Solvothermal synthesis of α-MnSe uniform nanospheres and nanorods

α-MnSe uniform nanospheres and nanorods were prepared via a simple solvothermal reaction in ethanol amine at 180 °C for 12 h. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to study the crystal structure and morphologies. The FE-SEM and TEM images showed that the α-MnSe nanospheres had a uniform diameter of about 200 nm and the size of the nanorods was about 50 nm in diameter. The optical properties of the products were also examined by means of UV–Vis absorption, excitation and photoluminescence spectroscopy.