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Morphological control of SnTe nanostructures by tuning catalyst composition

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Abstract

A method of controlling the morphology of SnTe nanostructures produced by a simple chemical vapor deposition is presented, in which Au-containing catalysts with different Au concentrations are used to induce specific growth behavior. Triangular SnTe nanoplates with a {100} dominated surface and {100}, {111} and {120} side facets were induced by AuSn catalysts, whereas <010> SnTe nanowires with four nonpolar {100} side-facets were produced using Au5Sn catalysts. Through detailed structural and chemical characterization, coupled with surface energy calculations, it is found that nanowire growth is thermodynamically controlled via a vapor-solid-solid growth mechanism, whereas nanoplate growth is kinetically controlled via a vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. Therefore, this study provides a fundamental understanding of the catalyst’s role in the growth of IV-VI compound nanostructures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Yichao Zou, Zhigang Chen, Jing Lin & Jin Zou

  2. National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-Tian Road, Shanghai, 200083, China

    Xiaohao Zhou & Wei Lu

  3. Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    John Drennan & Jin Zou

Authors
  1. Yichao Zou
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  2. Zhigang Chen
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  3. Jing Lin
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  4. Xiaohao Zhou
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  5. Wei Lu
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  6. John Drennan
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  7. Jin Zou
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Correspondence to Zhigang Chen or Jin Zou.

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Zou, Y., Chen, Z., Lin, J. et al. Morphological control of SnTe nanostructures by tuning catalyst composition. Nano Res. 8, 3011–3019 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0806-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0806-y

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