One-Pot Synthesis of Cu1.94S-CdS and Cu1.94S-ZnxCd1-xS Nanodisk Heterostructures

Nanodisk heterostructures consisting of monoclinic Cu1.94S and wurtzite CdS have been colloidally synthesized for the first time. Initially, hexagonal-shaped nanodisks of Cu1.94S were produced upon thermolysis of a copper complex in a solvent mixture of HDA and TOA at 250 degrees C. Rapid addition of Cd precursor to the reaction mixture resulted in the partial conversion of Cu1.94S into CdS, yielding Cu1.94S-CdS nanoheterostructures. The original morphology of the Cu1.94S nanodisks was conserved during the transformation. When Zn precursor was added together with the Cd precursor, Cu1.94S-ZnxCd1-xS nanodisks were generated. These two-component nanostructures are potentially useful in the fabrication of heterojunction solar cells.