Chapter 1 - Chemical synthesis of nanostructured metals, metal alloys, and semiconductors

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the various synthetic methods used to make semiconductor nanoclusters. Ultrafine microstructures having an average phase or grain size on the order of a nanometer are classified as nanostructured materials (NSMs). Currently, in a wider meaning of the term, any material that contains grains or clusters below 100 nm, or layers or filaments of that dimension, can be considered to be nanostructured. The properties of NSMs depend on fine grain size and size distribution, the chemical composition of the constituent phases, the presence of interfaces, more specifically, grain boundaries, heterophase interfaces, or the free surface, and interactions between the constituent domains. Considerable opportunities now exist for synthesizing nanophase materials with a variety of new architectures at nanometer length scales from atomic or molecular precursors via the assembly of atom clusters and several other chemical preparation methods. Solution chemistry can directly produce either the desired particles or the precursors that are further treated by various reaction methods to obtain the final products. It should be pointed out that detailed work on the characterization of these materials and their property evaluation is required. Concerns about the yield and the impurity content need to be critically addressed before a particular synthetic and processing method can be adopted for large-scale production.