Solvothermal synthesis of hexagonal CdS nanostructures from a single-source molecular precursor

The controllable synthesis of hexagonal CdS (H-CdS) nanostructures from an air-stable single-source molecular precursor (cadmium N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate: [Cd-(DDTC)2]2) has been achieved by two facile steps: firstly, [Cd-(DDTC)2]2 was prepared directly from the precipitation reaction of stoichiometric cadmium sulfate and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate in distilled water under the ambient condition; secondly, pure H-CdS nanorods (which often consist of individual and multi-armed nanorods in the ethylenediamine solvent) and quasi-spherical aggregates of nanoparticles (about 20–60 nm) could be produced just via solvothermal treatment of the [Cd-(DDTC)2]2 in four nucleophilic solvents (including pyridine, diethylamine, hydrazine hydrate and ethylenediamine) at 100–150 °C for 3–12 h, and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and UV–vis absorption spectra. The possible formation mechanisms of different nanostructures of H-CdS in the four nucleophilic solvents were tentatively proposed.