Facile Synthesis of Cu2GeS3 and Cu2MGeS4 (M = Zn, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) Hollow Nanoparticles, Based on the Nanoscale Kirkendall Effect

• Published in: Chemistry of materials 2016-12, Vol.28 (24), p.9139-9149
• Main Authors: Dong, Chunwei, Yao, Dong, Feng, Jianyou, Huang, Tingting, Hu, Xiyu, Wu, Zhennan, Liu, Yi, Yang, Bai, Zhang, Hao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0897-4756; 1520-5002
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04388

Hollow nanostructures have shown charming properties beyond their solid counterparts, but the synthesis of multinary chalcogenide semiconductors with hollow nanostructures remains challenging, because of their complex components. In this work, we demonstrate a facile one-pot method to synthesize Cu2GeS3 hollow nanoparticles (NPs) based on Kirkendall effect by using dissolved GeO2 as the Ge source. A theory model according to the diffusion kinetic and reaction kinetic is established to investigate the growth mechanism of Cu2GeS3 hollow NPs. By using Cu2GeS3 hollow NPs as the template, quaternary Cu2MGeS4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co, Fe and Mn) hollow NPs are further produced, which are more difficult to prepare, because of their excessive ion species. Furthermore, Cu2GeS3 hollow NP-based gas sensors are prepared, which exhibit outstanding sensitivity for the detection of ethanol gas, because of their large surface-to-volume ratio and small grain size.