A simple and generalized heat-up method for the synthesis of metal sulfide nanocrystals

Well-defined metal sulfide nanomaterials exhibit many unique properties and are thus attractive for numerous applications. However, high-yield, large-scale synthesis of well-defined metal sulfide nanostructures by a general and facile one-step method is still challenging. Herein, we develop a facile biomolecule-assisted colloidal strategy for the synthesis of high-quality metal sulfide nanocrystals. Cysteine acts as not only a generalized coordination molecule to dissolve metal salts, but also a sulfur precursor in the following thermal decomposition process. Using our method, taking cadmium sulfide as an example, the size and shape of nanocrystals can also be easily controlled. Due to their perfect crystallinity and improved charge separation, well-defined CdS nanorods exhibit superior activity for visible-light-driven photocatalytic water splitting.