One‐Pot Synthesis of Crystalline Ag 2 S Nanoparticles Embedded inside Amorphous Cu 2 S Matrix for High Electrical Conductivity

• Published in: ChemNanoMat : chemistry of nanomaterials for energy, biology and more biology and more, 2018-03, Vol.4 (3), p.274-280
• Main Authors: Shi, Fangbing, Sun, Yu, Liang, Qingshuang, Zhang, Yuan, Wang, Xingli, Huang, Keke, Feng, Shouhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2199-692X; 2199-692X
• DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201700347

Amorphous materials exhibit distinct physical and chemical properties compared to crystalline or quasi‐crystalline phases, because of their unique atomic arrangements of short‐range order but long‐range disorder. Designing a nanocomposite that contains both crystalline and amorphous phases is a valid approach to fully exploit the effects of each component. In this work, a nanocomposite consisting of crystalline Ag 2 S nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous Cu 2 S matrix (Ag 2 S/ a ‐Cu 2 S) is synthesized by a facile one‐pot solvothermal method. This process is achieved by diffusing silver into crystalline Cu 2 S. The silver is able to diffuse into Cu 2 S and form crystalline Ag 2 S nanoparticles inside them, while the crystalline Cu 2 S is converted into an amorphous phase owing to the silver diffusion. Furthermore, the introduction of nanoscale Ag 2 S particles into Cu 2 S improve electrical conductivity. This design of amorphous matrix containing nanocrystalline particles may open up new strategies for the transition from crystalline to amorphous phases of semiconductors.