Synthesis of single crystalline CdS nanowires with polyethylene glycol 400 as inducing template

Solvothermal technique, an one-step soft solution-processing route was successfully employed to synthesize single crystalline CdS nanowires in ethylenediamine medium at lower temperature (170 □) for 1–8 d. In this route, polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) was used as surfactant, which played a crucial role in preferentially oriented growth of semiconductor nanowires. Characterizations of as-prepared CdS nanowires by X-ray powder diffraction(XRD), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) indicate that the naonowires, with typical diameters of 20nm and lengths up to several micrometers, have preferential [001] orientation. Also, investigations into the physical properties of the CdS nanowires were conducted with UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence emission spectroscopy. The excitonic photo-optical phenomena of the nanowires shows the potential in the practical applications.