Ultralong Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanotubes from One-Dimensional Cadmium Hydroxide Nanowire Bundles by Soft Solution Chemistry

Abstract

Herein, we report a soft solution method for CdX (X = S, Se, Te) nanotubes (NTs) with a high aspect ratio directly onto the substrate of a large area using one-dimensional (ID) Cd(OH)(2) nanowire bundles (NBs) which were grown by a low-temperature soft chemical approach, A simple anion exchange route was designed to synthesize CdX NTs using the Cd(OH)(2) NBs as a Cd source as well as a template. By the reaction of Cd(OH)(2) NBs oil the substrates with an aqueous Solution Of X2-, the anion exchange reaction takes place, and due to the difference in the solubility products, as well as the diffusion rates, the nanocrystalline CdX NTs are formed. The CdX NTs were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). On the basis of a series of experiments and characterizations, the formation mechanism of the CdX NTs from Cd(OH)(2) NBs is proposed. This work demonstrates a cost effective method for the synthesis of ultralong CdX NTs via reaction with an X2- ion source employing Cd(OH)(2) NBs.