Structural, morphological and optical studies on CuAlS2 and CuAlSe2 nanorods prepared by hydrothermal method

Ternary chalcopyrite CuAlS2 and CuAlSe2 nanorods have been successfully synthesized through hydrothermal method at 180 °C and their structure of prepared samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The structural, optical and morphology of the samples are found to depend on synthesizing time and temperature. HR-TEM analysis indicates that the rods like morphology were nearly homogeneous with average dimensions of about 273 nm, 124 nm in length and 24 nm, 21 nm in diameter for CuAlS2 and CuAlSe2 respectively. Vibrational modes of CuAlS2 and CuAlSe2 nanorods have been investigated by recording micro Raman spectra at room temperature. Optical properties of the synthesized samples were studied using photoluminescence (PL) spectra with excitation of 244 nm at room temperature. The PL spectra show two emission peaks for CuAlS2 at 307 nm (4.03 eV) and 359 nm (3.45 eV). CuAlSe2 gives a prominent emission peak at 436 nm (2.84 eV).