Converting Ag₂S-CdS and Ag₂S-ZnS into Ag-CdS and Ag-ZnS nanoheterostructures by selective extraction of sulfur.

Abstract

A mild three-step solution strategy is developed to prepare Ag-MS (M=Zn, Cd) nanoheterostructures composed of MS nanorods with silver tips. First, Ag2S-MS heterostructures are synthesized by following a solution-liquid-solid mechanism with Ag2S nanoparticles as catalysts, then the Ag2S sections of the heterostructures are converted into silver nanoparticles by selective extraction of sulfur. Notably, for the prepared Ag-CdS heterostructures, the localized surface plasmon resonance of silver remarkably intensifies the photoluminescence of CdS by enhancing the excitation light absorption, which is beneficial for potential applications of CdS nanoparticles in the fields of biolabeling, light-emitting diodes, and so forth. The strategy reported herein would be useful for designing and fabricating other metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures with desirable performances.