bridges between shell and core were observed, implying that a novel solution-mediated mass transportation dominates the Kirkendall process. The Cu(2)Se mesoboxs, with cubic morphology of the Cu(2)O templates preserved, were also fabricated by a similar route, which suggests that such synthesizing method might be readily extended to fabricate hollow structures of other metal chalcogenides.