Morphological Manipulation of Solvothermal Prepared CdSe Nanostructures by Controlling the Growth Rate of Nanocrystals as a Kinetic Parameter

Abstract

The morphological manipulation, structural characterization, and optical properties of different cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanostructures are reported. Two different CdSe nanostructures, i.e., nanorods and nanoparticles, were grown by controlling the concentration of precursors (i.e., cadmium nitrate and selenium dioxide) in ethanolamine solvent. By manipulating the kinetic parameter of the process (i.e., growth rate) under constant growth driving force (i.e., degree of supersaturation), the morphology of CdSe nanostructures can be tailored from nanorods to nanoparticles. The optical properties of CdSe nanostructures were investigated using ultraviolet–visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The absorption edge of the samples showed a blue-shift. CdSe nanostructures prepared under optimized conditions showed good microstructural and optical properties for solar cell applications.