Synthesis and Characterization of Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanomaterial (CdE; E=Se/Te) from Novel Single Source Molecular Precursor

Background: Metal chalcogenide nanomaterials represent an important group of efficient materials, in which the subtle variations in shape, size and phase of nano-powders resulted in physical properties (e.g., electronic and optical) differing from their bulk counterparts, which makes them useful materials for various technological devices. Objective: Synthesis and growth of chalcogenide nano powders from novel single source molecular precursors (i.e., Cd(II) bis-(aminopropane) selenide, Cd(II) bis-(aminoethane) telluride) for the production of cadmium chalcogenide (CdE, E= Se/Te) at nano scale. Method: Single source molecular precursor inserted in quinoline, acting as a coordinating solvent at suitable temperature, yielded vacuum dried powders of CdSe and CdTe nanomaterials. Results: The average particle size was estimated as CdSe ≈ 3 nm, and CdTe ≈ 29 nm from powder X-ray diffraction pattern of synthesized nanoparticles. The produced nanomaterials possess optical properties and calculated energy band gap of nanoparticles as CdTe = 5.2 eV and CdSe = 4.0 eV from UV-Visible spectra. Conclusion: The economical, harmless single source molecular method may be a striking technique to fabricate metal chalcogenide nanoparticles.