A sonochemical synthesis of single-crystalline Se nanowires. The nanowires were grown as both stand-alone structures and incorporated into patterned networks.
This paper describes a solution-based method for the large-scale synthesis of seleniumnanowires. Sonication was used as the driving force for both nucleation and dispersion. Thetrigonal Se seeds were formed during sonication and grew over the course of hours at theexpense of the amorphous Se colloids in a process similar to Ostwald ripening. The resultantnanowires were typically single crystals of trigonal Se whose morphologies could be tunedby adjusting the reaction conditions. A variety of solvents are demonstrated for use withthis process. We also demonstrate patterned growth of these nanowires on substrates toform extensive 2D networks and isolated clusters. The morphologies of the products wereexamined with a combination of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques.