One-pot synthesis of one-dimensional CdTe-cystine nanocomposite for humidity sensing

Quantum dot (QD)-incorporated one-dimensional (1D) nanocomposites offer great application potential. However, a facile one-step synthesis of the nanocomposites and fabrication of their free-standing film for sensing has not been accomplished. Herein a rod-shaped nanocomposite is one-pot synthesized via an L-cysteine-assisted hydrothermal approach, in which synthesis parameters including L-cysteine amount, temperature and reaction duration are tailored to control the composite nanostructures. CdTe nanocrystals are incorporated into the L-cystine matrices to form the nanorods, which tangle each other to network an intact film structure via a simple drying process. The free-standing CdTe-cystine nanorod film is directly utilized as a humidity sensor. This work provides a one-pot synthesis approach to grow 1D CdTe incorporated nanocomposites, demonstrating their great potential in film sensing applications.