Solvothermal synthesis of Hg1−xCdxTe nanostructures—Their structural and optical properties

This article describes a facile, low-cost, solution-phase approach to the large-scale preparation of Hg1−xCdxTe nanostructures of different shapes such as nanorods, quantum dots, hexagonal cubes of different sizes and different compositions at a growth temperature of 180 °C using an air stable Te source by solvothermal technique. The XRD spectrum shows that the crystals are cubic in their basic structure and reveals the variation in lattice constant as a function of composition. The size and morphology of the products were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The formation of irregular shaped particles and few nano-rods in the present synthesis is attributed to the cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The room temperature FTIR absorption and PL studies for a compositon of x = 0.8 gives a band gap of 1.1 eV and a broad emission in NIR region (0.5–0.9 eV) with all bands attributed to surface defects.

Research highlights►Synthesis of HgCdTe nanostructures by low-cost solvothermal method. ► Use of air stable Na2TeO3 as Te precursor for synthesis of HgCdTe. ► Synthesis is done at room ambient at comparatively low temperature in comparison to other methods ► Formation of HgCdTe nanorods by using a surfactant ► NIR emissions from the synthesized nanostructures.