Shen Cheng-Min

Synthesis of monodisperse palladium nanocubes and their catalytic activity for methanol electrooxidation

The single crystalline palladium nanocubes with an average size of 7 nm were prepared in the presence of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and KBr using the polyol method. The as-prepared Pd nanocubes were highly uniform in both size and shape. The ordered packing structures including monolayer and multilayer can be fabricated via the rate-controlled evaporation of solution solvent. The electrochemical catalytic activity of these Pd nanocubes towards methanol oxidation was found to be higher than that of spherical Pd nanoparticles of similar size.

Monodispersive CoPt Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Chemical Reduction Method

Monodispersive CoPt nanoparticles in sizes of about 2.2 nm are synthesized by superhydride reduction of CoCl2 and PtCl2 in diphenyl ether. The as-prepared nanoparticles show a chemically disordered A1 structure and are superparamagnetic. Thermal annealing transforms the A1 structure into chemically ordered L10 structure and the particles are ferromagnetic at room temperature.

Synthesis and photoluminescence property of boron carbide nanowires

Large scale, high density boron carbide nanowires have been synthesized by using an improved carbothermal reduction method with B/B2O3/C powder precursors under an argon flow at 1100°C. The boron carbide nanowires are 5–10 μm in length and 80–100 nm in diameter. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) characterizations show that the boron carbide nanowire has a B4C rhombohedral structure with good crystallization. The Raman spectrum of the as-grown boron carbide nanowires is consistent with that of a B4C structure consisting of B11C icosahedra and C-B-C chains. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the boron carbide nanowires exhibits a visible range of emission centred at 638 nm.

Controlled growth of large＇scale silver nanowires

Large-scale silver nanowires with controlled aspect ratio were synthesized via reducing silver nitrate with 1, 2-propanediol in the presence of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray powder diffraction were employed to characterize these silver nanowires. The diameter of the silver nanowires can be readily controlled in the range of 100 to 400 nm by varying the experimental conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results show that there exists no chemical bond between the silver and the nitrogen atoms. The interaction between PVP and silver nanowires is mainly through the oxygen atom in the carbonyl group.

Probing Field Emission from Boron Carbide Nanowires

High density boron carbide nanowires are grown by an improved carbon thermal reduction technique. Transmission electron microscopy and electron energy lose spectroscopy of the sample show that the synthesized nanowires are B4 C with good crystallization. The field emission measurement for an individual boron nanowire is performed by using a Pt tip installed in the focused ion beam system. A field emission current with enhancement factor of 106 is observed and the evolution process during emission is also carefully studied. Furthermore, a two-step field emission with stable emission current density is found from the high-density nanowire film. Our results together suggest that boron carbide nanowires are promising candidates for electron emission nanodevices.

Single crystalline boron carbide nanobelts: synthesis and characterization

This paper reports that the large-scale single crystalline boron carbide nanobelts have been fabricated through a simple carbothermal reduction method with B/B2O3/C/Fe powder as precursors at 1100°C. Transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction characterizations show that the boron carbide nanobelt has a B4C rhomb-centred hexagonal structure with good crystallization. Electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis indicates that the nanobelt contains only B and C, and the atomic ratio of B to C is close to 4:1. High resolution transmission electron microscopy results show that the preferential growth direction of the nanobelt is [101]. A possible growth mechanism is also discussed.

Anomalous aggregation growth of palladium nanosphere with SPR band in visible range

The morphology and properties of nanostructures are significantly influenced by the chemical coordination during their growth procedure. Using small molecule N-vinyl pyrolidone as stabilizer, this paper introduces a new strategy for synthesis of palladium nanospheres, which has a novel surface plasmon resonance band in the visible range. An aggregation growth mode was observed in the growth process. More specifically, the growth rate increases with increasing concentration of stabilizer. The absorption in visible region suggests new optical applications for these Pd nanospheres, such as photocatalysis, photothermal heating and surface enhanced Raman scattering.

Cathodoluminescent and electrical properties of an individual ZnO nanowire with oxygen vacancies

A single ZnO nanowire with intrinsic oxygen vacancies is utilized to fabricate four-contact device with focus ion beam lithography technique. Cathodoluminescent spectra indicate strong near-UV and green emission at both room temperature and low temperatures. Experimental measurement shows the temperature-dependent conductivity of the ZnO nanowire at low temperatures (below 100 K). The further theoretical analysis confirms that weak localization plays an important role in the electrical transport, which is attributed to the surface states induced by plenty of oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanowire.

TEM study on hollow and porous Cu2O nanoparticles prepared from solution phase

In this paper, hollow and porous Cu2O nanoparticles were prepared by adjusting the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB) concentration in the solution-phase reaction. Structural investigations reveal that Cu2O nanoparticles can be either well-defined hollow nanoboxes or porous nanocubes depending on the synthesis conditions. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations demonstrated that the nanoparticles in general are composed of small grains coherently growing along certain preferred orientations.

Formation and photoluminescence properties of boron nanocones

This paper reports that a simple chemical vapour deposition method has been adopted to fabricate large scale, high density boron nanocones with thermal evaporation of B/B2O3 powders precursors in an Ar/H2 gas mixture at the synthesis temperature of 1000–1200°C. The lengths of boron nanocones are several micrometres, and the diameters of nanocone tops are in a range of 50–100 nm. transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction indicate that the nanocones are single crystalline α-tetragonal boron. The vapour–liquid–solid mechanism is the main formation mechanism of boron nanocones. One broad photoluminescence emission peak at the central wavelength of about 650 nm is observed under the 532 nm light excitation. Boron nanocones with good photoluminescence properties are promising candidates for applications in optical emitting devices.