From CdTe nanoparticles precoated on silicon substrate to long nanowires and nanoribbons: Oriented attachment controlled growth

manuscript describes a simple, environmentally friendly strategy for the rapid and large-scale growth of ultralong nanowires and nanoribbons of wurtzite CdTe. The nanowires and nanoribbons were prepared through the direct hydrothermal treatment of CdTe nanoparticles precoated on < 100 > Czochralski silicon, which did not involve complicated reactions. The well-crystalline nanowires and nanoribbons were grown along the [102] direction and were up to 100 mu m long. The growth of the nanowires and nanoribbons was dominated by the mechanism of oriented attachment, which was clarified through the tracing of the temporal evolution of CdTe nanoparticles coated on the silicon substrate in the process of hydrothermal treatment. Furthermore, the proposed strategy was also effective in the preparation of anisotropic nanostructures of other II-IV group compounds (e.g., ZnO and CdSe).