Morphology-controlled synthesis of CdSe semiconductor through a low-temperature hydrothermal method

Abstract

Four different morphologies (taper microrods, nanotetrapods, fringy nanostructures and fasciculate nanostructures) of the CdSe semiconductor were synthesized via a template-free hydrothermal method, using low-cost inorganic compounds such as Cd(NO3)2·4H2O and NaSeO3 as raw materials, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt dihydrate (EDTA) as both a chelating reagent and a reductant. The as-obtained CdSe products were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD). A systematic investigation was carried out to understand the factors influencing the evolution of CdSe particle morphology. Based on these characterizations, the formation mechanism of these morphologies was also proposed.