Eu(III)-induced room-temperature fast transformation of CdTe nanocrystals into nanorods

A fast and mild synthesis method of highly crystalline CdTe nanorods (NRs) was developed by adding europium nitrate hexahydrate to an aqueous solution of CdTe nanocrystals (NCs) at room temperature within 30 min. It was suggested that strong coordination strength of Eu(III) decreases zeta potential, thereby accelerates aggregation of NCs, and favors the transformation process from NCs to NRs. The oriented attachment of aggregated particles was suggested as a major path for the formation of highly crystalline NRs under experimental conditions. The proposed extremely fast room-temperature methodology opens up novel pathways for the synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor nanostructures with high crystallinity, which would become potential candidates for many practical applications such as photovoltaics, circuit design and fabrication of functional architectures.