Synthesis of uniform CdS nanowires in high yield and its single nanowire electrical property

Large-scale high quality CdS nanowires with uniform diameter were synthesized by using a rapid and simple solvothermal route. Field emission scan electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that the CdS nanowires have diameter of about 26 nm and length up to several micrometres. High resolution TEM (HRTEM) study indicates the single-crystalline nature of CdS nanowires with an oriented growth along the c-axis direction. The optical properties of the products were characterized by UV–vis absorption spectra, photoluminescence spectra and Raman spectra. The resistivity, electron concentration and electron mobility of single NW are calculated by fitting the symmetric I–V curves measured on single NW by the metal–semiconductor–metal model based on thermionic field emission theory.

Graphical abstractLarge-scale high quality CdS nanowires (NWs) with uniform diameter were synthesized by using a rapid and simple solvothermal route. The reaction time is reduced to 2 h, comparing to other synthesis which needed long reaction time up to 12 h. In addition, the as-prepared CdS nanowires have more uniform diameter and high yield. More importantly, the I–V curve of present single CdS nanowire has a good symmetric characteristic as expected by the theory.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide