A composite-surfactants-assisted-solvothermal process to copper sulfide nanocrystals

We have synthesized hexagonal phase of CuS nanocrystals by developing a composite-surfactants-assisted-solvothermal (CSS) route. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that Cu:S mole ratio had a great influence on the phase purity of the products. Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) revealed that the diameter of the product was in a range of 8–10 nm. The formation of the product might be through an in situ reduction–sulfidation mechanism where divalent copper ions reduce to metallic Cu before sufidation to CuS based on the contrast experiments. The present route would provide a general strategy to metal sulfide nanocrystals.