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Title: Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanocrystalline ZnSe: An in situ Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Powder Diffraction Study

Journal Article · · Journal of Solid State Chemistry

The hydrothermal synthesis of nanocrystalline ZnSe has been studied by in situ X-ray powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The formation of ZnSe was studied using the following starting mixtures: Zn+Se+H2O (route A) and ZnCl2+Se+H2O+Na2SO3 (route B). The route A experiment showed that Zn powder starts reacting with water at 134 C giving ZnO and H2 followed by the formation of ZnSe which takes place in temperature range from 167 to 195 C. The route B experiment shows a considerably more complex reaction path with several intermediate phases and in this case the formation of ZnSe starts at 141 C and ZnSe and Se were the only crystalline phases observed at the end of the experiment where the temperature was 195 C. The sizes of the nanocrystalline particles were determined to 18 and 9 nm in the route A and B experiments, respectively. Nanocrystalline ZnSe was also synthesized ex situ using the route A and B methods and characterized by conventional X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. An average crystalline domain size of ca. 8 nm was determined by X-ray powder diffraction in fair agreement with TEM images, which showed larger aggregates of nanoparticles having approximate diameters of 10 nm. Furthermore, a method for purification of the ZnSe nanoparticles was developed and the prepared particles showed signs of anisotropic size broadening of the diffraction peaks.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source
Sponsoring Organization:
Doe - Office Of Science
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
959909
Report Number(s):
BNL-82895-2009-JA; JSSCBI; TRN: US1005833
Journal Information:
Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Vol. 181; ISSN 0022-4596
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English