One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of ZnSe hollow nanospheres from an ionic liquid precursor

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been gradually used to synthesize nanomaterials; however, it is rare that "tailoring" task-specific ILs to guide the synthesis pathway toward desirable nanostructures and morphologies. In this paper, a Se-containing ionic liquid 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylselenite ([BMIm][SeO(2)(OCH(3))]) was used as a new Se precursor to purposely prepare ZnSe hollow nanospheres with bubble templating through a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared ZnSe hollow nanospheres with good dispersity are relatively uniform with an average diameter of about 100 nm and a wall thickness range of 10-20 nm. More importantly, it was found that [BMIm][SeO(2)(OCH(3))] not only serves as Se source but also acts as stabilizer for the ZnSe hollow nanospheres. In addition, the UV-vis spectrum of the products displayed adsorption maxima at 278 and 426 nm; therefore, the obtained ZnSe hollow nanospheres might have promising applications in blue emitters, catalysts, and gas sensors. It would be expected that [BMIm][SeO(2)(OCH(3))] could be used to prepare other nanoscale metal selenides with special morphologies and improved properties on a large scale.